Hello Fellow Travellers,
We are planning a trip to Italy in May and will be in Siena for two nights. On one of the days, we would like to rent a car to get out to some wineries. Is it possible to rent a car in Siena? What companies would you recommend? About how much should we budget?
Many thanks.
Autoeurope is great but it has a three day minimum for most bookings (it acts as an agent for car rental agencies in Europe), so it can't help you with a day rental in Siena.
I wouldn't worry about staying inside the ZTL - that's the historic center you want to be in. Just walk to the car rental office and drive out of town from there.
There's a Hertz place at the bottom of the hill on the north side of town. Cost would probably be about a hundred bucks a day -- one-day rentals are steep. Check kayak.com.
Stay outside the ZTL and you will be fine.
Forgive me, but how do you know where the ZTL is? Also, any experience with AutoEurope?
Sarah,
Autoeurope is fine. Siena has Hertz, Avis and Europcar. Anything less than three days is very expensive.
For a ZTL sign look at:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm
red circle with words "zona traffico limatato"
Hi Sarah, on a different note I noticed that you will only be in Siena for two nights, which means you will only have one full day in Siena.
Siena is expensive so it doesn't make sense to stay there if you are going to spend your time in the countryside. In my opinion, Siena is large enough that it takes too much time to get in/out of town so it's not the best place from which to launch day trips. It's not a small hill town.
I also found driving outside around the perimeter of Siena to be confusing and stressful. Not a deal killer if it's unavoidable, but another reason this itinerary raises red flags for me.
So, I would recommend enjoying Siena for the very short, limited time that you will be there. Then work your itinerary to explore the country side/wineries en route to your next destination. Does that make sense?
PS You have a lot more research to do if you decide to rent a car.
Hi folks,
Thanks for your replies and advice. Since I've been before, I don't feel too concerned about the time in Siena proper.
I've done some more research on cars and I was able to get a one-day rental from Siena through AutoEurope by calling there directly (could not get it on web).
I don't feel too worried about the driving - we'll do more homework before going in terms of ZTL and we will also have our GPS.
Thanks1
Doubt that gps shows ztl's. At least mine doesn't and it's a pretty spiffy one.
