We're going to be renting a car from Autoeurope picking it up in Como and want to return it in Florence. Would it be better to return it at the airport or downtown? Returning the car at the station is not an option that's available.
Is there a bus from the airport to the train station?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
Posts: 12 | Location: Cincinnati | Registered: 23 February 2003
We had a recent discussion about dropping off a car rental in Florence in this thread. It sounds like the easiest would be to drop it off at the airport and get transportation into Florence. A taxi might be the best option. I don't think they are too expensive in Florence.
Posts: 7215 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
When you say 'returning the car at the station is not an option,' do you mean at the Florence rail station? The locations that the major car rental companies carry as 'downtown Florence' will be just a few blocks from the rail station.
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We will also return our rented car at the Florence airport.
Note: some car rental companies mark the airport's name as Peretola while others as Amerigo Vespucci. They are one and the same; Peretola is the location.
Posts: 5804 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 26 May 2002
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
There is a local bus as Alice mentioned and also a hotel shuttle bus that is a little more expensive, and you will still have to get to your hotel. transportation info For 2 it would cost 8 euro for the volobus and 15 or more for a cab right to your hotel! I would take a cab!
I rented a car from AutoEurope in Florence last week. I picked it up from Europcar just a few blocks from the Ponte Vecchio - it was easy and saved the hassle of going out the airport.
A few weeks ago we were in Tuscany with another family. We chose to drop our car off at the airport while the other family chose to drop theirs off at Hertz near the train station (we were catching a train to Venice). Needless to say they arrived at the station almost an hour after us. Narrow one way streets were their downfall. The taxi was only about 15 Euros--money well spent.
Brian
Posts: 8 | Location: Foster City, CA | Registered: 05 September 2002
Returning a rental car in central Florence is definitely do-able; most of the companies are located on Borgo Ognissanti, about four long blocks from the train station. However, it can be a bit of a round-and-round on one-way streets to finally hit the target. This is OK if you are humorous about it.
The last time I did the car return thing in Florence (while I lived there), I drove across the Arno, up to Pza. Michelangiolo, down to Porta Romana, where two cops were stationed at the entrance to Via Romana. I 'splained that I was returning my car...si, si, they waved me through. A local friend had shown me on a map how to cross the river going north and zip right onto Borgo O... I missed my coordinate turn and had to do it all over again. This time the police officers were laughing as they waved me through.
Only other thing, sometimes rental car companies slap on a pick-up/drop-off charge at the airport, like E25.00.
I tried to return a car last October. When I said "I was just returning a car", the officer said to me "residents only that way". All three times I drove past her. Until I drove thru a short pedestrian only block I could not figure out how to get out of a loop of one way only streets. So my recommendation on returning a car in Firenze is: don't. Either drive it into the Arno and walk the keys back to Auto Europe's affiliates office and take advantage of the supplemental insurance, or go to the airport. There is just too much construction and traffic in the city!
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