Rental cars

Go to www.autoeurope.com and play around with your towns, dates to find answers to your these questions. They are located in Portland, Maine and I often call them with my questions too. I always rent through them. If you want an automatic , you're more likely to find them in cities or airport locations.

Check Autoeuope, They rep for many rental agencies. I know there is a rental agency in Orvieto,in the lower town The closest one to Assisi is Foligno. It is a 5 minute cab from the train station.
You can rent a car in Rome fairly easily, and close to the edge of town if you want. It is not hard to do.
The driving is not hard, just a little stressful. Make sure and study the road signs, as they are a little different from ours. Keep change for the Autostrada, as they are all toll roads.
Lastly, make sure you do notdrive into areas of "Zona traffica limita" There are camers, and you will get a nice fine when you get back to the states, via your rental agency.

Jeff

When your travels are complete do come back and tell us about the rental car experience. So many times people are excited about rental vehicles then come here afterwards asking how to pay a speeding fine from 6 months ago or how many times they were zapped for driving in a ZTL. Don't forget about all of the toll roads all over Italy and the high price of petrol.

To rent at Hertz in Orvieto, you have to go to their international site. To use Autoeurope,you'd have to train to Chiusi and pick up there.

Driving in Italy, you will need an IDP, a translation of your drivers license.
Available at AAA. $24

Make sure you read this, and download their PDF.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

Use via Michelin to map out your individual trips, and take the printout with you, gps on occasion has not worked.

You're going to have a wonderful time.

omg, my head is spinning. This is why I was so apprehensive about renting a car in Italy. I will go to autoeurope.com and then my local AAA office. Maybe my head will stop spinning after that. lol

You can do it ! I'm doing a similar trip but after my research I think I'm just going to rent actually in Rome and return there based on these forums. I will be returning at the termini and read that you can pick outlying areas of Rome if u r more comfy. There is a post on this forum somewhere that tells exactly what turns to take to return at station. If you're going to have your luggage in the car In a public lot at Assisi or anywhere else, you want to make sure that you get a car that has a trunk and not just hatch back I have read because of theft. we're going to rent with Avis because we have some status there. I have rented in Italy before and once you get over the new factor it's really very similar.. when you get gas fill up at the station with an attendant or if you do an automatic station do only like $10 at a time as we lost $30. Be sure not to speed even if you don't see any cops because they are notorious for sending speeding ticket back after you get home even a year after we had no problem tho and looking forward to doing it again .

Just back back a couple of weeks ago from Italy and visited several of the areas you outlined.
In regard to the car rental. Hertz has a location at the train station below a Orveito; otherwise there are no other options in Orvieto.
We rented a car in Bologna from Europcar and picked it up after several days at their train station location. We have used Europcar in France for over the past twenty years with no problems, but this was the first time renting inside Italy and it was a different experience.
The car was relatively new with less than 8000 miles but was dirty had numerous scratches and dents. The attendant had marked the damage on the rental form prior to the pickup and quickly pointed them out.
Upon return to the Florence airport a week later the attendant there, who wasen’t very freindly nor spoke much English, quickly noticed a small scratch on the wheel rim which was not indicated on the rental form. He accused me of the damage which I did not do; nevertheless I left and was surprised a week later to receive an invoice indicating that they charged my credit card for $ 260.00 damage.
I contact there headquarters but to no eval.
I have never had anyone look at the wheels during an inspection, it has always been the body and fenders as indicated on there contract for.
I believe that it was a scam due to the way it was handled.
In conclusion, I would strongly recommend that you inspect all parts of the car prior to leaving the lot, especially in Italy.
Like I stated, I never had any problems before with rentals in France but Italy is a different story.
So be aware.

Thank you all for so much information. Here is my proposed rental. I would be grateful for any and all feedback.

Take train from Rome to Terni. Pick up Hertz rental car (Terni - Via Curio Dentato 42)and head on to our truffle hunt and Assisi, then on to our Agriturismo near Pienza.
Relax at Agriturismo for two days. On third day, drive to Orvieto and explore Orvieto. Return Hertz rental car at Orvieto Train station (Return Location
Orvieto Railway Station - Via 7 Martiri 32/F) and take train back to Rome. Thoughts??? I will be visiting my AAA office in the next week for the documentation mentioned on this thread. Does anyone know if I can cancel the rental with no fee if I chicken out? (I haven't booked it yet, don't want to commit myself without a way out but want to lock in the car if you all feel I have made the correct choices).
Thanks again!!!
Lori

Lori,

It looks like youre going to have a great adventure on your first day in Umbria. Your locations are close enough to do it all.

The one thing to keep in mind is in mid October, sunset is around 6:30, so get as early of a start as possible. This will depend on when you can pick up the car.

You also do not want to be driving into the late afternoon sun on your way to Pienza.

How long of a tour is your truffle hunt, and how much time are you planning on spending in Assisi?

Thank you. The truffle hunt is in the morning (I don't have the details yet) and then a luncheon. As far as Assisi, we are open to any timing. Thank you for the information about the sunset and driving into the sun.
Do you know if the rental car locations are easily accessible from the train stations?

I usually pick up and drop at a major city at the airport (so you avoid driving in the center of town--did that and it is not fun, but doable if you are focused, safe, and BRAVE). I have used Sixt many times and found them very nice and accommodating in Italy and France. They also have a generous selection of automatic transmission vehicle to choose from if that is an issue for you. Get a car with a GPS or purchase one in the US with European maps. Will be a life saver vs. your I phone
Having driven from one end of Italy to another my single piece of advice is to remember that Italian's drive as if they have no concept of death!

Hope you enjoy.
John

We rented in Italy (Florence airport to Orvieto) last May -- since it has been a year, we're finally feeling secure that there's not a ZTL violation coming in the mail. But aside from that, driving in Tuscany and Umbria was delightful.
Hertz in Orvieto seems to want the cars left at a gas station across the street (we couldn't find parking right at the Hertz office, so my husband put the car in someone's driveway while I ran inside and found a Hertz employee to take delivery of the car.)

Thank you Laura!
I will make a note about Hertz in Orvieto

Callen - can you explain why you say to avoid a hatchback? That's what I've usually ended up with and I don't understand why a car with a trunk is preferable. Thanks.

Thank you John! I'm a little confused. I was planning on picking up the car in Terni so I could be well away from Rome and the zone things. Then drop it off near Orvieto. Do you agree with this? Thank you for your recommendation for Sixt. I will go to their website. With all the horror stories I've been reading, it's good to hear about a company that was pleasant to work with.
Lori

You can certainly handle this! From reading a few replies, I would advise that you look over the car thoroughly with someone form the rental office. I always do, to avoid unsubstantiated damage claims. If you don't try to drive into the city centers, you shouldn't have to worry about the ZTL's. There will be parking in most cities so you can walk in. You will have a fantastic time!! Please let us know how it went for you!