We are 4 adults, planning to visit Prague for a couple days, coming from Frankfurt, and wondering if renting a car in Germany and driving to Prague (about 5 hrs drive) is a viable thing. It's certainly cheaper than flying (aprox. $450 RT for all 4 of us) and certainly easier than by train (which takes 7-9 hours and seem very expensive)....

Car rental is not that expensive. The question is how safe is the drive, how easy it to park in Prague at the hotel, or even a bit outside of the city, take public transportation into the city...

I am a big fan of car rental which can give us so much more flexibility, and peace of mind, not having to rush, loaded with luggage to catch the train or the flight.......

Anybody with experience in this, please help.... Thanks.....

You have to check, if the rental car is allowed into CZ, the more expensive cars aren't. Other than that and if you chose secured parking, it's no big issue. You have to ask the hotel about parking options like everywhere else.
Your car has to be equipped with an emergeny triangle, warning vest, first aid box and spare bulbs. (Unlike Germany, where there are lights everywhere, it's dark in CZ an night Like in the good old days..). In winter, you need winter tires.

Those rental companies that allow their cars to enter CZ are limiting it to the non fancy cars, which is perfectly OK with us, since we don't need no fancy car anyhow...

I'll have to ask the rental agent about what you mention (emergeny triangle, warning vest, first aid box and spare bulbs).... We plan our trip for the first week of May.

Warning vest about 3€ and a set of bulbs about 5€.
In Germany, only an emergency triangle and a first aid kit is mandatory.

Thanks all..... We changed our minds. We won't be driving to Prague, but rather fly there.... Car rental to CZ is almost as expensive as flying there , the 4 of us.....

I'm taking a family of 4 from Munich to Prague in May and driving seems to be the most affordable/feasible choice. We have a hotel (the "Golden Stag") in the city center with a secured parking lot, so I assume my primary issue will simply be dealing with Prague traffic into and out of town. I frequently drive in Washington DC and Atlanta, so I'm familiar with volume and I'll have a navigation system, so am I safe in assuming my biggest issues will be reading road signs in Czech and dodging trams?

mamamia - how did car rental turn out to be almost as expensive? Did the rental car company raise your rate to drive across the border?

Warning: if you see a sign that says "Pesi zone", that means it's a pedestrian zone and you can't drive there. You'll get a ticket if you do (personal experinece)

>biggest issues
Try the pothole rally. Much of driving in CZ is dodging potholes, just like New York city or even worse. At the right speed, you just fly above the holes . Honestly, it's my fav. place to drive. You just need to know when to give up and slow down.

VAThrasher, my last post was too long ago, and we've been changing our minds too many times since (regarding this part and others in our itinerary), so I don't remember the cost details anymore. What I strongly suggest is that you talk to the rental agents (we use Kemwel) and check with them. Many, if not most, or even all rental companies have some issues with driving into the former Eastern Europe countries, some won't rent you a car if you intend driving there...

We found a RT ticket FRA-PRG for $114 (with Czech Airlines), so even for the 4 of us it made more sense to fly, vs. renting a car for visiting Prague for 4 days. Beside the travel time issue, and the fact we're planning staying in the city for the whole time, so it just didn't make any sense to rent the car for that portion of our trip....

We rented a car during our last trip to Czech Republic in August 2009 & found it wasn't a problem at all. We had the car delivered to our pension in Prague, & used a GPS so it really wasn't too difficult driving out of the city. We had to return to Prague twice after our first short road trip to bring one of daughters back because she had to leave before us. Then we left on another short road trip, before returning to Prague again, so my husband did a lot of driving in and around Prague. With a navigation system, you won't have any problems. Our pension had a secure parking lot, too.