Renting in the city is a different question from renting at the airport
Airport counters carry concession recovery fees that neighbourhood branches do not, and a car parked in a city garage for three days can cost more than the rental. Both are worth pricing before you book — and in some of these cities the honest answer is a shorter rental than you were planning.
New York · NY
Rent for the trip out of town, not the city days
Manhattan is the strongest case in the country for not renting a car for your whole stay.
Los Angeles · CA
You will want one the whole time, and parking is the hidden cost
Los Angeles is the opposite of New York: plan on having the car for the entire trip.
Chicago · IL
Strong downtown transit, expensive parking, hard winters
The Loop works well without a car. The suburbs and the drives out of state do not.
San Francisco · CA
Rent it the day you leave the city
For the city itself a car is mostly a parking problem. For wine country and Highway 1 it is essential.
Miami · FL
Beach parking, Keys drives, strict card rules
You will want a car for anything beyond South Beach itself.
Boston · MA
Walkable city, costly parking, New England touring
Boston itself is walkable. The Cape, the mountains and coastal Maine are not.
Washington · DC
Good transit, restricted parking, Virginia day trips
The monuments and museums are better on foot and by Metro; Shenandoah and Virginia are not.
Nashville · TN
Event weekends, spread-out city, easy drives out
Downtown is compact, but almost everything else in Middle Tennessee is a drive.
Las Vegas · NV
Strip parking, desert day trips, late arrivals
You do not need a car for the Strip. You do for Zion, the Grand Canyon and Death Valley.
San Diego · CA
Coastal drives, border rules, beach parking
Downtown and the Gaslamp work on foot; the coast and north county do not.
Orlando · FL
Theme parks, toll roads, minivans
Orlando is one of the few US cities where a car is genuinely non-negotiable for most visitors.
Denver · CO
Mountain passes, traction law, AWD questions
Downtown Denver is manageable without a car. The mountains are not, in any season.
Seattle · WA
National parks, ferries, summer sell-outs
Downtown Seattle works on foot and transit; the parks and the peninsula do not.
Phoenix · AZ
Winter peak, desert touring, unpaved-road rules
The metro is spread out enough that a car is close to essential for any real itinerary.
Atlanta · GA
Business travel, express lanes, one-way drives
Downtown has MARTA, but the metro sprawls and most visitors end up driving.
Dallas · TX
Long distances, cashless tolls, midweek demand
The Metroplex is spread out enough that a car is close to mandatory.
Houston · TX
Sprawl, humidity, toll tags
Houston is a car city in the most literal sense; transit will not cover a visitor itinerary.
Austin · TX
Event spikes, Hill Country drives, toll roads
The centre is walkable; the Hill Country and the lakes are the reason to rent.
New Orleans · LA
Event peaks, tight streets, do-you-need-it
You likely need a car for part of this trip rather than all of it.
Philadelphia · PA
Walkable core, tolled corridors, shore trips
Centre City is genuinely walkable; the shore and the Brandywine valley are not.
Tampa · FL
Gulf beaches, causeway tolls, winter peak
The city centre is small; the Gulf beaches that people come for are a drive.
Fort Lauderdale · FL
Cruise transfers, Keys drives, strict card rules
A car pays for itself here the moment you leave the beach strip.
Jacksonville · FL
Huge footprint, beaches, easy driving
Jacksonville covers more land than almost any US city; you will be driving.
Sarasota · FL
Key beaches, seasonal fleet, bridge access
The keys and the beaches are the point, and none of them works without a car.
Myrtle Beach · SC
Summer peak, strip traffic, golf trips
The Grand Strand runs sixty miles; a car is how you cover it.
Charlotte · NC
Business hub, mountain drives, easy parking
Uptown is compact, but the mountains and the coast are why people rent here.
Raleigh · NC
Research Triangle sprawl, coast and mountain drives
The Triangle is three cities in a triangle — you will be driving between them.
Detroit · MI
Winter driving, border crossing, spread-out metro
The metro is spread wide and transit is thin; a car is the practical default.
Minneapolis · MN
Serious winters, twin-city sprawl, lake country
The Twin Cities are two downtowns and a lot of suburb; you will want a car.
St Louis · MO
Free parking, easy driving, river-road trips
Downtown is compact, but the metro spreads well into two states.
Kansas City · MO
Two states, easy parking, spread-out metro
The metro crosses a state line and spreads wide; transit will not cover it.
San Antonio · TX
Walkable River Walk, Hill Country drives, missions
The River Walk core is walkable; the missions and Hill Country are not.
Albuquerque · NM
High desert touring, Santa Fe runs, big distances
New Mexico is a driving state; almost nothing here works without a car.
Salt Lake City · UT
Ski canyons, national parks, AWD questions
Downtown has light rail, but the canyons and the parks need a car.
Portland · OR
Gorge and coast drives, no self-serve fuel history, easy city
Portland itself is compact and transit-friendly; the Gorge and the coast are not.
Reno · NV
Tahoe access, winter passes, event weeks
Reno is a gateway rather than a destination; the car is for Tahoe.
Palm Springs · CA
Desert heat, convertible season, festival spikes
The valley spreads across nine cities; a car is how you use any of it.
Anchorage · AK
Short season, finite fleet, genuine wilderness driving
Alaska without a car is a very limited trip, and the fleet is genuinely finite.
Honolulu · HI
Island fleet, hotel parking, sell-out risk
Waikiki works on foot; the rest of Oahu does not.
Maui · HI
Road to Hana, finite fleet, resort parking
Maui without a car is a resort-only trip; the island is the attraction.
Renting at the airport instead? Our airport guides cover twenty US airports and the terminal-side rules that catch travellers out. If you are not sure which is cheaper for your trip, ask an agent to price both.
Not sure you need it for the whole trip?
Tell an agent the itinerary. We will price the full rental against a shorter one and tell you which actually wins.