We've finally got airline tickets and our lease car set up for September travel to Italy, landing in Rome. The big problem was the car. There is a very limited number of cars, and rentals are very expensive. Folks have passed on some advice, which I'll pass on to you. Many have found booking.com to have the best prices they've found, so here's a link to them. You can check prices from all the big providers by using a search at rentalcars.com. This is the same search as we use on our Italy Transportation Page, where you can find other ways of getting around the boot as well. Good luck with your travel planning. Post here if you have any other hints on making a trip to Europe easier.