If you’re planning a vacation to Sicily, a rental car is a worthwhile investment. It’s the easiest and fastest way to explore the island and gives you the freedom to stop into charming coastal towns on your own schedule. When I was planning my trip to Sicily, I was shocked to see cheap rental cars for just $5 a day! Unfortunately, all of the rental car companies had absolutely terrible reviews.
I ended up choosing Centauro Rent a Car because it was the cheapest rental car option and wanted to share my honest review of what the rental experience was like. I paid for the car on my own and have no affiliation with Centauro—I just wanted to write this review since I struggled finding a good company to book with in Europe.
The Booking Experience
Centauro pops up on rental car searches like Expedia, but I always prefer booking rental cars directly through the company, as it’s easier to fix any issues with the agency if things go wrong. Centauro Rent a Car’s website is pretty terrible. I tried booking online multiple times on my phone and would get to the final step and the website would freeze. Eventually, I switched to desktop and was able to complete my booking. If you’re having trouble making a reservation, try a different browser or desktop.
Booking direct end up being a lifesaver for us, as we had an early flight and wanted to return the rental car to the Catania Airport location before Centauro opened for the day. They told me I could use their key drop and return it outside of hours because we had booked directly through them, but if we had booked through a third party, this would not have been allowed.
The low rates you see online for rental cars turn out to be a bait-and-switch, and Centauro basically forces you into their “premium rental.”
Centauro Rent Premium
The “rent premium” booking changed our rental car price from about $5 per day to closer to $30 per day. It included:
- Full cover without excess
- No deposit
- Additional driver
- Unlimited mileage
I ended up going with this option because all of the bad reviews I read for Centauro Rent a Car (and every other European rental car agency) said that they will not allow you to use your own insurance (even credit card insurance) and will force you into buying their insurance anyway once you arrive. To save this hassle, I just decided to go for the premium option.
Renting a Car in Sicily
On my trip to Sicily, I stayed in Palermo, Catania, Taormina, Cefalu, and Syracuse. In all but the major cities, hotel parking is valet only. You have to give your car to someone at the hotel (who isn’t even part of the hotel, but a private company they have contracted out with) who takes your car off-site and parks it for the duration of your stay. These towns have narrow streets, and my car was returned to me in Taormina with a massive scrape and dent down the side of it.
Fortunately, because I had the full coverage through Centauro Rent a Car, I didn’t even have to have someone inspect my car when I returned it, and I never heard anything from them about the damage.
If you’re renting a car in Sicily, I definitely recommend you get full coverage insurance as scrapes and damages are fairly common.
My other tips for renting a car in Sicily:
- Be aware of ZTLs (Zona Traffico Limitato), which are marked streets and areas where only registered vehicles can drive. If you drive your rental car down one by accident, you could be captured by camera and get a big fine in the mail.
- Know that gas stations are far apart once you leave cities, and that they often close during lunch time.
- Carry coins for tolls, as some do not accept credit cards (or have broken card readers).
Overall Centauro Rental Car Review
Overall, I was happy with renting a car from Centauro and would rent with them again, as long as I took the premium rental cost into consideration when comparing my options. Picking up and returning the car was easy and hassle-free.
My biggest complaint was with the Centauro customer service. I had an early flight out of Catania Airport the morning I was leaving, and I planned to return my rental car the night before and stay at the Catania International Airport Hotel. Unfortunately, it turned out that the airport hotel was not actually walking distance from the airport, and that the hotel did not run a shuttle early enough to get me to my flight in time, so I needed to keep my car until the morning. I called the Centauro customer service number, and the agent yelled at me and told me I absolutely could not return the car late and that I had no options.
I decided to drive directly to the airport rental car location to ask them in person, as the phone number was only to a call center. At the Centauro location, the person working was extremely helpful and allowed me to extend my rental. They did charge me for an extra day (even though I only needed a few extra hours), which cost me close to $40 which was frustrating.
Centauro Rental Car Locations
Centauro Rental Car has locations across Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, including in:
- Lisbon
- Madrid
- Malaga
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sicily (Palermo airport)