Car rental in Florence, Italy. Tips and tricks
Many people often ask me for advice on how and where to rent a car in Florence, Italy. So I have collected in this post all the useful tips I can possibly give on this topic. After all, the rental car is a very important part of a road trip in Italy.
Don’t be scared by Italian drivers and narrow streets, driving around Italy can be an unforgettable experience! It will allow you to reach the tiniest and prettiest villages, and to follow your own pace and travel plans.
But first, ask yourself a crucial question:
Should I really rent a car in Florence?
Florence is a small city, with narrow roads packed with traffic, and the historic center is a restricted traffic area. For these reasons driving in Florence can be a nightmare, can cause several fines and often it is not even necessary. Parking in town is an even worst nightmare. And gas is very expensive in Italy (way more expensive than in the United states).
- A complete guide to where to park Florence
If you don’t mean to leave the city, you don’t really need a rental car. You can easily get around on foot, by public transport or taxi (keep in mind that there’s no Uber in Florence).
- Read here for more information on how to get around Florence.
If instead you are planning to leave the city, visit the countryside or reach some other towns… well, then renting a car it’s a really good idea!
Pros and cons of renting a car in Florence
As I said before, the Cons of renting a car are:
- Driving in town is a nightmare
- The few parking places are very expensive
- Gas is expensive
- Highway tolls are expensive
- Risk of damages to the car
Pros are:
- Freedom to visit the places that you really want, at your own pace.
- Flexibility
- You can choose your own travel schedule
- You’ll be able to bring more luggage
- A car is also often the only way to reach the smallest and prettiest villages in the Tuscan countryside.
How to rent a car in Florence, Italy
It’s important to book a rental car in advance, because companies often have few vehicles available. If you expect to rent your car once you arrive in the city, you may not find any available. The earlier is the better!
I always recommend using rentalcars.com to book a car online. You can compare the prices and services of the most important car rental companies and choose the best one for you, for the lowest price. I always use it for my car trips and recommend it to other travelers as well. Rentalcars.com also displays car rentals on a map, so you can choose the one in the most convenient location.
You can also make your search right here:
Rental car insurance
When renting a car in Italy, having a CDW car rental insurance is required by the law, to make sure that you’ll be able to cover any accident or theft. Car rental companies are required to check if you have such insurance, and they won’t even give you the car without a proof of the insurance.
When you’re renting a car, make sure to buy the insurance in advance. If you book with Rentalcars.com you’ll be offered to buy also the insurance when you’re booking the vehicle online. Buying it at the desk when taking the car will be more expensive.
Some credit cards are offering a car rental insurance (but not all of them): check with your credit card provider if they offer that service.
Manual or automatic transmission vehicle?
Most of Italian cars are manual transmission vehicles (and if you will ask an Italian, he will probably tell you that manual transmission is more fun!). But lately automatic transmission vehicles are becoming more common. If you’re not used to manual transmission cars, it can be really tricky to drive around.
Car rental companies usually have both of the types: if you’re not used to manual transmission, make sure to request a car with the automatic one, and make sure to book your car as early as you can.
Documents needed to rent a car
For renting a car in Italy (and also in Florence) you must be 18 years old, and you will need:
- Your driving license from your own country.
- A credit card (must be the credit card of the driver).
- An international driving license if you’re not a resident of European Union.
- International ID (passport)
The rental car company might not ask for your international driving license, but it’s required by the law. If you are stopped by the police, they might ask for it.
Renting a car at the Florence airport
Although small, Florence airport has quite good services and several international car rental companies, such as Hertz, Avis, Budget and Europcar. Rentalcars.com allows you to select the Florence airport as a specific location for your search.
Airport Car Rentals are located in via Palagio degli Spini, connected to the airport by a free shuttle bus that runs every 20 minutes. The shuttle bus stops is inside the short term car park, just outside the airport terminal.
The offices of rental companies at the airport close in the late afternoon until the next morning: if your flight arrives later you risk finding them closed. For this it is even more important to book in advance online.
Car rental at the Florence station
The only car rental in Florence that has an office inside the Santa Maria Novella train station is Sixt. But there are many others companies a few hundred meters away, they are all located in Borgo Ognissanti: remember the name of this street to locate them when using the search engine map. From the station, Borgo Ognissanti is easily reachable on foot in less than 10 minutes (or by taxi if you have a lot of luggage).
Renting a car in the historic center
The Santa Maria Novella train station and Borgo Ognissanti are located inside the historic center. So the options I mentioned earlier for the station are also valid if you are looking for a car in the center of Florence.
Since most of the historic center is ZTL area (traffic limited zone), if you are renting a car in the historic center, they will provide you a pass for the ZTL.
If you’re staying in a hotel located inside the traffic limited zone, the hotel can provide you a special pass for the ZTL. Just be sure to request it when booking your accomodation.
I hope you find useful these tips on how to rent a car in Florence, Italy. If you have any other questions or you want me to book this and other services in Tuscany for you, get in touch with me!
Also learn how to get…
My husband and I are staying in Florence for 2 nights and then plan on renting a car to drive down into Chianti where we have a house rented. We will then be returning to Florence (I think) to take the train to Venice. I’m reading about the nightmares of driving in Florence and I’m wondering if this is a bad idea because of getting back to Santa Maria station with rental car.
If you don’t want to drive around the SMN train station, you can rent your car at the Florence Airport, which is super close to the A1 highway and you will avoid driving downtown. You can get from the center to the airport by tramway in less than 20 minutes.
We are a party of 10 so we will need to rent 2 SUV’s in Florence -city (& return to Florence) for 6-7 days – from 8/12 – 8/18 Is it possible to rent 2 from the same rental company? I will be renting the cars but my sons 38 & 42 will be driving. Please advise
ciao Camille, sure you can rent 2 vehicles from the same rental company! Have a safe and happy travel in Italy!
Hi…would appreciate your help pls…we are docking at la spezia port cruise terminal and considering to rent a car to drive to Florence… is there a pass from the rental at La spezia we will be given to use for the ztl zones? Will Pickup and drop off rental car somewhere in La spezia ( if you have a suggestion close to port, that would be great!) any thoughts, tips or suggestions pls. to help us get around …Is it truly complicated? Please advise..Thank you for your help.
ciao Nini, no, they won’t give you a ZTL pass, unless you’re parking in a private parking inside the ZTL area. in such case, the parking will provide you the pass. It’s not too complicated, most of the travel will be on highways. Enjoy your road trip!
Is it better to park outside of Florence and then uber into town of Florence? Just worried about the cons you’ve mentioned driving in Florence…
When you mentioned private parking, do you mean locals/residents?
ciao Nora, there’s no uber in Florence, only regular taxis. Private parking are like private garages, where you’ll pay to park there.
Ciao! Is it easy getting out of Florence if we rent a car from Sixt at Santa Maria novella station? I have train to Florence and then plan to drive out to Tuscany towns. Grazie!
ciao Christina, the one-way roads around the train station might be challenging, but it takes only 10 minutes to escape from the city center. Ask the rental company to explain you the easiest way to reach your first stop
We are renting a car at the Florence airport then driving to Montepulciano. Will we need a ZTL pass?
no, if you drive straight to montepulciano and don’t drive into Florence, you won’t need it
Great article. Thank you for all the tips! We’re thinking of doing a road trip from Florence to Rome basing ourselves in Montalpucino. I’m guessing one way rental will be possible? From your article I see it should be easy to pick up from the airport in Florence. Will it be as easy to return the car at FCO (Rome airport) and use public transportation to reach our accomodations near the Vatican in Rome?
ciao Marie, yes, one way rental is definitely possibile, but it will be more expensive. From Fiumicino airport there are frequent and direct trains to the main station Termini, which is very central, and then you can use metro or taxi. Have a good trip!
Hello! My large family group will be taking train from LaSpezia to Florence and then renting cars to travel around Tuscany. Would it be possible to get to the airport to rent a car or is city center our only option? Is pick up in LaSpezia and drop off at Florence airport reasonable? Thank you so much.!
ciao Susan, yes you can definitely rent a car at the airport, instead that in the city center! Pick up in La Spezia and drop off in Florence is doable, it will just be a bit more expensive than dropping off the car in the same location where you pick it up.