Please sign in to post.

Tuscany car rental, Florence to Siena vs Siena round-trip

Posted by (Chicago) on

Greetings, all. Looking for advice or thoughts from those who have rental car experience in Tuscany.
We have not previously driven in Italy, so far our trips have been in the urban cores of the three major cities and in the RS Sicily tour so we have not needed to drive.

But this time we are traveling from Florence to the Borgo Argenina agriturismo near Gaiole, Umbria, 20 minutes N/NE of Siena. A rental car seems a near necessity for exploring the area in the three nights we have booked there. This section of our trip is June 2-5. We have not seen the Tuscan countryside and are thinking that in early June it will be green and lovely.

My research on Kemwell shows two alternatives for car rental:
1) pick up in Florence on Sunday June 2, return in Siena on Wednesday June 5. Should we view the drive from Florence to Siena as a welcome opportunity or as a burdensome necessity ? Google says it is 90 minutes which seems doable but I assume the bit around leaving the Florence metro area will be the most confusing for us, how difficult is it ? Thought we would leave at 10AM hoping to feel rested and avoid congestion. And are we better off picking up at the airport or the center location on Borgo Ognissanti ? The center location is a 5 minute taxi ride whereas the airport is more like 25 minutes, but I wonder if the airport would be less confusing/congested/closer to the arterial route we need for the drive towards Siena ? The one-way drop off fee is quoted as a reasonable $60 for a Panda, total cost $319 for extended cover no deductible which is a reasonable ~$105/day.

or 2) pick up in Siena on Monday the 3rd and return there on Wednesday. Car rental not open on Sunday in Siena, so we would travel Florence-Siena by bus and then take a taxi to the agriturismo on Sunday and back into Siena on Monday. Monday is a national holiday but car rental seems to be open that day. This is obviously less efficient but is there an advantage to limiting driving to greater Siena and the countryside, no driving around Florence ?

I did consider the alternative of skipping a car rental and using guides with cars, but decided that for this part of the trip a car gives us the ability to tailor our own itineraries and timetables.

Other points we should be thinking about ? I know we need to get to AAA for an international driving license, what else ? Thanks !

Posted by
3 posts

Hello, Bob. I, too, am planning a trip to Italy. I'm a novice at this, but here's what I've found. We are taking the train from Varenna to the Florence airport, where we will pick up our rental (a savings over renting it somewhere else in Florence), driving to Tuscany for our stay at an agritoursomo in Campiglia D'orcia for 4 nights. Then driving back to the Florence airport for drop off and then spending a few days in Florence before heading to Rome via train. I found an inexpensive website for our rental called Doyouitaly.com. We're actually renting from Ace. Total cost for their smallest car from Oct 17 to the 21st is 78.68 euro, an excellent bargain! On Trustpilot they receive a 4.3(out of 5) rating.

When we were in Ireland, we found another inexpensive car rental agency called easirent, which we were very satisfied with. We had 2 flat tires within days (operator error), and they were prompt in refunding our money for replacing the tires. They do not appear to be in Italy. Just an FYI.

Posted by
6989 posts

The Chianti road between Florence and Siena is beautiful
Definitely worth the drive

I would just pick up at the Borgno Ognissanti
locations
It’s not too complicated exiting Florence from there
Our Florence expert-Roberto has posted directions many times
A search for “driving out of Florence” should bring it up

Make sure you have easy to access parking at all of your accommodations

Posted by
6989 posts

Cmichelson

You will need to take the tram or a taxi from Firenze SM Novella station to the airport and Back

I believe the fixed rate taxi is 22 euros and taxi will take you right to the rental agency

The tram goes to the airport-from there you need to make your way to rental agencies they are all together offsite from airport

Posted by
15826 posts

Gaiole is not in Umbria, it's in the Chianti area of Tuscany.

Check pricing in all of AutoEurope's websites (which includes Kemwel, now part of AutoEurope).
www.autoeurope.com
www.autoeurope.eu
www.kemwel.com

Renting from Borgo Ognissanti or the airport is a decision which should be based on pricing. Renting from the airport may be more expensive due to airport taxes, in addition to the 25 euro taxi ride (but there is also the lightrail tramway T2 option for less than 2 euro). But check the difference in pricing and decide. It's not difficult to drive out of Borgo Ognissanti at all, and be aware that you are going south of the city, while the airport is situated on the opposite side of where you need to go. Also consider any drop off fees in the calculation, if you plan to return the car at a different location.

I wouldn't bother to go to Siena and back track to Gaiole. You will spend more in time, money, and aggravation. Rent the car in Florence (whichever location is cheaper between airport and Borgo Ognissanti). Therefore your option no. 2 would be a non starter for me.

Check the websites above, and see if you can find a better car than the Panda. Pandas are small and with very little cargo space, also the have zero power. I usually rent in Florence (airport or Borgo Ognissanti) through AutoEurope, but I always select the Compact SUV category, it's generally not much more than a Panda, but of course it depends on time of the year.

Posted by
10 posts

Many thanks to all, most particularly Roberto da Firenze, for your replies. And thanks, Roberto, for being gentle in reminding me that Gaiole is in the Chianti region of Tuscany, not in Umbria :).

I think we will both pick up and drop off at the Europcar at 153/R Via Borgo Ognissanti. I did look at the Hertz Sud location at Via Ambrosoli since it is closer yet to the launch for the S-222, but that location is not open on our pick-up date of Sunday and also would be a 25 minute cab ride from the Hotel Alessandra where we are staying.

Thanks again,

Posted by
15826 posts

For the Borgo Ognissanti pick up and return, you must pay attention to the camera enforced ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone) restrictions. A ZTL are zones in the historical centers of Italian cities where only residents with permit or delivery vehicles with permit can enter. They are not unique to Florence, as virtually every town in Italy has those in their historical core. That includes Siena, which has the oldest ZTL in Italy.

There are specific routes you are allowed to take out and into Borgo Ognissanti without being immortalized by a ZTL camera and be fined. Over the years I've posted numerous instructions on how to get out and back into the Garage Europa, the multistory parking structure where Europcar and all other companies have their cars. Please read the posts below carefully.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/florence-car-rental-zlt-zone
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/car-rental-in-florence-airport-vs-train-station
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/sorry-florence-car-rental-return-ztl-question
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/florence-rental-car-return-to-borgo-ognissanti

Don't worry too much about it, but follow the instructions I gave. There will be no fines coming your way if you follow those instructions. I don't like the Via Ambrosoli Hertz location. It's a car dealership which has a franchise. Their office is in the back and even hard to locate. I didn't pick it up there in spite of being across the river from my neighborhood in Florence, but I stopped there to have something fixed with the car I had picked up at the airport Hertz (the electric window kept opening and closing by itself). They fixed my problem, but the guy made me wait half hour while he was at the desk talking to his girlfriend on the phone. Zero customer service (not at all unusual in Italy where mothers and girlfriends always come before the customer).

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.