Europe Car Rentals

You may have a problem driving into Poland and the Czech Republic. I would call the 24-hour 800 number for Autoeurope and ask the humans there what are your options.

Will you be returning the car to France or dropping it in another country? In addition to following Doug and Kent's advice this could cost you a large drop off fee. If you are going to return to France and are going to be gone longer than 21 days you may want to consider the Renault or Peugeot car lease buy back program.

We had a restriction as to the type of car we rented when we were traveling in Germany, Austria & Czech Republic. I believe I actually spoke to the rep, but it might be online now (this was 3 years ago). I was told that I could rent a Ford (in Frankfurt) but I could not get a Mercedes or BMW as they were very popular, in terms of getting stolen, in Czech Republic. So didn't get a "fun" car, but otherwise had no problems!

Unless the rules have changed you will definitely have a problem taking your car into E Europe. Use the toll free phone number for the rental agency and talk with an agent about it.

Don't try to reserve your car on the web. It is too complicated to do that. Too many variations and restrictions. Be sure to ask about the city you drop it in. There is sometimes a drop charge.

My best experience has been with Sixt.com, a Germany rental agency.

Read about other travelers experiences in the Graffiti Wall section on Transportation. Read "Driving Europe Crazy."

You mention nothing about the duration of the trip, number of people, etc. but you are covering a huge amount of territory that includes multiple ferries and Eastern Europe. For that to make any sense, you must be talking 2 to 3 months of travel, which would indicate that a car lease or purchase/sell-back option would be best. I think those arrangements also are more flexible in regards to what countries you can travel and possibly in regards to drop off arrangements.

Ron, in addition to Doug, Kent and Lane's good advice, depending upon your itinerary you might consider doing some form of train/car rental through RailEurope or AutoEurope. Unless you just have to have one for the entire trip, a car can be a real expensive hassle especially in the larger cities with traffic, parking and the ever present danger of theft. Look into riding the train except in areas where having a car actually makes sense. You'll probably save money and have a much more pleasant trip.