I will be renting a car in Venice (flying in and out of Venice from US) and planned to travel in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia. I just found out from Auto Europe that I'm not allowed to take the car into Bosnia. I had planned to drive from Dubrovnik into Mostar and then Sarajevo spending several days there. Then I'd drive north to Zagreb where I'll finish my trip in Slovenia. Do any rental car agencies allow travel in all countries mentioned?
Posted by
Hamilton, Ontario
15 posts
We rented a care from Auto Europe in 2016 in Frankfurt for the specific purpose of being able to drive in Bosnia. I could not rent directly from Avis but went through Auto Europe and the car was provided by Auto Europe. Have you spoken to someone at Auto Europe. On their website it has the following statement: "Can you rent a car in Germany and drive to Bosnia?
Rentals that originate in Germany cannot travel through the following countries without prior notice to and approval of Auto Europe and the suppliers that we work with: Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria etc) Albania, Bosnia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, ..."
It may depend on where you are renting from. I have read different forums and the answers seem to be all over the place but if you rent in Croatia it seems easier. I know that this summer I prebooked a Mercedes with Europcar at the Frankfurt Airport and when I advised what countries we were travelling through, which included Italy, they advised I could not cross into Italy unless I changed to a different vehicle that was not a Mercedes or BMW. We chose a Passat and it worked out great because we got a diesel and saved on gas and it was real fun to drive. I read some good comments about Sixt and allowing cars to go into Bosnia but from a pick up in Frankfurt. Call around different companies and brokers like Autoeurope. I know I had to pay a very significant premium to drive into Bosnia. We did not have any issues driving in Bosnia and it was incredibly beautiful but I am biased since I have family there.
Posted by
TX, USA
4811 posts
I rented in Dubrovnik directly from UniRent (online) and simply told them I wanted to drive into Bosnia. I paid a small amount extra but it was not a problem. I also drove with the same car in Slovenia (but returned in Croatia).
They had all the necessary paperwork prepared for me to show at the border. I assume you would return in Zagreb. You do pay extra to return where you didn’t pick up. The highest fee seems to be for returning in a whole different country than where you rented. Try to avoid that.
I have rented a number of times through AutoEurope and like dealing with them. However, they are a consolidator, not a rental company. The car will be from a rental car company, like Hertz, Budget, Sixt, Europcar, etc.
Posted by
Wisconsin
13 posts
I had a very similar experience to TexasTravelmom when I used Sixt. Rented in Dubrovnik and paid a small fee to drive to Bosnia.