Someone on this form said, "We love small, interesting towns, touristy or not, historical sights, and lovely landscapes. We are extremely flexible as to itinerary." They wanted information about Germany, we want the same advise for the Czech Republic. We plan to spend two nights and three full days in Prague. Also, any suggestions to help us avoid rental car horror stories? We pick up in Nuremberg, Germany and return to Munich, thus we will cross borders.

Hi bleason,

we have been looking at this sort of trip, and some hire companies weren't too keen on us taking their precious cars into the Czech republic or poland. we are planning on starting in Prague and picking up our car there - they aren't so picky.

have you checked [sorry about the pun] with your hire company that they'll let you do this?

there are a number of threads about touring the czech republic which you could search for - try one by maitaitom for example.

regards, ann

Thanks Ann, I will check both ideas, the rental company and what other forum members have said.

Hi bleason; Sixt www.sixt.com will allow border crossings, but not in 'high end' cars. Check their rental conditions. iris1745/dick

We picked up our car in Prague, then went to Cesky Krumlov, Olomouc, Kraków and dropped it in Vienna. We rented through Gemut (I think the actual rental car company was Budget). There was a hefty drop off charge, but since we split the car with another couple, it didn't hurt too bad.

Ditto on checking with rental car companies, but my experience with Sixt is pretty dsappointing -- used and dirty cars, poor and sometimes indifferent service. You might want to contact AutoEurope for their offers.

As for touring by car, it's easy to do and the country is small. I'm not clear on whether you will do all your touring while based in Prague, or whether your driving portion will be in addition to Prague. This will make a heck of a difference in my recommendations.

Wayne, we only plan to spend two nights and three days in Prague. Then we want to hit the backroads some if the Czech Republic offers interesting backroad vistas. Also, we might want to spend a few nights in bed and Breakfast or quait hotels. Thanks for your advise so far.

Hi; That's an interesting comment about Sixt. There have been some very good reviews about this company on Fodor's. Well, we will find out, as we are using then for our trip to Portugal/Spain in April. The car we rented in Florida from Hertz last month was not very clean. However, Auto Europe is a very good consolidator. iris1745/dick P.S. A visit to Cesky Krumluv is a 'must'. Good download for Prague is www.inyourpocket.com/ Click on your city and go to 'instant' for the download.

I suggest: from Prague head for Kutna Hora, then Konopiste, then Ceske Budojovice and Cesky Krumlov, then to Plzen and Karlovy Vary. From there go to Regensburg, Germany and on to Munich via autobahn. Lots of other ways to go, but this is one route that is full of interesting places. Good luck.

We rented Avis' biggest passenger van in Berlin and were permitted to drive into the Czech Republic and Hungary.

At first I was hesitant about driving into an ex-Iron Curtain country. I thought the signage would be illegible, roads would be awful and police totalitarian. It was no different than anywhere else in Europe. International pictographic signs, excellent, if narrow, roads and fewer cops than one usually sees in Germany. It was very easy getting around with GPS. The major difference we found was that the buildings were more drab than western Europe and there were far fewer advertisements posted. Sometimes driving into small villages there was no way to tell what street was what without the GPS since no signs were evident. Many shops didn't seem to have signs either.

I looked into renting a car to drive from Munich to Czech Republic and realized it would be cheaper to just buy a darn car! When we were in Prague, we met some women who had rented a car and were miserable - they couldn't read the road signs, couldn't figure out where to park, etc. . . DH and I were both very relieved we had opted to take the train instead and use public transportation or our own two feet to get around.

If you definitely want to rent a car, I echo the earlier poster's recommendation that you look into picking up and dropping off your car in the Czech Republic to avoid the huge fees.

Have a great trip!

"we met some women who had rented a car and were miserable - they couldn't read the road signs, couldn't figure out where to park, etc. . . "

That must have been an impressive group. With a map and/or a GPS system, if your IQ is above 75, you should be able to navigate the Czech Republic highway system rather easily.

Maitaitom - it wasn't the highway that gave them fits, it was trying to navigate within the city. They didn't seem like idiots, but then our conversation was pretty limited.

P.S. Not a very 'kind' comment. iris1745/dick

The public transport system in the Czech Republic is excellent so unless you have a ton of luggage, you can go to loads of places and have a chaffeur do all the work for you!
Jeremy
www.jeremytaylor.eu

As usual, the advice from Fodors forums is excellent. Since our Viking River Cruise ends in Nurnberg, and since some of our party of four have a passion for back-road driving and visiting small European towns and villages, we thought a rental car could provide the intimacy that might not be possible with tours or even a paid driver. Wayne provided an interesting itinerary for cities and towns east, south, and west of Prague, are there recommendations for areas just north of Prague? And for all you that responded with the pros and cons of rental cars--it provided important reflection coupled with specific advice.

hi bleason,

the area between prague and Dresden has been very well "advertised" by forum regular Ingo, particularly the german side of the border, particlarly round Bad Schandau which we have been trying to work inot a trip sometime soon.

don't know about the czech side of the border though.

regards, ann