Dear noambit.com,
We are 60 years old and middle class (not rich, not poor). We have been to rural France once (in 2005) for two weeks. We would like to visit Italy for 2-3 weeks. We enjoy small towns, art and history. We rented a car last time and had no problems. After reading all the horror stories of others, over charges, vandalism, unsafe cars, tickets etc. We would like to find a less stressful way, to get around. Is there a (recommended)way to hire locals, to drive you around (for several days). That would seem like a great way to get local history, culture and some language tips. My wife doesn’t drive and I miss a lot of the sites, because I need to focus on the driving. We don’t want to take a tour bus and be on a schedule, with 30 other people. Also what is the best way to get from a large airport to the small town, you wish to stay in? We were a little surprised at the lack of public rest rooms (in France) and the condition of the ones we did find. A hole in the ground is ok when you can physically use it, but after two hip replacements, it is a problem. Does (rural) Italy have the same type of bathroom situation as France? These probably seem like petty questions to the younger travelers, but their time will come. We never understood the importance of travel, until our later years. Our hats off to those who venture off (at a young age) to see the world. You are way ahead of us, on the learning curve.
T. & L.
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Hi T. & L.,
Thanks for stopping by the website. I hope it has been helpful as you plan your trip.
Regarding your question about hiring someone to drive you around Italy; I must say first that I have never done this and therefore do not have any first hand experience to speak from. That being said I did do a little research and to be honest, was a little surprised at what I found. There do seem to be a number of these services to choose from. How much you are willing to pay seems to be the deciding factor. I think obviously you can’t expect this to be cheap and safe but if you have the extra money it can be done by hiring reputable 
professionals. For a sampling of these services check out the links following the article at slowtrav.com
Another company that came up with a quick Google search of “hire a driver in Italy” was;
http://www.milanobycar.com/
For my part, I certainly would not have the money to do this sort of traveling (yet 
) so I might look into taking a train. If you are going to do a lot of moving around in Italy and can put up with the sometimes less than spectacular rail service (often they just paste a piece of paper with a “1″ on it over the “2″ and call it first class) why not a rail pass?
You can both relax and there is really very 
few places you can’t get to with a few transfers. Weigh the price against a sample itinerary of point to point tickets. That is, plan out a possible trip with the cities you plan on visiting and go to www.raileurope.com and start plugging in departure and arrival locations. After you get a rough estimate of your point to point ticket cost compare it with the price of a rail pass. All in all this will be cheaper than the car hire but it might not be your cup of tea.
With a rail pass however, you will be able to hop on a train from the larger airports and head straight to your destination. In general you can get on a train in or near most major airports and be on your way towards the smaller town of your choice. From what I gather from the websites the car hire service would also be useful 
for this sort of thing too.
Now for the toilet situation. Personally I have never run into the hole in the ground issue in Italy that I have in other parts of Europe. That being said I have also spent most of my travel time in Italy in the larger cities. After talking to other travelers it would seem that the farther south you go and the more rural it is, becomes an equation that equals an increase chance in finding these types of facilities. If this is big concern for you, survey the website of the place your staying to see if this is mentioned or if pictures exist. Using sites like www.tripadvisor.com or www.venere.com and reading reviews of the accommodation that interests you will usually point out such things when, if it exists, the location’s own website might not.
A little research on my part took me to a, shall we say, rather specialized website that discusses just this sort of thing and may be useful to you. Be warned some may find the material and or discussions a little….odd?…but then again each to their own and quite frankly the site does answer your question.
Once again thanks for stopping by www.noambit.com and I certainly hope I helped answer your questions. I’m glad you and your husband are enjoying travel in Europe. No matter what age you are, when you’re there the building next to you is older. So, enjoy your youth.
Happy Traveling,
Chris.
