When city pickup is the better choice
If you arrive late, spend the first days in one place and only need a car midway through the trip, collecting in the city avoids paying for idle rental days and hotel parking.
It also tends to be cheaper, since airport locations carry concession surcharges that city offices do not.
Office, hotel or address
Rental office
The standard option. Check the opening hours, including the lunch closure that is common in smaller offices, and whether Saturday and Sunday differ.
Hotel delivery
An agent brings the car to the entrance. Convenient, but agree a specific time window and confirm where the handover paperwork will be completed.
Delivery to an address
Available from many suppliers, sometimes free within a zone and charged beyond it. Confirm the boundary before booking.
Parking is your problem, not theirs
Once the car is handed over in a city centre, finding somewhere legal to leave it is entirely on you. Check what your accommodation offers before choosing a city pickup.
In dense old-town areas this is the single most common reason a city collection turns out worse than an airport one.
Returning where you collected
City pickup usually implies city return. If you need to finish at the airport instead, confirm that a different drop-off point is allowed and what it costs.
One-way arrangements within the same city are often free; between cities they rarely are.