There are some commercially available small radios that claim to work for a mile. I’ve never seen the real-world use come even close to that though.
As far as the repeaters go, those are typically put up by a company or government agency so I doubt they would allow free usage. Also the repeaters have limits as well. My Hatzolah radio allows me to communicate with the dispatcher who might be sitting in Brooklyn even though I’m in the Catskills, but if I go to Miami where there is no repeater my radio will work for 10 blocks, maybe.
As a side note, the poster above “shtieging” mentioned a company called Abest. I don’t know what this website’s policy is regarding posting phone numbers, so I won’t do that, however, I have done a rather large amount of business with them and have both purchased and rented equipment from them. I would highly recommend them based on my personal experiences.