Hi,
Anyone with recent experience of renting a car from Arezzo ? Would very much appreciate your recommendations (or guidance on any companies to avoid!) please. This would be for a 12 day rental May ‘25, mini sized car, no issue with it being manual (thanks to other forum posts that highlighted automatics can be hard to come by). Avis seems to be a good deal and in a convenient location next to the railway station but after a bad experience with another company in Spain any advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15998 posts
I go through AutoEurope (a broker)
https://www.autoeurope.co.uk/index.cfm?sflag=GBR
https://www.autoeurope.eu
https://www.autoeurope.com
Then select the best deal they have for my dates. They work with the major companies.
I go to Arezzo often (every year) but never picked up a rental there (always picked up in the city where I land, which obviously cannot be Arezzo).
Avis-Budget-Maggiore (Maggiore was an Italian rental company acquired by Avis several years ago and now an Avis brand in Italy) is across the train station. Hertz (which I went to once hoping to change my rental I picked up in Florence) has a franchise office on Via Umbria, not too far from the station but not really walking distance. Europcar has a franchise managed by a large Eni petrol station (not really near the station). The Enterprise/National/Locauto franchise is managed also by another petrol station very close to Hertz (Locauto was a highly rated Italian rental company which was acquired by Enterprise years ago and now a brand of the same).
See what AutoEurope has to offer in Arezzo. Avis-Budget would be super-convenient if you arrive by train.
I would go for an Economy size car. A mini category is basically either a Smart or a Fiat500, barely enough for 2 people with no luggage. The price difference between a Mini and an Economy is between zero and insignificant.
Posted by
OP
UK
6 posts
many thanks Roberto, I’d been looking on AutoEurope so it’s great to know that’s your route for bookings. Really useful to know the background re the different brands being owned by the same company. Do appreciate you taking the time to answer so comprehensively, thank you.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15998 posts
Just know that all rental offices in Arezzo, are franchises (maybe Avis is an agency, but I'm not sure), not branches of the corporate company.
The differences are illustrated below.
https://blog.autoslash.com/so-who-am-i-really-renting-from/
If you want to rent from a branch of the corporate entity in Italy, you need to pick up at the airport.
Posted by
OP
UK
6 posts
thanks again, incase it’s useful for anyone else to know I asked about ownership of the Arezzo office when getting a quote from Avis in the UK and have been told it’s a corporate location (which reduces the amount of deposit held).