Rental Car Advise
 

All,

I am planning to pick up a rental car in September in Florence, then I am planning to spend a couple of days in Southern Tuscany, however, we don't have specific travel plans for this area and I cannot tell at this point which city I will drop off the car at. Are things pretty flexible in Italy as far as a rental car return in any town in S. Tuscany, or am I better off confirming a drop off in Florence back to where we started off?

Thanks for your advice.

If you are going to drop the car off anywhere but the pick up point you will need to get approal for this in advance - and there may well be an additional charge (just like in the US). If you drop it offf without permission you may not be credited with its return - and will have to pay until its returned to the pick up spot.

Hmm, thanks nytraveler. I am thinking that starting out in Florence and doing trips throughout S. Tuscany, returning back to Florence might be the best choice. Has anyone ever done this trip before in a car? I need specifics on time in car?

Thanks.

Where do you go next--there are several good options--with no charge.

bobthenavigator,

We will plan to pick up the car in Florence, then I would like to do Southern Tuscany (at least that is what I am thinking at the moment) for a couple of days. From there I initially planned to drop off car and take train to Rome, but now I'm wondering if it would be scenic and fun to drive to Rome (not too sure about that idea), we will of course have to get to Rome next after Tuscany.

Thanks Bob.

HI Bob,

Not sure if you saw my last message, I was trying to get more advice on the car rental options from Florence.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Nicole

Hi nicole,

Driving to Rome would be nice. Driving in Rome, not nice.

Many folks have suggested dropping the car at the airport (usually an extra fee) or dropping the car in Orvieto and training to Rome.

Orvieto is a very nice town to visit.

If you check the Kemwel and Auto Europe web sites, you can get a listing of the cities available for a car pick-up and drop in Southern Tuscany. (Towns in which they have car rental offices that match the company they will get you a car from in Florence.)

For those who are no yet aware of this, Kemwel and Auto Europe are sister companies; however, they do not have identical pricing. Sometimes Kemwel's pricing in Italy is better than Auto Europe's for certain locations, and Auto Europe's is better in others--so you need to check both sites. On our last two Italy rentals, Kemwel had better pricing for identical pick-up and drop-off locations.

Additionally, we have never paid a "drop charge" in Europe---unless we were returning the car in a country other than the one in which we originally rented it.

You will pay a "surcharge" for an airport pick-up in Italy, but not for an airport drop off. This is true for all companies working with Kemwel and Auto Europe.

As the other poster mentioned, you need to arrange your pick-up and drop locations when you book the car in the USA, before your departure.

If you check out this info, I believe you will get some other "options" to play with in making the most of your travel days.

We picked up our car this year in Florence and returned at the airport in Rome. We drove from Montalcino by taking the coastal route. Half of the trip was scenic and half was not, but it was an easy trip.

Hi Nicoleg,
We rented from Hertz in Florence. Originally, we were to pick up the car at their downtown location which is near the train station (Not real near w/luggage--be warned. Our TA told us their rental car was IN the train station...Not true!) We had our prepaid voucher and arrived in Florence on a Sunday. Hertz place was supposed to be open until noon that day. We arrived right before 12 but it was locked up tight. Not an employee in sight and another American with a reservation just as dumbfounded as we were. Long story short, we ended up cabbing over to the airport where there is another Hertz counter. They gave us such a hard time despite the fact their sister office closed earlier than the posted hours but we did eventually get a car. We returned it to the downtown location and again had some difficulty. They wanted to charge a surcharge because the pickup and drop off were different locations. My husband was able to reason with them and the charge was waived.

Our trip was great with the exception of our Hertz experience. We've used them many times in the US without problems but guess rules are different in their European division. (We also noticed the airport location agents being unneccessarily rude to some Swiss travellers who also had reservations...)

Debbie

I would drop in either Orvieto or Chiusi, depending on your itinerary, and train into Rome.

jabez,

Did you throughout Tuscany? Also, how long was the drive from Montalcino to Rome? That is a town I would like to visit along with Siena and Chianti and it may not be a bad way to end the trip driving straight to Rome and dropping off at the airport. Where did you find driving directions?

All,

Do any of you have any idea what the closest drop off point would be with Kemwel auto return. I am thinking we will now pick up car in florence and drop off in Rome. We are staying at Hotel Britannia and I can't seem to find a return location near our hotel (it is on Via Napoli.

Thank you all!

We have done the Tuscany to Rome drive. (We have also driven many other places including Paris, Dublin, LA, Chicago among the many.) I would not recommend it. The last part at least before Rome is not especially scenic and the hunt for the rental car return once we were in Rome was frightening. I wish we had known enough to go to Ovieto or Chiusi instead. If you must drive into Rome and there are 2 of you, one suggestion I wish I had thought of is stop the car as soon as city traffic gets bad, one of you flag a taxi and then the other follow the taxi in the car to find the rental car place. The taxi driver will know one-way streets and other things that are hard in a city with a map. Good luck!

This year we had a great price on a car from Thrifty (Italy by Car),but they didn't offer the option of an Orvieto or Chuisi drop-off. We elected to keep the car and "work our way" down to Rome. Driving frm the Florence airport to Greve was a cinch and also easy to Montalcino (we drove most of that area the previous year).
In Montalcino we asked the owner of the B&B we were at which route would he recommend to Rome.He recommended the route that goes through Grosseto and from there it follows the coast.
I believe it took about 3 hours.
Rome's airport is close to the coast and you arrive at it without having to fight your way around Rome.
We then returned the car and had a driver waiting for us.
Next year, if we follow the Florence to Rome route ,and not vice-versa,I would really try and train into Rome from southern Tuscany or Umbria.
Overall,I think I would enjoy it more.

THank you all. Think I made up my mind to drop the rental off in a town in S. Tuscany and train it to Rome, sounds like less of a headache! Thanks to all of you for your help!

Ok, I don't even see Orvieto on my S. Tuscany map. Is Chiusi closer to Montepulciano? I would like to find the closest town to that city then take the train and head to Rome. Also, which town is more beautiful to stay in Chianti or Montepulciano for one night as we will have a rental car.

Thanks.

Whoops, made a mistake. I would like to find the closest city with a train station to Montalcino, not Montepulciano. I would like to also stay our last night in either Chianti or Montalcino but I have no idea which town would be a better choice.

Thanks!

Hi,

>Ok, I don't even see Orvieto on my S. Tuscany map.<

That's because it is in Umbria.

Does anyone know how far of a drive it is from Montalcino to Orvieto? Also, any idea how long the train ride is from Orvieto to Rome?

THanks!