Picking up a rental car in Florence--Bad Idea?
 

I was planning on picking up a rental car in Florence, but I am struggling a bit on which car rental location in Florence to choose. We are arriving Florence via train, and then I was planning on not touring Florence, but instead heading to Chianti/Siena, therefore, I want the location that will offer me the quickist way out--all of the locations on the car rental website say 'Downtown Florence'. Is there a car rental place very near to the train station that will allow us to leave Florence without hassle?

Thanks!

The Florence train station is close to the pick up location for rental cars. It's either a doable stroll if you have a small amount of luggage or a short taxi ride if you have a larger amount. The drive out of Florence toward the autostrada to Chianti is an easy one. If you pick up at the airport, you'll definitely need to take a taxi, and there'll be a surcharge added to your entire rental cost. Go for the downtown pick up. Are you renting from Auto Europe?

It's my understanding that the Florence airport is closed for runway construction or repairs. I'm not sure if it's possible to rent a car from this location while the airport is closed. The closest airport would be Pisa. Maybe another Fodorite could clairfy whether the airport remains closed and if it would even be possible to pick up a car there.

First, just in case, others are misled by Betsy's reply above. No... Florence Airport is NOT closed. It was briefly, but reopened on 8 April.

Actually, in reply to the original poster, this depends a bit on which train station in Florence you arrive at. The two main stations are Santa Maria Novella (SMN) and Campo di Marte. If you are going into SMN, I would suggest you actually immediately get the bus out to the airport (Aeroporto Amerigo Vespucci). This is a very efficient bus service, which runs every thirty minutes from the SITA bus station (30 seconds walk from the front of SMN railway station). The bus costs about €5 and takes 20 minutes. The real advantage of this is that you pick up the car at the airport, which is well placed for getting out of the Florence urban area onto the main roads south to Siena and the Chianti-region. Indeed, the airport is right by the ring road, and so you'd avoid all the hassle of driving an unfamiliar vehicle in Florence's famously challenging traffic. Hope this helps.
Nicky Gardner
hidden europe magazine
http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

I was trying to rent from AutoEurope. They offer the following Florence locations:
Florence Downtown Office
Via Maso Finiguerra #33

Florence South
Via Erbosa 5-b

Florence Downtown Office
53-55r Via Borgognissanti

Florence City Office Gelsomino
Via Del Gelsomino, 11

Florence City Office
Via Forlanini, 2

Too many choices if one does not know where they all are!

Look the addresses up on www.mappy.com or www.maporama.com or www.via-michelin.com.

I like the Borgo Ognassanti location--about 4 blocks from the station near the river but easy route out of town heading south.

We picked up a car at the Borgognissanti location. It was almost a straight shot headed out to Sienna. The hardest part was reading the small print on the map we got from the car rental, but the best part is, we didn't get lost! We even walked to the rental place with luggage from our B&B which was further away than the train station; it was a bit of a hike, but doable.

We rented from Via Borgognissanti location (Thrifty, I think). It was very near the train station (SMN). Followed directions provided by the rental agent and getting in and out of the city was not particulalry difficult from that location - we were also heading into Chianti area.

Thanks for the heads up on the Florence airport, hiddeneurope! Hoping this misinfo didn't mislead anyone.

I totally agree with BobtheN's recommendation for picking up your car at the Borgo O location. Piece of cake to drive south from that location: Right turn out of the garage. Next left toward the river, next left for a short drive along the river, right over the river bridge, and it's a short drive to through a residential area to the autostrada.