Rental car needed from Venice from Munich

You'll really need to pickup and return any rental car in the same country to avoid very expensive return fees. Often, there are no up charges.

You could go up to Innsbruck by train and pickup a rental car there if you're wanting to drive through the Alps. You can turn the car in at Salzburg and take a train into Munich.

susan,

Renting a car in one country and dropping off in another usually comes with an extremely high surcharge. A few points to keep in mind.....

• For driving in Italy, each driver on the rental form will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L.
• For driving in Italy, you'll have to be extremely vigilant to avoid the dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in many Italian towns and cities these days.
• When renting cars in Italy, it's compulsory to buy a portion of the insurance from the car rental firm. Credit card rental coverage is often of little use in Italy.
• If your route to Munich takes you through Austria, you'll need to ensure that the car is equipped with the compulsory Highway Tax Vignette. Failure to have one of these affixed to the windshield will likely result in hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot. I believe the fines start at €240 but can increase from there.

For information on car rental, you might try contacting www.gemut.com as they're very knowledgeable about European car rentals.

A much easier, probably faster and certainly a more relaxing option would be to take the train from Venezia S. Lucia to Munich. The high speed trains travel at up to 300 km/h, so difficult for car travel to match that. A departure at 08:50 would get you to Munich by 16:24, just in time for some exploration and then a nice dinner (time 7H:34M, one change at Verona Porta Nuova).

Check your rates on Priceline. They have most companies included. The drop fee can be a lot, but be sure to figure in all the additional costs if you get more than one car, as well as the annoyance factor.

Or if you are wanting the car to see the Dolomites, which is a good idea, return it at Bolzano with no drop fee, and take the train from there to Innsbruck ---or stay on the train til Munich and pick up the second car there.

Consider renting through AutoEurope. They are a consolidator and their customer service reps should be able to guide you through some of the possible pitfalls of your proposed trip. Their rental rates are very competitive. Go to their website but call their toll free number and speak to a rep. You might ask specifically about some of the restrictions mentioned in the above posts and find out how much the drop off fee is. Entering Switzerland, you might also have to purchase a road tax sticker. A few years ago driving from Milan to Bellinzona, I stopped at the frontier and couldn't enter the country till I paid for the sticker. But the scenery between Venice and Munich is worth the aggravation. Happy motoring!

In addition to AutoEurope, check Kemwel. They were formerly separate companies, and even though they now have the same ownership, they often have different prices.

When getting quotes for rental rates (from whatever source), be SURE you are getting the fee for cross-border drop off included. On this Forum, I've seen everything from €50 to €600 (yes, six hundred euros) as the additional price for picking up in one country and dropping in another. (Sometimes it's not broken out as a separate fee, but included in the higher daily rate). Cars returned to the same country they are rented (even different cities) usually have no surcharge.