Friends and I are planning a trip traveling from Poland to Vienna. From what I’ve read, there appears to be issues with driving rental cars in eastern Europe versus western Europe. How difficult and expensive is it to rent a car in Warsaw and drop it off in Vienna? Is it better to rent a car in Poland to sight-see there, then take the train to Vienna and rent a car there? If we decide to do the latter, are there any problems driving a rental car between Poland and Slovakia? Your advice and suggestions are most appreciated!

I don't like to be critical, but have you called one or more of the better-known rental car companies? All of your questions can be answered better, and more currently, by them than by forum participants.

Aside from that, there is usually no difficulty in renting a car and dropping it off elsewhere, but you need to check with the rental company. Everything you need to know is best obtained first-hand from one or more of these companies.

Thank you for your response. Yes, I've done my research, but the value of these forums is to hear about the experiences of other travellers, as it provides other perspectives.

Whether or not you can drive your car outside the country of origin and in eastern Europe depends on the rental company. When I rented a car to go to Romania, Thrifty in Budapest had no problems with it, and it was much cheaper than AutoEurope which tacked on what I presume was a hefty insurance fee because the car was being taken into Romania. Unless someone has a spcific recommendation, you will simply have to keep on looking to see what rates are offered on the rental agency's web site (sor some reason I can't get straight answers on the telephone when the rental issues become complex).

If you find an acceptable rental in Warsaw, I would use it to see Slovakia but return it in Krakow. Cross-border drop-off fees tend to be steep. Then take the train or a cheap flight to Vienna. BTW, the Michelin map of Slovakia gives a symbol for the Ruthenian churches that are definitely worth a trip.

The last part of this album is taken in Slovakia:

http://www.photoworks.com/members/sl...007&key=mksfca

In those days I had no problems picking up the car in Munich, driving across the Iron Curtain and returning the car in Austria, which was cheaper than returning it in Germany because there was no VAT. But things have changed.

I do not know how this came back up, but the reference to my pictures is no longer valid. Here's the latest, for those interested:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...046345988/show

Topped by a spammer, post now removed.

It's a seven-year-old thread.
But while we're at it - if you plan on driving through the Czech Republic and in Austria, note that each country requires a (separate) road-tax sticker to be displayed on the car.
See www.motorway.cz/stickers and (in German) https://www.adac-shop.de/Vignetten/O...e-10-Tage.html