Since Roberto was booked for tours the time we are in Siena and Florence, we are looking into renting a car for 2 or 3 days and driving around. Can someone advise me on rental companies and best location for pick up and drop off-not in a city center. We will be taking a train to Naples from Florence afterwards, so maybe close to Florence is a good idea and we can drive to our hotel in Siena, drive to Pisa for a tower look and then to some hill towns. Also the size of the cars is confusing - what is an ok safe size? Thanks!
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San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15171 posts
Nearly all rental car companies are in Borgognissanti and via Maso Finiguerra (a parpendicular street to Borgognissanti) in Florence. There is also the airport locations, but renting at the airport is much more expensive, I never do it.
Look at Borgognissanti on Google maps. AVIS/Budget for example (I usually rent there in Florence) is almost at the corner of via Borgognissanti and Via Curtatone. That area is walking distance from the station in Florence (no more than 15 min.). Rental cars size denominations may vary depending on the company. In Europe generally they are classified as A, B, C, D etc. C is a subcompact (like a Ford Fiesta) that is more than appropriate for 2 people, B is a city car like a Fiat Panda or Fiat 500. I think the A would be a Smart for Two. Big US size cars are not a good idea in Europe because some ancient streets are narrow and hard to negotiate with a big car. If you get a Diesel car, even better. It's cheaper.