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Don’t drive in Rome.
Seriously.
Avoid it at all costs.
Traffic is very heavy on the streets of Rome, and the rules and norms of driving are much different from our own. From our point of view, Romans drive like maniacs.
(This is not strictly true. Actually, Romans tend to be far more attentive behind the wheel than most Americans, which, when combined with a Italian's innate surfeit of confidence, leads to the aggressive Italian driving style. Once you get used to it, it's not bad, and it even makes sense. That said, I've lived in both Rome and New York City, and I'll take driving in New York traffic over Roman chaos any day.)
Not only are Italian drivers even more manic in the city, and parking is nigh unto impossible—and terribly expensive where you do find it—but the system of one-way roads seems specially designed to keep you from driving anywhere near your intended destination.
Much of the historic center is pedestrian-only (Italians call this "ztl," which stands for "zone of limited traffic"), but you're allowed to drive to your hotel to drop off luggage (be sure to provide your hotel with your rental car's license plate number when you arrive so they can phone it into the police; more and more Italian cities are installing cameras at the entrances to the ZTL—and sending out tickets automatically to those who violate it without permission). more»
For the most part, you definitely want to rent a car before you arrive through a discounter such as Auto Europe (www.auroeurope.com). You'll pick up the car at the office of one of the major rental agencies, which all have offices in and around Stazione Termini and at the airports.
However, there is one nice little service in Rome called Rome for You (tel. +39-06-4543-3789, Romeforyou.net) that, along with bikes and scooters, also rents vintage Fiat 500s, everyone's favorite cute-as-a-bug (and about the same shape and size) microcar.
If you plan to rent a car in Italy and are starting your trip in Rome, wait until the day you set out into the countryside to pick up the car; if you're flying home from Rome, drop the rental car off the instant you drive into town and spend your days in the capital blissfully car-free.
The biggest public garage is the Parcheggio Borghese (tel. +39-6-322-5934, www.sabait.it) under the Villa Borghese park in the northeast corner of town. Its entrance is on Viale del Muro Torto, which leads off into the park from the traffic circle at Porta Pinciana, the top of Via Veneto. It's open 24 hours. Rates run €2 per hour, or €18 per day.
Way cheaper—€2 for 12 hours, or €3 for 16, plus €2 to leave it overnight (so just €5 per day)—is to park in one of the massive Parcheggio di Scambio commuter lots at suburban train stations (www.atac.roma.it; tel. +39-06-57-003), open 6am to 10pm:
Planning your day: Rome wasn't built in a day, and you'd be hard-pressed to see it in that brief a time as well. Still, you can cram a lot into just a day or three.
To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Eternal City, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, three, or four days to spend in Rome. » Rome itineraries
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