We are flying into Geneva, but staying mainly in Prague for 6 weeks this summer. We plan to take short (3-5 day) trips in and out of Prague. We will have 2 bicycles with us, and will want to travel some with them. We think the most economical/efficient approach is to buy a car. Advise on how to do so?

Virtually impossible unless you are a resident of the country

I think you'd be stymied by regulations regarding registration, insurance, drivers licenses etc.

You might look at the Renault or Peugeot "buy-back" lease plans - e.g., www.renaultusa.com. They usually are cheaper for long rentals compared to conventional companies.

I wonder, though, if it wouldn't be cheaper overall just to rent cars for the short trips, rather than trying to park and protect a car in Prague.

Many years ago, my parents arranged to buy a car in Paris. In those pre-Internet days, every thing was done by letter--and I, using my high school and college French, had to write the letter. I just remember that "iodine quartz driving lights" was something I had learned, and I warned my Dad that he might not get what options he wnted.

We picked up the car in Paris, drove it through France for a couple of weeks, and had it shipped home, as a used car, from Nice. It was cheaper to buy a French car that way than to buy it in the US.

Do you mean buying a new car from the factory and then shipping it home? If so - lots of people do that. But only if you planned on buying a new car in the first place. As an economical way to get a car to use for 6 weeks - nope.

There is the lease option already mentioned. It definitely an option. But if you just need to get around - taking trains mostly and maybe renting a car for a week or so if you will be places w/o convenient rail service.

Different, simplified rules apply regarding registration, insurance etc when buying a car for export. But if you want to buy a car, keep it in the country and then sell on when you are ready to leave ties you to all the rules and regulations pertaining to car ownership in that country, which can be a bureaucratic nightmare and often requires legal residence.