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Car Rental Open Sundays

I'm having trouble identifying cities which have open car rental agencies on Sundays. Due to a Monday afternoon flight home I'm hoping to return to Rome on Sunday afternoon - and return the car on that day as well. I'm open to returning the vehicle in any number of Tuscan towns, as long as I can continue by train to Termini.

Ideally I'd love to not return the car IN Rome to avoid traffic. I'm trying to avoid a car altogether, but I'll be WWOOFing on a remote farm in Tuscany and need to get there.

Posted by
7209 posts

Turn it in on Saturday...take a taxi to the train station on Sunday to travel to Rome.

Major airport car rental facilities are open 24 hrs 7 days per week

Posted by
3300 posts

Or drive to FCO on Sunday and hop the Leonardo Express to Termini. Or arrive late Sunday night and stay at or near the airport. I’ve stayed in Fiumicino the night before my flight and drove the car to the airport in the morning.

Posted by
24 posts

I hadn't really considered getting the car from FCO and returning it there, mostly because I was attempting to avoid city driving. It might be best though. I'm trying to spend as much time as possible on the farm, which is closer to Florence.

Has anyone had experience driving from FCO up through Tuscany? Is it really that terrible?

I ask because I took my first visit to Italy in early October. I drove in Tuscany and at the time and the roads we were taking (pick-up florence, drop off car in Orvieto. Stopped in several towns along the way) there was no scary traffic to speak of. Mostly just lovely driving. Half the time we were the only ones on the road. After all the horror stories of "don't drive in the city!" it was no big deal to pick up the car in the city and leave immediately.

Experiences you've had would be welcome!

Posted by
16187 posts

I drive anywhere in Italy, including in the worst of traffic of any city.
I don't understand this fear of driving inside Rome, especially on a Sunday when traffic is light and the ZTL is open to traffic.
First you have to decide where you are going to stay in Rome for your last (Sunday) night.

  1. If you plan to stay at the airport Hilton, then it makes sense to return the car at FCO and walk to the hotel.
  2. If you plan to stay in Rome city center, then it makes sense to return in Rome. The offices at Roma Termini station are open on Sunday till 7:30pm. Hertz also is open that late at the IKEA Porta di Roma shopping center, which is on the north side along the beltway, therefore very easy to reach if coming from Tuscany. The only problem is that it's kind of far from the center, so the taxi from there will be a bit more. I would return it at the Termini Station. The car return is actually at the Giolitti Parking Garage on Via Giolitti at the corner with via Mamiani, next to the Radisson Blue hotel. I usually return it there. The rental companies are on the two top stories of the parking structure.

Avoid driving into Rome late afternoon or evening on a Sunday. Millions of Romans will be driving back home from their weekend gateway and all the roads into town will be clogged with traffic. Try to get to the city in the early afternoon or at least before 5 or 6pm.

Posted by
24 posts

Roberto, this is helpful!

If I get a car in and out of FCO, I would instead return the car on Monday AM before my afternoon flight. I would hope to return it around 10:00am on a Monday - my flight is at 1:40PM. If returning the car directly to FCO I would not need to stay in Rome for my final night in Italy

It was a nice idea to spend one last evening in Rome, but I'm finding more time on the farm is preferable for my hosts. But it might work out better to return the car directly Monday AM and avoid train transit all together as much as I prefer it to driving.

So this potential new plan would mean I rent a car from FCO on a Friday afternoon (ugh - that might be tricky? Likely around 2:00pm hopefully not later) and drive up toward Arezzo. I would drive back down to FCO on a Monday morning, arriving in Rome around 10:00am.

My last dilemma is to get Manual vs Automatic. I was quite good at manual in my 20s, but it has been many many years. I'm a little nervous about doing so again when by myself in a City I don't know that well (only 1 visit so far). Should I suck it up and pay the extra for automatic?