Car rental pickup in Florence - predatory practices in Florence City

If by "predatory" you mean cameras taking pictures of cars illegally in traffic excluded zones and then sending tickets to the car owners, then simply don't drive in those areas. You must have "residents only" parking in areas where you live. It's the same concept. I don't understand your apparent indignation. The rules apply just as much to Italians as they do to tourists and the cameras are impartial.

Anyway, you can easily map out a route from your rental agency out of town using Viamichelin or other online mapping service. Drive away from the historic center and out to the autoroute and you'll be fine.

Alternatively, reserve your car in another town. But be aware. Florence isn't the only town trying to preserve its historical character by excluding non-resident cars from the historic center.

For other courteous travelers who may find this information helpful.

http://www.bella-toscana.com/traffic_violations_italy.htm

Best Wishes.

Just take the train to the nearest car rental facility and pick up the car there...Car Rental facilities exist in many places - not just major cities.

Thanks. We will be arriving by train from Amalfi, and the problem is that the car rental agency has provided limited pick-up points. There is "Florence City" and "Florence airport".

They are out of the UK, and their less than perfect knowledge of Florence geography is understandable.

Appreciate all advise!

I apologize for interpreting as indignation your characterization of Florence's traffic regulations as "predatory." I looked at the website you referenced and thought it was a fair warning. As it says, the prohibitions against entering the non-residential zones are well posted. And it also points out how important these zones are for preserving some sanity in these important historical centers.

That said, if you are renting from an agency that can't explain how to drive legally from their agency out of town, you're using a poor agency. You can't depend on the Italian-only speakers likely to be staffing the local office when you get there. Have you tried Autoeurope? You can call them in Maine 24 hours a day.

It is sad that the car rental agencies in cities that have such laws (and I think the laws are fair) don't provide a map marked with exclusion zones automatically and have a list of other towns in the area that also have such rules.

It is sad that cities and their TIs don't provide such information to visitors, nearby hotels and rental agencies as foreigners are least likely to understand that such rules even exist, to know in general where to look for such areas and the financial consequences of not paying attention to the signs.

Years ago, as a newcomer to Albuquerque, I was stopped for speeding in a school zone. Most times people just went through without slowing down. Other times, everyone slowed. What I did not realize is that they would change the sign from white to orange when it was effective. I was stopped by a crossing guard and he explained the way it worked. From then on, I knew to look at the color of the sign.

Greg - Not knowing where the agency's "Florence City" location is, if it requires a cab ride to get there then it might be worth considering just taking the cab (about EUR 25) or a bus (EUR 4 each) to the airport and picking up the car there. SITA bus station is practically across the street from the train staion. Traffic leaving Florence can be hectic and you don't need that after the long train ride from Amalfi.

Frank,
Thanks much for the response. That may end up being our best option.

True to what John mentioned earlier, it's unfortunate that the car rental agencies don't provide information on the exclusion zones or even a map.

FYI for those reading this post, I've asked several rental agencies and consolidators for directions on leaving the rental site without passing through the ZTL (zona traffico limitato) and none can provide this.

At this point, unless we can actually derive a drive plan, we'll probably just switch our rental site to the airport after taking a cab or bus there, as you've suggested, and drive straight out to Tuscany from there.

Thanks again for your help!

Hi Greg. I've just spent many hours working this one out myself, with help from others on this forum. For the bus from the train station (Santa Maria Novella station, not Refredi station to the north, be careful which you are at), the local ATAF bus is http://www.ataf-linea.it/Template/ListLinee.aspx?LN=en-US&idC=180&idC_L=180
For car rentals, if your stay is south of Florence, have you considered renting out of somewhere to the south - maybe Siena? Siena has a Hertz across the road from the strain station, and I think an Avis as well. If you look around with AutoEurope, using an internet map program as a reference and to check address locations, you can figure out what works. For map programs, Google maps works fairly well, or try http://mappe.alice.it/tcolnew/index_alice.html. It's in Italian, but works well. We ended up booking out of the Florence airport out of concern about getting out of Florence, needing an automatic (tough to find) and open hours of agencies (check that).

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the info. We're actually staying in Scandicci to the south of Florence, which is apparently only about 10 km's from city central. And yes, we are arriving into Santa Maria Novella station from Amalfi.

The location of our pickup point for the rental car is the Targarent office located at:
Via Borgo Ognissanti, 133R, Firenze, Toscana, 50123.

Can you tell if this within the ZTL zone? I understand there is a map of the ZTL zones, but in Italian..

Thanks for your response.

The problem is that Florence, like many larger old world towns, is immensely confusing to drive in with many tiny one way streets and intense aggressive drivers. Unless you have done it several times before and know your way around, stay out. After two times myself (and I am NOT timid) I did this: drop or pick up car at airport. Between airport and bus station 1-2 blocks from train station is a shuttle bus, runs every half hour, takes 20-25 minutes. Airport location is EASY to find and leave from as it is basically at a dead end spur of Autostrada. Its drawback is that to get to it is a trip on strada way around north side of Florence. The other end of our car rental was a smaller town that was easy-in easy-out and near the train station.

I'll spare everyone the details, but the bottom line is to use AutoEurope, instead of Economy Car Hire out of the UK. What an aggravation they were.

No. We go in April. But, I suggest shopping around on car rental prices, as they are all over the board. Then, when you think you've found the best deal, call AutoEurope and get them to match it. Our experience was that they will, after some encouragement.

What ever you do..DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO DRIVE IN FLORENCE:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187895-i68-k1475356-Traffic_ticket_scams-Florence_Tuscany.html

And using Auto Europe ois a mart choice...especailly working with them to get the price right!