Dear Fodorites,
We'll be driving around Puglia later this month. I want to pick up and drop off our rental car from Bari. Since we'll be taking the train from Bari back to Rome, I want to find the closest (reputable) car rental office near the train station. It looks to me like Hertz is the closest. Does anyone know? There's an AutoEurope office in the vicinity but farther from the station.
Thank you in advance!

We rented a car through Hertz at the Bari airport. There are some agencies downtown, but I am unsure how far they are from the rail station. However, do not confuse AutoEurope with Europcar. AutoEurope is a broker. Their office is in Portland, Maine. If you rent directly via Europcar and have a problem, also be aware they are located in Europe. They are an agent who can rent you cars from companies like Hertz and Europcar. And I, as other Fodorites, highly recommend them. Call them and they can advise on proximity to rail station, for example. We, unfortunately, booked directly with Hertz and paid about double when we elected full insurance. AutoEurope, even when booking with Hertz, has very reasonable daily insurance rates, and they usually offer lower prices than the car rental websites. We have three rentals with them for our upcoming trip.If interested, here is link to our Fall 2016 Puglia trip: 7 days/6 nights in Puglia

Dear Whitehall,
Thank you for the information. Yes, good to be reminded of the difference between AutoEurope and EuropCar.
I re-read your trip report, having already read it several months ago when first planning our trip, and enjoyed it just as much this time. I chuckled aloud at the description of the parking attendant's Italian lesson!
Thanks again.

I picked up from the Hertz location near the train station. We walked there from old town, and it was not difficult to drive out of the city from there.

Dear Yorkshire,
Thank you! That is what I decided to do too, but it's nice to get confirmation from someone who's done it before. How did you find driving in Puglia or finding parking? Did you have GPS?

I navigated (using GPS and google maps on iphone) and husband drove (our first time driving overseas). No problems! I think only in summer would parking be difficult. Other than driving into Lecce, it was all fairly rural. Learn the signs for ztl and parking rules and you'll be fine, enjoy!

Thank you Yorkshire!