best place to rent a van in Rome?

....driving to/around Florence for the rest of the trip

H and welcome to the forum -
Just to clarfy, you don't intend on driving the thing IN Florence, do you? Not recommended.
Where in Florence are you staying, and how many of you are traveling in this multigenerational family? Where else are you planning to go with this van?

Hi Kathy!
Thanks much. There are 5 of us (my dad is 6'6" so small vehicles are not ideal) and we are staying at an agriturismo NE of Florence. We're planning to use the van to drive between places, but not into towns or cities (Rome to agriturismo, Rome to La Spezia to park and take the Cinque Terre train, and then to Venice where we depart via plane).

Traffic in Rome can certainly be brutal and I would not recommend driving in Rome, especially if you have a larger vehicle. No matter if you rent it at the airport or in the city.

Do you have any plans for the trip from Rome to Florence? If not just take the train to Florence.

When renting in Italy I (actually many of us here) use a broker called AutoEurope. They work with the major companies operating in Europe (Hertz, Europcar, Avis Budget, Sixt, etc.). Check their multiple websites (they merged with Kemwel years ago):
www.autoeurope.com
www.kemwel.com
www.autoeurope.com

If you can, try to minimize your luggage and choose the size that is smallest for your needs, maybe a compact SUV or a mid-size car might do. Vans are super-expensive to rent (approx. 2 or 3 times the price of a compact) and difficult to drive (and especially park) in the narrow Italian streets and roads. Be aware that Italian roads (aside from freeways, which you will probably not get to use much), tend to have narrower lanes and have no shoulders on the sides, compared to US highways.

When in one of the websites above select ROME ALL LOCATIONS as pick up location. Then choose the best deal, as prices, even with the same rental company, vary depending on pick up location (airport or central station is often more expensive). There are multiple offices in the city for all companies, and if you select a certain model to be picked up at that location, they will have it (or they will bring it from a nearby office).

Once you select the location that is cheaper, get there by taxi with everybody in your party and with all your luggage. In all likelihood you will be unable to drive back to the hotel to pick them up. There are lots of traffic restriction downtown Rome and only residents with permit can enter and many hotels are inside such restricted zones (a.k.a. ZTL or Limited Traffic Zones). Rental offices are outside the ZTL, but from there you can only exit the area not go back to a hotel inside the ZTL.

Rome to La Spezia

If you will be staying near Florence, why the 'Rome to La Spezia' trip? Much shorter trip to La Spezia from Florence.

Have you looked at dropping the car in Florence and taking the train to Venice?

If you will be staying near Florence, why the 'Rome to La Spezia'
trip? Much shorter trip to La Spezia from Florence.

I assumed that was a mistake and that they meant Florence to La Spezia. But I think that renting a car in Florence and returning it there makes more sense. And use the train from Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice.

probably with the agriturismo you are stuck using a car, aren't you?

Are you familiar with the concept of ZTL areas which are very expensive to enter due to the high fines and charge from the company?

I don't think you said how many are in the group, but if it is getting close to the number of seats in the vehicle, are you aware of the tiny amount of space for luggage since the extra row of seats is folded down?

Have you looked into 2 smaller cars which may be cheaper too?

Nigel, the OP shared this in their 2nd post:

There are 5 of us (my dad is 6'6" so small vehicles are not ideal)

Sarah, I was hoping that others in the RS community who provide really solid advice around exploring-Italy-by-car questions would join the thread, and so they have! I just knew that to provide that advice that they were going to need more info, thus my initial queries. While we've not yet rented in Italy, it's just sort of general knowledge that a car is a bad idea for Rome, Florence, Naples and other locations throughout the country. If staying rurally, as you are, it is understandable why you'll need a car; that wasn't clear in your first post. :O)

If planning on sightseeing along the way to the next accommodation, you do not want to leave anything in an unattended vehicle that you can't afford to lose. You also won't be just rocking into many town/village centers with a car due to vehicular restrictions; you'll be parking, say, outside of hill-town walls and/or local driving/pedestrian zones.

yes, I saw Dad's height. I'm six ft exactly so I understand how some vehicles wouldn't work. Even some vans may be high enough but not sufficient legroom. So you have to check. There are some smaller cars with lots of headroom.