Hi. After several days in Rome I will be renting a car to drive to see a little of Tuscany and return the car 2 or 3 days later in Florence. Any tips on best place to rent? Is there a place on the outskirts of Rome (to avoid Rome traffic) that I can get to from center of Rome using public transport? Thinking maybe from FCO airport, but wondering if there isn't someplace a little more north of rome instead of far to the west to the airport. This will be for around 1 Dec. Thanks :) Any other tips or suggestion about this plan are welcome :)
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1717 posts
One option many people use to train from Rome to Chiusi- specifically Chiusi-Chianciano - and rent a car there since your are very close to many popular southern rural Tuscany destinations. Montepulciano is less than an hour from there.
Chiusi is 1:45 to 2:15 because it is the slow train from Rome. Alternately you could take the fast train to Florence in less time (1:40) and rent the car there and avoid paying a different destination drop off fee. This plan would introduce some back tracking because you would essentially be doing a large loop from Florence and back.
Orvieto is another place that people use to pick up cars (I have done this) and the drive north past Lago di Bolsena and into southern Tuscany is a nice drive. But I believe only Hertz rents from this location now so your options are limited.
Those are some options,
=Tod
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
7634 posts
I'd recommend taking a train to Florence and renting a car from there. Or, as was mentioned, Orvieto has car rental. The is a Hertz extremely close to the train station.
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3439 posts
I’ve rented cars near the Tiburtina RR station. Very easy to immediately get on the autostrade without the hassle of Rome’s traffic. A number of auto rental agencies are in the area. I’ve found it to be less of a traffic nightmare than getting out of FCO.
Posted by
Wynnewood, PA, USA
284 posts
Ditto Phillip.
Generally, the rental car office at the train stations (and, other city rental car offices) are much calmer do not have the additional airport fees. Not to mention a sometimes chao experience in claiming your car (long lines, etc.) and navigating you way onto the Autostrada. I always take a deep breath before before starting my road trips at an airport car office (sometimes it can't be avoided) and it's about 50/50 for some type of chaos (long lines, insufficient staff, cars not ready). A few recent experiences: Nice, a nightmare. Ditto Lisboa. Venice, not much better. However, a big shout out to Hertz at MAD; easy peezy last month. And, our return to SVQ (Sevilla) was five star.
Also when you booking your rental, look at the non-airport locations for picking up your car or dropping your car off, especially for an after hours return. I remember a great Europcar location in Paris that was but a stone's throw from the Autoroute. A cheap cab ride to the Europcar office and we were on our way without struggling through the city traffic.
Safe travels.