My husband and I would like to drive to a few places while in Scotland and Austria. We have information regarding international drivers license, but I can't seem to find information regarding an age requirement.
Question: Do you need to be 25 to rent a car like in America? Are there similar percautions or anything else we should know?
There isn't one uniform rule for the minimum age to rent a car in Europe. Each rental company has its own policies/rules. Some companies rent to those under 25 but charge extra. Because there's no uniform rule, it's necessary for you to determine the rule of each rental company you're considering. If you click around on their website, you probably can find the info you need. However, if you're going through a consolidator such as AutoEurope, it may be difficult to know, before you confirm the deal, which rental company the consolidator will end up putting you with--I don't know how that works, you'd think the consolidator would ask the driver's age as part of the online sign up.
For Scotland check with Hertz, Europcar, Easycar, Sixt. For Austria check with Sixt and Europcar. Generally speaking you can rent cars up to the Golf/Jetta size from age 18. However, some of the providers might require you to pay for an extra underage insurance (like Avis do in the US where you can rent from age 21 if you pay the extra fee).
Brynn,
I've recently been looking up rental cars for an upcoming trip and I did notice that most would allow a rental if you are 21, but there was an extra charge if you are under 25.
Have a great trip!
Here's what I'll say about driving in Austria. In Germany, no speed limit. In Austria- vigourously enforced!
Also for Austria, you’ll need to purchase a toll sticker at any gas station and place it on the windshield…about 8 Euros for 10 days. See www.austria.info. Click on travel planning>before you go>driving regulations.
Just have to put in my 2 cents- no need to drive in Scotland or Austria- the trains are marvelous. If you do decide to drive- in Scotland the roads are often small (many still one lane), very twisty, and remember they drive on the "other" side. Almost all cars in Europe are straight drive so you are also shifting and clutching with the oppostie hand/foot.
Quick correction to Toni's post. Indeed you are shifting with your left hand, but you are not shifting with different feet. The pedals are the same as in the US. Yes, the roads are twisty, but they are not crowded. Whether or not you drive depends on what you want to see and your own travel style.
Pam
Some people love driving and others don't. We use both. I personally loved having a car in Scotland. We could do what we wanted when we wanted out in the country where there were no trains. Driving on the left is not hard. You can get an automatic for a little more money which makes it even easier. The roads are small but there is not much traffic. We saw areas we could have never seen from a train. I do take out all the insurance, and a GPS was very helpful. Driving is fun for us. For some it is stressful. We use trains too when we are interested more in cities, but in Scotland it is the unbelieveable scenery of the highlands that you can see best by car. And you can stop wherever you choose.
