Rental Car Insurance

Elizabeth, check with gemut.com for your rental. Great folks and rates. Also read their in depth report about renting a car in Europe. It should answer just about all of your questions and if not Bob or Andy Bestor at Gemut will help you. Some tips: If you can drive a manual transmission you will get better mileage plus a better rate. Diesel cars get better mpg than gasoline cars and you will not be able to tell the difference between the two. If you have a gps with Europe maps be sure to take it with you. If not it is worth the investment if you are planning on driving a lot. You will also want a good map in addition to the gps. Most of the western European countries are ok for you to take the car but if you are going to some of the Eastern countries you may not be able to. Check when you are inquiring about rentals and they will tell you. Keep in mind if you p/u in one country and drop in another you will pay a hefty drop off fee. If you drop off back in Germany you would not have a drop off fee. The only exception to the in-country drop off fee could be Avis. I have read that they have started a small fee if you drop off in a place different from where you p/u even if in-country. Gemut would know about this and would steer you to one of the rental companies other than Avis if that is true. They deal with multiple companies as does Autoeurope, another highly recommended company. One other thing. I would go to the AAA office nearby and get an International Drivers Permit. Here is the link to the report I mentioned: http://www.gemut.com/Carrentalspecialreport7.pdf

One thing Lane didn't mention is that if you're going to need a car for 17 days or longer, it may be very advantageous for you to do a lease/buyback, which is offered by both Peugeot & Renault. With these programs all insurance is included as is free 24/7 roadside assistance. You can learn details at www.autoeurope.com, which is also a great source for ordinary rentals.