Europe road trip

You rent in Germany, and drop off in remote Dubrovnik. The car then has to be transported back to Germany before it can be rented again. I think $800 is a reasonable charge for this service. Maybe you could find a company that will do it for a hair less, but think about it. How much would you want to be paid to drive from Dubrovnik to Germany, then fly back to Dubrovnik? Consider also the day of lost rental availability, cost of fuel, insurance, wear and tear on the vehicle, and the one-way airline ticket. Since an optimistic drive time is 11 hours, another day to get back, so include a hotel for a night, food, as well as reasonable living 2 days of wages with taxes and benefits. $800 is looking like a deal.

an 11 hour drive can't legally be done in one day by a professional driver. Plus mandatory rest stops.

So it is 2 days returning the car for you plus hotels plus costs plus flight. 800€ is positively cheap.

The 200€ Vienna to Munich is a much shorter trip with a correspondingly cheaper price,

This is probably not what you intended, so please correct it.
1 Arrive Munich
2 Munich
3 Munich
4 Drive 4 hours to Karlovy Vary / half day there. (300 I will explain below)
5 Karlovy Vary
6 Drive 2 hours to Prague / half day there. (200)
7 Prague
8 Prague
9 Drive 4 hours to Vienna / half day there (300)
10 Vienna
11 Drive 1 hour to Bratislava
12 Drive 5 hours to Zagreb / half day there (400)
13 Zagreb
14 Drive 5 hours to Split / half day there (500)
15 Split
16 Drive 4 hours to Dubrovnik / half day there (400)
17 Dubrovnik
18, 19, 20, 21 Use them in or between the destinations in Croatia to get to the 10 days you mentioned.

So I come up with about 25 hours of driving point to point. Then you say you want to drive so you can have the freedom to stop and see things and makes side trips along the way. So add an hour or two more hours on each point-to-point trip and you will be driving 14 more hours. Realistically maybe 35 hours total. Now you might enjoy that. No judgement there. Just not my cup of tea.

The $800 drop off charge sounds cheap to me (I would have guessed closer to $1000). Then if it were me with that much time in a car, I would upgrade a little so 18 days of rental maybe $1500 for rental. Tolls and vignettes are not terribly expensive, but I would budget $100, gas maybe a budget of $300, parking for 18 days a budget of $600 = $3300 if nothing unexpected happens. Not bad I guess.

Up above I put some numbers in parentheses after the drives. They add up to $2100. That’s roughly the cost of hiring DayTrip.com to drive you the same legs. Then throw in another $500 for stops along the way (they have built in pricing for all of those stops and flexibility you want) and now we are up to $2600 and you get to look out the window, you wont spend 45 minutes a day looking or parking or spend the hours it will take to rent and return the car and argue over the scratch on the fender. And you don’t have to worry about traffic tickets showing up in your mail 6 month later or the rental people using your card number to pay a fine.

I am not saying I would replace a rental with a driving service. For instance, I would ride the shuttle from Prague to Cesky Krumlov spend a night or two, then the shuttle to Vienna. That will save a few hundred dollars over DayTrip.com or any private transfer. In Croatia I probably wouldn’t use DayTrip as I know a great driver who wont cost as much. Daytrip.com like everything else in Croatia is overpriced. Dollars per mile Zagreb to Split I think is the most expensive transfer. But if the thrill of the open road under your control is part of the attraction, then go for it. Absolutely no judgment. I envy your sence of adventure.

And since I am on the subject of “what I would do” I wouldn’t go to Croatia. I keep getting dragged back, 4 times now, and each time I don’t think it was the best use of my time. If I want the beach I will go to Montenegro. If I want Roman this or that, I will go to Italy or Bulgaria or …. well lots of places to see Roman stuff as good as Split; for nature and unique cultural experiences (including waterfalls), Bosnia & Herzegovina. But if you have never been, okay, I get it. It’s the in-place right now and when it comes to this sort of thing, its all about what interests you and you really cant do wrong.

I just feel you’re trying to do too much in the time you have. Don’t just consider the time behind the wheel. Add to it locating and checking into and out of hotels and finding parking for overnight stops. Another fact is parking in European cities is damned expensive.

Again, one way drop charges might seem exorbitant. The rental companies cannot rent the vehicle again in the drop-off country. They must send someone to drive the vehicle back to the country in which the rental originated. It might be economical at the end of your trip to drop the vehicle in Vienna. I’d also call AutoEurope’s toll free number. Their associates were able to find a reasonable drop off fee on a previous multi-country romp.

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If I read this right, you want to rent a car for the entire trip, which is what is incurring the
dropoff charge, which as others have noted, is not specific to any rental car company.

What I will add, is that you will likely have hassles and additional costs parking in the
cities, and you won't use the car on the days you are sightseeing in the cities proper.
Since you rented a car and traveled from Munich to Vienna last year, maybe you can
let that part be done with trains and buses.

Try restructuring your itinerary so that the likelihood of intermediate places you want
to stop is focused on a few of the routes that you have. Rent a car for those parts,
and take a train or bus for the rest.

If you rent a car in say, Zagreb, and return it in Dubrovnik, you will incur a dropoff
charge but it will be much less than $800.

Much cheaper drop off fee Zagreb to Dubrovnik. I checked AVIS s one day rental. Avis is probably an expensive choice, but their website is easy.

Base Rate$61.48
Taxes & Fees$533.74
Estimated Total$595.22.

Still sort of expensive, but I think that combo gets you caught up in Croatia pricing which is a bit different, and again, its Avis.

I once was considering renting a car in Germany and going down to Croatia. In reading my Terms and Conditions on the credit card rental car insurance, they did not cover cars going to Croatia. I do not know the reason or if there are some funny regulations.

So I suggest you read the rental company online terms and conditions and if you are using a credit card for comprehensive and collision insurance read the terms before making a reservation.

First of all, thank you ALL, for your thoughtful and considerate comments, I truly appreciate it!

I don’t know how to respond to everyone individually so I’ll do it in one reply in order of whoever commented first

Sam and Nigel, you are right, it does seem like a fair price compared to Munich - Vienna one way drop off

Mr E, I considered hiring DayTrip, but when we are sight seeing between hotels, our luggage will be stored in our rental car, with the daytrip driver that is not possible. I will definitely consider the destinations you mentioned on our next trip, since we already booked airplane tickets, and yes it will be our first time in Croatia, also first time in Dresden, Czechia and Slovakia

Philip you are right I am probably being optimistic on what I will see/do in only 3 weeks with this itinerary not to mention the other places en route I’m still learning about, but I always try to max my time anywhere I visit and somehow it usually works out to a great trip, I’ll do my best to make the most of my time whilst having some time/days for rest. Karlovy Vary should be relaxing haha. I’m currently on hold with AutoEurope, it’s 04:00 AM here in Los Angeles, If they don’t answer soon I’ll try tomorrow

Specdigital, I considered what you said, but the amount we saved in money we also lost in time with the longer train/bus rides compared to driving, also waiting to board those transports, and the costs, it only made about $300 difference, our budget isn’t that tight, so we chose to go all the way with the car

David, I purchased $10 a day basic coverage through SixT so no need for credit card coverage

At the moment our itinerary looks like this

Day 1 arrive Munich afternoon, check in hotel, enjoy city

Day 2 spend full day in the city

Day 3 pick up rental car, possible day trip to the Alps, Bavarian town or anything interesting as a day trip

Day 4 start driving towards Karlovy Vary with possible stops at Bavarian towns or anything along the way, check in Karlovy hotel

Day 5 full day in Karlovy Vary

Day 6 check out of Karlovy early morning head straight to Dresden, enjoy almost full day there, check in hotel just to sleep so no driving at night to Prague

Day 7 wake up early and drive towards Prague, stopping on the way to visit either Saxon Switzerland OR Bohemian Switzerland OR Bohemian Paradise Unesco Geopark. Which would you all recommend?… after that we’ll continue to Prague check in hotel before nightfall and enjoy what remains of day 7

Day 8 full day in Prague

Day 9 possible day trip from Prague anywhere worth visiting, or spend another full day in Prague?

Day 10 check out of Prague start driving toward Vienna, stopping en route in Cesky Krumlov as a day trip, then check in Vienna hotel, enjoy what remains of the day

Day 11 full day in Vienna

Day 12 check out of Vienna early drive to Bratislava, check in hotel and enjoy almost a full day

Day 13 check out of Bratislava and drive towards Zagreb, check in Zagreb hotel. Enjoy the last few hours of sunlight then some nightlife

Day 14 to 20 check out of Zagreb, we now have only 7 full days left to explore Croatia, I figure Zagreb doesn’t have much to do, do maybe we’ll head to the next destination that morning. I have a few places in mind before we reach our final destination of Dubrovnik where we’ll stay at least 2 days. Of the places we’re considering, (I’m open to suggestions) Plitvice and Krka national parks, Zadar, Rab and Pag islands, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Hvar, and Korcula. I’m hoping 7 days will be enough, or if I have to skip some of these places. Also, where should I use as a base, or multiple bases? Before we reach Dubrovnik. This is something I still need to consider.

We will return our rental car on Day 20

Day 21 fly home :(

Thank you all very much, you are appreciated more than you know

Of the places we’re considering, (I’m open to suggestions) Plitvice
and Krka national parks, Zadar, Rab and Pag islands, Sibenik, Trogir,
Split, Hvar, and Korcula. I’m hoping 7 days will be enough, or if I
have to skip some of these places. Also, where should I use as a base,
or multiple bases? Before we reach Dubrovnik. This is something I
still need to consider.

That is more than seven places in seven days--surely you'll need a breather by this point (I kid, please take no offense), so you'll need to drop several. If you want to keep up the same pace, I guess you could skip Zagreb, stop at Plitvice and Krka and Sibenik en route to Split. Trogir is a simple day trip. Possibly visit Hvar as a day trip, or en route to Korcula and Dubrovnik by sea. Omit Zadar, Pag, Rab.
Use drive times and planned activities to decide on stopovers. Most say a night at Pltivice to allow for seeing the park in evening and morning.

@valadelphia

Thank you, I’m also considering dropping some places, as much as I want to see a lot, I don’t want to feel rushed and overwhelmed. I did modify my itinerary a bit. We will not be going to Dresden and we will be leaving Munich one day earlier than planned since we’ve been to Munich before and so that gives us two additional days total to spend elsewhere. Of those additional days one of them will be added to Prague so we can take our time there since it’s our first time in Prague, the other additional day will be used in Croatia

In other words we now have 8 and a half days in Croatia. The half day is November 12. On November 12, we will check out of Bratislava and make the 5 Hour drive to Zagreb, we should arrive around 12 Noon, hopefully. By then we will probably be tired of driving and want to take a break. Yes, we could skip Zagreb, but if we drive from Bratislava straight to Plitvice that’s 6+ hours drive

We’re considering stopping in Zagreb, enjoying what remains of daylight exploring the city, a taste of the nightlife, then wake up early the next day and drive to Plitvice, spending the entire day there, and stayed in a hotel there, before driving to the next destination in the morning. This way we’re not rushing out of the park, since we will likely arrive to the park at 9am if we leave Zagreb at 7am (sunrise) What do you think?

That would give us 8 full days to visit the rest of Croatia. We want to see a lot, but without feeling rushed. You said to omit Zadar, Pag and Rab. I will definitely consider your advice. Please tell me why I should omit these places?

But more importantly, if we omit the places you named, that would leave us with the following places; Plitvice and Krka national parks, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Hvar, and Korcula. Is 8 days enough to see these without feeling rushed?

Also, how should we plan this trip? How many hotels/bases do we need? I think the less hotels the better because less check ins/check outs, packing/unpacking etc, but of course if the distance is too far between hotel and day trip, a new base would be necessary

Sorry for the long text and many questions, just looking for some guidance, this is one of the more difficult and complicated trips I’ve ever planned and I can use some help :)

Thank you very much you are more appreciated you know

My wife and I will arrive in Zagreb Croatia on November 12th around Noon. We could skip Zagreb, but after 5 hours driving from Bratislava, it would be nice to take a break. We plan on spending the last few hours of daylight exploring the city, plus a taste of nightlife without staying up too late because the next day, we want to get up early and start driving towards our next destinations, unless there are worthwhile things to do in Zagreb the following day, but our time is limited.

our time in Croatia is limited, only 8 full days total, not counting November 12th because we get to Zagreb mid day. During these 8 days, we would like to see a few of the best places Croatia has to offer, as we drive down the Adriatic coast towards our final destination Dubrovnik. From what I understand, we should spend minimum 2 full days in Dubrovnik? Can you tell me how many days is recommended in Dubrovnik?

If we spend two full days in Dubrovnik, that only leaves us six full days to see the following points of interest;

Plitvice and Krka national parks, Zadar, Rab and Pag islands, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Hvar, and Korcula. You said to omit Zadar Rab and Pag. Please explain why? I will definitely consider your advice

If we omit the places you mentioned, it possible to see all of these places in six days (assuming I need 2 days for Dubrovnik) without feeling rushed? Also, do we need a hotel in each of those places or can we use one location as a base and take day trips to these locations?

thank you very much for your advice

I think an afternoon/evening is probably sufficient for Zagreb. I also think two nights for Dubrovnik would be the minimum you would want there.
I said omit Zadar, Pag, and Rab because I have been to two of the three (all of the rest except Krka/Sibenik) and they paled in comparison to the rest, are outliers direction-wise, and just because something has to go.
The tough part with "bases" is you are moving from north to south and will have to backtrack, but just look at driving distances to see how much driving you would want to do. I admit I am really uncomfortable with road trips and short stays so it is hard for me to flesh it out--but I do passionately love Croatia and want to try to offer advice.
I group them together in the following chunks for distance reasons and you will have to work out the very hard decision of what to leave out!

Plitvice -- one night is probably minimum based on drive times -- also people do say it is terribly crowded these days. If the weather is bad, skip it.
Krka national parks, Sibenik -- These are close together but I have not been to either. Sibenik could be a stopover but nature stuff is more complicated, so maybe a night needed to be allotted here. Again, if weather is oncooperative, skip Krka and see the church in Sibenik.
Trogir, Split, Hvar -- you could stay in Split and visit the others as day trips -- at least two nights
Korcula -- en route to Dubrovnik, too far for day trips -- one night

You must know how to move fast quite well, so I suppose you could swing by Zadar if you wanted. Still would not bother with Pag unless you are a lace or cheese aficionado (the cheese is found everywhere else).

Thank you. Yes we are moving south but at the end of the trip we have a flight leaving from Dubrovnik, so no need to back track, if that’s what you meant

8 days, so little time, so much to see…

Plitvice - if the weather is good, we can visit and possibly spend the night there, that way we have all day to which the park without rushing to make it to the next destination before nightfall. If the weather is bad we can skip it

Zadar - maybe we can stop by for a couple of hours en route from Plitvice to Sibenik/Krka, or we can skip it if low on time

Sibenik/Krka - if the weather is good we can visit Krka then spend the night in Sibenik, in the morning see the Church and anything else before driving to Trogir/Split

Trogir/Split/hvar - we can stay 2 or 3 nights here? If we spend 3 nights, we won’t be able to spend a night in Korcula because we must save 2 nights for Dubrovnik. Is 2 nights enough to see Trogir, split and hvar?

Korcula - 1 night, but I’ve heard from some people, islands like Hvar are basically shut down, very few things are open in November slow season, but I want to see at least one island, Hvar or Korcula

Dubrovnik - 2 nights

It seems like it’s a choice between spending 3 nights in Trogir/Split/Hvar and skipping Korcula, or spending 2 nights in T/S/H and also spending a night in Korcula. This is assuming 2 nights is not enough to visit all of T/S/H

Thank you very much for your advice

The coolest months I have been in Croatia are April and September, and even then, it was becoming marginal to enjoy things to a level that justified the trip. But my perspective was influenced by having been through in warmer weather. Go to Weatherspark.com as tgey not only show averages but also show the odds of above and below averages so you can see tge worst case scenario. If its your first trip maybe you wait till you can maximize what you get out of it rather than just accepting if tge weather is bad (too cold or too wet) tgat you will skip so much. Just a thought. In the end, with the right attitude and a little preparation you could enjoy Croatia despite the weather and despite what is closed for the winter.