Best place to rent car for Tuscany trip?

I believe you’ll have to change trains in Florence so you can just pick up the car at rental locations near the station
No need to go to the airport ( which will cost more and wrong direction)

Chiusi is ok but I think only 1 choice there now and hours are limited.
You can drop the car there then train to Rome

There are many threads here about driving safely out of Florence-look for directions from Roberto

Read up on driving in Italy and all drivers must have an IDP

We always rent our cars thru www.AutoEurope.com
Also check AutoEurope.eu-sometimes better rates

Rented my car in Chiusi.

Drove to friends house in San Casiano dei Bagni. During my stay we drove to and explored Orvieto, Todi and Celle Sul Riggo.

Returned car and headed to Florence by train. Took the RS Florence tour. Trained back to Rome from there.

What Christine said.
Rent in Florence downtown, as airport pick up is usually more expensive due to airport fees (plus you need €25 for the taxi to get there).
Check Chiusi too, but they only have Avis-Budget now and choices of cars (especially if you need automatic) may be limited, since it is a small franchise office. Also check hours of operations.
AutoEurope (a broker) is a great source.

Besides Florence and Chiusi, Arezzo and Siena also have car rentals just to give you some other options.

We rented a car near the Florence train station. We used GPS to get out of town and were in Chianti in less than an hour. We booked through Autoeurope.com to find a good rate.

We've rented from Avis-Budget in Chiusi a couple of times. Short walk from the train station, in and out quick, easy train ride to / from Rome or other destinations.

We are going to Tuscany in September and also planning to rent a car at the end of our stay in Florence. We initially booked a car in downtown Florence but then based on advise from TripAdvisor forum and some other blogs rebooked to airport pick up. Walk form our hotel to train station location is 10 min and taxi ride to airport 15 min. Airport rental wound up being more than 2 times cheaper and we do not have to deal with TLZ zone. We decided to make our life easier. Hope it was a right decision. We booked through autoeurope. One way rental, returning a car in Spoleto.

I’m getting a rental through AutoEurope in the spring. I’m picking it up in Perugia (in Umbria) where I’ll be for the first part of my trip, and dropping it off in Chiusi which worked best since I’ll be staying in Montepulciano for the next part of my trip before heading back to Rome.

Thanks for all the advice. We will pick up the car in Florence, but return in Arezzo. The price was not much higher to do so. Question about Arezzo now. I'm seeing 2 train stations there, Casello and Pescaiola. Trying to get to Rome Termini station. The Hertz rental where we return the car is Concessionaria Autopiave Srl, Via Galvani 30 c/o, Via Luigi Galvani, 30, 52100 Arezzo AR, Italy. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Local trains schedules up to December 10 are available on www.trenitalia.com/en.htm

Start typing Arezzo in the FROM box. You can either pick Arezzo (the main station) from the list or pick the closest station to Hertz according to Google Maps. I doubt the secondary stations like Pescaiola are served by direct trains to Roma Termini, but I could be wrong.

I think you’re going to want the station that is just called “Arezzo” by Trenitalia, unfortunately it is a 38 minute walk from Hertz so I would suggest seeing if they can call you a taxi when you return the car.

There are trains from Arezzo main station that run directly to Roma Termini.

Thanks! Yes, I was thinking a taxi to the train station from Hertz. And if I’m reading the train schedule correctly it’s Regional trains only to Rome and you buy tix right at the station. Not like the fast trains where you need reservations, correct?

Yes mostly regional trains (Regional Veloce - RV) I believe, there may be an odd IC (Intercity) in addition which would have variable prices and could sell out.

No real advantage to buy Regional tickets ahead, prices are always the same.

Chiusi is a fantastic place to use as a hub for travel through Tuscany and Umbria. Picking up and returning a hire car there is a breeze and it's perfect for the fast trains to Rome and Firenze/ Milano. We go there every year.

Perhaps next time, depending on how long you're in Europe, you should consider leasing a brand new Peugeot or Renault (picking it up in Nice?) - I think 3 weeks is the minimum lease period but you can return it anywhere inside France at no additional cost and drive it all over the EU.