We pick up our rental car, a brand new Peugeot 206, in Strasbourg on 24th May and our intention has been to drive through Hungary, Slovakia and Poland exiting Poland at Görlitz.

But we are both having doubts about the trip, specifically with regard to the safety of an unattended car in the major tourist areas of Poland and Hungary in particular, our doubts being fuelled by various stories we have heard about the high incidence of theft and vandalisation in those countries. Not that we aren't covered by insurance, but the loss of time getting repairs done is a worry, as is to a small degree our personal safety.

For some reason we still feel that Slovakia is relatively free of this sort of problem and are not thinking of eliminating it from our itinerary.

Would anyone like to comment?

Thanks
Harzer

I have the same concerns. I live close to the Czech border in Germany and do not like to drive into the Czech Rep. It is the same in the countries you mentioned. I also heard that Slovakia is (slightly) safer.

Always park your car on a guarded parking - the fee is in general very low. A brand new car is always popular among the thieves, although your rental car is a small one and not one of the popular "big names". Vandalisation is not a big problem as far as I know. Never leave luggage or expensive things like camera etc. visible in the car.

I hope the concerns do not spoil your vacation.

Ingo

Thanks for that input Ingo.

We were even thinking that we might leave the car at an Austrian or Slovenian border town for the day and take a bus into Hungary, and at least see a bit of it without too much worry. Maybe if we get good vibes doing that we might take the car in another time.

I stress that we are not concerned about our personal safety in any of these countries.

How common are these supervised car parks? Are they only in the major cities? We tend to concentrate on the countryside more in our travels. For example the first four or five nights of our trip will be spent in Tittling in the Bayerischen Wald - not exactly a big town. Maybe you aren't too far from there yourself.

Schöne Grüße
Harzer

We picked up our rental car, a Mitsubishi diesel, in Vienna and drove to Budapest, all thru Slovakia, and then to Prague with no incidents. As someone mentioned, don't leave stuff visible - make sure you have a capacious trunk - and carry insurance for any damage. With my Amexco card, every time I rent a car extra insurance kicks in. Hey, I don't leave anything visible here in the States, do you ? Also, I've had these incidents occur with frequency in Spain - like the time a window was broken so the robber could try to get what was a bag of garbage - guess he was so stoned that he couldn't see the banana peel at the top. Leave nothing visible !

Are you sure that your rental company permits you to take your car into Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia? Some companies do not.

We ran across a couple young German fellows in Krakow whose car had "disappeared." The local police, who arrived just as we were walking by, shrugged their shoulders and were not interested in the theft. Apparently, the German license plate was the tip-off to the car thieves.

Thanks for the input everyone.

We will play it by ear once we are there and able to talk to a few people who have been in these places recently.

Harzer

I've driven through Poland and Hungary. We had our rental car agency provide a devise that locks the steering wheel. They did not charge us for this. The only city that we were concerned about was Warsaw. We parked in a lot that had a full time attendant. That charge was more than the hotel room!! Have a great trip.

Hello harzer,

although the thread is "closed" ... another short reply:

I live in Dresden/Saxony, not in Bavaria.

I also like to concentrate on the smaller towns/rural areas. Unfortunately you won't find many supervised car parkings in such small towns. The idea of parking the car in a border town and doing a day trip to Hungary by public transportation is a good one.

By the way, don't miss to spend some hours in Görlitz. It is one of my favourite towns at all and would even deserve a couple of days (incl. surroundings).

Have a great trip.

Ingo

PS: I saw your question aobut the sticker in Austria at a different thread. It is required for Autobahnen only. Available for 10 days or longer periods. Multiple entries allowed. You should buy it at some gas stations in Germany and in ADAC-offices (General German Car Club). Be forewarned: it is not available at all borders; due to Schengen treaty sometimes you almost don't realise that you leave Germany and enter Austria! Get it BEFORE you enter Austria, the fine is outrageous.