Sirmione, Italy

When you’re on the road in Europe, travelling from place to place, you make occasional stops. Sometimes those are just restaurants by the road, and sometimes you’ll stop in a smaller but popular tourist destination. If you’re passing through Italy, you will probably stop to take a bite at Autogrill, or visit Pisa, Siena, Ravenna or Verona. But what about other small places that are not as popular but are also interesting and beautiful; places that are not crowded with tourists or traffic, where you can take a walk and stop for lunch or dinner.

When I was driving back home from Lugano (a town in Switzerland very dear to me), passing through Italian region of Lombardy, I turned and made a stop in Sirmione. Northeast part of Italy and Switzerland are beautiful because of many lakes in the area. Sirmione is situated on Lake Garda. This area was a favorite resort to rich families from Verona and other nearby cities from 1st century BC. During the Roman era Sirmione became a fortified strongpoint defending the southern shore of the lake, partially due to its position (look at the map). Over the centuries it came into possession of different kingdoms are republics. At one point the noble family of the Scaliger (Scaligeri), who were lords of Verona, took over the leadership. They built this castle below which is today about a thousand years old.

Sirmione is a nice town to visit. There are a number of churches besides the Scaglieri castle and the ruins of Catullus residence. Maybe you read Gaius Valerius Catullus poetry and know who he was (he was an ancient Roman poet who lived in Sirmione). It was summer time when I visited. I took a walk, made some photos (as usual), stopped in some local shops to see what crafts they occupied with (mostly pottery and blacksmith)  and went to a local gallery.

One of the things I liked the most is this house…looks even more unbelievable when you see it n front of you…

All in all, Sirmione was great. The amazing view of lake Garda, calm atmosphere of the town and a few interesting places were just right…

Did you make a stop in a smaller town that left an impression on you? Which is it?

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

Renting a hybrid

Taking the idea of renting a car to travel a step further, you might stumble upon high gas prices. Considering how much that would cost you, especially if you are renting for a longer period, that might not sound as the greatest idea, right? So where does that lead you…

I leads you to renting a hybrid. They might have a little higher daily rate but there is a significantly less fuel consumption. Depending on the how much kilometers you’ll pass or for how long you’ll rent it, you might just need to partially refuel the car. When you add environment protection to it, it makes you feel even better. Although it sound great in theory, it’s somewhat more challenging in practice.

Finding hybrids at rent-a-car companies is still a rare miracle these days, even though they have been around for quite some time.  A tip for searching them is to look in larger cities and countries with the biggest network or in countries that are oriented to environmental protection and development. The expansion of environment offerings around Europe should be an important part of every rent-a-car company since that is what customers are demanding more and more, since gas prices are high, automobile industry is making a huge turn and  the green movement is finally making people conscious.

Now, officially, Avis takes the first prize when it comes to renting hybrid cars. “The launch of the 20 Prius vehicles onto the UK fleet follows the announcement, in February, that Avis Germany introduced natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet at 19 locations in 15 cities across the country.

Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids across the country, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes. Avis Scandinavia also offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet. “ *

A few more Priuses can be found at Europcar and Alamo but that’s about it. What car rental companies can offer you is lower emission vehicles as a green choice. So be clear what you want and what you are asking from them.

One more tip…when you’re booking online, hybrids can also be found under prestige category.

Happy hunting!

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

* from Avis News

Car rental – crossing country borders

After surviving the technical stuff, let’s focus more on what happens when you decide to expand your travel appetites and cross country borders.

First of all, most of the time when you book online (in advance), you get a better deal. But booking online to travel abroad will need a telephone confirmation so that the company can prepare everything for you. If you’re renting a car in the UK and want to travel to Ireland or continent, that might bring high surcharges. In that case, for crossing to the continent, you will get a return ticket for Channel Tunnel. Though I wouldn’t recommend, as an alternative, taking a train or a ferry boat and then rent again, it’s possible. There is one more thing that makes your life more complicated when crossing from the UK to the continent or the other way around…which side of the road you are driving at. Avis arranges a switch for you, from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. Which is great but don’t expect that service from everyone. Think how that would influence your driving and, above all, if you are ready to switch sides of the road.

Why is it also important to tell upfront the rent-a-car company where you’re planning to go? Because there is an imaginary border between Western and Eastern countries. What happens is that you might get a cheaper car and have to pay for extra insurance. That doesn’t apply to all Eastern Europe only to some. What irritates me sometimes is the label, that people who don’t know anything about countries in Eastern Europe, put no matter what.

Always ask at the car rental for unfamiliar law in countries you plan to visit. Signs are the same but speed limits, headlights, safety seats for children etc. are not. European superhighways come with tolls. Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia have a system of vignettes that you buy after you cross their border. Vignettes are valid for a period of few months up to a year. Prices are reasonable except in Slovenia which has extremely high prices. EU is pressuring them to cut the cost for tourists but they haven’t answered so far. On the other hand Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Croatia (Mediterranean countries) have toll booths on highway exits.

Don’t let all of this discourage you. Now you know what you can expect and is not as bad as it sounds!

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

Car rental

One more idea to on how to travel around Europe or just a single country is by renting a car. There are many benefits like setting your own itinerary, deciding where you want to go, how much time you want to spend somewhere, stops, comfort, even listening to the music you like …ok, ok, but it’s true!

I’m sure you’re all well aware of that but making a decision to rent a car won’t come from knowing a few benefits…and believe me, there are things you should know about it.

The first dilemma is which company to choose since there are so many. Big-name companies, I have to say, have their big name for a reason. And no, they are not more expensive than smaller ones, it’s usually the other way around. They have a lot bigger network, meaning they cover vast number of countries and places where you can rent and return the car. Every time you rent a car, it will be a new one because after a vehicle reaches 10,000-12,000 km they put it out for sale. Cars are always cleaned upon their return and the services are far better. I have also heard someone say that big-name companies charge more than consolidatiors because they compare rates, find the best deal and issue you a voucher with which you can pick up your car. That’s wrong. I did my research, of course, and just to give you an example, I compared a “big-name company” and the most popular consolidator for Europe. I took the same dates, same time, same pick up and return office, same car! and got the result that said that the consolidators took around €100 more! The choice is obvious.

Prices vary not only between companies but between months and countries also. Age limit is a very important factor; to rent a car in Europe for most companies you have to be 25. Some of them allow 23 but always check so that your plan doesn’t fall through. Your age can also influence on which type of car you will be able to rent. Different countries have different rules, upper age limit is between 69 and 80. If you’re planning to spend many hours on the road, it would be wise to report another driver for which there will be surcharges by day.

Rent-a-car companies don’t need the international driving permit, in fact you can’t rent a car if you only have the international permit, you need your driving permit that you use at home. But, that you don’t say one day I didn’t mention it, if a policeman stops you, he can ask for the international permit and if you don’t have it, he can write you a ticket.

The good thing is that you can rent a car at one place and leave it at another, even in another country. Sometimes there will be surcharges for it. A day is a 24-hour rental period but you have 59 minutes of so called “grace period”. Max. lenght of rent is around 28 days, after that, you need a new agreement. Before you drive off, check the car; if you find a scratch, something torn or similar, report it before you leave. It needs to be written in the agreement or you will have to pay for it. Before returning the car, check it inside and outside.

And that’s just the technical stuff…

So far I have had the best experience with Avis Europe; they own Avis and Budget. Cars are great, usually brand new, best service I have ever experienced with car rental companies and never had any problems.

Stella – European Travelling Advisor