My husband would really rather rent a car in Rome to drive to Florence and then to Venice and to have for day trips from Florence.

Kindly tell us your favorite rental agency there. Thanks.

These are four suggestions I have always given:

www.autoeurope.com
www.its-cars-hotels.com
www.kemwel.com

and

www.travelocity.com

None of these actually rents cars. They broker a rate for you.

Best wishes,

Rex

robbiegirl,
just curious if you have succeded in finding reasonably priced car rentals?
we were also thinking of renting a car in Rome to drive through Tuscany to Florence.
we'll only be renting for about a day or 2.
Thanks

We will be training from Rome to Chiusi, renting a car, and then driving for 4 days in the Tuscany region. We thought about renting right outside of Rome but talking to friends and travel agents renting further out seemed more practical and less of a hassle with crowds, etc.
By the way, we'll be in Italy in early July - our 4 day car rental will cost us around $430 US.
Ken

We've done well with another broker, Nova Rentacar.

http://www.novarentacar.com/

I am actually renting a car in France from Hertz. With my AAA discount it is coming up about $100 cheaper then anyone else including AutoEurope.

That said, I did rent from AutoEurope in Italy a few years ago. The car was from Avis and was fine. As I recall, none of the agencies would rent to me in Italy without insurance even though my Diners Club gives me great coverage.

I've reserved through AutoEurope and they have beed great so far. They had my pick-up and drop-off times changed within 15 minutes of me deciding I wanetd them changed. Very good customer service so far, and a decent rate for an Avis car.

Jason

We have decided to rent a car the last day we are in Rome to enable us to get to Florence and spend four days there and take side trips.
While in Venice we will have the car parked outside the city and then can have it to take a side trip from there.

I have not yet booked a car. Is six months in advance too soon?

I believe that AutoEurope will give you any better rate that comes along, whether you book six months or six weeks in advance.

I used www.webcarhire.com and rec'd a rate of 310.Euro all inclusive for a small station wagon for a one week rental. We used the lasy May and they were great. They also broker through a couple different agencies. This time we are picking up at Europcar..

Why in the world would you want to rent a car? You have the perfect no car itinerary.

Trains are the best, fastest, cheapest and easiest way to travel among the big 3 cities and are useless in the them. Almost any day trip you could want to take from Florence is easily made by train or bus.

In regard to above post. One rents a car to see the countryside, stop off in little villages off the beaten path, and for the convenience, and for not having to sclep bags off and on a train and walk when you arrive. But it is a personal matter, and some people love the train and bus and that is fine also.Those people usually don't feel comfortabale driving, and so they shouldn't!!!
We usually keep coming back to Hertz, even though sometimes there is a little probleml..they have a wonderful customer relations dept. AutoEurope are indeed brokers...but part of the money is paid in U.S. ,, part after arriving overseas,..confusing! The first quote often does not include essentials.,and they start tacking on. With Hertz you get one quote with everything included. AutoEurope DOES have a 24 hr. toll free hotline to their office in Maine if there is a problem...and their prices are indeed a bit lower. Renting in Italy does cost more because it is one of the few countries that insurance is mandatory.

PLATZER: We want to be able to drive around and meander on our way from Rome to Florence and then again the 4 nights we are in Florence. A train allows you to look out the window but not make a turn here or there or a pullover when you want to.
A friend at work did it both ways and would only rent a car from now on. That is good enough for me.

mari3 said: "AutoEurope are indeed brokers...but part of the money is paid in U.S. ,, part after arriving overseas,..confusing! The first quote often does not include essentials.,and they start tacking on."

mari, I don't know how long it has been since you booked with Auto Europe, but when part is made as a deposit and part is paid when you pick the car up, your contract clearly shows side by side the amount paid and the amount due, both in US dollars and in local currency. I can't imagine how that could confuse anyone. And when you first look at the website to get a quote, only two prices will come up in the same sized print. One clearly says BASIC which is without the insurances, and one is for complete -- with all insurances. In ITALY there is only one quote as you have no option to decline insurance, it is always included. The only "essentials" I can possibly think of that they add on is for a phone, a baby seat, or some other option that I'd hardly consider an "essential". I've never added a single thing to their original quote.

One thing to always keep in mind with AutoEurope. Use the website for a general idea of the price, but always call them. Since your quote will be based on whatever agency the particular pick up address you clicked is represented by, when you call they are likely to suggest a different agency they use which may have a better price.

robbiegirl, we are with you a 100%. One of our favorite partys of the trip is having our car and enjoying our vacation at our pace. We leave when we want and we stop when we want..If we see a tiny little shop or view that we like we have the option of stopping. Nothing worse sounding to me than being trapped in a bus all day, having to eat at 12:30, having 45 minutes to explore a stop.. Rent your car and enjoy your trip. This is our 18th trip and we rented cars every trip with no regrets.
Last year we drove from Rome to Assisi,to Siena, Florence, and finally to Venice. This May we have 2 cars (6 of usthis time) and we are driving from Rome for a week stay iin a villa in Amalfi.We can hardly wait..

Gary , I believe you stated you use Autoeurope, correct? We are staying at the Aberdeen in Rome and would like to pick up the car the last day in Rome. Would we be best getting it from the Termini?
Also where would we drop it off in Venice? Is booking a car now, six months in advance, a bit too eager?

I am still trying to find a good airfare as well. I remember you have a great fare.

robbiegirl, we used AutoEurope last year. We picked up in Rome at Europcar's Via Cipro office and dropped off in Venice. It was an easy drive out of Rome from Via Cipro to Tuscany. We rented when an upgrade was available if paid in advance so had no difficulty paying ahead in dollars.

For our departure from Rome, I rented from Hertz, they were willing to drop off the car at our hotel, which was easier than bringing our luggage to a rental site. We then traveled North through Tuscany, stopping at Orvieto, Montepulciano, and made day trips from Florence. We made no arrangements for drop off, and it was left openended. Hertz was great in this regard. We called from Florence to say we were dropping the car off at the Gallopatoia, and instead we ran short of time and took it to Fiumicino. They were fine with this, and didn't even mention it. With the extra insurance and an empty tank it ran us 650E for the week for a Lancia.

Robbiegirl,
Yes definetly get your cat at the Termini station but get good directions for getting our of the city and definetly make plans to make your exit when traffic is not at it's peak. As far as fropping off the car when you arrive in Venice and have gottn as close to the city as you can get, you will see the rental car offices. They tend to close for lunch for 2 hours so plan arrival time accordingly. Our rental company left a note to drop the car in public parking and deposit the keys through a slot in the door. We were billed for 23.00 for parking and 1.5 extra hours of car rental of 15.00 per hour. When I saw the charge I called and it was promptly removed from my bill. Once we dropped the car we took a water taxi to our hotel ( 20 minute ride for 80 euro).In hind-sight we coould easily have take the vaporetta(water bus). I think a day pass was under 10.00 euro.
For a rental car check out www.webcarhire.com. I paid 310.00 including taxes and insurance for a station wagon for a week rental. Their prices were the best I found.The deal they gave me was with auteurope..
As far as your airfare just keep checking . The price I got (494.00) Miami to Rome was available one day for a couple of hours. We saved enough on the airfare to upgrade to a much nice Villa in Sorrento..
Let me know of any questions..
51 days and counting..

LOL..get a car not a cat...LOL