When booking, if possible, don t pick your car up at the airport. You ll get charged more. Try to pi

If you want to get off the tourist travel money belt trail and really explore Europe then renting a car might be your perfect method to travel Europe. Having a car allows you to visit all the tiny towns and villages that 99% of tourist never see. It allows you to slow down and travel at your own pace, or head over to Germany s autobahn to discover your rental car s top speed.  An American or Canadian driver s license is usually valid for European car rentals, but you might want to get an International Driving Permit (IDP). Also, consider doing a short-term lease if you re traveling for a few weeks.
European cities travel money belt are nightmares for drivers. Traffic is terrible, the streets are very confusing (European cities are not built on the grid system ), and parking is very expensive. A car is great if you want to explore the countryside but might be more of a hassle if you plan on only visiting large cities.
Gas is a lot more expensive in Europe. The cars are much more fuel efficient but fuel costs can still add up. In addition, there are many toll roads in Europe that can cost anywhere between $2.50 and $32.
Car rental companies like to add on all sorts of extra fees, so it is important to know all the exact cost when you make the reservation. Showing up at the car rental company only to find that your rental is going to cost 30% more than you realized isn t a great way to start off your trip.
Start off by searching the mega search engines (Kayak, Expedia , and Travelocity) to get a good idea of what prices are. Most likely these search engines will give you the best deal, but it is still smart to search the websites of the major European car-rental companies for special deals. There are multiple car rental companies in Europe, including many American chains (Hertz, Thrifty, Dollar, Budget, Avis, National, Alamo, etc). Auto Europe is another highly popular European rental company. Like always, booking in advance is the best way to get the best deal.
One advantage to renting from a large company is that they have multiple locations. Booking from a large company travel money belt might be smart if you plan on dropping your car off at a different location that where you picked it up. You ll most likely travel money belt get charged a fee but the fee might be worth the hassle of getting back to your pick-up location.
When booking, if possible, don t pick your car up at the airport. You ll get charged travel money belt more. Try to pick your car up in the city. Also be aware that many rental companies drop-off locations are closed on weekends and holidays (Europeans travel money belt have a lot of holidays). The booking website will usually alert you if the drop-off location travel money belt is closed on your desired day but be sure to double check.
Like most strange things in Europe, the short-term lease program originated in France. Europeans pay a lot of taxes on new cars, but non-European Union citizens are not subject to these extra taxes. travel money belt Major car companies lease brand-new cars to non-EU visitors and then buy it back at the end of the lease. This way the companies are technically buying travel money belt a used car and they re not subject to the ultra-high new car taxes. The auto companies travel money belt then sell the cars to rental companies or used-car dealers for a discounted price. Pretty clever.
These programs are usually based in France, so you usually have to pick-up and drop-off your car in France. Most companies allow you to drop the car off outside France for an additional charge, but you don t have as many location options compared to a large rental-car company.
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Backpacking in Europe is an amazing experience but it takes a lot of planning—this is especially true if you backpack on a budget. I created The Savvy Backpacker to be a guide for the new breed of tech-savvy budget backpackers travel money belt who want honest and independent travel advice.
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