Can we rent a car at the train station in Florence?

[shmoore]

We are planning a trip to Italy in October and will be traveling mostly by train. We will go from Rome to Florence and pick up a car for our week in Tuscany. Are there cars available to rent at the railroad terminal or do we have to go to the airport? If alternate locations are available....which would be best to avoid as much traffic as possible. Thanks for your help.
Sandy

 

[Laurie]

We are planning a trip to Italy in October and will be traveling mostly by train. We will go from Rome to Florence and pick up a car for our week in Tuscany. Are there cars available to rent at the railroad terminal or do we have to go to the airport? If alternate locations are available....which would be best to avoid as much traffic as possible.

Florence is not an easy city to drive in, IMO the airport would be a much easier place to pick up a car. There are frequent and inexpensive shuttle buses between the 2, from a bus terminal adjacent to the train station.

I don't know about rental car locations within Florence - we didn't rent one there. But we did drive into Florence once, for an overnight hotel stay, and wouldn't elect to do it again.

You can go to AutoEurope's website and plug in a Florence rental to see what intown locations are available, if you want to do it anyway.

Have a great trip!

 

[Passepartout]

We flew into/out of Florence from Pisa then took the frequent/inexpensive trains. Cheaper transfers than from Florence's airport. I do not recall car rental booths near the ferrovia in Florence, however iirc there were car rental places at Pisa.

Jim Ricks

 

[shmoore]

Thank you for your help. We will take a train to Florence and then get to the airport to rent the car. We will be in Tuscany for a week and will need to get to town for groceries, etc. so we will probably rent. We have booked a villa out in the countryside.

Thanks guys,
Sandy

 

[Tiger]

I've visited Florence and Tuscany numerous times. Sometimes after landing in Rome I've rented at the Rome airport and driven to Tuscany, othertimes I've taken the train to Florence, stayed there for a time, then rented a car in Florence and moved out to the countryside.

Both methods work. The determining factor for me would be whether you wanted to stay in Florence for any time. If you want to stay overnight you can rent in Florence when you want to leave. The car rental folks will deliver the car to your hotel, or you can pick it up at many different locations, including autoeurope near the train station. Getting out of Florence is a little daunting but if you ask directions have a map and stick to the main streets it's not too hard.

But if your destination is only the countryside and hill towns of Tuscany I'd recommend getting the car at the Rome airport and driving. It's only 3 or so hours to the Tuscan countryside, or less if you'd like to visit Orvieto (not in Tuscany but on the way) or Montalcino or Montipulciano.