Greetings fellow travelers, planning on a trip next year to this area--will take train from Siena to Chiusi for an opportunity to visit the many towns that make up the Heart of Tuscany. Has anyone rented a car from Chiusi recently and if so, how close is the pickup/dropoff garage and which rental seemed the best choice. Will be travelling to Rome from Chiusi after this stop---any suggestions on places to stay in Chiusi area would be much appreciated----thanks as always Greg
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18077 posts
Given your intended itinerary you could also consider to rent your car in Siena and drive down to the towns you want to see (I presume in the Val D’Orcia) which are roughly located between Siena and Chiusi. That way you can avoid going to Chiusi and back track to those locations.
To answer your question, the only rental agency present in Chiusi is Avis-Budget, which is located walking distance, about 200 m. (700ft) from the Chiusi-Chianciano train station, on the Florence-Rome old rail line (not high speed). The agency is at the location linked below:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/J11KTuiaGkRvGVrq9?g_st=ic
To rent a car in Italy I use a broker called www.autoeurope.com
Check pricing there to see what your options are. You can rent a car in Siena or Chiusi and return it in Rome, or you can also return it in Chiusi and take the train to Rome. In any case if you want to return the car in Chiusi (no matter where you pick it up), the only choice is Avis-Budget because that is the only game in town. Siena (and of course Rome) have also Hertz, Europcar and maybe other brands.
Be aware that the Siena and Chiusi rental car agencies close on weekends from Saturday at about noon to Monday morning at 8am, so pick up and returns may be available only on weekdays.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18077 posts
If you have never driven in Italy also do your homework and get information on mandatory IDP, ZTL, International road signage. Some suggested sources of information are below.
https://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html
https://www.autoeurope.com/italy-ztl-zones/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Italy
For street navigation while I driveI use both Waze and GoogleMaps.
Those navigation tools warn you of hidden fixed speed cameras, which in Italy are ubiquitous, as well as police road checks, where you can be pulled over at any time for just checking your documents even if you are not committing any infraction.
If pulled over, make sure you have your home driver’s license, your IDP, and passport. Tell your passengers to also have the passport with them. During those police checks the police may also request the passport from passengers if they suspect they are foreigners. There is no ICE in Italy, but the Carabinieri also want to make sure no non EU foreigner has overstayed the 90 day visa limit within Schengen (it has happened to me and my American wife twice in the last 3 years, so it is not an urban legend).