Nat Sauteed
Plan to travel across Europe in a rented car? Then you might have a lot of questions: What are the requirements for drivers from a particular country? What are the things to remember when driving on European roads? Our guide is here to answer all that and more.
Requirements for drivers
Are you a young driver? Before you decide on which car logos should adorn your ideal rental cars, think about the age restrictions in different EU countries. Each country has its own characteristics regarding car rental. First of all, you should consider age restrictions, as they can vary significantly even in neighboring countries.
So, the age of the driver should be at least 18, and in some countries – 25 years. in addition, each rental office has its own age restrictions. For example, in Germany, you can rent a car from SIXT company, if you are 18 years old, or rent non-cars from Budget company only if you are 21 years old. Often car rental agencies may require young drivers (under 25 years old) to pay an additional fee that’s worth 15-17 Euros per day.
What about your driver’s license?
In a number of countries, it’s enough to show the national license issued at least one year ago, where your name will be written in Latin letters. Also, there should be the inscription PERMIS DE CONDUIRE. But in the UAE, England, Italy, France and Greece you need to have an international driver’s license (IDP). It’s also worth noting that the IDPs are not valid without the original license of your country.
Read the fine print
When renting a car, you need to carefully study all the clauses of the contract, especially regarding insurance claims, rental periods, various restrictions that are imposed by the rental office, etc. Despite the fact that this is a civilized Europe, the car should be carefully examined for damage and scratches and, if any, that must be fixed in the contract.
Do your own research
Prior to your European travel, it definitely won’t hurt to find out about driving features in a particular country. For example, the Germans and the Greeks drive in completely different ways. It is necessary to study certain nuances in the SDA of those countries through which your travel route runs.
Also, when planning a trip, you should always keep in mind that in Europe there are a lot of toll roads, and accordingly, adjustments must be made either to the route or to the budget. In addition, fuel prices in Europe are pretty high – you need to take this into account.
Car rental rates in Europe
The cost of renting a car in Europe depends on many factors. For example, the general rule of trade applies – wholesale is cheaper. That is, if you rent a car for one or two days, then the cost of each rental day will be higher than if you rent the same car, say, for a week. The approximate cost of car rental in Europe is about $15-20 Euro per day for budget cars.
