Hello, looking for suggestions for our stay in Florence beginning June 7th, 2025. We will be arriving at approximately 6 pm on a flight from Dubrovnik (having just complete RS Best of the Adriatic tour).
We are going to stay 2 nights in Florence. We will have all day on Sunday, June 8 and the majority of the day on Monday, June 9 to see the sights. Late afternoon on Monday, we will start our drive to an agritourism property just outside of San Gimgnano, which is about an hour’s drive.
For the remainder of our week in Tuscany, we are going to need a car. What I’m hoping to be able to do is pick up a rental car in Florence late afternoon on Monday when we’re ready to start our drive.
Having never been to Florence, can anyone suggest the best way to go about this? I was thinking we could stay at a hotel near the airport which hopefully would also be near a car rental agency.
Is Uber and/or Lyft available? If yes, we could take Uber/Lyft from our hotel into the city Sunday & Monday for sightseeing. We could ask the hotel concierge to store our luggage on Monday when we check out, and go back to the hotel that afternoon to retrieve it before going to the car rental agency. Any suggestions on a hotel near the car rental center by the airport (I'm assuming there is one, but have not looked yet!)
When we return the car on Saturday, June 14, our plan is to return the car at a time of day that allows us to then go to the train station to take a train to Milan. I haven’t look at train schedules yet, but my son said he has and feels there’s plenty of options to get us to Milan. We will have 2 nights in Milan before flying back to the USA.
Any help with suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Amanda
ps - I’ve driven in Italy before and feel comfortable doing it again, but will not be driving into the city center.
pss– if you’re a TripAdvisor user, you may see this cross posted over there!
Posted by
North Carolina
2502 posts
I think you would be much better off staying your two nights right in the city, rather than at the airport. There is a tram you can take (21 min.) from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station to the airport.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7270 posts
There are dozens of posts/threads here on forum about picking up/dropping car safely in Florence. A search will bring them all up- look for Roberto's directions. It's not that complicated to drive OUT of Florence as long as you do your homework and follow the specific directions. Agencies are all near the station.
Or you can take a taxi to the airport for about 24 euros- or take the tram but then need a shuttle to get to/from rental agency location.
Check open/closed hours for agencies- Airport location won't be a problem but some in center/at station may close at noon on Saturday.
We always use AutoEurope.com for our European rentals- a US based consolidator with excellent service and usually best rates.
You can return to same location or to the airport but if airport you are adding time/hassle and expense on both ends of your rental.
Airport is in opposite direction of where you are going (SG)
Stay in the center. Airport is a quick 15/20 min drive but it doesn't make sense to stay there.
No Uber in Italy. Taxis from a taxi rank or use one of the Taxi apps- (a search here will bring those uo as well)
Multiple trains every hour from Florence to Milano- no problem there.
Use the official site
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html
Use the Italian station names:
Firenze SM Novella
Milano Centrale
Also note- most major museums are closed on Monday so keep that in mind as you plan your 2 days in Florence.
All drivers must have an IDP, along with your US Driver's License.
(International Driving Permit- get it at your local AAA)
Posted by
139 posts
I would definitely stay in the city, especially for such a short stay.
We had the opposite situation than you, dropping off our car in Florence, but it was very easy with the directions and handling the ZTL situation. We returned our Alamo rental car at the train station, but there are many other major companies located there, so no reason to go to the airport. I think your need to pick up on a Monday would be easy, with full business hours on that day.
Posted by
OP
West Sacramento, CA
4 posts
Thank you all for the great suggestions! Very helpful! And Christine H, I will do a search for car rental posts, and thanks for all the other tips!
Posted by
Easton, MD
14 posts
Thank you for posting this question--we are planning to rent a car in Florence in April. Our plan is to take either the tram or a taxi from the Florence train station to the airport for our car rental. Our friend advised us to take a taxi rather than the tram to the airport if the car rental spot is off-site at the airport. Thank you to the other posters--I will look at the recommended driving directions, too. I've driven in Florence before and had a much better experience going toward my destination from the airport than when I drove into the city center to a hotel. Simpler driving is better for me in this situation.
I've explored car rental agencies and their locations, and the hours of operation are very important, as they differ. Our need for a rental car falls on a Saturday, perhaps in the afternoon, so our plans are adjusting to make sure we would find a rental car facility open.
Posted by
540 posts
There are multiple downtown rental counters with cars located right in and around SMN central train station. Sixt, Europecar, etc
There is a clean, safe, direct, easy to use, inexpensive, frequently running tram that runs between the Airport and right in front of the SMN train station. Use that to get into Florence.
For car rental, there are many rental counters right at, and around, that central train station. It's probably cheaper than the airport for the same car, but you have to be a bit comfortable driving in central Florence. Alternatively you could tram back to the airport and rent your car from there. That's in the countryside so if it's in the direction of your agriturismo, you may not be spending much more time and hassle.