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Rome vs. Florence airport (and renting a car)

Posted by (Los Angeles) on

Heading back to Italy in October (yay!!) and trying to decide where to fly in to - Rome or Florence. We will be visiting Tuscany & Umbria. Flying to/from Atlanta and the only non-stop is to Rome. I have never flown into Rome and wondering how difficult the rental car set-up there is - both in terms of actually renting the car and then driving out of the city and into Umbria.

It would be nice not to have any connections (which we would have flying in to Pisa or Florence), but just trying to figure out if the non-stop to Rome is worth the it.

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated!

cheers.

Posted by
3112 posts

I agree with Steve, renting at Rome airport is easy. I did that in May 2009, and drove from the airport to Assisi with no ploblems. I would highly recommend taking or renting a GPS with Italy maps, which will make navigating in Tuscany and Umbria much easier.

Posted by
15 posts

thank you for the advice! sounds like it is not too bad and it would be SO nice not to have a connecting flight. looking for airfare deals now!

Posted by
9110 posts

'You can also fly non-stop into Milan from the USA ... but it is farther away from Tuscany.' is a true statement.

The difference is twenty miles -- city center to regional boundry.

Rome is twenty-five miles closer to Florence than Milan.

Neither are much of a reason not to use Milan if that suits you better.

Leaving the Rome aiport is a piece of cake since you go nowhere near the city center if you use the outer ring bypass. You should be able to get to Perugia in well less than three hours.

Posted by
15 posts

Yes, thank you. Actually flew into Milan on my last trip to Italy (Milan to Lake Como, then down to the Cinque Terre). Thinking this trip will be Umbria and southern Tuscany (Val d'Orcia area), so it sounds as if Rome might be the best bet. SOOO glad to hear that I will be able to bypass the city central.

Just saw that Delta announced a fall sale for Atlanta to Rome. Anyone have any tips for using FF miles to upgrade to business/first class? I finally have enough miles to upgrade but have never used them for that and want to make sure I buy a ticket that is eligible for upgrade.

Thanks again for all the help!

Posted by
1 posts

Renting/returning a car at FCO is easy. I did so in Oct 2007 from Maggiore. I highly recommend the Hilton Garden Inn right at the airport as a place to crash when you arrive. It's a great hotel to catch your breath at and the hotel restaurant is decent. Then you're all refreshed to head out the next morning. Returning a car at Malpensa or Linate is a different story [INVALID] there was no lot attendant and no direction on where to leave the car. You leave the car and then have to walk all the way into the terminal to return your key and tell them where you left the car [INVALID] sketchy if you ask me.

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