Suggestions for reputable Car Rental Companies in Europe

There are many good car rental agencies around but whichever one you choose be sure to find out price of renting in one country and dropping off in another country. In some cases it can be a huge expense. Be sure whatever you do, don't use cars in the cities as parking can be expensive and hard to find and driving in say Amsterdam and Paris is very difficult and not necessary with their great public transit systems.

Hi Mari. I've had good experience with both Hertz and Avis in Europe. Easy to check locations, prices, etc, on their websites... Enjoy your trip!

Thanks so much. I did check both Avis and Hertz, and Avis has no automatics available at the time we're going. Hertz does, but I'm not super clear on their fees from their website. I'll call them directly and ask. And thank you for the information about the -off fees. They are indeed high, but even with that fee, it seems that renting a car would still be less expensive for my party of three people than taking the train to all these locations. I am glad to hear Hertz was good to work with and didn't try to fleece you with hidden fees and fake damage claims as so many negative reviews have indicated that other rental car companies in Europe have done. If you think of anything else, I would appreciate it. Thank you again!

I encourage you to include AutoEurope in your car rental shopping and comparing. They are a broker located in Maine. You can rent online or easily telephone if you have questions. We got a "free" GPS from them. To avoid driving in the center of Paris you might look for a return location near a metro station. Have a great trip.

Thank you! I appreciate all these suggestions and any others people may have. My husband is a little concerned about renting a car given all the negative reviews, so I'm glad to hear there are good companies out there too. Also, thanks for the comments about driving in big cities. We definitely don't intend to actually drive in Amsterdam or in Paris except to pick up and drop off the car. Thank you!

We've had our best luck with Hertz. They have been very straight forward in dealing with and once when my husband hit the bumper, they were very reasonable with the charge.

In the rental car market there are good and there are bad. And some of the bad are European companies operating under major U.S. brand names that you're familiar with. I've had good luck with AutoEurope.com. They're a consolidator on both cars, flights and hotels. Last year, they were less expensive than Hertz.com, but I picked up and returned the car from Hertz. All I can say is to go on both websites and pick the less expensive. Your only problem is that you may face large drop off fees picking a car up in Amsterdam and leaving it in Paris. When you cross borders, it's not good.

We've also satisfied with Gemut and Autoeurope. The price has been better, and you have knowledgeable people you can call/email with questions to confirm what is included and what is not. Also if you have questions/problems when picking up the car, AutoEurope is available 24/7 to assist. Last trip we Eurocar charged us the drop fee, even though we prepaid the amount to AutoEurope. AutoEurope was very quick in resolving.

I'll second AutoEurope, and also Kemwel, which is under the same ownership. However, as I've recently learned, getting automatics through them, especially one-way, can be a problem. In that case, you might want to check out Europcar and Sixt directly.

I'd definitely go with AutoEurope, and have many, many times. I agree with David that the European affiliates of US car rentals don't function the same way as in te States. When you try to resolve a problem after your trip, the US office lets you know that the two companies are separate entities.