I am planning on getting a rental car in Barcelona at the tail end of our trip in April and driving along coast and into France for a few days,returning to Barcelona for drop off. I seem to be running into trouble with rental agencies not permitting cars to be taken from the country. Does anyone have suggestions for companies that permit cars to be temporarily taken across borders?
Thanks to all and a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all those who love travel
MIke
DC
I have never heard of not being allowed to take a car from one country in Europe to another. We have done it many times including Spain to France and back to Spain. Call AutoEurope and talk to them about your rental. They are located in Portland, Maine.
We have travelled all over Europe many times in rental cars, usually starting in Paris and never had a rental company limit our travel plans. Which companies have you contacted?
Maybe they think you want to rent the car in Spain and return it in France. That is either not allowed or has a high surcharge.
Driving rented cars between European countries and returning them to the original country is normal practice. If I picked up a hire car I wouldn't even bother to ask. I cannot believe companies would ban it.
The coast road from Spain into France via Portbou and Cerbère is definitely worth the drive.
Merry Christmas to you to.
Also, when spending time in northern Italy, we rent and return the car in Nice as it is cheaper to rent in France than Italy.
I am positively sure Hertz allowed its cars rented in Spain to be driven in France (as of mid-2017). No reason to think that changed.
From Europcar’s terms and conditions page, for vehicles rented in Spain:
“Restriction Of Use :
It is forbidden to drive vehicles into Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, all States of the Former U.S.S.R and Yugoslavia, UK and to the Czech Republic.
It is also prohibited to drive vehicles from Spain outside the European Continent such as to any island.
Only Economy, Compact, Intermediate and Standard car categories are permitted to be driven into Italy. “
Their more detailed contact conditions, section #3, spells out county by county the countries into which you may drive, which includes France. Other major car rental companies have similar terms. Note that, as in the case of Spain to Italy, there may be restrictions on certain classes of cars.
Ottawanderer beat me to it. The posts above, saying that there are never restrictions on taking cars between countries in Europe, are not accurate. However, the restrictions are almost always about countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain, and are often about certain models only. A friend of mine had reserved a Mercedes for her family at Munich airport. When they got there, the rental agency asked what countries the car would be going to. The list included the Czech Republic, and that was the end of the Mercedes, but they did get another car that the company would allow to be taken there.
I agree that it shouldn't be hard to find a rental agency that will allow a car to be driven from Spain into France and back into Spain. If you're having difficulty with the agencies themselves, try a consolidator such as Kemwel or AutoEurope.
I've had no issues with renting in France and driving to Italy and renting in Germany and driving to Austria, France and Switzerland so I cannot see an issue with renting in Spain and driving to France. I've used Hertz and Sixt.
MY thanks to all who responded.I did pursue rental with Autoeurope and obtained car that does not exclude travel into France.For the record,the problem I had with restrictions was with rental obtained through Expedia. A very happy New year to all!
Mike
DC
