easy rental car pick up near rome/ drop off near venice

When I was checking out rental cars I found that for Hertz (may be applicable to other companies) you could pick up a car at several "Venice" locations but you could only drop it off at the airport. If you are flying out of Venice it is a good fit.

Only caveat on driving in Tuscany is that several of the cities (Florence and Siena definitely) have "ZTLs" (limited traffic zones) in the historic areas and there are heavy fines for driving in these area. You just have to be aware and park outside the ZTL.

You won't need a car in the following locations (actually a car at these location is an expensive hassle):
Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice.
Siena also has a large ZTL and a car is not needed.

A car is useful in the small towns and countryside and also in the mountains (Dolomites).

Therefore I suggest this itinerary below to minimize car rental only to the areas where it's needed. Also because car rental in Italy is expensive (Italian insurance is mandatory and your credit card won't cover):

Visit ROME (no car)
Take Train from Rome to Cinque Terre
Visit CINQUE TERRE (no car)
Take Train from Cinque Terre to Florence
Visit FLORENCE (and maybe SIENA by bus from Florence)-No car for Florence and Siena)
After done with Florence, Rent a Car in Florence and head out of town.
Visit TUSCANY's countryside and small towns by car.
Drive to Dolomites from Tuscany
Visit DOLOMITES by car.
Drive from dolomites to Venice. Return car at Venice Piazzale Roma.
Visit VENICE (no car).
Public transportation to airport.

If you don't intend to stay in Florence, then you could rent a car in La Spezia (near Cinque Terre) and head to Tuscany from there. In that case, even if you want to visit Florence, just visit it for a day, but stay at a hotel outside the city. You can drive to Florence for the day and park outside the ZTL (do the same with Siena).

We have made similar trips and are planning another. We flew into Rome and only rented the car when we left the city to head to Tuscany. We rented from the car at the Rome airport from Hertz. The reason why we did this was we wanted an station wagon with an automatic and that is the only rental location that had one available. So, we didn't have much choice. The type of car may lead you to the location where you rent a car. When you leave room, if you go to Florence don't try to drive. Find a place to park and walk. It is a walking city, no cars allowed in center of town and many one way small streets. Also if you drive to Cinque Terre park the car and take the train and a few trials. The train is easy there. We dropped off the car in Venice at the airport without any problem.

Thank you for the tips. Every time I pick up my book my itinerary changes. I think I need a new thread I am feeling a little overwhelmed.

We rented a car in Rome on the day we decided to leave the city and head to Tuscany and Umbria. We rented from Hertz and picked up the car at Park SI Villa Borghese
Viale del Galoppatoio 33. It's an underground parking garage and a short distance from the auto strata. I highly recommend having a GPS on board. We drove from Rome and visited Orvieta, Siena, Assisi, Genoa, and several other towns along the way. We returned the car to Venice Mestre Railway Station - Viale Stazione 18/F in Venice. No problems whatsoever during the entire trip.

My suggestion would be, if you haven't already purchased your air tickets, would be to follow Roberto's plan, but in reverse. Fly into Venice and fly home from Roma because flights leaving Venice depart REALLY EARLY in the morning, Often times public transportation is not operating at the time you would need to leave for the airport requiring costly private transport.

Also, you will need an International Driving Permit issued through AAA. You do not need one to rent a car, but Italian law requires it to be in your possession while operating a vehicle.

Buon viaggio,

I just about always agree with Roberto. I too say his itinerary is great, but would be better in reverse.

Anytime you're flying into Italy, you do best flying into the smaller airports and out of Rome or Milan non-stop to the U.S.

If you fly out of Venice, you'll have to leave very early and sit around in another gateway European airport until mid day to fly home. It's bad enough to get home very tired, but when you throw in a night of little or poor quality sleep it's a double killer.

I too prefer small towns, but in Italy the large cities have so much culture, history, art and food to take in.