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Car hire in Florence

Hiring a car in Florence

The cradle of the Renaissance, Florence is an enchanting and magentic city that entices thousands of tourists from around the world each year to its shores.

Located in the beautiful Tuscany region of Italy, the city is full of incredible architecture, gastronomical delights and cultural must-sees.

Famous for its links to the world of art, the city is home to Michelangelo’s David, Da Vinci's Annunciation and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. However, Florence is so much more than just the birthplace of the Renaissance, it is a vibrant metropolis that is full of life and vigour.

The city is a nod to the masters of the old world and a handshake to the new.

What you need to know

There is a lot of choice when it comes to hiring a car in Florence, with many top companies, such as Sixt, Thrifty, Hertz, Alamo and Enterprise, to choose from. You can use our booking tool to narrow your search, filtering by dates, price and what kind of car you’re looking for, so you know that you’re getting the best deal.

At Holiday Autos, we don’t charge any credit card fees or make you pay to amend or cancel your booking. We’re also on hand 24/7, should you run into any problems during your trip.

Where to pick up your car

If you’re flying into the city, then you’ll land at Florence Airport (FLR) in Peretola. Once you’ve collected your luggage, exit the terminal building and make your way to the bus stop just inside the short-term car park. Here you will catch a shuttle bus to the ‘Palagio degli Spini’, which is where the car rental desks are located.

Booking in advance means you’ll just need to locate the firm you booked with, sign your paperwork and then the keys are yours. It also means you're likely to get a better deal than waiting until you arrive at the airport to hire a car.

You will also be able to collect your car from the train station, if you’ve opted to travel by rail. Just check which will be most convenient for you when you book.

Best Car Hire Companies Florence

europcar
europcar
europcar

Car Hire Reviews Florence

  • “The pick-up was easy, it took 5 minutes from arriving at the desk to driving out the car, and the return took even less time.”
    Diane T

Where to go

Where you go first in Florence when you arrive depends completely on what type of trip you’re after. If your holiday is all about the art, then you should head to one of the city’s many galleries, such as the Uffizi or Accademia, and see some of the masterpieces that live there.

If it’s all about the architecture for you, then head into the city centre and gaze at the magnificent buildings before enjoying a glass of wine in a piazza. Why not see the Duomo and Battistero cathedral, which took an incredible six centuries to start and finish, or the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel?

Food may be the first thing on your mind if your journey was long, or even if it wasn’t, as you’re visiting Italy after all. There are a host of amazing restaurants and cafes dotted across Florence that all serve up delicious fare, such as the famous Florentine steak.

The city is your playground, you just have to decide what’s first on the to-do list.

Nearby Florence

You could use your trip to Florence as an opportunity to explore some more of Tuscany. In less than 40 minutes, you could be traversing the dramatic scenery of Chianti. With its vineyards, small towns and fine wine, this area offers stunning views and buckets of charm. You could take a bike road through the hills and enjoy a picnic, or take a romantic stroll through one of Chianti’s luscious forests.

The city of Prato is just a ten minute drive from Florence and is a must-see for anyone looking to get a real taste of Tuscany, as it’s a little off the beaten track. Here you’ll be able to see treasures from Etruscan, Medieval and more modern times, such as the as the letters of the famous ‘merchant of Prato’ Francesco Datini document or some incredible frescoes by Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello and Agnolo Gaddi inside.

Longer drives

The scenery in Tuscany offers the perfect backdrop to a road trip, so if you get the opportunity to take a longer drive, you should. The journey from Florence to the port city of Livorno is as incredible as the destination itself. Located on the western coast of Tuscany, on the Ligurian Sea, Livorno is one of the most modern cities in this part of Italy. It is a melting pot of world cultures, whose fascinating roots date all the way back to prehistoric times.

One of the most beautiful parts of Livorno is La Venezia, which is made up of canals and small bridges that are reminiscent of the Northern Italian city of Venice. Every summer, this area of the city hosts the Effetto Venezia, which is a celebration of music, theatre and the culture that brings La Venezia alive.

Top attractions in Florence

There is enough to see and do in Florence to cover countless trips, but here are a selection of the best the city has to offer.

The Uffizi Gallery

The ‘Galleria degli Uffizi’ is one of the world’s most famous art galleries due to the sheer number of masterpieces that are housed there. The main part of the collections were left by the Medici family to the state of Tuscany so that they could “adorn the state, be of utility to the public and attract the curiosity of foreigners”. Italian greats such as Botticelli, Giotto, Cimabue, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello have work in the Uffizi.

The Duomo

With its stunning Renaissance dome, Florence’s cathedral is impressive to say the least. It was named in honour of Santa Maria del Fiore and was built on the original site of the 7th-century church of Santa Reparata - the remains of which can still be seen in the crypt today.

Piazzale Michelangelo

Offering stunning panoramic views of the city, the Piazzale Michelangelo was designed and created in the 19th-century. The monument base was dedicated to Michelangelo to go with the museum originally planned - however, this never came to fruition.

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