Good afternoon! We will need to pick up a rental car as we are leaving Venice (heading to the Dolomites and then Tuscany) and will need to drop off in Rome before we spend a few days there. What locations do you suggest we pick up and drop off? Thank you!
I would check at agencies in Piazzale Roma. You could drop it at the airport and take a train into Rome, either a regional train or the Leornardo Express depending on where your hotel is located. Or maybe the agency can suggest a drop location.
I assume you have driven in Italy before and know all the pitfalls, (IDP, ZTL's, radar speed traps and tutor systems on the Autostrada).
Pick up in Venice Piazzale Roma.
The drop off in the city of Rome varies according to which company you end up renting from.
Rental Companies have several offices in different parts of Rome. The only place where the return is in the same place for all is the ROMA TERMINI station (they are all pretty much in either one of the two parking structures at the station) and of course at one of the two airports (Fiumicino or Ciampino), neither of which is convenient coming from Tuscany on the A1 (also it would require an expensive 50 euro taxi ride back to the city).
I generally return to either Termini station (if I'm staying in the city for the night) or the Fiumicino airport (if I'm staying at the FCO Hilton for the night).
Check rental rates on AutoEurope (a broker). Here are their websites:
www.autoeurope.com
www.kemwel.com
www.autoeurope.eu
Thanks so much! So I must be doing something incorrect because when I search for locations for my pick up date in Venice the only location that comes up is the airport? Can this be correct? We are picking up on a Sunday.
Sunday might be the problem for you, most intown agencies are closed on Sundays and have limited hours on Saturdays
If you pick up on Sunday then the airport might be the only option. I see that the Hertz office at Piazzale Roma opens in the morning only on Sunday, but all others I checked (Avis-Budget, Europcar) are closed all day on Sunday. So if you want to pick up on Sunday, the airport it is.
Thank you! I’ll try Hertz as I, of course, would like to avoid going to the airport
Check prices then decide. I know the airport pickup requires an extra ride via taxi or bus, but from the Venice airport it is very easy to jump on the A57 freeway to the A27, which is the freeway you want to head to the Val di Cadore (Cadore Valley) and eventually Cortina.