re: Anyone ever rented a car in Europe?

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I would not count on a credit card for car insurance overseas. Just buy the insurance there and get the insurance that covers everything. It’s not expensive and can save your arse as it did mine.

An international drivers license is recommended and easy to get at AAA. It is not worth cutting corners if something happens.

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I'm not arguing just offering some counter points and my experience.

I have a USAA CC and it has free international auto insurance. The insurance is usually about 2x the car rental, so it is not cheap imo. I was side swiped while parked somewhere in England and it caused about $1200 in damage. The auto insurance company through USAA was excellent and paid me back in about 30 days. The negative is you have to foot the bill yourself. I'm not sure what happens if its a major issue?

An international drivers license is nothing but a translation into multiple languages, that is what it is for is to translate your info for them. With us being English I don't think its necessary at all. I'm not in a big city so the closest AAA to me is 60 mins away. It was a PITA to get it done so I likely won't again, I've driven 4 times and only had the IDL once.

But as said OP driving overall is very easy. Italians drive like maniacs though, but its very fun. The biggest issue is make sure your rental car is allowed to go to those other countries.