RR - A BIG FAT YES! GPS is worth every penny. It's been awhile, so I'm not sure on cost. AutoEurope can answer that quickly, I think less than $15/day. We picked up a car with GPS in Florence and drove all over Tuscany. Never got lost. Plug in the address and go. It even helped us find the parking lot we were looking for, closest gas station, etc. I vowed never to travel in a foreign land again without one.
If you book through the US site it will probably be through Europecar and the GPS will be 8 euros a day through them. If you want to rent directly from Auto Europe the rate is $5 a day plus $40 shipping. You are charged daily from the day you leave until the day you return whether or not you need one for all the days. They run specials that offer a free GPS for the days of your auto rental but there isn't one going on now for Italy.
The other option is to book through the Canadian site. I did that yesterday and I got better rate than on the US site plus zero deductible. Our car is booked through Hertz and their rate for a GPS was very expensive. I think it was 12 euros a day plus and additional 100 euros so that's not an option. We are looking into buying a GPS although we don't need it here because they are integrated into our cars.
Carole
Posts: 1448 | Location: Laguna Beach, CA | Registered: 09 February 2006
It may just be me. I find the GPS useful but not a 'must have.' I know other people that swear by them. I have found that they do not always give me the most efficient routing and once in Puerto Rico I was led badly astray into a very rundown neighborhood because the rental agency had not updated the maps that it used. (This was a little scary as I was traveling by myself and my Spanish is worse than my Italian) So, when I have one I often doublecheck the GPS route against a map, especially for longer trips. I also ask about how recently the maps in the GPS have been updated.
I have found it to be most useful in cities, when getting close to my destination, and for finding supermarkets.
As a result--I would take one if it was inexpensive (or free).
Posts: 13 | Location: Scarborough Maine | Registered: 08 February 2010
Given those (nearly) outrageous prices for a rental, if you plan to use it for more than 1 week you might even consider to BUY one as soon as you arrive.
Basic GPS devices are sold for EUR 99-119, with Italy map only, and thay always come with out-of-the-box multi-language support.
If you'll come back to Italy another time, you'll already have it with you, for free
Amazon is offering the same model with recharger and mount "factory refurbished" for about 150 with free shipping and no tax.I believe it comes with europe maps? RR
My husband was checking out some GPS's on line and I think the Amazon one comes with Europe maps. What model were you looking at?
I would not buy one in Italy because if you have a problem with it how would you return it once you get back to the US. We will keep checking Costco to see what they have because of their liberal return policy plus you could try it out here before you leave.
Carole
Posts: 1448 | Location: Laguna Beach, CA | Registered: 09 February 2006
Most models sold in North America won't have European maps. You need to make sure the model you get includes the maps since adding them later can cost more then the unit.
Garmin Nuvi GPS devices that come pre-loaded with European maps have a 7 as the second to last number, eg. 270, 670, 1370, etc. Otherwise, you have to purchase and load the European map separately. If you're going to use it in Italy, best buy one already loaded.
Posts: 345 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 24 April 2003
I'd buy a GPS so you will get used to it and not confused by any message or sign on the screen. In Germany, you'll get one from 80 € up in these days. It might serve you for a couple of vacations.
I _love_ my GPS, it helped me a lot to lose my fears of entering white roads in Tuscany (and elsewhere).
Robert- Our GPS did come with European maps but many do not. We used it for the first time on this last trip and it was wonderful! It took a lot of the stress out of the trip. Not that getting lost can't be fun...but we were lost all the time!It was especially bad to be lost late at night trying to find our back to our rental. We also used it walking around Rome looking for restaurants we wanted to eat at. You will be very happy to have it! Linda
Posts: 931 | Location: Nashville, TN USA | Registered: 11 September 2002
We used a Garmin Nuvi on our last trip and it made all the difference in the world. Because we had to drive back to the Rome Airport from Montepulciano late one night to retrieve our lost luggage, we were a bit nervous. We were in and out of there with no problems. Also, returning our rental car to the Villa Borghese Parking Garage has always been a bit of a challenge for us, but we drove straight to it and swore we would never drive in Italy again without a GPS.
Sharon J
Posts: 1460 | Location: Houston, TX, but always a Californian at heart! | Registered: 01 November 2003
Hi Robert. We used Auto Europe and the included a free Garmin GPS. You just had to ask and all it cost was the shipping back and forth, about 30 dollars. It arrives a few days before your trip.It was very easy.
Robert, I think the answer depends on how long you have the car for. I posted a similar query on the UK site because we will have a car for about three weeks. In our case the buy option was a possibility. However most reputable hire car companies will set a maximum hire cost, around 9 days. That is if it costs say $10 per day the maximum you pay is $90 even if you have it for 4 weeks.
A downside is you have to be carefull to look after the GPS particularly when you are not in the car. It could be very expensive if it got lost, stolen, or damaged.
My experience with a GPS is that they are great if you want to go from A to B via the normal route. But if you want to go via C,D,E, and F as most tourists do, then they are complex to use and the local area paper map is much better. However, a lot of people are hopeless at reading maps so there is probably not one overall answer.
Posts: 392 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
Normally I use maps, the problem with that is the maps says the street name and number and in my experience signs are virtually non existant on roads. City navigation is therefore very hard. I've told my villa Borgese story many times here- 3.5 hrs driving in circles! In the rain,blackout etc. The sign for the rental place unlit, and the size of a license plate. RR
For us, the value of the GPS is as much for telling us where we are as it is for telling us how to get to our destination! A map isn't much use if you can't place yourself on it.
Posts: 345 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 24 April 2003
Originally posted by Robert Rainey: Normally I use maps, the problem with that is the maps says the street name and number and in my experience signs are virtually non existant on roads. City navigation is therefore very hard. I've told my villa Borgese story many times here- 3.5 hrs driving in circles! In the rain,blackout etc. The sign for the rental place unlit, and the size of a license plate. RR
If you get a GPS download the google maps plugin. Makes it easy to download locations to the GPS.
City navigation is therefore very hard. I've told my villa Borgese story many times here- 3.5 hrs driving in circles!
Robert, I don't feel so bad now. It only took us 2.5 hours to get out of Rome from the Villa Borghese location during our first trip. We went by the train station at least three times!
Sharon J
Posts: 1460 | Location: Houston, TX, but always a Californian at heart! | Registered: 01 November 2003
We wanted to rent a GPS unit from autoeurope for our three-week Italy trip last fall. However, in checking on Amazon, I was able to get a Garmin Nuvi 270 (not refurbished/cost $149.89) loaded with Italy maps for less than the autoeurope rental. We found that it worked best for us in the smaller towns and villages vs the larger cities. We always made sure that we had a map as backup. The car charger that came with the Garmin worked for my cell phone as well...so that one was one less thing I needed to pack!
QUOTE] Robert, I don't feel so bad now. It only took us 2.5 hours to get out of Rome from the Villa Borghese location during our first trip. We went by the train station at least three times!
Sharon J[/QUOTE]
Yes, finally we arrived after the "very easy to find" location was closed. I said no way are we driving elsewhere we just left the car in the lot and came back the next day. We traveled through the subway tunnels to the Piazza Spana station. we had massive luggage (We were on our honeymoon and with our wedding we had luggage for one month). Heavy hard sided suitcases, 4 of them. There was a blackout so all the escalators were stopped.So massive lugging involved. We passed a bunch of junkies and homeless people,welcome to Rome!.
The rain was pouing down,very hard so hard that there was 2-3 inches on the ground, I put my raingear on and had an umbrella, for all the good it did. I tried to get a taxi, ha ha. I said Peg put your gear on we are walking to the hotel, maybe 3/4 of a mile. We arrived and rang the bell. No elevator of course 4 bags, 4 stories up no problem. Also no hot water in the bathroom then or the rest of our stay. RR
