Hello savvy travelers. We are starting at Oktoberfest in Munich and anticipate renting a car Munich to Prague. We want ease and flexibility.
I have been looking at the Ore mountains, visiting Seiffen. I am a shopper and hope to load up on Christmas gifts that I can DHL back to the States before I spend the day in Prague loading up on more goodies the day before the tour starts.
If you have been to the Ore Mountain area and have a fab must see site, please let me know. I just got the RS Germany book and they only mention Dresden, and frankly, I don't think we will be near Dresden.
My vision is to have a unique, local experience in this region and from what I have googled, it looks delightful and a really cool Bavarian experience.
If you are a fellow shopper, let me know of any musts I need to check out.
I'm not looking at buying alot-- I like to buy stuff that I cannot readily buy in the states, but may be unique to an area and special to remind me of a place or people I met along the way.
Also, driving into Prague, dropping off car at the airport most likely and taking train to hotel, any do's or don'ts to be aware of? Anything to be aware of driving Munich to Prague?
Posted by
Green Bay
20072 posts
Do not rent a car in Germany and drop it in the Czech Republic. Even if you can find a rental agency that will let you, there will be a very large foreign drop charge. They cannot rent a car in Czech Republic with German license plates, anymore than you can rent a car in the USA with Canadian license plates. So the car would have to be transported back to Germany, and you will have to pay for that, plus a hefty fee for the trouble.
Your best plan would be to drive within Germany up to around Chemnitz and get to Seiffen from the the north. Buy your stuff, then drive to Dresden, mail your treasures, drop the car and take a train to Prague.
Posted by
OP
Utah via SF Bay Area
310 posts
Thank you for this advice,Sam. Had no idea that taking a German car into Czech Republic would be so problematic and expensive. Wow. This is really great to know and thx again for taking the time to respond and help.
Posted by
Washington DC
27093 posts
I want to caution you that international shipping costs will probably be much, much higher than you are anticipating unless you've mailed things home from Western Europe fairly recently. With some Googling you can probably find some useful information about costs. The Deutsche Post will probably be less expensive than commercial alternatives like DHL and UPS, but it would still be more than I'd be willing to spend unless I was shipping high-value items--and in that case insurance would be a concern.
You may find you have to take your box(es) to a special facility, not just a normal post office--though I am not sure about that.
Posted by
Green Bay
20072 posts
If you intend to drive the car in the Czech Republic, make sure you are upfront about this with the rental agency. If you have an accident in the CR, it will void the insurance if you have not disclosed this when you rented the car.