We will be leaving Rome heading towards Tuscany. Would you recommend renting a car from Rome and driving out of the city or taking a train to Orvieto and renting from there? We do know what traffic is like in the center of Rome and that is insane. We have driven in Paris, so we do have some city driving experience. If you recommend picking the car up from Rome, where do you recommend picking up for Hertz?
Posted by
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
606 posts
We will also fly into Rome, rent a car and head to Tuscany. Here are our own plans for what it's worth.
We arrive Rome approx. 4 p.m. We plan to take a taxi to the heart of Rome and spend the night in one of the little 2 $$ hotels Rick Steves recommends there. From past experience I know the excitement of being there will overpower our fatigue and we'll probably see Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps that evening. (saving the rest of Rome for the end of the vacation)
The next morning we'll take a taxi to a car rental location out near the Highway A1 "Loop" so it will be fairly easy to drive to the highway with no downtown driving. You can use Google Maps and the addresses of the rental agency branches to find a pickup location at the edge of the city.
We're picking up the car in northeast Rome because we plan to visit Hadrian's Villa before heading north, but the conventional wisdom says to take a train from Rome to Orvieto and get your car there, avoiding the city all together.
Posted by
Vancouver, Canada
58 posts
We took the train from Rome to Orvieto about 1 hour and rented a car from there. The car rental agency was just behind the funicular. We rented our car from autoeurope. They set up rentals with different agencies in different towns. The rates are very competitive.
Posted by
cochranville, pa, usa
322 posts
I do not know if the Hertz rental is still located in the same building in Orvieto but 3 years ago we had a bad experience with them.
We took the train from Rome to Orvieto and had to take a taxi to the Hertz rental place. When we arrived they had no cars available and said we would have to wait several hours while they went to Rome to get one. This even though we had a fully paid contract with pick up hour established.
Posted by
Meteghan, N.S., Canada
152 posts
Wow Pat. Hope we have a better experience with Hertz in Orvieto. We've reserved a car for pick up on May 8th. The location is listed as "Railway Station Via 7 Martiri 32/F" so I'm assuming they are now at or very close to the train station in Orvieto. Not having any cars! That must have tested your patience. I think I will take Rick's advice and call this office the day before just to make sure everything is all set.
Posted by
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
1127 posts
Consider the town of Chiusi for your rental car pick up. It's in Tuscany, not Umbria like Orvieto is. AutoEurope.com usually has better rates for Hertz than booking direct.
Posted by
Sheboygan, Wisc., USA
934 posts
Last November the Hertz rental was 1 block from the RR station.Very handy and everything went well.
Posted by
OP
Florida
151 posts
Thank you to everyone who posted to my question. At this point in time, we have decided to take a taxi to a Hertz rental area near the A1 Ring Road. I don't think we will have any problem being so close to the highway. Thanks again. This website is just full of wonderful people!