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Rental car in Tuscany - where to pick up?

Posted by (NC) on

I am travelling from Stresa to Arezzo on a Monday and will need to get a rental car. Does it make more sense to travel by train to Arezzo and get a car there or pick up a car at Milan Malpensa, in Florence, or elsewhere?

This will be my first time driving in Italy so I'd like to do whichever is easiest over the most cost effective. Getting a car with an automatic transmission is necessary. I have read about the ZTLs and have an IDP. I also downloaded and plan to read gemut.com's PDF about renting a car in Europe.

Posted by
11651 posts

If an automatic is a requirement, then go to a larger car rental pick up location such as MXP or Florence or maybe Florence airport. Check with AutoEurope. Call them in Maine; they're very helpful.

Posted by
3037 posts

Looks like picking it up in Florence is your best bet.

There are several Hertz locations in and near Florence that have cars with automatic transmissions and that are located well outside the ZTL area. We just used the one on via Sansovino and can recommend it - very efficient and well organized. You'd be in and out in a jiffy. Will require a short taxi ride from SMN.
I agree that using the Auto Europe search engine is a good place to start. The filters are quite good and will allow you to quickly narrow your search.

Posted by
8359 posts

Most of the small cities in Italy do not have rental car locations as we know them. Some car dealers rent cars, however I prefer renting from a familiar brand rental company.
We picked our car up on Sansovino in Florence, and it was about 2 miles by taxi from the Florence train station. They gave us directions to get out of town without getting close to the ZTL. Reservations were made through AutoEurope.com, and it was a Hertz car.

We turned it into Hertz' Orvieto location which is across the street from the train station. It is just 70 minutes by train into Rome Termini from there.

Posted by
21 posts

I appreciate all of your help! I've looked at autoeurope and there are rentals available from via Sansovino in Florence for my dates.

Did hertz charge you a fee to drop off the car at a different location?

Posted by
16187 posts

Last year I picked up at FCO and returned at MXP.
I used AutoEurope and selected the Hertz option.
Although AutoEurope warned me that there would be an extra drop off charge applied by the Hertz agency on the ground upon returning. However that wasn’t the case. I returned the car at different locations many times, and nobody ever charged me a drop off fee.
There is an extra charge however if you pick up at the airport.
Also there is a road tax that is applied extra. It’s about 15€ a week. That has nothing to do with drop off.

Posted by
3037 posts

Don't know if there's been a change to the Auto Europe policy, but for info we just did this a few weeks ago (picked up at Hertz Pisa and dropped off in Florence) and they did hit me with the one-way drop charge.

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