Hey guys need some help, myself and 2 other mates (all 21) are going to Europe for a month in July and want to rent a car for around 2-3 weeks for a road trip starting from Milan and finishing in Milan.
Was just wondering if anyone had any tips on where and how to go about renting a car in Europe for 3 people and 3 large bags. I've done a lot of research but the car rental websites seem a little dodgy, thanks in advance :)
Cheers for the advice mate, from Milan we drive past venice and then all the way down to Split, Croatia. We stay in Split for 6 nights and then drive up through Slovenia for around 2-3 nights and then to Salzburg and Vienna 4 nights all up. From Vienna we go to prague and then make our way back to milan.
Also read the fine print in the rental documents.
Many leading car rentals like hertz, europecar usually a specify a list of countries that are excluded (most eastern European countries) and usually Italy is one of them.
For hertz the prices are lower and you will get more kms or unlimited if you booking from the US hertz site.
I would recommend reconsidering the need for a hire car. Parts of your itinerary can be done via high-speed trains which get you direct to city centres very quickly. Other parts, like Split Croatia, can be reached with low cost airlines.
Given you're driving in peak summer season, be prepared to spend countless hours, indeed a whole day, in traffic around borders. The highways are unbelievably full that time of year.
About 10 years ago I 'hired' (short term lease maybe) through driveaway.com.au for about 2 weeks in the UK as it worked out cheaper than renting through the usual suspects. Can't recall the conditions around travelling to mainland Europe so would double-check that first.
Oh and I was over 25 at the time, so that may change things as well.
I'll check it out thanks mate
There most likely wouldn't be an issue with going to continental Europe, except you need to keep in mind you'll have a RHD car and driving on the right. This is annoying for toll booths, parking garages etc. Also you'll have to add in the UK to your trip…
Pretty sure they have cars available all over Europe.
Thanks for the Driveaway suggestion, DJ.
I'm planning on spending 5 weeks in the UK from the end of May, and was about to start looking for cheapish car hire.
They quoted $950 for a Hertz Fiesta for the 5 weeks, which sounds pretty reasonable!
I'll keep looking, but that's a good start.
A mate and I did this last august for 3.5 weeks, Rome to Milan (via Austria, Hungary, Czech, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Como).
We honestly just rented through Europcar, wasnt cheap - but was easy, convenient and got an SUV which packed our 2 big bags, and had the guts to do 180 on the autobahns
Was an awesome trip, highly recommend not driving on the highways ALL the time. You see some cool Sh!t on the backroads
Just remember to factor in tolls / highway vignettes can be expensive. We spent HUNDREDS on tolls in italy. I think one patch of road alone was like $90aud
Yeah i think i had a look at Europcar they weren't too bad, do you remember how much the SUV cost you for the 3.5 weeks by any chance? Yeah one of the main reasons we're hiring a car is to see more of the backroad stuff and not be stuck on transport the whole time :) Oh thanks for reminding me about the tolls I genuinely forgot haha
no stress. Actually looks like we only booked for 16 days. we started the car hire at the end of our time in Rome
Cost us 1,555 euro for the 16 days. We originally booked an Audi A4, but was supplied with a Renault Kadjar. Glad we got the Kadj. Note - we paid extra for auto transmission, as my mate wasnt confident driving a manual. Honestly, even myself only ever owning manual's, im glad we got the auto as driving on the RHS of the road, at >130km/h, not having to worry about gears is good. Plus, you come across SOOO many roadworks, 8hr drives can take 12, lanes sometimes get down to 2.1m (ie 20cm either side of the car) with the other lane chockers with semi's. Ahhh the fun.
One other comment, make sure you get a car which has a GPS that picks up the speed cameras and the changes in speed limits (they are frequent and enforced). You don't want to be pinged doing 130 in an 80 zone…
+1 paying extra for auto.
Yeah it cost me €200 to cross France and back.
We took the longer route over the mountain, no tolls there (although we were checked by the cops to make sure we had all the right safety equipment). That was an awesome drive, and cost us zilch in the tolls.
Best thing is to go to google maps or the gps in the car, and select 'avoid highways' and 'avoid tolls' and usually you can make it work. Sometimes just adds time to your trip.
Yeah Perpiginan back to Yorkshire was over 16 hrs of driving time, so I wasn't going to add hours.
OP if you can push it out a little longer, you can get a short term lease through one of her French car makers, basically they sell you a brand new car, insure and tax it, then buy it back from you at an agreed price a set term later (like 4 weeks is the minimum I think). It’s way cheaper than hiring a car, and it suits them, as they can sell it at a discounted price as a demo, and it makes their figures look great as they are ‘selling’ heaps of cars.
This sounds interesting… unfortunately it's not possible to push it to 4 weeks because of our university dates etc but thanks anyway for the clever idea
You can do 21 days, just checked their website (Peugeot and Renault). Works out at under about $2k, all in including insurance with nil excess
That seems to be a lot of driving for 2-3 weeks, especially if you want to explore the backroads.
We usually use Vroom-Vroom-Vroom as a starting point to compare various hire car companies (some unknown to us), inclusions / exclusions, costs, etc., and then explore in more detail with their own sites.
There have been plenty of recent travel articles in the press about the costs of the toll roads, so make sure you have awareness of those. Some relate to a country, even if you only enter for a day or so.
We have also used trains a lot in (mainly Western) Europe. You will miss out on the back road experience, but the scenery is better than from a road usually, plus there are dining cars / bars on most services, so an easy way to travel without the stress.
4 years ago I used www.holidayautos.com
they were the cheapest at the time.
got a diesel peugot. AU$623.39 for 20 days. so ~ $32 a day for the car- for 5 people. of course fuel. but even a tank was only ~$65. and lasted well.
Parking is expensive and difficult in large city's, just consider that aspect too!.
yeah we found this. Weekends were generally free, and some cities you can park outside of town and catch the train into the city for next to nothing.
I think we paid ~$5 for 4 days parking in the olympic village rather than driving and trying to find somewhere to park in Amsterdam. Theres lots of options like this in the bigger cities, as they want to reduce traffic in the city
Try using the Skyscanner app. They should cover what you want.
Be careful of the fineprint. As others have said, your age and insurance will both be "issues".
Good luck and enjoy your holiday; it's a great part of the world
Just remember that you don't necessarily have to drop back in the same city, just the same country. I hired a manual Fiat wagon from Milan for 2 weeks last year, and dropped the car off in Venice. Cost less than $600.
I'm well over 25 though, and the auto options were a bit more expensive (but I wanted manual regardless of cost).
By the way, if you want epic scenery I would highly recommend driving through the Dolomites. And also don't skip Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Oh good suggestion thanks mate, could drive through the Dolomites on the way back to Milan. Funny you say we have Bled in the plan already when driving through Slovenia :)
I've seen a lot of Europe (over 20 countries) and the Dolomites is probably my favourite area. Maybe tied with Norway.
where in Norway would you suggest? goiog in August and would love to know your tips/recommendations
First and foremost it’s not going to be cheap. You are all under 25 so you’ll be paying summer rates + young drivers fee+ young drivers insurance. That’s if they rent to you in the first place. Hopefully one of y𝒐𝒖 has a full license…
Sixt rental is meant to be good if there’s one in Milan. I’d try all the large companies.
You need to make sure you clarify with your travel insurance if they’ll cover you for everything.
I’d consider if you really need a car. What’s your route exactly ?