Nervous Nelly Needs Driving Advice :-)

If your ancestral villages are two hours north of Plzen then Plzen is probably not the ideal town to rent a car. If you can reveal the names of them I can help more. Czech freeways are not like Montana freeway neither like Autobahn. Speed limit is 130 km/h on the freeways but some are going well over speed limit (it could be costly). Also you can pass only on the left. You must not drive in the left lane, only when passing. What differs on Czech roads - drivers are little bit more aggressive than in America. You don't see police in their cars on the side of the road measuring your speed like here. And then chasing after the culprit. They are in hiding and they radio license plates of speeders to police ahead which then stop every speeder and ticket them. Very efficient. And there is no alcohol limit for drivers like here or better said alcohol limit is zero. Depending where exactly your ancestral villages are located it is very likely that you won't have to use freeways and some other town than Plzen would be better located to rent your car. It is expensive and difficult to rent a car with an automatic gear shift. It is a classic manual stick what they drive there.

Thank You! I chose Plzen because one village is just south...Přichovice (near Přeštice). The others are near Most and Teplice: Lom, Osek, and Libouchec. I would greatly appreciate your advice on a better location to rent a car. And thank you for your comments about the driving rules - very helpful. I grew up driving with manual transmissions so I will be just fine without an automatic :-)
Bonnie

Bonnie, the ideal would be if you can rent a car in Usti nad Labem, drive to Libouchec -> Osek -> Lom. Then drive south to Plzen -> Prichovice -> Cesky Krumlov. On your way back to Prague return your car in Ceske Budejovice. That would spare you backtracking. If that's not possible or it's too expensive use your original idea of renting car in Plzen. Libouchec, Osek and Lom are in the area which was very industrial and polluted under communism. Coal and chemical industry. It seems better now. From Prichovice to Cesky Krumlov you can drive via National Park Sumava Mountains. Very nice scenery.
About speed limits in C.R.: in towns and villages speed limit is 50 km/h unless posted otherwise. Outside towns and villages speed limit is 90 km/h unless posted otherwise. Freeways as I said previously 130 km/h unless posted otherwise. You don't have to use freeway on your trip. In Europe they use international traffic signs. Sometimes they are not self-explanatory and they are not used here. If you don't know them it would be very useful to learn them. Get International Drivers Permit. Even if police don't always request it, sometimes rental agencies want to see it.

Czech freeways are great if they're finished! There are long stretches that are beautiful and smooth and other parts where there is construction and you could be delayed so just allow plenty of time if you ever need to be somewhere on time. The roads through villages are a bit rougher - understandable since they are very old and usually a mixture of cobblestones and patched blacktop and/or cement. Country roads are usually nicely paved and never too narrow! Being from Montana you'll have no problem.
The speed limits are strict and enforced. There are speed cameras in many places. People slow down immediately once the speed changes, sometimes to an almost laughable speed - you could jog faster! Going through villages you really need to go slowly...most have flashing signs telling you your speed to remind you, which is helpful.
I did get pulled over by the police once last summer...terrifying but they let me off the hook once they realized I didn't speak Czech and couldn't read the signs...I think I was lucky though. I accidentally drove in a bus-only area in Prague. They didn't ask to see my International Driving Permit but they did want to see my passport. Make sure it's handy just in case.

Thank you so much for all this information, Anita and Illa - I feel so much better now :-) I drove in Sweden, but it was very rural...just like home...so this will be a new grand adventure! I had not thought of different drop off and pick up locations for the car. Very good advice.

I am so curious about the Lom-Osek-Libouchec area. I had no idea it was formerly an industrial area. I have found my ancestor's homes on old cadastral maps and have the house numbers so I am hoping even after the wars, the German relocations, and passage of time, maybe I will get lucky and find a house still standing that they lived in.

Bonnie

In some cases you can learn more about the culture of your ancestors with a short detour to nearby Germany. Some of the places you visit for example belong to the Ore mountains, and the German side preserved their (very unique) culture. Actually, Osek and Lom are so close to one of the most unique places of the Ore mountains (and Germany), it would be a shame not to take the short (30min) detour up to the mountains. I'm talking about Seiffen, a village with nothing but Christmas shops (the Ore mountains are the Christmas country of Germany, and many German Christmas traditions originate there).
BTW: Libouchec is touristically interesting. Just 5min away are the Tyssa Walls, which belong to Bohemian/Saxon Switzerland, probably the most picturesque mountains of Central Europe. If you are into hiking it's a great palce to spend a few days.

Hi,
Driving in the Czech Republic is like driving any where. Pretty easy. Let me point out that you should always use your directional signal and not drink alcohol at all before driving.

Renting a car any where but in the center of a major city is a good idea. As driving in any major city can be nerve racking.

Roads have been in great shape and tend to be well sign posted. However, my wife and I have found that if you are looking for a small town (village) it is likely signposted at a distance and as you get real close it drops from the signage, it is as if, "If you are this close, you must know where you are going."

Remember this about driving. They want to avoid a collision as much as you do.

wayne iNWI

Thank you Martin and Wayner!