Where to Pick up Rental Car?

I rented just outside walls of Siena. I believe it was Avis. Not sure if that is south train since we took bus from Florence station. Worked great.

I hear Chiusi is a good town to rent a car. It's accessible from the Rome to Florence train line. Also, it has no ZTL and easy access to the countryside.

Who said that picking up the car in Florence is not easy?
Another urban legend.

Roberto--Picking up the may not be a bother, but from what I have read here, the challenge is not blundering into a ZTL

Karen-- if you are unfamiliar with" ZTL", do a search here . You will have HOURS of reading

On a positive side note, I picked up a car in Naples, drove the Amalfi coast and then east to the small village my Grandparents came from and then up the Adriatic coast to Milan, without collecting any "souvenirs" from any Italian police agency. Just stay alert and obey the rules.

The rental agent was very helpful in giving me guidance to leave Naples safely.

We picked up a rental car in Florence. I think it was from Avis on Borgo Ognissanti. I remember just a couple of turns, across the bridge, and on our way. It was very easy, do not be intimidated.

If you pick the car up on Borgo Ognissanti one-way road, google image "ztl cartelli Firenze" and check the route on street view it's doable.

Dropping a rental car is another story.

If you can't notice a Florence ZTL sign with the
Red and green lights maybe you shouldn't drive at all.

I have used the Hertz in Chiusi with no problem. Close to Montepulciano and all the other towns of that area. The office is right across the street from the train station.

I've rented from Hertz several times in Florence. There is a Hertz rental agency less than a half mile walk of the train station. I studied maps carefully when planning this so I would not enter the ZTL departing or returning the car. It was actually very easy.

Also, you should get maps.me app for your smart phone and download Italy maps. Bring a usb cable to keep your phone charged while driving and I bought a vent mount for mine and brought that with me. We drove all over northern Italy and were very conscience of avoiding ZTL in all the hill towns - Sienna, Lucca, Volterra, etc.

I might add that I have not had any luck using my cc at gas stations in Italy. I just pay cash and I'll also admit my Italian is rudimentary at best. Good luck.

Assuming you are comfortable with stick shift -- my husband (primary, if not exclusive driver on our trips) only drives automatic, so we rent from big-city locations, often airports which have a larger inventory of automatic transmission cars. So for us, Florence airport rental was great.

We just got back from Italy a couple weeks ago. We rented a car in Florence, Hertz, Borgo Ognissanti (after reading information from here) we had NO problem driving out of Florence to get to Tuscany. We did though return our car at the Florence Airport to avoid ZTL's coming back into Florence. It was so worth having our own car driving in Tuscany. We took our own GPS with us, reserved our car at our local AAA office before we left Ohio. FYI, you do need to get an International DL. Let me know if you have any questions.
Deb

Found it fairly easy to avoid any ZTL concerns picking up in Florence
I would not recommend dropping off in Florence but in Italy it usually does not matter if your pickup and drop off point differ as long as same company and same country.

I think more convenient than taking public transit to some other town and finding a rental office there, the Florence downtown location is close to the center so an easy walk away and they have a large inventory of cars.

In the US airport locations are king and always have the best selection in Italy you may find a city location near a major train station like Florence has better selection. Florence's airport I would guess sees much less traffic than Florence's train station on a given day.

Joe: "from what I have read here, the challenge is not blundering into a ZTL"

Below is the ZTL camera at the Lungarno Vespucci (facing East). It's the only way to enter the ZTL from Borgo Ognissanti, to do so one would need to turn left on via Curtatone, then left again on the Lungarno. If you go straight, you go through the camera, if you turn right at this intersection toward the bridge you don't.

Can anybody drive through this point pictured below without realizing you are entering the ZTL? If so, then your name is Mr. Magoo, and shouldn't drive at all.

https://goo.gl/maps/a67QeMFeEdz

Also note the blue sign stating you must turn either right or left, unless authorized (eccetto autorizzati)
https://goo.gl/maps/rutaQB4gTL42

Ah, Roberto, when you're driving on unfamiliar roads with signs in an unfamiliar language AND the GPS lady keeps changing her directions ... you may easily run up against a ZTL sign and not know which way to turn to avoid the ZTL violation, even if you're not Mr. Magoo.

Roberto

I did not say the ZTLs were not adequately marked, I simply observed that there are numerous posts here by folks who have inadvertently/unintentionally violated them. I think it most unlikely, they saw the sign and just decided to ignore it because no police car was parked beside it.

Just do a search in the handy search bar and I believe you will see many folk have run afoul of them. ( but I suspect you already know that)

Thank you everyone for your advice, suggestions and locations regarding a rental car in/outside of Florence! :) To clarify/confirm.....Yes, previous advice I've received mentioned that the difficulty in picking up a rental car in Florence, is directly related to the ZTLs. It was suggested that we take a train to a nearby town just outside of Florence, get the car from a rental company in town, then easily enter the highway from there. Subsequently, I read a post about someone who followed this same suggestion, however, I couldn't find the post w/the name of the small town where the car was rented.

Also, after a week in Montepulciano, we will be spend two nights in Assisi, then one night in Rome. Following the one night in Rome, we will catch our departing flight back to US. We're thinking of returning our car in or before Assisi, then take the train to Rome? (Again, avoiding ZTLs AND traffic.) If we return the car in Chiusi, is Assisi accessible by train/bus/cab?

Again, a huge "Thank You!" to everyone for your thoughtful suggestions!!! :)

Here's a link to an old thread here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/where-to-drop-rental-car-outside-rome

You need to check to see if it would be easier to continue to Rome to turn in the car. Roberto mentions Tiburtina Station in the thread. If push came to shove, you could always check in to returning at FCO. It is easy to get to from Tuscany/Umbria and it is well outside Rome. From FCO there are a number of choices of transportation into the city.

they saw the [ZTL] sign and just decided to ignore it because no police car was parked beside it.

Bingo!!
However the overhead camera is very noticeable, I don't see how one can miss it.
But then can you blame those pesky Italians if you get a citation in the mail?
Do you blame the highway patrol if they were hiding and caught you with a radar gun speeding at 85 mph?

when you're driving on unfamiliar roads with signs in an unfamiliar language
Laura, let me repost below the photo of the ZTL entry I linked above, but this time I'll zoom in to better read the 'sign'.
Note there is a RED light on with next to it the caption saying 'authorised traffic only' IN ENGLISH. Unfamiliar language? Maybe to a Japanese driver.
https://goo.gl/maps/LL8FJed28YJ2

95% of tourists that come home and get ZTL violations in the mail have never been on this forum and go to Italy completely unaware of what a ZTL is or it's existence.

I can easily see such a tourist driving through any signs like posted because they are blindly following their GPS which doesn't factor in ZTL areas.
If you are here researching a trip in advance you can drive from the Florence rental office out of town without a ZTL violation.

Dear OP:

Now that I understand your plan better these are the options.

CAR PICK UP:
As posted above, it is not hard to avoid the ZTL in Florence, provided one is not legally blind.
One more thing. Florence ZTL signs are in both Italian and English (as you can see above), a feature that is not available in all other cities and towns you will be in. Be aware that, although Florence has the largest ZTL in Italy (and probably the world), however it is not the oldest (Siena's is) and not the only ZTL. ZTL will be present in every single town you intend to visit (Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, Assisi, Orvieto, and all other ancient towns). No English signs in those towns, just the now familiar International circular white and red sign for "no motor vehicles allowed". It's used everywhere, including in Germany's ZTL.

It is very unlikely to run into the ZTL while exiting the city center from Borgo Ognissanti. The cameras are only for traffic incoming into the city center, not outgoing. But if you want to pick up closer to the freeway, then I suggest that you rent a car using Hertz on Via Del Sansovino which is away from the city center (you need a taxi since it would be a very long walk from the city center) and a straight shot to the A1 Freeway entrance (FIRENZE SCANDICCI) from where you'd take the freeway southbound (follow signs to ROMA).

Hertz is also the only car rental company in Orvieto, which would be an option for a rental car return before Rome. However if Orvieto is not in your plans, coming from Assisi, I'd probably opt for returning at Hertz in Spoleto

You should keep the car for your entire stay in Tuscany (Montepulciano) and also Assisi. Then you'd drive either to Orvieto or Rome to return your car. If you want to return your car in Rome, the easiest are Tiburtina station near the center or the Via Salaria location right off the Roma Nord exit