We will be in Italy from May 3 - 20, arriving in Venice(2 nights), on to CT(2nights), then to Florence(4nights). We plan to rent a car to leave Florence, on to Siena(2 nights) then to the town of Montepulciano (4 nights) to explore the countryside. Want to drop the car somewhere on Sunday, May 17th and head to Rome by train, but I'm having trouble finding a rental place open. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kerry
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
A car is a useless headache in Florence and Siena. Florence is best explored on foot, then take the bus or train to Siena. Then rent a car on your way out of Siena. You could drop it off in Orvieto, and take the train to Rome.
That will save you 6 days of car rental expense, 6 expensive days of parking cost, and reduce your hassles and help you enjoy the things you are going there to see and do.
Posted by
OP
18 posts
We hadn't actually planned to use the car in either town, but will take your advice and wait until Siena to rent. Still it's hard to find a drop-off point on Sunday. Are there any that maybe just have a drop box?
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
You're right, Sunday drop-off in Italy can be a problem. Most locations just aren't open, not like here.
Travelers reporting in here have either not found drop-off boxes, or if they did, there have been a few horror stories about people dropping off the car and then getting charges for damage.
But the main problem will be finding a location open.
I think you're headed into Rome, what I've done before coming from Tuscany is drop the car off at the Rome airport car return facility and then get into Rome using the same public transportation that arriving passengers use (easy). But I haven't done it on a Sunday and would double check to make sure what the hours are, even at the airport, it's probably not 24/7.
Posted by
California 🦋
5308 posts
Kery,
I will not comment on car rental since I've not done that in Italy... however, I have some thoughts about your itinerary ;-)
I don't know where you will be flying from, but if you're flying from the US into Venice, you might suffer the effects of jet lag.
So by spending 2 nights in Venice, you will have one full day for exploring/ sightseeing Venice and same goes for CT.
Traveling from Venice to CT will require at least 1 to 2 train transfers & at least 5.5- 6 hours of travel.
Don't underestimate the time it takes each time you relocate from one city to the next (arriving to new location, walk/ taxi/ boat to your hotel, check-in, unpack, get situated to new location, then check-out, walk/ taxi/boat to train station, wait for train, travel time, and repeat from the start once again...)
So each travel day you will lose about half of that day.
Hopefully Roberto will chime in with the information you need regarding best place to drop off rental car.
Have a wonderful trip!
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Thank you for those thoughts. Prior to flying into Venice from Paris, we are spending4 nights on the Normandy coast, so by the time we arrive in Venice, we will hopefully be over the jet lag!
From what I've tried so far, I think I actually have to call a rental company.
Thanks,
Kerry
Posted by
California 🦋
5308 posts
Kerry,
You might want to read Roberto's response on best rental companies on this thread:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/renting-a-car-in-tuscany