Hi everyone, I'm hoping some Italy pros out there can help me! In September, my husband and I will be leaving Florence for our stay in the middle of Tuscany countryside near Pienza. We will definitely be renting a car but we aren't sure where the best place to to pick it up would be. Currently, we think it would be nice to head to Pisa early in the morning, hang out there for a bit and then drive down to our B&B. We aren't sure if we should 1)Take the train from Florence to Pisa, rent a car from the airport, then drive down south, or 2)Rent a car from Florence and drive to Pisa and then south, or 3) Train to Pisa, visit, train to Siena, rent a car in Siena and then drive south, or 4) Something more simple? lol After Tuscany we will be heading to Rome so we will most likely drop the car off in Chiusi to take the train into Rome. I hope this wasn't too confusing. It would probably be more simple to cut Pisa out of our itinerary but it seems odd to go all the way to Italy and not visit Pisa. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15195 posts
I wouldn't bother to take my luggage on the train and the bus all the way to Pisa.
I would visit Pisa by train from Florence on a morning or afternoon or even evening during one of the days while you are in Florence. Pisa is one trick town. Everything worth seeing is inside one Piazza. Unless you plan to climb the tower, you can see it all in one hour or two.
Then the day I check out of the hotel in Florence, burdened by my luggage, I would go to the rental car office in Florence. All of them are on one street called Borgo Ognissanti between Piazza Ognissanti and Via Curtatone. You might be able to walk to it if you are not staying too far.
There is no way to be photographed by the ZTL cameras on exit. Cameras are only on entry points.
From there I would drive to wherever I want to go, Pienza, Siena or wherever.
If you absolutely insist on renting from Pisa airport, you can. However you need to take your luggage with you, store it at the station while you visit the tower, then take the shuttle bus to the airport to pick up your car. Consider also that picking up the car at the airport costs more in rental fees.
If you rent from Hertz, you also have the Orvieto drop off location as an option.
However I would drive all the way to Rome and drop off the car at the Tiburtina station. That's very close to the freeway exit coming from the Tangenziale Est/A24.
Posted by
OP
Denver, CO
27 posts
Thank you Roberto for your advice! It did seem like a lot of unnecessary work to rent from Pisa! :)