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How to get to Malta with a rental car?

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shof2023

Dear Community Members,

I am in the process of organizing a move to a new home in Malta and am considering transporting some items by car. I am interested in knowing whether it is feasible to rent a car e.g. in Sicily or any other place in continental Europe , take it to Malta via ferry, use the car in Malta for a few days, and then return it to Sicily using the ferry again. Any insights or experiences you can share regarding this process would be greatly appreciated.


Warm regards, Sebastian

Bhavna

@shof2023


Welcome Sebastian,


Very good question ! I hope members will guide you soon.


Regards

Bhavna

hanselmar5

Welcome Sebastian,

in the first instance you have to ask any car rental company if they agree you bring the vehicle across to Malta. There are often rental restrictions  which do not allow you to bring a vehicle across from Sicily to Malta. Furthermore I have the impression rental companies in Italy are often expensive. If you find a rental company in Germany that might be fine. When I came across to Malta my friend in Germany was willing to rent out his vehicle for a week for 250 Euros, but I had to pay all the fees for fuel and the motorway=autostrada in Italy. I eventually decided against it and took a mover.

shof2023

Dear hanselmar5, many thanks.

I have contacted care rental companies in Germany and Italy and it looks like no car rental company allows for boarding a ferry to Malta. But I am not 100% sure and maybe members have some hands-on experiences.

May I ask which mover you have chosen?

Best regards, Sebastian

hanselmar5

When I moved my furniture I contacted Carl Hartmann Uberseespedition in Bremen. However, before that I was in contact with my former colleague Eduard who owns The Red B company in Paderborn. His vehicles are up to 3.5 tons. This means if you have light furniture and boxes a small vehicle might be sufficient. In my case I decided for a container which was shipped from Hamburg to Malta. The voyage took 4 weeks. The vehicles of Red B transport were not big enough.

shof2023

Just a quick note for those facing similar challenges.

I drove a rental transporter from Germany to Calabria, Continental Italy, and a Maltese company, iTransportMalta, took over the cargo and boxes for the route from Calabria to Malta. Rental transporters were not insured on ferries, so this arrangement worked well. It was very cost-efficient, and the move was completed in 10 days, including delivery to Gozo and return of the transporter in Germany.

hanselmar5

Sure, this is interesting for people who have to ship goods from Continental Europe to Malta. Perhaps in your case it would have been cheaper to drive as far as Pozzallo Habour in Sicily and transfer goods to the Maltese shipping company. Virtu Ferries have daily connections between Sicily and Malta and most of the food and goods deliveries use the route from Pozzallo to Malta.

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