Car rental in Milan: where to rent, what US drivers need and the rules of the road

Rules and fees below come from the Comune di Milano, Italian law and the operators’ own sites, checked on 5 October 2026. Fuel prices are the Lombardy averages published by the Italian government that day.

Do you need a car in Milan?

For the city, no. The metro, trams and buses go everywhere a visitor needs, and our Milan metro guide explains the lines and fares. Driving in the center means traffic, scarce parking and the Area C charge on weekdays.

For trips out of town, it depends on where you go. Direct trains from Milano Centrale reach Como, Varenna, Bergamo, Verona and Lugano, and our day trips from Milan guide lists them. A car makes sense for:

• Lake villages away from the railway, especially on the west shore of Lake Como or around Lake Maggiore.
• Countryside and wine areas where buses are rare.
• A family with luggage and small children heading somewhere the train needs two changes.

If your trip is Milan plus a day at Lake Como, skip the car: our Lake Como day trip guide shows how to do it by train and ferry.

Where to rent a car in Milan

The big rental companies have desks at both airports and at the central station.

Pickup point	Where the desks are	Good for
Malpensa Terminal 1	Level -1, car rental area: from arrivals, turn right and follow the “rent a car” signs	Flying in from the US and heading straight to the lakes
Linate	Arrivals hall, ground floor: follow the “Rent-a-car” or “Autonoleggi” signs	Starting from the city, east toward Bergamo or Verona
Milano Centrale	Galleria delle Carrozze, ground floor of the station, mostly 8am to 8pm	Picking up after a few days in Milan

Picking up at an airport keeps you out of Area C and city traffic. If you pick up at Centrale on a weekday, check your route out of town on the Comune’s Area C map before you leave.

At Malpensa, Enterprise’s Terminal 1 desk opens from 7am to 11:59pm, while Sixt lists 24-hour pickup and return at Malpensa Terminal 1, Linate and Milano Centrale. Hours vary by company, so check yours, especially for a late landing.

Two more things to check when you book:

• Desk or shuttle. Comparison sites also list cheaper companies whose office is outside the terminal, reached by their own shuttle bus. The listing tells you which, and it adds time on arrival and on return.
• Who you are renting from. If you book through a comparison site, the company at the desk is the one named on your voucher. Its rules on deposits, cards and insurance are the ones that apply.

If you would rather not go back to an airport, Enterprise also has branches on the edge of the city, at Corvetto, Sesto San Giovanni, Assago and Portello. A one-way rental, for example picking up in Milan and dropping off at the lakes or another city, is possible, but companies may charge a one-way fee.

If you land at Malpensa and only pick up the car a few days later, our guide to getting from Malpensa to Milan covers the train and bus, and our Milan airports guide compares Malpensa, Linate and Bergamo.

What US drivers need

An International Driving Permit. Italian law (article 135 of the Highway Code) lets you drive on a non-EU licence only if you also carry an International Driving Permit or an official Italian translation of your licence. Both must be valid. The fine for driving without one is €408 to €1,634. Some rental desks do not ask for the permit, but the police will if they stop you.

In the US, AAA issues the permit for a $20 fee, plus $10 if you need the passport photo online. You can apply at a AAA branch, by mail or online (allow 5 business days plus shipping). AAA cannot issue it more than six months before your start date, and it can only be issued in the US, so get it before you fly.

A passport and a card in your name. Bring your passport or ID along with your licence. Rental companies take the deposit on a card in the main driver’s name. Enterprise at Malpensa, for example, asks for a debit or credit card in your name at pickup.

Age. Minimum ages and young driver fees vary by company. Sixt rents from 18, with higher ages for some car categories and an underage driver fee. Enterprise at Malpensa rents from 21, with a daily fee for drivers under 25.

A car you can drive. If you do not drive a manual, filter for an automatic when you book, and book early.

Insurance, deposits and the excess

Check what the rate includes before you pay. At Enterprise Malpensa, a damage waiver is included in the rate but you still owe an excess of €1,200 to €3,600, depending on the car category, if the car is damaged. Other companies set different amounts. Read three numbers in the contract: the excess for damage, the excess for theft and the deposit that will be held on your card.

If you plan to rely on your credit card’s rental cover, confirm with your card issuer that it covers Italy before you decline the rental company’s own. Take photos of the car, including the fuel gauge, before you drive off and when you return it.

Area C and Area B: driving into Milan

Area C is the charging zone inside the old city walls, the Cerchia dei Bastioni. Cameras at each gate read your plate.

• When: Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 7:30pm, all year except public holidays. Evenings and weekends are free.
• Cost: €7.50 per day. One ticket lets the same car in and out as many times as you like that day.
• How to pay: buy the ticket on the Comune di Milano’s Area C page, then activate it by linking the PIN on the ticket to your plate. You do not need to register.
• Deadline: pay by midnight of the day after you enter. From then until the seventh day, the ticket costs €22.50.
• Hotel garages: if your car is parked in a garage inside Area C, the daily ticket is €4.50. Ask your hotel whether it handles this.

Older cars are banned from Area C, but a recent rental car can enter once you pay. For questions, the Area C info line is 02 4868 4001, open 7am to midnight every day.

Area B covers most of the rest of the city on the same weekday hours. It bans the most polluting vehicles, and allowed vehicles pay nothing, so a new rental car is fine.

The easiest plan is to leave the car outside the center. The Comune lists park-and-ride car parks by metro stations outside Area B, open to every car, including Bisceglie and Molino Dorino on the red M1, Famagosta and Cascina Gobba on the green M2, and Comasina and San Donato on the yellow M3.

Tolls and Telepass

Most Italian motorways (autostrade) charge tolls. On most of them, you take a ticket when you join and pay when you leave, by cash or card.

• Pick the right lane. Lanes are tied to payment methods. The yellow Telepass sign means the lane is for cars with a Telepass device. If your rental car does not have one, use the cash or card lanes.
• Card trouble. If you cannot pay at the booth, you get a “rapporto di mancato pagamento”, a non-payment slip. You then have 15 days to pay it.
• The Pedemontana (A36). This motorway north of Milan has no toll booths: cameras read your plate. Without a Telepass, pay online at pedemontana.com within 15 days of each trip. If you do not, the operator starts debt collection and the fine is €87 to €344.

Ask the rental desk whether your car has a Telepass device and how tolls are charged if it does.

Fuel

Petrol is benzina and diesel is gasolio. Pumps marked “self” are self-service, and “servito” means an attendant fills the tank for you.

On 5 October 2026, the average self-service price in Lombardy was €2.045 a litre for petrol and €2.245 for diesel. Check which fuel your rental car takes on the label inside the fuel flap.

Speed limits

Road	Limit	In rain or snow
Motorway (autostrada)	130 km/h (81 mph)	110 km/h (68 mph)
Main road outside towns	110 km/h (68 mph)	90 km/h (56 mph)
Secondary road outside towns	90 km/h (56 mph)	90 km/h
Built-up areas	50 km/h (31 mph), up to 70 where signed	50 km/h

Signs can set lower limits on any stretch, like the 30 km/h sign at the Area C gate pictured above.

Parking basics

The color of the lines tells you the rule:

• Blue lines: paid parking. Check the nearby sign for the hours and the time limit, and pay at the meter or in a parking app.
• White lines: free parking, unless a sign says otherwise.
• Yellow lines: reserved, for example for residents or for disabled drivers with a permit. Do not park there.

In central Milan, street parking is hard to find. A garage or your hotel’s parking is easier: our hotels near Milano Centrale guide lists two with parking from €29 a day. If you are sleeping at the airport before you return the car, several hotels near Malpensa have parking and a shuttle to the terminals.

Driving to the lakes and on day trips

On Lake Como, the car ferry crosses the central lake between Bellagio, Cadenabbia, Menaggio and Varenna, so you do not have to drive around the arms of the lake. Parking in the towns is paid and fills up on weekends: in Varenna, the car parks charge €2 to €3 an hour, or €18 to €25 for the day.

On Lake Garda, the old town of Sirmione is pedestrian: leave the A4 at the Sirmione exit and use the paid car parks outside it. Our Milan to Lake Garda guide covers the train option too, and our guides to Varenna and Bellagio explain how to reach each town by ferry.

Alternatives to renting a car

• Taxis. In the city, a taxi is easier than parking. From Malpensa the fare to any address in Milan is fixed at €114 per car. Some drivers overcharge tourists, so I book mine through an app, Freenow by Lyft. Our taxis in Milan guide explains the fares.
• Private transfers. For the airport run with luggage, GetYourGuide lists private Malpensa transfers with the price per car.
• Guided day trips. Coach tours to the lakes include the driving and the parking. Compare Lake Como day trips from Milan or other day trips from Milan.