We will have a car in which we will drive from the Naples area to Tuscany. After five days in Tuscany, we originally planned on driving from Castellina to Venice. But we thought it would be more relaxing to take the train from Florence to Venice. But that would mean driving into Florence on a Saturday morning to drop off the car.

Does anyone have experience with dropping off a car in Florence who would care to offer the pros and cons? The location of the dropoff is Via Borgo Ognissanti.

Check the drop times for a Sat. at Piazzale Roma in Venice. If they fit, I would drive. Too much hassle with luggage, trains, and driving into Florence-- and the time is the same.

You'll arrive in Venice sooner if you drive, in this case. I do not think that the drive will prove so tiring that the train "rest" is a compelling advantage.

And the car is free for that day, right (I mean, you won't be going over your seventh day, right?)

Best wishes,

Rex

Ditto. The drive to Venice should be pretty easy; driving into Florence to drop off the car would be anything but! Getting into Piazzale Roma is much gentler, and you won't have to drag your luggage twice. I say, go for the drive.
Paule

I can't speak for the drive to Venice, but I can speak to driving into Florence to return your car.

We returned our car to Hertz in Florence on a Saturday morning and had no problem with traffic.

The city can be confusing. If you do return your car in Florence, it is imperative to know exactly where your rental car should be returned, then double check on a map.

I agree that driving seems just so easy and, hence, why we originally chose to drive. However, the only drop-off location open when we arrive in Venice is Marco Polo Airport. I'm just not sure if this will take up too much time and cost much more to get to the hotel from the airport as opposed to arriving at the Venice train station.

I'm not sure if we will have to pay for another day to drive, but I think so because we want to take our time and not rush if we drive. Also, there is a special train rate for Saturday travel of 30E each to anywhere in Italy.

Given these circumstances, would you still drive? Or would taking a train from Siena be a better alternative? Although that requires changing trains in Florence.

I agree dragging the luggage just once is a big plus to driving.

Hi lorac,

There is bus service from the airport to Pz Romana in Venice. There is the Alilaguna ferry from the airport to several stops in Venice.

They are both cheaper than the 30E train ride.

PS, the usual price for Florence/Venice 1 cl in the ES* is only 39E.

Surely you can return the car to Pzza Romana - - not just to Marco Polo.

I know I have. In fact, read my account of it here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34475425

Yes, you can return it to P. Romana, but it must be before 12:30 on a Saturday. And we will definitely not get there by that time. So Marco Polo is the only option at that time.

Who are you renting from? I'm 99% sure some of the agencies are open on Saturday afternoons. If you're dealing with AutoEurope, call and ask them if one of the other agencies is open for returns. Sometimes they've quoted you a particular agency when another might be available for the same rate or even less.
Also, I noticed that on the Auto Europe site, most of the agencies that close on Saturday at either 12:30 or 2:00 PM, do have a drop box for returns. I've done it before and I would not hesitate to do the drop box thing (but just to be absolutely safe, I'd take a number of pictures close up of the car from the four sides to show there is no damage).

In reference to the luggage "shlepping" issue - - you could return the car in Verona -- easy to drive into, there are all kinds of rental car stations right AT the train station, very convenient. Then you have a short ride to Venice.

Of course, I am not sure about the hours of those locations.

Patrick, we are renting from AutoEurope, and I'm assuming it is with Avis. Venice has a few drop-off locations but the only one open in the afternoon, according to AutoEurope, is the airport.

The reason I hesitate to use the drop box is because of people who have done so and were charged "garage" fees for storing the car until the office opened. I never heard of such a thing, but folks actually did have it happen and were charged around $50 a day. Sounds crazy, I agree.

So if we decided to stick to our original plans and drop off at the airport, does anyone foresee a downside to that option?

Thanks for all your input.

So if we decided to stick to our original plans and drop the car off at Marco Polo airport, does anyone foresee a downside to that option?

The only downside I can see is the cost and time of transportation from the airport into Venice. I've never done that, but there are lots of posts here about the options. It would just be so much easier to be able to hop onto the Vaparetto right at Piazzale Roma -- but I guess sadly that isn't an option.