Driving into Czech or Romania

Check with your rental car company. Many won't allow you to take the car into eastern European countries. Can you train it?

Hi Tim: I second Maureens advice. I did this a couple of years ago driving from Germany to Prague and back to Germany. Some rental companies will not allow the car to go into former Eastern Bloc countries for insurance reasons. Make sure your rental car contract allows you to drive into the countries where you want to go. Also, you will probably pay a premium or additional rate for taking the car into the Czech Republic or Romania. So, check first with the rental company.

We drove a rental from Germany to Prague to Vienna, no problem. We always use Auto Europe to get our cars (they are a consolidator - so you actually pick up a car from Hertz, Europecar, etc). There is a place on their website that says "check if you are traveling to Eastern Europe". I assume that way you will get a quote from agencies that do allow this.

Make sure the insurance policy covers not just loss of the entire vehicle, but parts of it as well.

Driving into Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia is becoming more common in terms of dealing with extra papers and insurance (€€) surcharges. Driving into Romania and Bulgaria, though, is usually not allowed or requires a hefty additional insurance (particularly Romania).