Explore sardinia by car hire from olbia to cagliari!

adminonJune 17, 2022February 11, 2022Leave a Comment

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Sardinia captivates not only by its cities and beaches, but also by the original hinterland. Conditions on main roads are good, so vacationers need have few concerns when visiting sardinia with a rental car.

The right car for your vacation

The size of the car depends mainly on the duration of the rental and the number of people. In case of a longer stay in sardinia, it may be difficult to store the necessary luggage in the rented car, so that a larger type of car may be useful. However, a large car can also be a hindrance – especially when looking for a parking space or on narrow and difficult-to-navigate country roads. Here the vacationer simply has to weigh up how he will spend his stay in sardinia.

In the rental car comparison on verivox.De you can compare different conditions and extras in addition to the vehicle type. This is how an air conditioner can at least somewhat alleviate the heat in the car during the summer months. However, this can also quickly drive up fuel consumption.

insurances

It is worth choosing a car rental with no deductible. You should also pay attention to the coverage amount of the insurances: for personal damages in italy 2,5 million euro are mandatory, for property damages half a million euro. The cheaper offers are usually limited to this legal minimum, while others are liable even in unlimited amount. The so-called mallorca policy of the local car insurance can cover the difference between the insurance and the costs incurred: a look at your own insurance documents before starting your trip informs you about this and saves money.

Other rental conditions

In most cases, the renter takes over a car with a full tank of gas and must return it in the same condition. But some rental companies charge an additional fuel and service fee for the first refueling. you can exclude such offers with the filter setting "pick up/drop off with full tank" exclude.

Accidents on unpaved roads can be problematic: depending on the provider, fully comprehensive insurance does not apply in this case. Therefore, vacationers should study the contract carefully beforehand.

Most vacationers want to pick up the rental car directly at the airport and do not want to take a bus or cab ride first. With the filter setting "station at the terminal save yourself a long walk to the branch of the car rental company.

Conditions for the rental

To rent a car in italy without any problems, the interested person should show a valid driver’s license and a credit card. The minimum age for renting a car is usually 25 years, which should guarantee a certain driving experience. This rule can be circumvented by paying a higher rental price.

When taking over the rental car, the vacationer should examine the car carefully. Damage to the paintwork, dents, stone chips in the windshield, etc. must be documented before the first trip so that no unjustified claims are made against the vacationer when the car is returned.

traffic rules in sardinia

As in germany, a speed limit of 50 km/h is prescribed within the built-up area, and further speed limits will be posted. On roads in sardinia, unless otherwise indicated, the speed limit is 90 km/h, on freeways 130 km/h. If the weather conditions are bad, the speed is reduced to 110 km/h.

All in all, driving a car in sardinia is an emotional but also relaxed affair: Italians serve the stereotype and drive quite spiritedly, but they can also be very accommodating. Only rarely do major difficulties arise. These traffic rules apply in sardinia:

In contrast to germany, cars do not have the right of way in traffic circles, but those turning into the traffic circle do. But the locals do not necessarily follow these rules.
It is compulsory to switch on the daytime running lights.
If the dog is travelling in the rental car, it must be strapped in in the same way as the human passengers.
markings at the edges of the road indicate whether a car may be parked here: white stripes indicate free parking, blue ones indicate that a parking ticket must be taken, yellow and black markings mean that parking is prohibited, and yellow stripes indicate parking spaces for cabs and buses.
school buses with hazard warning lights on resp. Warning lights must not be overtaken.
Drinking and driving is also a big issue in sardinia: the blood alcohol limit is 0.5 – above this, a fine of up to 500 euros can easily be imposed.

Sights: what sardinia has to offer

In winter, sardinia is certainly preferable to the weather in germany, but the island is most beautiful in spring, when it is covered in a dress of flowers, and in autumn, when the summer heat subsides. In summer, sardinia is sometimes very warm: ideal beach weather prevails and secluded bathing bays invite you to linger. Therefore, the island is suitable for water rats and sun lovers. But it also has a beautiful landscape and a lot of history to offer.

Olbia

the main airport of sardinia is located in the northeast of the island near olbia. the city itself is best explored on foot. Outside olbia, however, there are exciting excursion destinations: the best way to reach the sa testa fountain temple is by rental car. From there you can also visit the typical nuraghe, old buildings made of stones with an unclear function. They characterize the landscape of sardinia and can be found all over the island.

North of olbia begins the famous costa smeralda, where the rich used to gather. if you follow the winding coastal road with its magnificent views further north, you will come to santa teresa gallura, where you can take a ferry to corsica. However, not all car rental companies allow the transfer with the rental car or the use of the vehicle outside Italy. However, some operators make an exception for the route sardinia-corsica.

Cagliari

Just like olbia, cagliari in the south of the island is best explored on foot. However, for a visit to the famous beach il poetto it is worth renting a car. Also a trip to the sand dunes of the costa verde or to the red cliffs of arbatax is easy to do by car.

Alghero

Also the beautiful alghero in the northwest is a typical pedestrian town. A rental car is recommended for a trip to the necropolis of anghelu ruju, for example. the lighthouse of capo caccia and the neptune’s grotto with its impressive dripstones are also worthwhile destinations. With a rental car you can also reach sassari, the second largest city of sardinia.

If you are visiting mallorca for the first time, you will probably just book a package holiday and spend most of your time in the hotel complex or on the beach. But why actually? The island has so many beautiful spots to offer that it is almost a waste of vacation time not to visit one of them cars for rent and to roar with it over the country roads.

We tell you what to look out for to avoid any nasty surprises.

Why is it advisable to rent a car in mallorca??

Majorca has a good public transport network, but if you have ever taken the bus from alcudia to beautiful soller, you will agree that you do not want to do this a second time during your well-deserved vacations. On this route you first drive down to the capital palma. There you change to another bus to the valley of orange and lemon groves. It takes a good two hours for a one way trip to get there. You can do it once, then you’re sick of it.

Malloca-Monastery-Bonany-Petra-Sunrise-Mountains-Road-Car-Cross

With the rental car you get to places you could not visit otherwise

Or you want to go to sa calobra. Sure, it’s convenient to just hop on a bus in can picafort or pollenca and drive to the picturesque cyclops bay, but then you better be free of giddiness, because the big buses mercilessly roll along the winding serpentine roads. In a car, at least you have your fate in your own hands.

If you want to go to special places like the ermita de betlem monastery, the lighthouse in port de soller or remote beaches, there is no other way than to rent a car.

Which car rental companies are there?

At the airport "son sant joan" numerous rental companies compete for the favor of the vacationers. Known companies are for example car del mar, AVIS, hertz, europcar and record. Not every company cares about the well-being of the customer, but all too often only about their vacation funds.

Whether buying a tv, a new camera or renting a car, reading customer reviews is the key to success. In this discipline, europcar and AVIS perform comparatively well. However, there are lights and shadows everywhere, so ideally you should choose the "lesser of two evils.

Since all rental companies have websites, you should also look around there and study the terms and conditions carefully, so that you don’t get any extra insurance or other unnecessary things.

Rental cars on mallorca – what to look out for?

Absolutely recommendable is it to rent the car already in Germany. And not only one week before departure, but as early as possible. The closer the season, the more expensive it gets. Fortunately, we can nowadays on comparison portals such as billiger-mietwagen.De ad or check24.Leave the display, where you will be presented with the cheapest offer within seconds, depending on the parameters you have set. It could not be simpler.

Of course the companies are only after profit, therefore they want to rip you off with the gasoline and the insurance with pleasure.

Please pay attention to the fair fuel regulation "full/full. This means that you pick up the car with a full tank and return it with a full tank. So you pay only the real street price of gasoline

Enjoying beautiful views – that’s possible with your own car

When it comes to insurance, it makes sense to fully comprehensive insurance without excess as this is hardly much more expensive than with excess. In addition, you can book a premium protection, which also covers damage to tires and glass, which is usually not the case in conventional tariffs.

Tip: if you are afraid to rent so early in advance, it is not uncommon to find even small rental companies in the tourist resorts that rent out vehicles for relatively cheap money.

Check the rental car when you pick it up

In order not to be charged for any damage to the car that has already been done, please check the rented car thoroughly and make a note of any faults. In the best case still make photos, in order to be really prepared for all eventualities.

In case of ambiguity you are then on the safe side and can counter with solid evidence.

On the road in a rental car

Once you are finally in the car, you are ready to go. However, if you are driving on mallorca’s very well developed road network for the first time, you should familiarize yourself with the spanish traffic laws beforehand, especially with the speed limit.

Inside built-up areas – 50km/h
On country roads – 90km/h
On fast roads – 100km/h
On the highway – 120km/h

If you are faster and get caught, you can pay a fine of up to several hundred euros. If you are back home later and get the decision, you have the possibility to transfer the money immediately and pay only half of it.

So better get off the gas and enjoy the beautiful scenery!

You should also not let yourself get out of the calm, if the man behind you "sniffs the exhaust" too much, that happens on the island unfortunately more often. Also, as in Germany, it is forbidden to use your cell phone while driving.

Be careful at the traffic circle. You always have right of way in the circle, but some have a rather fast driving style and do not always keep to the flashing sign. If you miss an exit, you should not be nervous. Just do a "lap of honor" and then take the right exit.

Finding a parking space in deià is very difficult, especially in the summer

parking in mallorca

In most cities are parking spaces shortage. Here you are only allowed to park on or at blue lines and that also only with a parking ticket. You should also not try to do without a valid parking ticket in order to save money.

Those who are caught must pay, even if they are back home in germany. At yellow lines, mostly in front of houses, there is a general parking prohibition.

Caution in the mountains

although the transport network is well developed, extreme caution should be exercised when driving in the tramuntana mountains or on other mountain roads. Here it is sometimes quite narrow and when there is oncoming traffic and there is no limit at the edge of the road, some passengers will squint their eyes – especially when one of the big tourist buses passes by.

serpentines can make you feel quite uneasy during the first drive

Some curves are so narrow and steep that it is better to shift into second gear, sometimes even into first gear. The short, repeated sounding of the horn is useful, especially on narrow roads, to warn oncoming drivers that you are on your way.

Refueling in mallorca

In the rental contract of the rental company is written whether you have diesel or gasoline engine. With unleaded there are 95 octane, respectively. 98 octane. The octane number is the measure of the knock resistance of the fuel. A higher octane number reduces the risk of misfire. 98 is about 10 cents more expensive and at the gas stations with service, the gas station attendant of course takes the more expensive fuel, which you probably do not need. A small amount of money should go to the gas station attendant and his service department.

Finally, here are a few Spanish words for drivers to try out at the nearest gas station:

The Aygo is the smallest in the Toyota model range. It is almost identical in construction to the Citroen C1 and the Peugeot 108. The second generation has been on the market since 2014. The smallest car is only available as a 1.0 gasoline engine with 69 hp. Starting price: 9950 euros

T he nissan teatro for dayz is a car for people who like it colorful and varied. Like a smartphone, the electric small car can be customized with digital technology: inside, there are almost a dozen beamers that project any imaginable decoration onto the white seats and consoles: one second you’re in a colorful flower meadow, the next you’re diving into an aquarium or escaping into a comic world.

"you can even send short messages from one teatro to another," says nissan designer saturo tei, who completed the car for the tokyo motor show. "they then appear as ticker tape in the luminous strips on the car body."

Nissan is not the only Japanese manufacturer to come back with new ideas. The island nation’s entire automotive industry appears to be rebounding after years of economic stagnation left the entire country in a kind of shock paralysis. The low-priced mass-produced goods are now being supplied by the Koreans, but the groundbreaking innovations are coming from silicon valley.

In addition, a whole series of new challenges could make the car obsolete and threaten the very existence of the industry: the finite nature of fossil fuels, the urbanization of the world, the disinterest of young people and the aging of society. But where other car nations still ask questions, the japanese provide answers.

Toyota boss akiyo toyada speaks of a reincarnation. "now that we are stronger again, we have to do even more for our rebirth," he said at a recent press conference. Toyoda is too polite for provocative slogans and grandiloquent speeches, but when he appears in public these days, he does so with a broad chest.

In the first nine months of the year, the company founded by his grandfather sold more vehicles than VW and thus regained its position as the world’s largest car manufacturer. toyota also receives praise and recognition in all time zones for engineering achievements such as the hybrid drive of the prius and the fuel cell of the mirai.

Hybrid is a mass phenomenon in japan

The surge in innovation is no coincidence. the fukushima reactor disaster has dramatically demonstrated to the japanese the urgency of the energy transition. And what we can expect in the megacities of tomorrow can already be seen in tokyo today: four times as many people live in an area smaller than paris as in the French capital.

Demographic change is already omnipresent on the streets of the metropolis. Nowhere do you see so many old people who can no longer drive a car, and nowhere so many young people who don’t want to start in the first place. "our youth is losing the desire to drive," says nissan designer satoru tei.

There are still full-throttle fans who, like in the hollywood movie "the fast& the furious: tokyo drift" racing wildly tuned sports cars along the beltway around the capital at night. But most young people prefer to occupy themselves with their smartphones. If you can get around faster on a driverless subway than on an eight-lane expressway on one of four levels, there’s little reason to be interested in a new car either.

With the Tempo concept car, Daihatsu shows that it is also possible to accommodate a small commercial operation on a length of 3.395 meters

The Japanese engineers’ priority for the time being is the further development of alternative drive systems. The new toyota prius may not be a beauty, the plug-in version is still only available as a small series, and in europe the hybrid will only be available with an antiquated nickel metal hydride battery. And yet the model stands for an incredible success story.

"we now have over eight million cars on the road," says toyota chief engineer koji toyoshima, "and 30 different hybrid-powered models on the grid."in tokyo, no one doubts that the prius will shoot to the top of the registration statistics when it goes on sale in december.

While the hybrid has long been a mass phenomenon in Japan, the electric vehicle is also losing its exotic status: it’s not tesla that builds the most battery-powered cars in the world, but nissan. If you drive the Leaf through tokyo or yokohama, you’ll see more charging stations on the navigation map than ATMs.

"there’s no way around the fuel cell"

And now the next revolution is about to start: "we are on the way to the hydrogen age," says yoshikazu tanaka, who developed the mirai for toyota and wants to launch the fuel cell in a big way, a kind of mini-reactor that generates electricity from hydrogen and emits only water vapor as exhaust gas.

The fact that honda is already hot on his heels with the recently unveiled clarity does not bother him. Tanaka is happy to have everyone on board: that’s the only way to give the technology the momentum it needs to build a nationwide infrastructure, for instance.

The cars themselves will not be the only thing to go wrong. A test drive with the clarity shows that – even if the design is an imposition, just like the mirai. The handling is like that of an electric car. The limousine is said to travel up to 700 kilometers and can be refueled in three minutes. The hydrogen tanks mounted behind the rear seat are as large and bulky as gasoline drums.

The fact that the journey into the hydrogen age will probably still take some time is shown by two figures that honda boss takahiro hachigo rather meekly adds: similar to the toyota mirai, the clarity will cost the equivalent of just under 60.000 euros, and in the first year honda plans to build no more than 200 cars. Nevertheless, hachigo is convinced that "this will lay the foundation for the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles."

In the long term, there’s no way around the fuel cell anyway, says toyota’s tanaka: maybe it will last another 30, 50 or even 100 years – but one day we’ll run out of oil, and we’ll need a new fuel. Maybe we won’t even need cars anymore.

until then, men like satoru tei will ensure that new cars continue to be bought in japan. At nissan, the designer is responsible for the so-called kei cars, the driving hatboxes that enjoy tax breaks in their home country and dominate the market with a 40 percent share of sales.

These cars are available only in japan, so tei does not have to take into account the tastes of americans and europeans. Instead, it lures domestic customers with what they love: comic book characters, bright colors and screens everywhere you look. On the road, the tiny cars often look like they’ve slipped out of a toy store.

"it’s probably in our genes," says tei. "in japan, we have the wildest comic culture in the world."this is rubbing off on all areas of life: "the japanese decorate their cell phones more imaginatively, they dress more extravagantly – and they like colorful cars."

models like the teatro for dayz with its projection surfaces give you the opportunity to break through uniformity and somehow feel individual even among nine million neighbors.

Drivers in leipzig or los angeles may sneer at such gimmicks, but experts rave about the designs from japan. Studies from europe have become unimaginative and boring, grumbles cologne design critic paolo tumminelli. "the japanese allow themselves much more freedom and are not so caught up in their own brand and design myths."

lutz fugener, design professor at the university of applied sciences in pforzheim, also believes that "socialization with the omnipresent mangas, great trust in technology and a historically developed understanding of the relationship between nature and artifice" is a mixture that "pleasantly stands out from the worldwide uniformity of consumer products.

While tei takes care of the next generation, honda boss hachigo tackles the aging of japanese society with mobility concepts that go beyond cars. life expectancy in its country is the highest in the world.

For every 100 people of working age, there are 42 who are over 65; ten million japanese have reached their 80th birthday. centenary is already behind us, and nowhere else are there so many centenarians.

So it’s not just a gimmick that honda has been touring the shows for years with a robot called asimo. The little computer boy serves as a moving test object, from which honda has already derived, among other things, electrically powered leg braces for frail pedestrians.

Daihatsu builds barrier-free microbus

As funny as the electric office stools that are whirring across the stands at the motor show in tokyo may look, their background is serious: just like the "wander stand" study, a two-seater with an electric drive, they are mobility aids for people who can hardly move under their own power anymore.

Even the manufacturer daihatsu, which withdrew from the european market two years ago, is devoting more attention to the needs of older people and is presenting a barrier-free microbus with its noriori study. The daihatsu hinata, on the other hand, has a bench seat that can be turned completely to the side to make getting in easier.

It seems that Japanese carmakers have returned to the tradition of the monozukuri. "that’s what we call striving to think ahead and invent new things," says akiyo toyoda. He admits it won’t be easy or comfortable. "but if we don’t leave the comfort zone, we’ll never find the way to the future."