Driving in Tuscany Italy

Theoretically you require an International Drivers licence to rent a car in Italy, The International Driving Permit (IDP) is an official translation of your driver's license and Italy, by law, requires that you have an IDP. However, in practice you can make a rental with a standard valid driving license.

Car Rental: 

You will find most of the International car rental companies and many local companies. Rrent from either Europcar or Avis, Hertz does have an office in Arezzol, just not downtown near the train station. Rented from Hertz, and got a phenomenal deal online; 123 EUR for a week, for a automatic Mercedes A180. This was the perfect car for us - officially a midsize, but had enough room in the hatchback area for 4 large (29") rolling duffels plus 4 carry-ons without even impeding the view out the rear-view mirror! Had only 200 km on it when we picked it up, and was very peppy yet got almost 40 mpg... so even with $8/gallon feul, the cost per mile was less than our cars at home! Easy to park as well - just an all around great car; wish they sold it here. The key to getting that great rate (besides booking way in advance) was to book a "green midsize automatic" using the AAA discount - the Mercedes A160 or A180 is apparently the only automatic green midsize they have, and it was over three times the price if you selected it as "automatic midsize" vs. "green automatic midsize". Returning the car in Arezzo was much easier than with Avis or Europcar, as Hertz is a couple of miles out of the town center, but right off the motorway, and then they will drive you right up to the front door of the train station (we didn't even have to transfer our luggage as they used our car). Avis and Europcar are right across from the train station, but you have to deal with downtown traffic, plus since they don't really have a lot, you need to try to find a spot on the street or the sidewalk in front, then lug your luggage a few hundred yards to the train station.

International Driver's License:

Officially required in order to rent and drive a car in italy, but many car rental agencies don't check. The guy in front of us in line was turned away from his confirmed reservation at Avis because he didn't have one, and was frantic as most agencies were out of cars... Hertz didn't check ours, but that might have been because I was Hertz #1 Gold, so I didn't need to fill out paperwork... Best to be safe and get it at any AAA office or online for $15 (need a passport photo).

GPS:

Critical to have - makes driving so much easier! We brought a Garmin Nuvi 370 (comes with all of Europe pre-loaded) and the Club provided a TomTom Go 920. We tested them side-by-side a couple of times, and they always picked the same routes. Personally I liked the TomTom better in terms of the graphics, but I liked the garmin better in terms of design (i.e. the garmin just snaps in and out of the holder, automatically connecting to the power source, whereas the TomTom needs to be inserted into the holder and then also have the power cord attached.