A number of French supermarkets (Carrefour, SuperU, LeClerc, Intermarché) do really cheap car hire ( less than 10€ a day + miles) which makes renting a car for a week really cheap if you're not using it every day or just doing local stuff.
Do any supermarkets in Italy do the same? I'm in the really early stages of planning a holiday in rural Tuscany.
Carrefour is present in Tuscany too at a variety of locations, including a huge Hypermarket in Calenzano (a suburb of Florence).
I went to the Carrefour Italy website and it appears they have a partnership with Europcar where they offer discounts to Carrefour Viaggi customers:
https://www.viaggi.carrefour.it/autonoleggio
The discount seems to be 15% off the best Europcar rate (click the two links in the website above).
If one clicks on the "Scopri" (discover) button, you are redirected to the Europcar.it website for further info.
Generally I use AutoEurope (a broker) to rent in Italy. And generally their deals are with Europcar, Hertz, or Avis-Budget.
Below is their French website:
https://www.autoeurope.fr/
I've used all of the car hire companies and aggregators in the past, but they're all way more expensive than hiring from a supermarket in France. I usually pay about 100€ for a week hire and 200km.
It would be cheaper to drive down in my own car than catch the train and hire at the usual suspects.
In your shoes, if you own a reliable car, I'd drive my own. I know from the Loire valley to Florence is a solid full day of driving, but in Italy I've never paid less than 200€ a week for unlimited km, but after Covid, this past summer, it cost me 110€ a day for my two weeks stay in Tuscany (including the insurance, which you cannot even decline it Italy). That was a Europcar deal (through AutoEurope). Even if the Carrefour discount gives you 15% off, that would be way too expensive compared to driving your own car.
I know from the Loire valley to Florence is a solid full day of driving,
At 700+ miles ( 1200+ km), Roberto earns the 'understatement of the day' award and is automatically entered into the monthly contest.
Why understatement? I drive from the south SF Bay Area to Portland Oregon very often, all in one day (less than 12 hours including pitstops). From the Loire Valley to Florence is not much longer, maybe a couple of hours longer. I know a lot of friends who drove from Florence to Paris in one day.
20 years ago I wouldn't have had any worries about doing it in a day. From my parents home to my home was 1130km and it never took longer than 12 hours. And that was on Australian country roads....
These days I travel in a more relaxed style, especially when I'm on holidays. 2 x 3(ish)hr stints a day allows me to eat proper meals, look at the views, and dodge some of the more boring autoroutes.
We have used Autoeurope for several years, get zero-deductible collision.
