We are in the planning stages of a trip in late April. Start in Rome, then to Umbria, on to Tuscany, drop car in Florence.

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General question: Is there a way to search for rental locations other than choosing individual cities on a company's site? I wish they would provide a map of locations because I don't know where some of the towns are.
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More specifically...we planned to train to Foligno & p/up the car (hotel in Spello). But I haven't found any offices open on Sunday. If we have to rent in Rome, is Tiburtina a good location? Doesn't the metro go there? We've also considered taking the Ryanair shuttle out to Ciampino Airport to avoid driving in town.

In Florence, we plan to drop off at the airport to avoid driving in town. Is that the best way to go? (We are not adventurous drivers!).

Outside the largest cities, I don't think you are going to find car rental offices open on Sundays. You might try Perugia and Arezzo, which are accessible by train and less than an hour's drive to Spello.

Have you ever driven in Italy before? On a Sunday morning, I don't think you would experience a lot of traffic getting out of Roma, especially if you were willing to leave before 10am. If you go to the Slow Travel website, there are a couple of people on its message board who specialize in giving detailed directions for driving out of Rome, either from Termini Station or from the car rental offices near the Borghese Gardens.

Re Firenze, you definitely want to get rid of the car before you enter the city, which is filled with one-way streets and pedestrian zones.

Reading a few posts at Slow Trav it appears the preferred Rome pick up is at Borghese. Will make a note of that.

There's also the option of moving Rome to the end of the trip. We could rent the car upon arrival at FCO. Do youthink it would be too much to drive to Spello that day?

Do you mean after arriving from an overnight transatlantic flight?

I'm the wrong person to ask, because I get socked by jet lag very badly and thus never drive after a red-eye. But many travellers are very comfortable driving several hours after their flight arrival, and the drive from FCO to Spello is not logistically difficult. I believe it is mostly autostrade until you get to Spello itself.

Personally, I would rather drive OUT of Rome than into Rome. In most Italian cities, signs pointing to the autostrade or ring road are easy to find and follow, whereas trying to find a particular street or address might be a lot more trying.

So where would you be returning the car? If you would be ending your trip in Roma, dropping it in Orvieto makes sense.

I don't know why Borghese is the preferred pick up point with Slow Travelers. I'm sure if you stated your concerns on the message board you could be helped with answers.

We would return the car in Florence and train back to Rome after our stay there.

We haven't booked our flights yet, so can't even consider renting upon arrival until we've determined what time of day we'll get there. But it's a possibility. I don't get jet lag too badly (knock on wood!).