Let me start by saying we have absolutely no interest in picking up a rental at Roma Termini. This will be our 3rd trip to Rome and we know the lay of the land well enough to acknowledge we do not want a car in Rome. So here is our situation and I would love to read the suggestions of others.
We will arrive at FCO from Athens and then spend a week in Trastevere without a car. After the week in Trastevere we are going to rural areas in Campania in the Sele River Valley near Contursi Terme. A car is required. In the past, we have rented at the Naples airport (not my favorite option) and at the train station in Salerno—which worked pretty good but in those situations we were continuing to travel and using trains. For this trip, after a week in the Sele Valley we will return to Rome for our flight home the next day.
We are looking to spending our last night at the airport area and debating on turning in the car and then staying at Hotel Tiber to have a little bit of area ambiance for our last night, or just taking the easy route and staying at the Hilton at the airport. Our flight leaves at 10:00 am so we will need to be at the airport around 7:00; so looking to reduce departure morning stress, and thus will likely turn in the car the night before.
So having provided the convoluted logistics, here are my questions/requests for guidance.
1) Where would be the best place to rent a car? Just go ahead and train from Rome to Salerno and rent in Salerno? Or train to FCO (so we could return to FCO) and rent the car and then drive to Campagna?
2) turn in the rental at FCO and then taxi/shuttle to and from Hotel Tiber?
3) does staying at the Hotel Tiber provide a little feeling of still being in Italy? Or again, should we just stay at the airport?
Obviously I have a tendency to overthink things, but I would appreciate others insights and suggestions to any of my questions. Thank you in advance for any of your thoughts and insights.