Where to drop off rental car - Lucca or La Spezia

Drop it in Lucca. Train connections from there to the CT are easy and you'll the cost of a rental car for the days you're in Lucca. Also, the rental car offices in La Spezia are some distance from the train station.

We rented in Rome last month with Avis, and our friends, who also rented in Rome with Hertz, dropped the car in Pisa without a drop charge. We drove to Siena, St. G, Cinque Terre and other nearby cities. Check with the car rental companies to be sure they do not charge an extra drop charge to return the car to the city of your choice. Also, watch the speed limits on the AutoStrata: the Mercedes and Porches will pass you like you are standing still, but they slow down before you come to the radar cameras, which take a picture of your license plate, contact your rental car company to get your credit card number (can you imagine a rental car company in the US that would give the highway department your credit card number?) and they charge 100 euros to your credit card for each infraction. It shows up on your cc bill in about 3 months. How nice. Ciao!

Don, the fixed radar cameras are not a problem if you bring a GPS from home that has them "listed". Our TOMTOM GPS, that is quite afew years old, lets loose with an audible and visual alarm when you get near one if these. You are correct. You don't want to see that radar fine, or a ZTL fine. The GPS can warn you about the "speed traps" but not about ZTL's. The moral of the story...follow the law/laws...ignorance is NO excuse.

Also pay attention to the office hours at the Lucca rental places. They may be limited, especially on weekends.

The rental car offices don't need to be open to drop. Usually, there's a key deposit for after hours. And most rental agencies don't have a drop charge for drops in the same country.

Some people are not comfortable dropping a off a car and walking away without a receipt and confirmation that the car was returned in satisfactory condition. And if I recall correctly, the office where we picked up our car in Lucca (Hertz) kept the cars in a locked yard and did not accept drop-offs after hours. Maybe the other office does, but it is farther from the train station. It's just something to look into before committing to a particular rental company and place to drop the car. As for recommendations, we have used AutoEurope before in Italy, but on this occasion Hertz had the better rate for a car picked up in Lucca and dropped elsewhere. (AutoEurope did not quote an added drop fee but the daily rate was higher). A car with GPS was not available at that location, but that should not be a problem if you pick up in Rome.