How to rent a car for a road trip in Eastern Europe?

(I see that this is an older question -- but since it has been recently edited, it is now at the top of the feed. Since I have some experience in trying to make these plans, I figured I'd add an answer in the hope that it would be helpful to others who come across this question in searches about car rental.)

My experience is that the Hertz website gives much clearer information about permissible driving locations than its competitors. I think (but since I do not work with or for Hertz, I cannot be absolutely certain), that the restrictions are based on the country in which you rent the car, rather than the location. Thus, I am making the assumption that the single location I looked up for each of the countries in question has the same restrictions as other locations in the same country.

The countries you want to visit are Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. This is what I found:

• Germany: Cars rented (from Hertz) in Germany can be driven into the Czech Republic and Poland, but not into Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
• Czech Republic: Cars rented in the Czech Republic can be driven into Germany and (except certain more expensive rentals) Poland; they cannot be driven into Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia.
• Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia: Cars rented in the Baltic nations cannot be driven into Germany or the Czech Republic.
• Poland: Cars rented in Poland can be driven into all of the countries you plan to visit.

It would seem that the best option for this itinerary would be to take a train into Poland and then initiate the car rental there.

If you wish to investigate this on your own, or for different countries, here is how to find the information on the Hertz website:

1. Go to http://www.hertz.com/.
2. Click on "Locations" in the top menu.
3. Select a location.
4. Click "More Location Details" for that location.
5. Click "Qualifications and Requirements".
6. Select "Driving Restrictions-Driving Abroad" as the topic. This will give relevant information about where the rental car can, and cannot, be driven.

Given the route over Eastern Europe you have a problem.

First of all, there are relatively cheap car rentals which are local, meaning that you are not permitted to cross borders between countries. Europe is not a single country with states like the United States; it is more like traveling from the USA to Mexico each time. So the very tantalizing offers local car companies in Germany could offer are of no use for you.

That means you have only a few options and that are international companies which are:

• Sixt
• Europcar
• Avis
• Hertz

Now the second problem: All these companies have no problems to rent a car for a tour in the Western part of Europe, but Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, etc.) is a problem.

Sixt do not rent Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, VW, Porsche, Aston Martin, Jeeps / Offroad into Eastern Europe. Europcar does not specify exactly what is allowed, but you can expect resistance (outright prohibition or hefty prices). The same is the case with the other companies.

And they are much more expensive than local car rentals, so it won't be cheap anyway.

This is really a problem because people do not read the Terms and Conditions and simply book cars, not knowing that they are losing completely their insurance cover if they do not exactly state which route they want to take. And I suppose you know how expensive even a small scar on new cars can become. If your car is stolen, you must pay it completely with compensation; if you have or even cause a severe accident, then God help you. And this is for the international companies.

So be truthful and tell exactly where do you want to go. As the companies have competition, I do not think it makes sense to promote one company, simply ask for each company how the conditions are.

Trying to cross borders with local car rentals is downright criminal even if nothing happens, so DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS !

This is EU, so you can travel from country to country without any borders. We did such a trip with friends last summer. We rented a campervan from here http://polarus.eu/ and traveled through Austria, Germany, Slovakia etc. And had no problems.