Rent car in rome, drop off in Florence

"Is is best to rent the car in Rome and drop it off in Florence?" No. You don't want to return a rental car in Florence, if avoidable, and it is easily avoidable given what you want to do. "or train to Siena and rent and return one there?" That's a better choice than Rome & Florence. If you want to tell us a little more about your plans, maybe we can tell you more. Where are you flying into, Rome? If flying into Rome, are you sleeping in Rome before going to Tuscany? And have you driven in Italy before?

It has been 15 years, but yes I've driven there before. I am flying into Rome, and the first leg of my trip is an agritourismo in an out of the way place in the Chiani region. I plan on leaving the airport for Tuscany upon arrival. The second leg of my journey is in Florence, where I want to ditch the car before I go into the city...and use the train for subsequent travel through the region. My only problem seems to be finding a rental place in Siena that is open on Sunday.

We recently did what you are doing, going from Rome to Tuscany, and dropping the car 4 days later in Florence. We took the train to Orvieto, got the car and then spent the afternoon there before proceeding to our Agriturismo just outside of Siena. We dropped the car at the Florence airport and took the bus into town. Sundays do seem to be an issue with car rentals. You might HAVE to rent at the airport in Rome. If you aren't driving in Rome proper I don't think it will be a problem to rent at the airport. Have fun, and don't forget you will need an International Drivers Permit to drive in Italy.

"My only problem seems to be finding a rental place in Siena that is open on Sunday." I wouldn't be surprised if you can't find a car rental place in Siena that's open Sunday, or even Saturday afternoon.

If you're flying into Rome Sunday, you probably want to pick the car up at the airport. Assuming the airport locations are open, although I wouldn't assume anything about rental cars in Italy. This also eliminates hauling your baggage on and off various trains, and the airport location is on the side of Rome that provides relatively convenient access to the roads towards Tuscany (if anything connected with driving in Italy can be said to be convenient).

"and use the train for subsequent travel through the region." If by region you mean the 4 days in the Tuscan hill towns, many of the hill towns aren't well served by trains. Why is why the one place a traveler actually needs a car in Italy is to more efficiently explore those Tuscan hill towns. that are not well served by trains. You can check the train schedules, using the Bahn train schedule website, to see if the places you want to go have train schedules that will work for you.

I checked Autoeurope. None of the rental agencies they use in Siena is open on Sundays. The rental offices at the Florence airport are open all day on Sundays. So I think picking up at the Rome airport and dropping at the Florence airport would make sense. That eliminates some hassle of making a train transfer into Rome and then onto Siena when you'll just be renting a car anyway. Driving from the Rome airport won't be a problem if you don't drive into the city. Per Kent's last post, I'm one of those who has dropped a rental car at offices when they were closed. The offices I've dropped at had secure parking garages and a slot to leave the keys and completed rental agreement. I have not had any trouble, but I do take the precaution of taking pictures of the car parked in the garage from every angle, just in case. But I've had no trouble. So I wouldn't worry about dropping a car somewhere on a Sunday.

Trtacy, I'm not sure how "locked" in you are for your agriturismo. However, this is what I would do. After arriving in Rome, I would take the train to Orvieto and spend the night. Unfortunately, the rental car agencies at that train station/town are not open on Sundays. Orvieto is a small, quaint hilltown in Umbria. Staying there would allow you to recover from some jet lag and allow you to rent your car on Monday. For me, arriving in Rome and then driving to Siena would be too much for the first day. It also might be less expensive to rent the car there than at the Rome airport. Then, as Andrea pointed out, you can get your car and then drop it off at the Florence airport. Just another thought. Have a great time in Tuscany.

Thank you all. I am on a tight schedule and am married to getting to Cianti the first day. I will rent in Rome for my tour of Tuscany and drop it off in Florence, and bus to the center of town for my stay there. I will then continue by train to the Cinque Terre, then Lago Como, then through the dolomites (I may rent another care there) and then on to Venice. I can't wait to experience la dolce vita!

I agree that returning at the Florence airport sounds like your best option. It's very easy to do then you can take a taxi or bus into town. I did it on a Sunday morning (which was a holiday no less) and had no problems. Have a great time!