drop off rental car at FCO? or is that a pain

FCO is easy to navigate by car. The only problem might be congestion (you didn't mention where are you driving from). I'd sleep in a hotel near the airport, then drive there and return it with plenty of time (as in 7am) so that you can sort anything that needs to be sorted. I'd NOT sleep in the other side of Roma, or in an inner-city hotel, and then drive at peak time to the airport - too risky. If you want extra peace of mind, you can do like this: return the car late the day before. Then, sleep at a hotel near the airport that offers a shuttle to/from the airport. Next morning you catch the shuttle back to the airport.

Here's one other possibility which may or may not fit your itinerary. If you have a Hertz rental car, it's easy to drop it off in Orvieto the day before your flight. It's about 1.5 hours by train to Rome. Stay near Termini. Have a nice dinner in Rome the evening before your flight. The day of your flight, take the Leonardo Express from Termini. The first train to FCO is at 5:52 a.m.

hi great we are coming in from the south so i will look for a hertz south of rome
thanks

Hi Annette,
It doesn't have to be Hertz - I'm most familiar with their location in Orvieto. It's very convenient to the train station. If you decide not to drop off at FCO another city with good transportation connections and a drop-off location could work as well.

I prefer to stay downtown the night before flying back. Staying near Fiumicino would be like spending the last night in Italy in a dump. Since parking the rental at a downtown hotel may be problematic and also expensive, I would return the car at a city location upon arrival. Then the next morning I would go to the airport from my downtown hotel by cab (30 min). The 50 euro taxi fare is probably cheaper than keeping the car rental for the extra day.

yes thanksthe hotels near the airport are horrible-i have been checking for a one night in rome-will the car off the night before somewhere in rome and get a great hotel or b and b for the one night i checked rick's suggestions but many have bad reviews-which have surprised me- we are willing to spend a few more dollars for something fabulous in rome however I have not been lucky yet to find one-still looking-i did find HOTEL LANCELOTbut interesting Rick doesn't have anything listed for the airport b and b's or a hotel
thanks so much

Annette, I'd agree that it would be better to stay downtown if possible. Here are some suggested Rome parking options... and here are hotels with free parking in and around Rome! You could always drop off the car upon entering Rome from A24 at the Roma Termini Train station ... or at any of these car rental locations in Rome. Just be careful NOT to go into central Rome as there are multiple ZTL zones. Good Luck!