Has anyone driven from Munich to Prague?
Feb 7th, 2003, 04:47 PM
#1
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Has anyone driven from Munich to Prague?
A few of us will be heading to Oktoberfest - woohoo! - later this year & are thinking of driving from Munich to Prague. Has anyone else done the drive? How long did it take and what did you do about car rental? Thanks in advance for your help.
Feb 7th, 2003, 05:09 PM
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Not every car rental company will rent you a car with thr proper documents to be able to enter the Czech Republic. I tried www.autoeurope.coom - - which I used many times before with gerat satisfaction - - for a car in Vienna, and they do not have arrangements for a car (from Austria) that can go into the CR.<BR><BR>We have ended up satisfied with a rental from www.affordablepoland.com - - we will also drive it into Poland.<BR><BR>For routes, mileage, driving times and more, I recommend that you become familiar with one or more of these three excellent websites:<BR><BR>www.viamichelin.com<BR>www.mappy. com<BR><BR>or<BR><BR>www.shellgeostar.com<BR><BR>B est wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>
Feb 7th, 2003, 06:16 PM
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Bpesta,<BR>I have done the trip from Rothenburg, but not Munich. Think it was roughly 5 hours from Rothenburg. <BR><BR>As for the car, the time we drove we used Budget directly and they had no problems with us crossing into CZ. <BR><BR>Definitely take the trip if you have time and drive through Pilzen. It will really give you an idea of what it looked like behind the iron curtain, much more so than Prague. Very interesting to see the old Soviet style concrete apartment buildings lined up and the very very old Skoda's everywhere.<BR><BR>
Feb 8th, 2003, 09:14 AM
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Although there will be some people saying of course there will not be problems doing this as they did not have problems, but one American couple I know who did exactly this trip, found themselves stopped more than once by police for some non-existent offence - German number plates make a good excuse for some supplementary income. Also some routes in are more anti-German than others. So sure lots of Germans drive there and have no problems but I would prefer the train anyway.
Feb 8th, 2003, 02:08 PM
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Gee, we did this back in 89 just before the wall came down. A friend in Munich lent us her car... even with all the border controls back then I don't remember any particular problems.. or even how long the trip was!
Feb 8th, 2003, 04:15 PM
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This question brought back wonderful memories. I did this with my sisters in 1965. It was interesting going through the check points with the guards with very large guns. They strip search the car and made the experience memorable for a 20 year old. I have since returned to the CR and it is so interesting to see the differences. But 1965 was a long time ago and I do not rmember how long the trip took. It was a moving experience to see how people lived under the communist.
Feb 9th, 2003, 05:58 AM
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We drove from Munich to Prague back in 1997. We started early in the morning, stopped in Landshut and Regensburg, and spent the night at a German border town called Furth i Wald. The idea was to crossed the border early the next morning because at that time of day there is a lot of trucks and commercial cargo, which the border police concentrate on. We were told bus tours take about 3-4 hours to be processed. They only asked for our passports, rental car agreement and we were on our way. The whole thing did not take more than 5 minutes. From the border it took about three hours to get into Prague. We stopped at Pilsen to change some currency and had quite the experience when I handed a $100 dollar bill to the local bank. The teller called about 4-5 managers/bank officials and they examined the dollar bill with great detail, all of them. The drive was interesting; as an environmental engineer it was heartbreaking to see the effects of acid rain in such beautiful forested areas. <BR><BR>One thing you need to ensure is to ask the rental car agency to annotate in the agreement that you are authorized to take the car into Eastern Europe. We rented with Auto Europe out of the Munich Intl Airport and had no problems whatsoever. We spent some wonderful days at Prague. WOW, what a city!
Mar 14th, 2003, 07:30 PM
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Maira - Thanks! Thanks again for the info on driving from Munich to Prague. I actually think we may take the train and enjoy the scenery rather than worry about crossing the border & all that.<BR><BR>Thanks much!
Sep 2nd, 2003, 05:58 PM
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Yes, somepeople will have a great time taking their rental car into Prague. But there are others whose rental car get stolen there. If you have insurance that does not cover theft, then get ready to pay for the car yourself. I would advise against driving a car in Eastern Europe. Car theft is a highly advanced industry there.
Sep 2nd, 2003, 07:15 PM
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I do not think you can generalize anymore about all of "Eastern" Europe and theft in general. Rental car companies will restrict access to the countries that they are concerned with. Our lease car this year could go to Prague just fine but Budapest would be a problem.
Actually in 1999 we did both with a rental car without incident. We did take precautions. In both cities the inn we stayed at in the Heart of Prague and in Buda had gated car parking. No problem! So with a little planning with the rental company and your Inns of choice, it should not be a big deal. Once we got to each city, we left the car parked and used public transportation.
Actually in 1999 we did both with a rental car without incident. We did take precautions. In both cities the inn we stayed at in the Heart of Prague and in Buda had gated car parking. No problem! So with a little planning with the rental company and your Inns of choice, it should not be a big deal. Once we got to each city, we left the car parked and used public transportation.
Jun 20th, 2004, 03:49 PM
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Dear Grosenb -
If I remember correctly, driving from Munich to Prague took about 5 hours including a couple stops. We stopped in Schwanzdorf (sp?) for lunch and walked around the little town a bit, too. Don't forget to get the Czech sticker authorizing you to drive there.
If I remember correctly, driving from Munich to Prague took about 5 hours including a couple stops. We stopped in Schwanzdorf (sp?) for lunch and walked around the little town a bit, too. Don't forget to get the Czech sticker authorizing you to drive there.
Jun 22nd, 2004, 12:20 AM
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Two weeks ago, it took me 4 hours from Southern Munich to the Castle-area of Prague. This was with fairly light traffic and relatively high speeds in Germany.
If you need detailed driving directions within the czech rep, I recommend www.aral.com
If you need detailed driving directions within the czech rep, I recommend www.aral.com
Jun 22nd, 2004, 03:43 AM
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It takes about 4 hours to drive from Munich to Prague - and is almost all highway. If you look at Viamichelin you can get all the details and a route map.
By the way, VM works best if you use the real names of cities rather than the American versions - ie Praha vs Prague,
By the way, VM works best if you use the real names of cities rather than the American versions - ie Praha vs Prague,
