½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Try,, [url]http://www.carrentalexpress.com/city_listing_page.html?CRX_page_id=456[/url]

Their 'premium van' from "Casual Car Rental "seems to be a Fiat Ducato [or similar]

In case you can't find a van - do you actually need a 'van' - wouldn't an MPV with the seats down do for carrying Flatpacks?

I know that my old Renault Scenic [not as big as the new ones] easily carried a double bed [flatpack] plus wardrobe [again flatpack] at the same time -

[Of course that relied on only having a Driver plus one passenger]

According to our 2004 copy of the IKEA catalogue they were open on 24/12/04 from 1000 - 1800 so presumably will do something similar this year. However, it does advise that you confirm these times directly with the store concerned.
As for van hire, I think you can hire one directly from IKEA, but having never done it I am afraid I do not know how it works.
IKEA did deliver to us in Le Marche without a problem - certain items are delivered free of charge, for others there is a scale of charges depending upon distance and quantity. We were not at the house when the goodies arrived but a neighbour signed for them and everyone was happy.
Remember there is also an IKEA at Bologna, so not too far from Forli, in winter this might be an easier route to Le Marche as you do not have to cross the mountains.
Regards
Anne2

Thanks Anne for that - will get someone in Italy to call em and double check. Forli is a good idea but we're trying to avoid Stansted and the long drive from Manchester for once and we can get to Rome from East Midlands. Also I think the Ikea is close to the airport there..I'm hoping to avoid snow and blocked roads at Xmas - thought it usually didn't get going till Feb in Le Marche - am I wrong?

Yes I have been looking at the possibility of people movers and minivans with seats but what I want is just a budget rentavan type really, was hoping we could find something cheaper than the people movers. I need to get quite a lot of flatpack stuff in! (yes I know its not the nicest but our budgets are small and it has to be better than the white melamine we've inherited with the house).

Thanks for the advice

Marina

Try Thrifty at [url]www.thrifty.it[/url]

I hired a van from them last year to take a load of furniture from the Bologna Ikea branch, to our house in southern Le Marche. They hire Citroen Jumper vans which are LWB Transit style vans. Only problem is they don't do one way rentals, but we hired one for a week instead of the usual small hatchback, and it only worked out about £60 more.

I agree that Bologna is probably a better bet than Rome in the winter, as it is motorway all the way from Ikea and goes down the coast to Le Marche, instead of over the mountains from Rome.

Graham

I would just recommend that you double check on line before you go that you can get the things you want at the time that suits you. It's very depressing to plan out a whole trip around furniture acquisition only to find that they are out of stock. Fortunately, the Ikea website does have a good feature that will tell you what each store has in stock and it can be programmed to alert you when they get new stock in.

Thanks for the tips. The flights are now booked, will have a go with Thrifty. We'll just have to take pot luck with whats in stock when we get there. Is that the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Ikea site you're referring to that has stock listings? My italian isn't up to that yet - I'm (daftly maybe) assuming that the stock is pretty much the same Europe wide so we can make 'intended' choices from the UK catalogue. Does anyone on the forum have an ½ûÂþÌìÌà 05 catalogue by any chance they could send me or is likely to be going there in the next month or so? I will gladly pay all postage of course..

Marina

You don't need a hard copy of the 2006 ½ûÂþÌìÌà catalogue. If you go on [url]www.ikea.it[/url] and click on 'Il nuove catalogo on line' you'll see the catalogue there. If you compare it to the UK 2006 catalogue you will see that it is almost identical apart from the special offers and the prices (obviously!).

You can search whether the products are in stock on the ½ûÂþÌìÌà site by looking down the left hand side of the home page until you see in red 'Verifica la disponibilita in negozio'. If you click on this it opens another window and you simply put the name of the article you want in the empty box and click ok. It may ask you to confirm exact requirements but eventually asks you which store. All this is done through drop-down boxes so is fairly straight forward. Once you click on the store it will confirm whether in stock or not.

Hope this helps!

[QUOTE=Marinaw] Is that the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Ikea site you're referring to that has stock listings? My italian isn't up to that yet - I'm (daftly maybe) assuming that the stock is pretty much the same Europe wide so we can make 'intended' choices from the UK catalogue. Marina[/QUOTE]

If you go to the 'IKEA Italy' website [Google does it] and copy the web address. Then go to 'Altavista Babelfish' [Google again] and paste the web address into the translator - you then get a very 'pidgin english' Ikea.it website.

Or ...... look at the English Ikea website [ikea uk] and use it as a guide for travelling around the Ikea.it website - the format of the two seems very similar

Thats brilliantly helpful. Thank you both very much!

M

Just to say I've been offered the kind of van you recommended - a citroen jumper for a week for 450 euros which seems reasonable - certainly much cheaper than the minibus options - through thrifty which turned into Italybycar online..
Don't suppose anyone has heard of anything cheaper? Or I'll be going with that.

The altavista babelfish translation of Ikea's catalogue has brought tears to me eyes. Hilarious but you can get the gist I guess.

Thanks!

I'm in Sicily so can't say for sure what's available where you're headed, but I've hired vans from both Avis and Europcar here in the past. A transit-sized van from Avis cost me about 60 euros for one day and the airport branch arranged to have the van available to collect at the airport.

Hope you find what you're looking for :)

One thing to look for on top of your daily rental is if they are adding on an airport surcharge. Depending on the country this can be quite a hefty chunk of money. If they are charging a lot perhaps consider collecting the van in the city to avoid the charge.

[QUOTE=Marinaw]Just to say I've been offered the kind of van you recommended - a citroen jumper for a week for 450 euro which seems reasonable - certainly much cheaper than the minibus options - through thrifty which turned into Italybycar online..
Don't suppose anyone has heard of anything cheaper? Or I'll be going with that.

The altavista babelfish translation of Ikea's catalogue has brought tears to me eyes. Hilarious but you can get the gist I guess.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

Are you sure it is 450 euro and not pounds - 450 euro sounds very cheap but you can get them cheaper than £450.

Well this is what they have said -
'DEAR MADAME,
WE CAN OFFER A CITROEN JUMPER Q 14 (3 SEATER VAN). THE WEEKLY COST IS
EURO
450,00 INCLUDING TAXES, VAT, BASIC INSURANCES AND UNLIMITED MILEAGE.
PAYMENT
IS ON ARRIVAL WITH CREDIT CARD.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT US AGAIN

They'll be excess cdw waiver I'm sure but we've got one of those brilliant annual policies for £50 which cover that as suggested on this forum. No mention of airport surcharges..

Its a relief to know you think thats an ok price.

thanks..

M

Had the same problem some time ago.

managed in the end to hire through Avis. had to phone them at Rome Ciampino airport as could not do over the internet. I think the number is 00 39 06 79 34 01 95 - but might be worth checking that.

Also tried Autoeuropa - [url]www.sbc.it/en/prenotazioni/index.asp[/url]

[QUOTE=Marinaw]
They'll be excess cdw waiver I'm sure but we've got one of those brilliant annual policies for £50 which cover that as suggested on this forum. No mention of airport surcharges..
[/QUOTE]

Just check - your annual policy may only cover cars - not vans

Thanks for replies - Tried Avis and the other one - both apparantly sold out of vans for Christmas so I've gone ahead and booked the other co at 450 euros.

Hmm Alan I have checked the policy and it says 'not valid for commercial vehicles, camper vans,mobile homes or vans with more than 9 seats' - commercial vehicles mean someone on business doesn't it rather than just lil ol me hiring a van? Not sure what that covers. Better call em I guess.

Thanks

M

Aha - just called them and you are quite right - no vans covered at all. *sigh* - they get you every time don't they?
They'll be an additional cost of about £80 to cover the excess I expect. Better have it with an interesting drive over the mountains I guess.
Thanks for pointing that one out.

M

Eeek have discovered the excess is 1000 euros for the van and you can only buy it out for theft or fire not for damage at all. We'll be driving VERY carefully on Xmas eve..

M

[QUOTE=Marinaw]Eeek have discovered the excess is 1000 euros for the van and you can only buy it out for theft or fire not for damage at all. We'll be driving VERY carefully on Xmas eve.[/QUOTE]

Look at Insurance4carhire you can insure the excess for a reasonable fee. Their website address is [url]http://www.insurance4carhire.com[/url]. We've been using them since they started and they provide peace of mind for £50.

[QUOTE=lotaresco]Look at Insurance4carhire you can insure the excess for a reasonable fee. Their website address is [url]http://www.insurance4carhire.com[/url]. We've been using them since they started and they provide peace of mind for £50.[/QUOTE]

That's the one that I use - but I think only covers cars - not vans

Unfortunately it does only cover cars - no vans at all..

M

We tried AmicoBlu about 4 years ago; their office was really helpful & we didn't have any problems. Admittedly this was the Genova branch but when a fax was sent they replied almost immediately.

It was as good as talking to them, but safer for those of faint heart(!)

I've just been to Ikea in Rome to buy a kitchen and they definitely hire vans. I got the whole kitchen including long worktop in my Renault Clio with room to spare, so another idea might be to hire a car at the airport and buy a roof rack at Ikea. They will refund you the cost when it is returned.

Thats useful to know - thanks. I think we'll stick with the big van we've hired - having done the sums while we were out at the house next week we need about £2500 worth of new drawers, tables, wardrobes and chairs and I don't think that lot will fit on a roof rack!

Though someone has said they think Ikea Ancona is opening this September not next Spring so maybe we could have done it all from there now too. *sigh* flights are now booked for Rome on 24/12 so we'll be doing the long drive anyway. I doubt we could have hired a van from Ikea for a whole week and I wouldn't want to do the drive twice.

Marina.

[QUOTE=Marinaw]
Though someone has said they think Ikea Ancona is opening this September not next Spring
Marina.[/QUOTE]

According to the latest (2006) IKEA catalogue it is definitely next spring when the Ancona branch will open. So, no wasted effort by your flying into Rome!

Regards
Anne2

Phew - thanks for that Anne - much relieved to know I've not jumped the gun with the Rome plan..

M