Car Rental from Budapest
 

I was hoping I could get some advice about the dos and don'ts of renting a car to tour parts of central Europe. We're leaving in two weeks and need advice as to rental agency, car type (two occupants), any insurance to get, scams, tolls, unexpected fees, etc.

We are traveling to Prague, then Cesky Krumlov, followed by Lake Bled in Slovenia, and then Istrian peninsula in N. Croatia, before heading back to Budapest. This is a two week trip. Thanks for your input.

Your trip sounds exactly like my trip:)

We had a very good experience with a local rental company called Fox.
They have good prices and customer service.
In Hungary you need a "vignetta" for using the highways but I believe the cars come with it trough Fox. (I'm not certain)
To drive the car to Croatia (I'm not sure about the Czeh Republic) you will need a so called Green Card for insurance purposes. It will be provided by the rental company; you will have to let them know in advance that you are taking the vehicle out of the country.
Good luck!

We rented from Thrifty, picked up the car at the Budapest airport and took the car to Romania, but returning it to the original rental agency. It was the cheapest rental we found, much less than Autoeurope's offer. We had no problems.

Earlier this year, we picked up a rental car in Prague, drove throughout the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and dropped off the car in Budapest.

We used AutoEurope, as we have on many previous trips, and were happy with the service and the prices.

Our rental agency will tell you what insurance you need; we didn't need anything extra (i.e., we weren't required to get the CDW). To travel in the Czech Republic and Hungary, you will need a "green card," which is a small (as I recall) additional fee, and the rental agency will include it in their fees. AutoEurope knew about it, but I made sure to ask anyway. And I made sure that my rental voucher from them, just to make sure, listed evrey single country that we would be driving the car in.

To drive on the highways in the Czech Republic and Hungary, you need a "coupon" or "vignette." (In lieu of paying tolls.) Because we picked up our car in the Czech Republic, the car already had a yearly vignette - a sticker pasted in the front window. In Hungary, we stopped at a gas station soon after we crossed into Hungary (on a non-highway road). We purchased, as I recall, a week-long pass for not much money - maybe the equivalent of $10 U.S. According to the gas station people, we did not have to stick anything in the front window, merely retain the receipt showing we'd paid. That sounded kind of weird to us, but we weren't stopped by any police who asked for our vignette!

Ask your rental agency about car size; we had 3 people with us in the Czech Republic, etc., so our car size wouldn't help you. With AutoEurope, for 2 people, in the past DH and I have rented the size that's one size up from the smallest - I like the manuverability of a smaller car, and we usually have 2 24-inch bags & some misc. junk, all of which fits just fine in the trunk or covered back storage (plus a day bag).

We didn't have any unexpected fees.

We experienced one scam, the first of our many trips to Europe, but I don't particularly blame it on the country (Czech Republic). After getting confused about signs to the small town of Køivoklát (site of Køivoklát castle), I ended up on a one-way road heading through the village. Just before I entered the town, a police car pulled out behind me and followed, at a distance (next time this happens, I'll STOP - definitely my error). Once I'd driven the entire way through town, and parked in a parking lot, he pulled up behind me and told me (using convenient laminated cards) that I'd driven through a pedestrian zone. The fine would be 2,000 Korunas - but just today - for me - I only had to pay 1,000 Korunas (about $65). I'd read enough about ticket scams to know that I had the option of insisting on being taken to the police station, where at least, if I had to pay the fine, I'd know it was for real. But I didn't want to take the time, and I figured that our average rip-off rate is extremely low, so I was willing to pay it (DH stayed in the car, so I could pull the teary-eyed female act; maybe it helped, I don't know).

Enjoy!

Thank you all for the excellent information regarding car rental. Just one more question: When the car company offers us insurance, what would be worthwhile purchasing to protect ourselves?

I was allowed to decline the CDW and have it covered by my Visa card.