La Spezia car rental: Hertz, Europcar or Avis?

Heidi - do yourselves a big favor and turn the rental car in when you arrive in Florence, a friendly and walkable city where driving can be problematic (ZTL areas plus scarce and costly parking). Ciao.

Hi Craig, I've heard parking is costly and difficult (and many tickets) but we were going to use the car while in Florence to take day trips out of Florence to Tuscany, etc. Should we just rent the car each day and return it at the end of the eve & again the next day?
Silly question, but our first time in Europe and a car to drive in the countryside was the only request of my husband as I drag him to all the museums and other tours.

1. An alternative would be to stay outside of Florence (in a small town or country villa/farmhouse or country hotel) with the car.
   In that case you would visit both Florence and the small towns/countryside from that out of Florence location.

2. Another option is to split your stay with some nights outside of Florence to visit the countryside (with the car) and the other nights in Florence itself (after you return the car). This option is good if you stay 5 or 6 nights at least, otherwise changing hotels for 2 nights each is a waste.

3. The option you are planning on, is to stay in Florence your entire stay (with the car) and visit the countryside, with the car, from that Florence location. If you select this option, I suggest you keep the car only for the days necessary to visit the countryside/small towns. The days you plan to visit Florence only should be left at the end of your stay in Florence, that way you might need to keep the rental car only for a couple of days instead of four. You won't need the car at all while you visit Florence and it would be gathering dust at the hotel parking lot. The other very important thing you need to do, if you plan to stay in Florence with the car, is to choose a hotel that is strategically located for your day trips to the countryside (therefore a place easy to get out of town), and also at a hotel that provides parking and, preferably located outside the ZTL, but still within easy reach of the historical center (for when you visit Florence). I can provide suggestions for such "convenient" and car friendly accommodations inside Florence, but you need to tell me your budget range and what time of the year you will be traveling.

Hi Roberto,
we actually are leaving in a few days. We already have a hotel, The Grand Baglioni. Do you know if they have a parking garage? I'm not having much luck finding a rental either :( We would be coming from CT Friday ->Florence till the 26th.

If you stay at Baglioni, then you are not exactly roughing it. It's one of the top hotels in Florence. They even have a roof top pool and bar from where you can enjoy a million dollar view of the city. Too bad that it's getting cool and rainy in Florence (or so I'm told from my relatives).
Baglioni has an agreement with a parking garage near them, so parking won't be a problem, however it's not going to be free. Just keep the car for then first couple of days when you intend to visit the countryside, then return it. To get out of the area ask for careful directions, because if you accidentally go down via Valfonda, you will be zapped by the infamous ticket camera. Not exactly sure where the garage is (but I remember there is one next to them), but it's likely you will have to get out by driving in front to the station, then on to via Santa Caterina da Siena and right into via Della Scala all the way to viale Fratelli Rosselli. To get back you have to come from either via Nazionale or from Via Alamanni. Anyway it's doable. I drive there all the time and if you stay out of via Valfonda you are safe.
The car rental returns are on Borgo Ognissanti, which are walking distance. Getting there by car requires knowing the streets to avoid the ZTL. Get back to this forum when you need and I'll tell you how.

In my experience of using all three companies in Europe they are all the same. For every horror story someone has of one, someone else will have a horror story for the others. My advice would be to check prices on kemwel.com or autoeurope.com They are brokers and offer excellent rates, always with zero deductible insurance based on the times I have booked with them in Italy. They are highly recommended by many on this site.

Follow mph advice on the car rental. Both consolidators are part of the same corporate umbrella, but check prices in both websites. They generally work with Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz.
If nothing is available in La Spezia, then pick up at Pisa Airport. They will certainly have cars there.

Thank you both! Roberto, will our GPS keep us on the right streets (to avoid the ZTL) It seems kind of scary that we may easily drive in wrong or illegal lanes. :(
This all seems very confusing. I would much rather take a tour but not my husband.
If we rent the car in la spezia or Pisa airport, will we easily find our way to our hotel by GPS? - do European cars have the ability to plug in iPhone car chargers? (For GPS?) last q - we will be taking the train from Vernazza. Should be easy to find car rental locations in la spezia or Pisa? First time Europe virgins :/

To answer your GPS question - no, the ZTL zones aren't programmed in. We had the hardest time in Rome since it didn't recognize the ZTL and eventually just had to enter it to return the rental car (took us an hour and half to give up). Thankfully, we never got a ticket.. but it was very nerve wracking!

Q: Will our GPS keep us on the right streets (to avoid the ZTL)?
A: Fat chance!!
Q: If we rent the car in la spezia or Pisa airport, will we easily find our way to our hotel by GPS?
A: Yes, if you follow my instructions. Set your GPS to direct you to the following address: 30, VIA SANTA CATERINA D'ALESSANDRIA, FIRENZE.
Once at this address, set the GPS to guide you to the following address: 6 PIAZZA DELL'UNITA' ITALIANA (which is Baglioni's address).
Basically you continue straight on Via Santa Caterina D'Alessandria, which changes name to Via Nazionale, and just before the Piazza Stazione (a large square where the station is) changes name to Largo Fratelli Alinari. Stay on the left. Once you reach the intersection with Piazza Stazione, at the light, look to your left. You will see the back of a large church (Santa Maria Novella basilica). You will be going around the roundabout in a counterclockwise direction in front of that church. Once you have done about 1/3 of a circle around the roundabout you will already see the Baglioni Hotel. It's on that piazza with the obelisk (Piazza dell'Unita' Italiana).
So far it was the easy part. The hard part comes now. In order to turn left onto that Piazza dell'Unita', you need to pass under the ZTL camera, which is right there before via Panzani. There is no chance to avoid it. Therefore you must tell your hotel to put your car license plate in the White List of the City of Florence website. If they don't within 24 hours, you will receive a ticket.
I don't know where their garage is, presumably the one on the same piazza dell'Unita'.
To get out of the area for your day trips, you need to go around the same roundabout, but this time turn left (basically passing in front of the station), and drive toward Via Santa Caterina Da Siena. Then turn right onto via della Scala toward viale Fratelli Rosselli. To come back to the hotel, follow the directions above (through Via Santa Caterina D'Alessandria).The hotel needs to enter your car in the White List daily.
Check the above instruction on a map (Google maps will do). Buying a map of Florence before going, would help. GPS units are funny sometimes.
However you should contact the Baglioni hotel before arriving, mention you will have a car, and ask for advice. Maybe they have arrangements with garage somewhere else in the neighborhood.
Q: Do European cars have the ability to plug in iPhone car chargers? (For GPS?)
A: Of course. They aren't any different from the European cars sold in America (and the iPhone is popular in Europe too).
Q: we will be taking the train from Vernazza. Should be easy to find car rental locations in la spezia or Pisa?
A: From the La Spezia train station take a taxi to the rental agency. Most are near the port, therefore not walking distance. Avis is close enough to walk, but you might have luggage.
From Pisa Train station to the airport there is a bus shuttle, or you can take a taxi. It's only a mile away.
First time Europe virgins :/
As my high school teacher used to say: "there is always a first time, and it's generally bloody messy!"

Regardless of which option you go with you will have a great time. It is a beautiful area. I always rent with europcar at home (Australia) but hired with them twice in Europe (including La Spezia to Florence) and never would again. They never had the booked car and I don't have time to list all their problems. But like someone else has said, they probably all have issues. One point - I would advise very strongly against the option of hiring for individual days. Florence is busy at anytime and I think you will spend a lot more time frustrated at the car hire place each day than you would actually spend in your car. We drove from La Spezia to Pisa, had lunch and spent several hours at the leaning tower and wandering the city and then to San Gim for several days before heading to Florence. San Gimignano and surrounds was our favourite place in all of Italy (and that is saying a lot because we loved all of Italy- my son plans on moving there when he finishes high school) Have a great time.

heidi,

A few points to add.....

• The ZTL (limited traffic) areas are not just in Florence. Most cities and towns in Italy have them, but Florence is just about saturated with automatic cameras. EACH pass through one of those will generate a violation ticket, which you won't know about until several months after you get home when you notice unexpected charges on your credit card from the rental agency.
• Each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. You can obtain the IDP easily at any AAA office for a small charge. Of course, each driver will also have to be specified on the rental contract.
• You'll also have to contend with tolls on the motorways and automated speed cameras. If you use automated fuel pumps, in some cases these will only accept Chip & PIN credit cards.
• As it's your first trip to Italy, I wanted to mention that there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using trains or other public transit. For example, if you use a Regionale train on any segment of the trip from Florence to La Spezia, you MUST validate (time & date stamp) your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Failure to do so will likely incur hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot. Validating also applies to buses, trams, metro, etc. If you use InterCity or Freccia trains, these have compulsory seat reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time, and can only be used on the ONE train listed on the ticket (but tickets don't have to be validated). If you board the wrong train by mistake, again hefty fines collected on the spot. Your ticket will specify the Coach (Carrozza) and Seats (Posti) where you must sit.
• Depending on which rail departure you use from Florence to La Spezia, you'll likely have at least one change, possibly at Pisa Centrale. If you're going to Vernazza, there will likely be another change at La Spezia Centrale. You'll need to know which stations you'll be using when you buy tickets. Changes typically involve disembarking from one train, going down in a transfer tunnel and then back up to the platform (Binario) of the next train you'll be using. Sometimes there's only a few minutes to do this, which can be challenging if you're hauling lots of luggage.
• Despite the caveats with public transit, trains are usually the quickest and most efficient way to get around.