Hiring a car to pick up in Croatia and drop off in Greece
 

Hi there,

My partner and I are planning a very exciting trip to Europe next June/July (2011). We are wanting to hire a care and drive it from Croatia, through Bosnia, Abania, Macedonia and then finally arriving in Greece.

So far I haven't been able to find a care hire company that lets us pick up a car in Croatia and drop it off in Greece. Does anyone know of any??

Thanks,
Naomi

Most unlikely, short of your paying the full cost of a driver being sent to Greece to pick up the car and driving back to Croatia, or that of a transporter truck. In addition there are all sorts of complications, in that some of the countries you pass through are considered an insurance risk and many rental companies won't allow you, or anyone, to take their car through them - Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia and Serbia come to mind.

Why don't you tell us what companies you've already contacted. That way you won't get a list of the same companies who have turned you down.

We were told the same thing that Alex is reporting- that many of the countries you'd need to drive through on your way to Greece are an insurance risk, so no rentals permitted. For some reason, it is very difficult to travel easily between these two countries, even though they are both fairly close to each other.

IF (big IF) you managed to find a company it would be extremely expensive because of the insurance complexities involved & these are all different countries, some not even in the EU.
Being a relatively short distance is irrelevant. Logical thinking (although on a much larger scale!), would you expect to be able to rent a vehicle in the US & drive through Mexico & to another 4 or 5 South American countries?

I just meant that it seems odd that there is not good plane service between the two countries, since they are so close. Seems like you need to go in and out of Italy to get to one or the other.

Some companies like economycarrentals will allow you to drive in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro but you are not allowed to take the car into Greece or Albania. They do not allow you to drop in a different country to the rental country though you can drop off in a different location at no extra charge.

May you could look at train and bus options between some of these countries?

i am sure there won't be a single company allowing you to pick up their rental cat in Croatia, drive through Albania to deliver it in Greece.
Not only because of the cost of getting the car back to where it came from ( which means you would pay the expenses of a driver to fly to Greece and collect the car), but mostly because no one would allow you to pass with a rental car through Albania... Furthermore i don't think that it is a wise decision to drive through Albania with a ( rented) car if you are not Albanian.... the streets cannot be compared to western standards, and the way locals drive is way too dangerous..

if you have this information Andro, why don't you share it with us please, as you did with the travel agency you own/work for?
After all OP asked exactly for these kind of companies.......

Don't know if this will help but I found a three day tour called "Balkan Road Trip-Route 40" (through Sail-Croatia). It starts in Dubrovnik and makes stops in Kotor (Bosnia), Budva (Montenegro), Tirana, Berat, Saranda, (Albania) and ends in Corfu. Here's the web site if you're interested:

http://www.sail-croatia.com/index.ph...dubrovnik-tour