Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
buttheydon'tpostfutureschedulesveryfarinadvance.Onceagain,localTIsarethesingle
best source of information for how their town is connected to the rest of the coast.
If you're renting a car, bring your driver's license. In Slovenia and Bosnia, you're also re-
quired to have an International Driving Permit—an official translation of your driver's li-
cense (sold at your local AAA office for $15 plus the cost of two passport-type photos;
www.aaa.com
). While that's the letter of the law, I've often rented cars in these countries
without having this permit. If all goes well, you'll likely never be asked to show the per-
mit—but it's a must if you end up dealing with the police.
Rental companies require you to be at least 18 years old and to have held your license
for at least one year. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a young-driver surcharge, and
some rental companies do not rent to anyone 75 or older.
Research car rentals before you go. It's cheaper to arrange most car rentals from the US.
Call several companies and look online to compare rates, or arrange a rental through your
hometown travel agent.
Most of the major US rental agencies (including Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and
Thrifty) have offices throughout Europe. Also consider the two major Europe-based agen-
cies, Europcar and Sixt. It can be cheaper to use a consolidator, such as Auto Europe
(
www.autoeurope.com
)orEuropebyCar(
www.europebycar.com
)
,whichcomparesratesat
several companies to get you the best deal. However, my readers have reported problems
with consolidators, ranging from misinformation to unexpected fees; because you're going
throughamiddleman,itcanbemorechallengingtoresolvedisputesthatarisewiththerent-
al agency.
Regardlessofthecar-rentalcompanyyouchoose,alwaysreadthefineprintcarefullyfor
add-on charges—such as one-way drop-off fees, airport surcharges, or mandatory insurance
policies—thataren'tincludedinthe“totalprice.”Youmayneedtoqueryrentalagentspoin-
tedly to find out your actual cost.
The Rental-Car Conundrum
Virtually everyone planning a trip by car to this region runs into the same problem:
International drop-off fees for rental cars are astronomical (usually several hundred
dollars). Generally there's no extra charge for picking up and dropping off a car in
different towns within the same country (for example, the long 9-hour drive between
Zagreb and Dubrovnik), but you'll pay through the nose to drop off across the border
