[JasmineO]

11 September 2022 at 2:28:30 #828312

Hey friends,

We are considering driving from Italy to Switzerland in the first week of December and will like to rent a minivan. We are a group of 6 adults and 2 children(< 5yrs). I have already searched the popular sites; Europcar, Kayak, Expedia, RentalCars, etc and I’m having a hard time finding options. I only found one and it was manual transmission.

Does anyone have any information on where I can find more options? Perhaps local/smaller companies? Preferably with automatic transmission..

Thanks!

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[Annika]

11 September 2022 at 9:52:58 #946721

Hi Jasmine,

I went through the links at http://www.myswissalps.com/car/carrental and found some options at https://www.economybookings.com/switzerland. E.g. a Mercedes V Class (8 seater) with auto transmission. The offers will be different by date and the location in either Italy or Switzerland you’re planning to rent from. The website may not call those vans “minivan”, so you have have to select vehicle types like “other” or “oversized”, etc. to find them.

December is not the best time to drive. Quite some pass roads will be closed and road conditions could be bad because of the weather. Be sure to read our car section before you decide: http://www.myswissalps.com/car.

[Removed user]

12 September 2022 at 0:22:47 #946722

I agree with Annika’s comments

‘minivan’ is an American term not used in Europe

I had a look at Avis and they use the term ‘people carrier’ (a common UK term) for 8 or more seats

plus

Renting a large vehicle one way will be very expensive

[JasmineO]

13 September 2022 at 16:55:17 #946723

Thanks Annika and 1960man for the replies.

I had a look at Economy bookings, they do have the car you mentioned but it seems only in Switzerland.

Initially we were thinking about driving across the boarder from Italy. I think we can manage driving in December. We are from Canada and have experience with driving in winter.

1960man you are right the cost of renting a car one way is just too ridiculous … We have decided to Rent a car in Italy, cross over to Switzerland by train and then get a car in Locarno. That will be our first stop and I have found some cars that meets our criteria.

Thanks..