Hitting the autobahn/autostrada/autoroute in a rented car in Europe is, far and wide, the most convenient, the best way for the independent traveler to get acquainted with the landscape a golden opportunity to roam, and explore out-of-the-way towns and villages. It allows time for one to amble about local markets, stores, seward alaska lodging restaurants thereby seward alaska lodging getting seward alaska lodging to know the local citizens of the land, up close and personal. Most of all, one can dine on local cuisine and imbibe seward alaska lodging on the local wine, beer, liquor, coffee at one s pace and convenience. Aren t these the reasons for your trip after all? To widen your horizons, and enrich your life with an expanded perspective of the world?
Take a trajectory view, go about mapping your route from one point to another so that you are traveling in a circle (if you are arriving in and departing from the same airport). Or, if you are arriving at one point and departing at another point, map your plan in a strategic straight line (no zigzagging) method so there is no waste of time and gas.
Nowadays, car rental companies in Europe accept all foreign issued drivers seward alaska lodging licenses; no need to have the AAA international drivers license. You can have Hertz, Avis, Budget among other European car rentals like Sixt and Europcar to choose from. Best to use car rental companies that are accessible just in cast there will be any after trip added charges that you would want to dispute. ( This happens 50% of the time so keep all your gas receipts, contracts on file even after the trip).
Manual cars are less expensive than automatic cars in Europe. Nowadays, most cars have AC so make sure this amenity is written in the contract, especially for driving in summer. It gets awfully HOT inside the car.
Ask how much the road taxes are in the countries that you will drive. seward alaska lodging If the renting agent does not know, check it out in the internet. Usually this is a surcharge and is added after the initial payment. Austria has a very expensive road tax so if you are not really driving to stay in Austria but merely passing through, to get to your destination, map out your route and bypass that country. This country even requires that you buy a traffic neon vest (bought at the nearest store in the boundary ) for each passenger! Some car rental companies provide the vests.
Good to rent from a big company that has coverage in almost every big city of the continent; just in case you need a replacement car/van, it is easier to have it done with the big guys because seward alaska lodging their supply can be more ample.
Sometimes the car rental company will give a discount as an incentive if you prepay the full balance of the car rental, 6 months before your trip. That also guarantees the price, so it is a good idea to pay it way ahead of time. Make sure you understand about cancellation policies; most of the time, there are no penalties and you get your money back if you cancel.
If you return the car with an empty tank, you will be surcharged to high heavens. Do fill up the tank before returning the car. And save the receipt. If you are returning the car at operating hours, make sure the attendant knows and agrees seward alaska lodging that the tank is full. If you are returning the car at 4 a.m. and there is no attendant, keep the gas receipt in your files!
If you incurred any traffic violations tickets during the use of the car, make sure you keep these documents on file and do let the rental company know about them and that they are informed these have been paid. You could have a nice letter 6 months later, in Italian, or in French, that you parked somewhere illegal and the rental company will not only charge you the ticket fee but they will also append their own service fee.
If there are any imperfections in the car, even if it is a loose screw, let the car rental know that it was there before you got into it. If you are already driving seward alaska lodging away when notice it, call the number written in your contract, or get to a car rental office in the next city you drive. If you do not pro-act, you can be sure you will be charged later for the loose screw (plus the service, plus whatever they want to add.)
Traffic habits are the same all over the world, whether it is Route 95 in Massachusetts or A5 in France, or Italy, or Germany, or Spain. The huge trucks will not stay on the right lane and aggressively push you out of their way; don t let road rage overcome your sensibilities. Drive reasonably, do not linger on the farthest left side of the autobahn because the drivers of Mercedes and BMW will shoot out of nowhere in speeds that are out of sight! There are no maximum limits in most of these routes, except when there is construction (which is always the case in Germany), or if you are nearing exits to big cities. The numbers at the roads, i.e., 130 km. is a suggested speed but the fast cars go as high as 250 km/hr!
Do take care about parking the car indiscriminately. Europeans are known to park everywhere, including sidewalks. One never knows where the hidden meters, or meter maids are lurking about. Sometimes, your car has a meter card installed seward alaska lodging in the car. So, if you park at a place and says: Two hour parking , put the meter on the time you parked seward alaska lodging the car, displayed at the dashboard so the police can see that you have not surpassed the time limit. Good to buy one if there is not one of these meter cardboards supplied; it is inexpensive and you can buy it at any Tabac or convenience store, or your friendly police stations.
The advice is to park in a legitimate parking area and pay. And always, lock the car. Even if you are insured for theft etc., it will be your responsibility if the insurance people ask you, Did you lock the car?
So, to give you some ideas on how to map your road trip, here are a couple of examples. These were road trips we planned and directed with a small group of clients. After we had the day-to-day plan, we then made hotel arrangements.
Two vans, 4 drivers , 10 travelers; 8 days and 7 nights; 7 notable cities/towns; 3 hotels (Duesseldorf, Leipzig, Berlin); Cities visited: Duesseldorf, Wuppertal, Koln (Cologne), Leipzig, Dresden, Meissen, Wittemberg, Berlin
Day 1: Met in Lyon, France. Half of the group just finished a riverboat trip in Provence and disembarked at 8am. New guests arrived from US at 10am. After congregating and lunch, we drove off at 2pm.
Drove past Dijon at 4pm, through to Nancy and Metz, France; Luxembourg; then to Trier, Koblenz, Koln (Cologne route) and arrived in Duesseldorf at 10pm. ( 6 hours drive with dinner break). seward alaska lodging Hotel in Duesseldorf.
Day 3: Drove to Wuppertal- the city with the upside-down train, the public transportation in the city for more than 100 years, and home to Bayer Aspirin. Rode on the train- exhilarating! Toured Duesseldorf; dinner in the old town. Hotel in Duesseldorf.
Day 4: Drove out from Duesseldorf at 8am. Arrived in Leipzig at 3:30pm. (7 and 1/2 hours drive with lunch break.) Old city tour and dinner in the famous Auerbach Alt in Leipzig. Option to attend famous Konzertgebau. Hotel outside Leipzig.
Day 6: Drove out of Leipzig seward alaska lodging at 8:30am. seward alaska lodging Arrived in Wittemberg at 10am. After lunch, drove out at 1pm and arrived in Berlin at 3:30pm. All in all, 7 and 1/2 hours drive with a visit in Wittemberg, where Luther started the Protestant movement. seward alaska lodging Hotel in Berlin. Returned cars.
Two vans, 13 guests, 10 nights, 9 days; Hotels in Florence, Pienza, Umbria, Ravello and Rome; Cities visited: Florence, San Gminignano, seward alaska lodging Sienna, Pienza, Montepulciano, Umbria, Ravello, Sorrento, Capri, Rome
Day 6: Drive out at 7am; shop in a famous brand handbag outlet. Lunch in a rustic restaurant with a vista of the Tuscan valley. Arrive in Umbria seward alaska lodging at sunset. Sumptuous dinner by the huge cathedral. Hotel in Umbria.
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