Car hire in Italy

we (family of 4) are holidaying in Northern Italy 24 June to 8 July and not sure if we will need a car (staying in campsite). Is it cheaper to book ahead from here and or would we be safe enough (in terms of expense and availability) to wait until we get there and see the 'lie of the land'?

Book ahead definitely.

Got married in Lake Garda last year - 80 of us went over, we all booked cars in advance, worked out much better.

I found autoeurope.com to be the cheapest-watch out in towns and cities cos its true what they say about those crazy Italian drivers, however they're really no worse than Dublin drivers at rush hour! Driving on the Autostrada is a dream- trucks stay in the slow lane and the fast one really is just used for overtaking. We could learn a lot from Italian motorways.

I booked a wagon in milan a month ago through hertz using aa membership. 259 euro for 10 days. I thought that was excellent.