Getting around by car is great for those who want to travel off the beaten track and off the bigger cities.
Here a few car travel tips:
- Reserve rental cars before leaving the U.S. to save significant amounts of money. Further savings may be available by combining a car rental with air tickets, rail passes and accommodations.
- When making a car reservation, be sure to specify if you want automatic transmission, for most rental cars in Central Europe come with a stick shift.
- With their recent entry into the European Union, border crossing formalities into Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have become mostly straightforward, although not completely check-free.
- You can drive almost anywhere in Central Europe with your home-state driver’s license. However, the International Driver’s Permit is strongly recommended, and in Austria and Poland it is a mandatory document. The permit is useful, for it translates basic license information into nine languages, expediting dealings with local officials who may not be familiar with U.S. driver’s licenses. The $10 permit is available from AAA-affiliated clubs.
- Rules of the road, such as seat belts required for both front and back seat occupants, should be strictly observed.
- Note that some countries, such as the Czech Republic, have a zero-tolerance policy on any alcohol use by drivers; abuse results in stiff fines.
Car Rental Agencies in Europe include:
Here a few country specific notes:
Austria
Major U.S. rental car companies are represented in Austria, as are a range of European firms. Superhighways and byways are well maintained. Motorists are required to have an international driver’s license, a safety vest, and toll stickers, purchased at the time of renting a car (or at border crossings), are required on all motorways.
The Czech Republic
A number of domestic companies, as well as international companies offer car rentals and cars with drivers, in the Czech Republic. All cars must have a highway sticker (the system by which tolls are collected); stickers are available from rental companies, from gas stations and at border crossings. No alcohol is permitted for drivers.
Germany
All major car rental companies have either affiliates or have German operations themselves.
There are no tolls on German highways. German roads are very well maintained and signposted.
An efficient bus system offers regional and local service throughout the country, making it convenient and easy to get around.
Visitors traveling to Berlin by car should consider the new system of different “Umweltzonen” (environmental areas) within and around the city, introduced on 01.01.2008. Vehicles entering the city need to have a sticker of their pollutant group which allows them to enter specific urban areas. For further information click here.
Hungary
U.S. driver’s licenses are honored only in conjunction with an international driver’s permit. Even the furthest destinations can be reached in under-four hours from Budapest. Hungary has eight main motorways, some of which are toll ways for which stickers are available at gas stations for weekly and monthly passes.
Bus service fans out from Budapest to all Hungarian towns and villages; depending on direction, departures are from different city terminals.
Poland
All major car rental companies, such as Avis, Hertz and Budget, have offices in all major cities and airports. An International Driver Permit is required to drive in Poland.
Slovakia
Avis and Hertz have offices in Bratislava; local car companies often offer more favorable rental rates.