Getting to Prague
 

Has anyone taken a rental car from Munich to Prague. I am being told that I can not take a Hertz car into Czech. Any suggestions on either another rental car company or train from a border town where I can leave my car for the night?

Have you tried autoeurope.com - - they recently switched their answer from no to yes, on a rental originating from Austria, going into Czech republic (and Poland).

Best wishes,

Rex

Yes we have driven from southern Germany into the Czech republic to Prague. No problems and I believe it was Budget. It is definitely possible, just check around on the Budget and Avis sites.

BTW, it was a great drive. Really enjoyed the drive through Pilzen on the way to Prague. Really made me feel as if I was back in the cold war era. Still can't believe so many of those tiny Skoda's were still on the road.

just pulled this off the budget site

CROSS BORDER TRAFFIC: All cars can go to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and United Kingdom. Cars cannot be taken into Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Poland unless requested from the location direct. Please contact the location to make any booking requiring CBT for these countries.

Just got back from Europe last night, where we rented a car from AutoEurope (National Car Rental) in Austria, drove it into Hungary, then back thru Austria and on to Prague. No Problem.

i have used auto europe and they only allowed small cars to go to eastern europe...we also choose a hotel with a garage for theft protection....europe by car is another one to check

I think that things have loosened up on rental cars in to countries in _Central_ Europe that were formerly considered "Eastern" Europe.

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34407312

In 1999 we picked up a car in Frankfurt and after spending a night in Rothenburg (to get over jet lag) we drove to Prague. We rented through DER. They "stickered" the car for the czech republic. We then went on to Hungary, Austria, Italy, and France, dropping off the car at the Paris Airport.

Security can be a problem. We stayed at the Cloister Inn in Prague which had a gated car park. We never had a problem either parking or crossing the borders. We spent 3 nights in Prague and had plenty to do.

We've driven into Eastern Europe several times. The trick is that at the time you reserve the car you have to ask for a car that can be taken into Eastern Europe. You will then be given a permit that will be inspected at the border; this will allow you to take the rental car into Eastern Europe. If you use a broker like AutoEurope they will only give you a quote from a rental agency that allows its cars to be taken into this sector. When you call to get a quote you have to say, "I want to drive in Eastern Europe." You might not get as cheap a price because the most competitively priced agencies working with AutoEurope might not allow their cars into that sector. We always only rent the samllest car available so I don't know about sizes. But, we had friends who took their kids and skis and snowboards into Poland. I know they had a station wagon.