Driving Europe Crazy
How do you find the cheapest rental rates? What hidden charges can you avoid? What are your tips for dealing with unfamiliar signs, European driving etiquette, and driving on the other side of the road? Is it worthwhile to buy a new or used car in Europe?
Read the latest car rental advice from Rick.
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Car rental advice
Rented a car in Nuremberg, was upgraded to a car with a GPS installed. What a time saver! Found Autobahn on-ramps easily, located gas stations, distances to points of interest, etc. I highly recommend getting a car with GPS, or bring your own.
John <email>
San Diego, CA USA 06/22/2009
CDW ripoff
I rented from Europcar in Frankfurt and should not have bought the CDW Insurance for ~$300 as it invalidated my credit card insurance and after I minor accident they demanded I pay 779.50 Euros which would have been covered by my credit card insurance, but wasn't covered by the insurance I paid $300 (or was it 300 Euros) for!!!
David Leonard <email>
Anniston, AL USA 05/27/2009
European Car Rental
I rented a car twice, for three days each, on my latest two and a half month tour of Europe.
The first rental was in Pisa. I made the reservation with the avis.com for a very good price but when I picked up the car, the rental contract had an quite inflated price. I wrote on there that this was not the price I was quoted before I signed the document (if I had signed it I probably would have been stuck for the higher amount). The next day, the lady at Avis called and advised me that there had been a "mistake" and they adjusted the price.
I drove around the Tuscany area and saw a lot of things I could not have if I had not rented a car, got to mountain villages that would have been extremely difficult to get to with buses/trains. I saved quite a bit on accommodations as I could choose out of the way places that were quite cheaper. Meals too were quite cheaper and just as good as the great restaurants in Rome or Florence.
My last day was in wine country and it was extemely picturesque. Returning the car to the Pisa airport is extemely easy and the airport is right in the city (it probably is very easy to fly into Pisa as well).
I also rented a car in Lyon, France, again through avis.com but this time there was no problem at all with the contract. They gave me a Renault C4, diesel, which was great, drove well, good pickup and fifty miles per gallon.
The French countryside is awesome, so quaint and beautiful, and I loved all the little towns I drove through. I would stop for an hour or two, take pictures, talk with people, then be on my way. Again I saved money on hotels and meals and saw things I couldn't with buses/trains.
French drivers, at least in the countryside, are the most courteous I have encountered. The people were also friendly and welcoming.
Robert Marcus <email>
New York, NY USA 05/21/2009
rental car dropping off in another city; returning car tip
Just thought I would mention that in Germany it is much less expensive to rent a car in one location and drop it off in another city. In the US, there can be quite a penalty for doing so. We picked our car up in Frankfurt and left it at Mannheim and I think the charge was $50. **TIP** re: finding out where to drop the car. At the Mannheim rail station, there was no obvious rental car parking lot, nor in the terminal was there a rental car desk. It caused quite a panic upon arrival at the rail station, and with speaking almost no german and being taken by surprise that there was no obvious HERTZ lot or desk, it was not fun. Find out EXACTLY where to leave the car & keys upon return; other travelers have mentioned this difficulty, so I thought I would mention it.
Suzanne Patti <email>
San Diego , CA USA 05/10/2009
Children's booster seats
If you need a car seat, make sure you tell the rental company when booking your reservation ----and tell them the age of your children. You do not want to arrive with a 7 year old and find that your car is equipped with an infant seat!
Suzanne <email>
San Diego, CA USA 05/10/2009
Use Google Maps--Renting a car in Rome
If you go to maps.google.com and have a free Google account you can make "My Maps". I used this to find a car rental pickup in Rome near a metro station so I wouldn't have to drive out of the center of Rome. Just copy/paste the addresses from the car rental web site and save each to "my map". We used autoeurope.com in March 2009, and had good luck picking up at the Via Tiburtina, 905 location. It's a short walk from the Rebibia Metro stop, and they speak English. From there it's a short, easy drive to the Autostrada.
Also, I used the "Street View" feature to see where I had to drive before going. You can see the signs, exits, traffic lights, everything. Just drag the little man from the top of the scale tool onto the map anywhere that lights up in blue. Everywhere in Rome seemed well covered.
You can see the map I made at: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101092523724110064839.00046412b569531b111c6&ll=41.926803,12.527161&spn=0.23091,0.617981&z=11 but be careful, since the locations may not match the current offerings.
Other observations: autoeurope.com has a pretty good web site. It's easy to change pickup and dropoff locations, dates, etc., and see the effects on price. They didn't seem to charge extra for airport or train station locations, and one-way rental seemed about the same as returning to the same place. There was an extra fee of about 20 euros added for some sort of local tax/licencing, but otherwise we had no unexpected charges on the rental. (The contract did warn about this charge, but didn't say how much it would be.)
Driving in Italy (north of Rome, at least) was not bad at all. A GPS probably would have been nice, though they can have their own quirks. (I'm not used to using one.) I looked at prices and decided against it. Don't remember how much it was, though. We got a Michelin map book, and it helped, but we still would have liked to have had more detailed city maps. Also should have spent more time understanding the map book. The system isn't immediately obvious. They don't sign the route numbers, only the next little berg up the road. Without a good map you can't navigate at all. We drove around traffic circles more than once to read all the signs and figure out which way we needed. After dark was the worst. You need good eyesight, too, as the road signs are small.
Oh, we drove to Vernazza, in the Cinque Terra, but the road down the mountain was _very_ narrow and windy. Even being used to Idaho mountain roads I found it a bit nerve-wracking. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic going either direction. Next time we'd try to park in La Spezia and take the train, or try to arrange it so we did the Cinque Terre either before or after renting the car. We basically parked the car for nearly 2 days while there, so it wasn't an ideal use of the rental time.
Al Rea
Boise, Idaho USA 05/07/2009
Travel France Anytime Train Pass
We purchased 2 trips to Nice from Paris and 2 trips back to Paris from Nice. We recieved conformation letters and our credit card was charged. we also received a set of confirmation letters to access and recieve our tickets At the Paris Gard de Lyon we were issued tickets by a rail France agent. On the train to Nice the conductor said our tickets were not good and we were forced to buy tickets from him.The ticket cost now is tripled as its in Euros. At the nice Gard de Ville Rail France said they had no record of any transaction with them even as we showed them all of our documentation. We have now had to purchase another set of tickets to return to Paris all out of pocket. I would not use this type of ticket at all. I have eMailed them and they havent or wont reply. Upon arriving back in the states will have to fight it out. if any one knows how to contact rail France in US from Europe please reply
Roy C Wright <email>
Westminster, CA USA 04/28/2009
Swinoujscie to Germany border open for cars
In contrary to many other reports the border between the German island of Usedom and the Polish sea side resort town of Swinoujscie/Swinemünde is open for both pedestrians and cars! As a matter of fact there are now two border crossings and now checks as Poland is part of the Schengen zone as well.
Andreas <email>
Frankfurt, Germany 03/26/2009
20% more at Train Stations & Airports
It's not just Sixt that charges 20% more for pickup at the train station or airport...all rental companies do that.
Tim
USA 03/02/2009
Sixt Rental Cars
If booking through Sixt rental car online, make sure to check both the English (www.sixt.com) AND the German (www.sixt.de) sites for rates, I found that there was a difference of over $40 per day on many cars, and some cars could be found for $60 less per day on the German (.de) site. Also Sixt charges you 20% more PER DAY if you either pick up or drop off your car at an airport or other "premium locations", so taking a taxi into the city to pick up your car could save you a few hundred dollars.
Phil S.
Seattle, WA USA 02/28/2009
Do yourself a favor go with Ezio in Rome
I recently traveled to Italy beginning of 2009. We took Rick's advice from his new book and call Ezio's car service Auroservizi Concezio Monti to take us on a tour of Rome and to stop and go at all the sights seeing places. As a chauffeur myself here in the states I really admired and respected the service he provided and out of all of the things I spent money on in Italy Ezio was the best money spent. I could of rented a car and struggled with where to go and what to do first to try to make the most of my time there. We told Ezio in general what we want to see and do and he showed us everything and more. Even little places, views, secrets of the city that we would never ever know about. Even if you have never hired a car service with a chauffeur before Ezio is highly recommended.
Deanna Ballard <email>
ALBUQUERQUE, NM USA 02/04/2009
Taxis
It is my suggestion that anyone travelling to Italy and who does not have a car stay as close to the train station as possible. We truly felt taken advantage of. We would get charged whatever our meter said but then get charged extra fees for our bags-for EACH one, even if it was a backpack. A 5 minute taxi ride from our hotel in Rome to the train station cost 17 euros!! RIP OFF. Establish the price before you get in the taxi.
Jennifer
Anaheim Hills, Ca USA 01/26/2009
European Rental Car
Hello...In October,we made rental arrangements through Gemut. We picked up our car in downtown Munich for a week and dropped it off in Innsbruck. Driving in Germany and Austria was a breeze with our GPS that was included with the car. The only problem we encountered was that the Avis rep spoke little english so it was a little difficult to communicate. Other than that we had no other problems! I highly suggest you contact Andy at Gemut.
john
Columbus, oh USA 01/10/2009
New Renault
Driving in Europe is no worse than driving in the U.S....driving in the countryside is a breeze, driving in cities is a pain (better to park in the suburbs and take public transit into the city centre). We did a month long driving holiday in Europe and leased from Renault
http://www.renault-eurodrive.com/
You get a brand new car, unlimited mileage, 24 hour roadside assistanceand no VAT tax. Only drawback was you had to take it in for a mandatory oil change and servicing within the first 1000 kms. - you have to pay for it, but you get reimbursed when you return the car (so keep your receipts). You have to book you car before you arrive in Europe.
http://www.renault-eurodrive.com/
Finnegan
Boston, Mass USA 01/06/2009
GPS use
We travelled for three weeks in Italy this summer. We rented a car and brought our own GPS with us. I would recommend a GPS for anyone renting a car. Investigate bring your own as the rental costs for GPS are high. As an added bonus you then have one when you are at home.
We used it extensively and found it a reliable assistant. We also had maps and of course used common sense when navigating. The presence of a GPS allowed us to travel back roads and tour areas we may not have seen because we knew we could always be guided back to our hotel.
Bob
Coquitlam, BC Canada 01/02/2009