Car Rental - taking it from Western Europe to Eastern (Central) Europe

The best info is going to come from the rental companies regarding where they allow their cars to go

Suggest you contact them.

It's mostly things of the past. At this time I am not aware of the company which would not allow to take their car into Czech Republic. But if you plan to use your car in C.R. only to get to Prague and back I would recommend train instead. Car is a big hassle in Prague.

Try to rent for. AutoEurope.com and see what they say. Some of the old Eastern Block countries' laws and regulations have not yet caught up with the rest of Eastern Europe.

I’d suggest calling AutoEurope’s toll-free number 888-223-5555. Their customer servic reps are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. It might depend on which auto rental company you hire from.

Thanks all, will take your advice and call to get most current information.

Thanks all, will take your advice and call to get most current information.

Hi Lisa. We did this a couple of years ago. Policies vary by rental company and country. Most rental company web sites show this info if you dig into the 'policies' section. We found Sixt policy to be the most liberal so we rented from them and it worked well. Driving to Prague worked fine; there are places to stay with parking and easy tram into town center. Enjoy your trip!

In addition to the specific car rental company and the specific countries involved, it also varies with specific models. A few years ago, a friend of mine had booked a Mercedes to rent at Munich airport and take to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest with her family. When they got to the airport and listed their destinations, that was the end of the Mercedes (much to her teenagers' disappointment), but they were able to rent another car for these destinations without difficulty.

As people said above, these kinds of things change all the time, so do check directly with the rental companies and consolidators (Kemwel, AutoEurope) for the latest info.

As an example, I just checked the voucher for the car I'll be picking up in France next week. It's Hertz through AutoEurope: "Cars may not travel into Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, or any other Eastern European country" I was surprised; not that it matters to me.

We rented from Sixt a couple years ago to drive from Germany to Prague with no problems.

Usually I'd suggest taking the train, but there's no many good train connections from Germany to Prague so generally you'll save a lot of time driving, although driving in the center of Prague is not for the faint-of-heart. For peace of mind, I reserved a secure parking location in a garage, left my car there for the whole trip until it was time to return home.