YakShack

I'm planning a trip to the Balkans and would like to rent a car to drive rather than take buses and trains. I am flying into Athens and have 1 week to travel anywhere - Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, etc.

economycarrentals.com has the option of purchasing a cross-border card, but it only works for EU countries apparently, and I may be missing something but it seems awfully difficult to drive from Greece to Croatia without going through a non-EU country.

I've looked at the big companies - Avis, Enterprise, Hertz, and Budget to little avail.

Does anyone know if this is possible? When I did a forum search all answers were out of date by at least a year, and things change so much so quickly in that area. Any help is much appreciated!

brotherleelove2004

Sorry, no. It's not possible.

YakShack

I just booked through Enterprise, actually. I had been misinformed by out of date posts. They are the only one of the big 5 who allow cross-border travel. They require a 110 Euro added insurance charge and 0.3 Euro per kilometer charge.

That being said, I haven't received a confirmation yet. I will update once I hear back from them, though the representative on the phone seemed assured it would be okay with the added insurance protection.

clausar

I had never heard of Enterprise untill now....
It seems that they started operating recently in Greece.
So far taking a rental car outside of Greece was impossible, also to countries like Romania and Bulgaria, that are members of the EU.

If Enterprise will allow it, that should be the first car rental company to offer this.

clausar

Forgot to add..... while in Greece, refer to "Macedonia" as Skopje ot FYROM ( Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

Do not call it Macedonia, as Greeks really dislike that name due to the dispute between the two countries.

This will give you more information about the name dispute : http://www.mfa.gr/en/fyrom-name-issue/

brotherleelove2004

YakShack, please let us know if you do get a confirmation, and after your trip with any problems you might have encountered when you did cross a border. I'm also wondering if you might run into some extra fees at the borders.

ColtonJ

Travel across borders in Eastern Europe can be tricky but definitely not impossible. Check out Auto Europe's page on traveling with a rental car in Eastern Europe if you don't have any luck with Enterprise:

http://www.autoeurope.com/go/travel-...ropean-travel/

Just be sure you notify whichever company you choose to book with on the countries you plan on traveling to.

Also, were you planning on dropping the car off in Croatia, or just visiting there and then bringing it back to Greece? Picking a rental car up in Greece and dropping it off in Croatia will probably incur a considerable one way fee, so just be wary of that!

clausar

A car that is registered in Greece will have to return to Greece, clients will be charged with all the fees that are involved. Since it won't be possible to send the car to Greece by rail ( an option that may exist in other countries), you would pay for the travel expenses of a driver to pick up the car in the other country and drive it back to the city of it's origin.....

Andrew

Book the car with EconomyCarRentals - it's refundable up to 48 hours before pick-up of the car. Once you book, you'll get the name of the specific car company (ECR is just a broker). Then you can contact that specific company and find out their real requirements. If they in fact won't let you drive the car through non-EU countries, then just cancel the reservation for a refund.

samflash

@YakShack - Can you confirm that this worked out and how much it cost roughly please.

KTtravel

For some reason autoeurope wasn't as willing to rent a car for my upcoming trip in Croatia and Bosnia (beginning and ending in Croatia) but Kemwel was fine with it. Initially I was hoping to rent in Italy but that proved too difficult with the one way drop off, crossing borders, etc.

mrazorback

I flew into Tivat, rented a car from Meridian, and drove into B&H, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Kosovo. They charge 20 Euros on top of the fee of the car for cross-border driving. This was the only company that didn't care where the car went as long as you paid your 20 Euros. I also returned the car to Podgorica airport for no extra charge which more than made up for the 20 Euros. They have 4 or so locations, so be prepared if your car breaks down to have little to no support from the car company.

mrazorback

Kosovo charges a small fee to enter by car. It was 15 euros when I crossed but was good when I returned back through Macedonia 5 days later.

T_j_25

Booked through Autoeurope for £96 and an extra €200 for the cross border fee to cover all Balkans countries (picking up from Sofia for 5 days). The extra fee is payable at location but mentioned on the voucher so seems legit.
Meridian sounds cheaper... Only downside is I can't find any direct flights from LON to Tivat.
Im not too fussy about where I start the trip as my plan is to do a big loop. I think I'll go with Sofia as they have onwards flights to BCN which is my next stop.

messva

Hi Everyone,
Just planning a multi-country trip through croatia, bosnia, montenegro, albania and greece. Does anyone have an idea how the border crossing is nowadays? We are also considering Macedonia, but not sure how the borders are working.

Thank you

liz_tate

I'm also wondering the same thing. I'm flying into Athens, wanted to travel around Greece for a couple of days, then head up to Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, before heading back down to Greece for my flight back. I was basically going to be taking a giant loop around the Balkans. I can't seem to find out whether the borders are open between Greece and Macedonia and really any other countries with all of the refugees that have been coming through. Also I've been wondering if anyone found a car company that they could rent from that would allow them to cross the borders?

rtt0921

As far as I am aware no border has ever been completely closed to "regular" travellers ie. people with valid passports and visas if necessary during the crisis. Should any specific border crossing close, traffic will be diverted to the nearest open crossing. You should expect heightened security and more scrutiny, but not complete closure.

Here in Slovenia for example, only a few local crossings with clear nearby alternatives were closed for a number of days at a time during the height of the crisis. Since then, no border crossing has been closed due to migrants.

davidjcorcoran

I'm actually doing this trip now, though not from Athens. I'd recommend Sixt in Sarajevo as a location that I found that allows you to enter all Balkans/southern Europe countries. I have driven from Bosnia to Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Romania thus far with no issues at any border. I'll be heading to Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, and Montenegro in the next week or so.

It's obviously a bit of a pain to fly into Sarajevo, but if you want a car that can go to all of those countries, it's the only I have been able to find. Sixt in Croatia allows the car to go everywhere Bosnia does except for Albania.

judilie

What about renting in Dubrovnik, driving to Mostar, Bosnia, and then dropping the car in Rovinj? I.e., all in Croatia except for one night in Bosnia?

rtt0921

As long as you drop off the car in Croatia, it shouldn't be a problem, although you may still be charged a fee for dropping off in a different town, but it definitely will not be as expensive as dropping off in another country. Make sure to tell the company you will be taking the car into Bosnia, so that they give you the appropriate documentation to cross the border.