Hi. We're renting a car in Florence and returning it in Rome after a few days in Tuscany and need to decide where in Rome to return it. There are many options within the city as well as at Fiumicino airport.
Do you think it is faster with less traffic to return the car at the airport and take the train to the city or should we just brave the traffic and drive in the city at noon.
Has anyone done this? What would you suggest?
Thanks!
Desiree
I think you will find it less stressful to drop off at the airport. The traffic and one way streets in Rome would be very challenging. Much easier to drop off at the airport and get the train into Rome.
Having done this many times, I would strongly recommend you return the car to Florence and take the train to Roma. First, the Annulare around Roma is not intuitive, second, you pay 20% more in Italy to rent a car at an airport, third, the return places at Leonardo DaVinci are not easy to navigate. But Americans love their cars and find it hard to go to Europe without one.
cml
Return it in Orvieto--a beautiful Umbria hill town. Take the train into Rome--about 1 hr.
Desiree, we picked up our car at the Villa Bourgeshee rental area in Rome. (near the Spanish Steps) The drive out from there was a piece of cake.......but Rome can really be a mess to drive in. If you want to drive into Rome, I heartily reccommend that add a GPS option to your rental car...........in fact, I don't plan on driving in Italy again uness I have one in the car. We always rent from Autoeurope.com (check out the rates on their web site), and every so often they offer the GPS units as a FREE option. If you have the GPS you can pick any rental area as your point of return.
Don't drop the car off a the airport in Rome. The fees will be higher and then you will have to pay either 11 euro per person for the train or 40 euro for a taxi into Rome. Too much expense and time wasted.
Drop the car off in Chiusi (Tuscany) or Orvieto (Umbria) and then take the train to Rome.
Wow - thanks everyone.
It definitely seems easier and faster to return the car in Chiusi or Orvieto.
I'm a little concerned that we'd miss some interesting stops on the drive to Rome, though we will have about 4 days in Tuscany to explore quite a bit. Any thoughts?
Hi Des,
We're doing the same thing and we're planning to drop the car in Orvieto or Spoleto, they're so close to Rome.
Drop the car prior to Rome. Save yourself a headache!
If you decide you must drive to Rome - pay the extra fee and drop at the airport. We know the way in and out of the rental area at Fiumicino now. But the first time was a total pain.
