Car Rental multi-country visit

With a trip that long, you should absolutely consider leasing - especially if you're able to start and end in France (you'll avoid drop-off fees). You'll have full, no-deductible insurance coverage everywhere you go, plus 24/7 roadside assistance. Both Renault & Peugeot have very good, long-established leasing programs. You'll be free to drive into all the countries you mentioned. You can read the details here: http://www.renaultusa.com/ http://www.peugeot-openeurope.com/ Only French auto manufacturers offer these leasing deals, because of some quirks in French tax laws. We've leased from Renault 4 times and never had a problem.

To answer your question, there will be no red tape crossing borders in the EU. Sometimes, you can hardly even tell that you ARE crossing a border. We drove into Poland from Germany last summer and the border wasn't even markedstill not sure where it was. Not even a "Welcome to Poland" sign! It's like driving from state to state in the US. The only "red tape" you might have is limitations from the rental company on where you can take the car. Some companies don't like you to drive in the Czech Republic due to theft issues, that sort of thing. You'll need to verify with a rental company that you have permission to take the car to the countries you want to visit.
Additionally, some countries, like Austria, require a special toll sticker, called a vignette, to drive on the motorways (freeways). You'll need to find out what you need for each country or risk a fine. Germany and France have none.

Tom is right. For the amount of time you will be there you want to do a lease. You get a brand new car that is insured to the hilt and anyone in your family who is over 18 can drive it for no extra charge. Also, if you do your pick up and drop off in France, there are no fees. Paris CDG would be a good place to begin and end the trip.

I agree that a lease is the way to go, especially if you can arrange to pick up/drop off in France. If in Paris, I suggest you do this at an airport as opposed to in the city. Pick it up when you are ready to leave Paris and drop it off as soon as you return. A car in cities is a liability. When I did a trip with a car that involved going to Amsterdam, I found a hotel outside of the city center with free parking. It was by a train station just 2 stops from Amsterdam Centrale, so it was easy to access the city by train. You might want to try tactics like that when looking for lodging. I arranged my lease through Auto Europe and it was an easy process. Other companies have similar programs. One thing to look for in your case would be if there are restrictions regarding driving in Eastern Europe.

We rented from Gemut (US company that is a broker for european rentals) for our Germany trip. We picked up the car in Munich, traveled to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and back to drop it off in koln, Germany. No problems and no extra cost as long as you return it to the same Counrty.

I'm a little confused, it sounds like you're going to be spending all but 5 days of your trip in "Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Munich and possibly Paris". If I'm reading that right and that is the case, a car for the entire trip seems like a waste of money to me, with advance purchase train tickets there's a really good chance you could cut your transportation budget by at least half, unless you're traveling with say 4 adults, in which case a car might edge it out cost-wise. But it doesn't make sense to be paying for the car if it's spending the majority of it's time parked in large cities where the parking is expensive (in most of those cities, parking is going to cost you at least 15 euro a day, and could be more). I would consider training between the big cities and just picking up a car here and there when you need it.

By all means, check with gemut.com about this. They can answer all the questions you have listed. Talk to Andy. He was able to get a better price for us from Europcar than I could see when I went directly to Europcar. He will definitely know all the issues of driving in those central European countries and everywhere else you listed. We've rented cars our last two trips because we like the driving. Personally, for your seemingly big city itinerary, we'd take the train.

We've rented from multiple companies and leased from Renault - all without problems. I think you can do pretty well on a rental when it's a small basic car, you take advantage of AmEx CDW insurance, and the rental company is okay with your itinerary. Since you will be going into Cz and Hungary, you may find some of the rental companies have issues with allowing their cars to travel there. There are also limits on AmEx CDW insurance option for rentals so you need to Czech it out (bad pun, sorry) to make sure it works for you. Since you're driving for more than 17 days and less than 60, leasing is an option to consider. Rental prices go up quickly when requesting nicer vehicles. If you want something above a small compact, leasing becomes a really good deal. One nice feature with leasing is there's no guesswork about what car you will get, you buy the one you want (and they agree to buy it back at the end of your trip). We've rented from multiple companies and leased from Renault - all without problems. If you can pick-up/drop-off inside of France, there is no charge. We picked up a seven passenger car in Amsterdam and dropped in Rome and it was still a better deal than renting. One last thought. When you first enter Austria, pick up your window sticker right away - they'll have them at truck stops on the border. They're cheap and police enforce them strictly - on the spot fine for using the autobahn without one.