Dropping rental car in Chiusi

Chiusi is small so I doubt if you’ll have any issues.

We picked up our car in Chiusi and had no issues. Driving in Florence to drop the car off was another story! Be sure to check the operating hours of the rental company.

Thanks Travelbug

I did check Avis closes at 12:30, Europcar at 1

We returned a car in Chiusi in 2019. First time renting a car in Europe. Very easy city to drive in.

Yesterday I reserved a car through AutoEurope for France. In chatting with the agent, I told him we were also thinking about renting in Italy, but the fees were triple what we paid in 2019. He laughed and said if you rented a car for a month in Italy, it would be cheaper to just buy a car.

Thanks Sue

Seems car rental rates are still very much in flux. I found that great rate Tues night, when I looked again yesterday it had nearly doubled so we were ready to bail on Tuscany again.
I just checked again this am and the rate I found today was less than Tuesday night- all thru AutoEurope, Avis.
So we booked the car.

Are there ZTLs?

This question is a little alarming; let's not leave any room for expensive misunderstandings: there is always a ZTL. Always.

Some touristic cities may have a so-called "Summer ZTL", but the safest thing is to stop, turn around and park any time you see a ZTL sign. Then ask if you can drive inside the ZTL or not. Then walk to the sign and check if you heard right.

No need for alarm, Dario. We have driven in Italy before and are well aware of ZTLs existence. We don't plan to drive IN to any town other than this car return
My question was specific to Chiusi and approaching the Avis location.
Sue's response leads me to believe it will be worry free but I will be sure to watch for ZTL signs.

Hertz in Chiusi is a half block from the station. You drive to the station, outside the ZTL, go left on the one-way street and they are in the next block [Avis 2 blocks away and Europcar 700 Meters. They are closed Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

"...would pick up in Florence..."

The downtown Hertz [and Avis] location is on Borgo Ognissanti [so is Europcar but in the ZTL]. Driving out you proceed southbound on the Ponte Amerigo Vespucci, first verifying that the bridge is open in that direction, having been closed for repairs last time I heard. If it is closed you need to take a taxi to Via Palagio degli Spini, the complex near the airport.

Regarding Borgo Ognissanti, it is a one-way street heading west. At the roundabout you take the exit [I recall it being 4] that puts you eastbound along the Arno. As you turn right on the bridge, the ZTL is to the east, so westbound there are no ZTL issues.

We picked up a rental car from Europcar on Borgo Ognissanti. No problem driving through the ZTL to get out of town, but it was a different story trying to get back to that point to drop off the car. Every bridge we tried to cross was one way heading out of Florence on a Sunday morning, and it was nearing the Noon time Sunday close time, but we finally found our way back across the river and returned the car just before the office closed.

Two weeks after we got home we got a 60 Euro fine from the rental car company (which is in the contract) for getting a ticket while we had the car. It took 11 months to get the actual ticket, which we figured would probably be for a ZTL violation, turns out I drove in a lane reserved for public vehicles on the other side of the river trying to find a bridge to cross back into Florence. We were driving back and forth, so we're lucky we only hit that violation spot once. BTW, look for lanes outlined with yellow stripes, and stay out of those lanes unless you're driving a bus or a taxi. After the exchange rate, the ticket and rental car fine came to about $300.

Next trip we're planning to take the train to and from Chiusi, where we'll pick up and drop off the Hertz / Budget rental car.

mont3589
I'm sorry that happened to you. We know better than to try to return in a major city, especially Florence.
Last time we picked up outside the center and had no issues at all. Returned easily in Spoleto.
This time our options are limited I assume due to the rental car shortage. It's often difficult or impossible to get an automatic at smaller town rental locations as well.

I feel like we will be fine exiting Florence- we've got some great directions, in addition to N_Kingdom's helpful info above- thanks for that!
However I intend to keep checking for any good options outside the center (other than airport which tacks on a huge fee ) and looking for a price drop again.
AutoEurope makes changes to our contract easy.

Just wanted to update this-
I have been looking daily for car rental rate changes and was able to rebook the car with an airport pick up for only $30 more than my original rate.

Anyone who has a car reserved might want to recheck their rates, they are really fluctuating daily.