Please also see our car rental Europe order page.

Surely many of the same companies that rent cars in your country rent cars internationally as well. The same is not true, however, for motorhome rentals. Although the car rental fleets and especially the motorhome rental fleets differ substantially from country to country, the process of renting a vehicle for use abroad is virtually the same and is best arranged before you depart your home. Yet the variations in prices, terms and services between and within rental companies — especially from destination country to destination country and from consumer market to consumer market — are such that you should develop and exercise a keen business acumen to secure the best deal. IdeaMerge's online car and motorhome rental booking software and our associated webpages are carefully designed to help you achieve such goal.

Indeed, IdeaMerge's global perspective, our close relationships with suppliers, our proprietary software and our careful management of foreign exchange costs and risks typically allow us to offer better total prices and overall terms than do our counterparts.

Car Rental Insurance, Waivers and Other Terms

Rarely does the insurance included by car rental companies in the basic rental rates cover vehicle damage that results from accidental collision or fire or from natural disaster, vandalism, or theft of part or all of the vehicle. The insurance included with basic motorhome rental rates, on the other hand, typically does involve some coverage in these respects. Regardless, you need adequate financial protection against these unfortunate eventualities. Virtually all auto rental companies essentially offer such protection by proffering "waivers" which — to one degree or another and subject to certain exclusions and other limitations — absolve you of financial responsibility with respect to one or more of these types of damage and/or loss. Which is to say, these waivers effectively introduce or reduce insurance deductibles — alias, excesses. Typically these waivers are designed to profit the rental company (i.e. in the big picture). Hence the waivers are usually expensive, confusing and veritably albeit quite reasonably bristling with exclusions and limitations.

Small print aside, the waiver names and the meaning of those names vary considerably from destination country to destination country, consumer market to consumer market, and company to company. So here's a prime directive: figure out what these waivers mean. But first things first. Let's not forget about the insurance that's included in the basic rental rates. The included insurance almost always excludes countries and regions from the domain of its coverage. Typically it also excludes off-road driving and, more generally, any driving off paved/sealed/bituminized/tarmacked/macadamized roads. Moreover it certainly involves a litany of other exclusions and limitations — including driver age restrictions (minimum and often maximum).

In many cases the insurance included in the basic rental rates amounts to only the legal minimum of public liability insurance — alias, third-party or third-party only insurance (sometimes confusingly denoted TP protection, which acronym is usually reserved to denote theft protection), also called "green card" insurance in Europe. Liability insurance is the kind which covers the damage that your operation of a vehicle might cause to the bodies (bodily injury, BI) or properties (property damage, PD) of people who are not being transported in (or, perhaps, on or towed by) the vehicle.

In many domains (e.g. in the United States) the people in (or, perhaps, on or towed by) the driver's vehicle (i.e. the driver and passengers) may be covered in terms of two aspects that might feature in the driver's own automobile insurance policy. The first, uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury (UM/UIM) or the like, covers the driver and his/her passengers for bodily injuries caused to that driver and/or his/her passengers by a motorist who has no relevant insurance or who has relevant insurance that is under said injured person or persons' relevant coverage limits and who is at-fault in the accident. In some jurisdictions fault is generally or per the particular consumer's choice not an issue in this regard; i.e. the relevant insurance is necessarily or by the particular consumer's choice "no-fault" insurance and an individual injured in an automobile accident is limited in their ability to seek recovery from other drivers or vehicle owners involved in the accident; one's own insurance (i.e. the "first-party's") pays primarily and regardless of fault. If, however, the no-fault scheme does not apply and if an at-fault driver does have automobile liability insurance, the bodily injury component of that insurance would pay for injuries consequent of the said fault, up to the maximums of said insurance. The second coverage that might feature in a driver's own auto insurance policy is personal injury protection (PIP), which starts paying the medical bills for the insured and his/her passengers regardless of who is at fault.

The division between liability insurance on the one hand and UM/UIM and PIP on the other is largely considered necessary because without that division a driver and passenger could scam the driver's insurance company by manufacturing a minor accident and claiming injury or injuries to themselves. In a few jurisdictions a driver's liability insurance does go to cover injuries sustained by a passenger or passengers due to his/her fault as a driver — but not if the passenger resides with the driver.

If you own an automobile and you own auto liability insurance, uninsured/underinsured motorist cover, and perhaps said personal injury protection as well, all or some of these insurances may extend in total or in part to certain types of other vehicles you might operate, including certain types of rental vehicles. Check with your personal insurance agent. In some countries such extension of personal auto liability insurance is typical, in others it is not. Usually, though, if such extension does apply, it is limited in terms of its domain; hence it might not extend to situations which occur abroad. Of course insofar as one is not covered by personal injury protection, one's own medical insurance will likely apply to the cost of one's injuries from an accident. Typically, however, personal medical insurance, too, has limits in terms of domain; hence it might not extend to situations which occur abroad.

Auto rental companies might offer additional liability insurance (ALI), sometimes called statutory liability insurance (SLI) or extended protection (EP).

A personal homeowners policy might cover the theft of personal property in a rental vehicle. Auto rental companies sometimes offer personal effects cover (PEC) in this regard, although it typically excludes the likes of jewelry and expensive electronics.

Before further discussing the waivers and insurances offered by the auto rental companies, let's address the prime alternatives. Chief among these are the coverages extended by credit card and charge card companies. To engage this type of coverage, you must use the card to pay for the car rental; simply having the card is not enough. Read the card agreement carefully and call the card's customer support to learn precisely what the benefits are in relation to the domain and type of your planned travel. The benefits vary geographically. Moreover, sports cars, luxury (alias elite, exotic, prestige) cars, motorhomes, off-road vehicles, motorcycles and other "specialty" vehicles are typically excluded from this coverage. Sometimes such coverage applies to collision damage only, i.e. it doesn't cover vandalism, natural disaster, theft of part or all of the vehicle, "loss of use" (i.e. the amount of money the rental company might claim when a vehicle is out of their fleet for repairs). Usually such coverage requires you to decline the collision damage waiver (CDW) or loss damage waiver (LDW) or the like offered by the car rental company. Yet sometimes such coverage applies only relative to deductibles (i.e. excesses) remaining after you have purchased a CDW or LDW or the like! Regardless, such coverage typically entails a rental-duration limit of 14 or 15 days for domestic rentals and 30 or 31 days for international rentals; you'd typically have to return the car and commence another rental to effectively extend the coverage. If you're covered for, say, 14 consecutive days, you might mistakenly void the insurance by agreeing to a 15-day rental. Ask whether the coverage is "primary" or "secondary." Primary insurance is preferable, for it lets you file directly with the underwriter of your credit card insurance. Secondary coverage, in contrast, requires you first to obtain a letter from your personal auto insurance provider stating what they do and do not cover with respect to the incident in question. You must then forward this letter along with all the other relevant documents to the underwriter of your credit card insurance. The secondary coverage will cover the charges that are not covered by your personal auto insurance. It's a hassle. Regarding either primary and secondary coverage, determine if the card company will let the auto rental company bill your account directly for any damages that occur. If so, confirm that the status of such a billing will not require you to pay the charge and will not eat into your available credit unless ultimately the underwriter of the card's policy denies your claim. The monetary amount that a rental company equates with certain damages could approximate the value of the entire vehicle. As such, using your credit card to effectively pay up front for damages could cost you substantially if as a result you exceed your credit limit or must pay a finance charge — or both. The policies of credit and charge card companies can change overnight. Immediately before you embark on your trip, confirm that your card still entitles you to the coverage you think it does. Take especial note of the card company's requirements for filing car rental loss and damage claims. Usually they require you to do so within 48 hours or as soon as reasonably possible following a loss. If such notification is not received, coverage may be denied. Written proof of loss, including completion of a claim form provided by the card company, typically must be received by the card company within 60 days of the date of loss, or coverage may be denied. Among the items typically required to document the loss: (a) copy of the drivers license of card member or authorized driver; (b) copy of card members auto insurance coverage; (c) itemized repair bill; (d) claim form; (e) copy of the rental agreement; and (f) police report if the damage exceeds a certain amount (e.g. US$ 500).

Travel insurance is available which covers international auto rentals. See the following: www.travelguard.com, www.worldwideinsure.com, www.insurance4carhire.com, www.carhireexcess.com, www.dailyexcess.com, and www.questor-insurance.co.uk.

Regarding all auto rental coverages, note whether they cover at-fault drivers, single-vehicle accidents, loss of use charges (again, the amount of money the rental company might claim when a vehicle is out of their fleet for repairs), damage that bumpy roads may cause to the undercarriage of the vehicle, overhead damage (i.e. roof damage), damage caused in the process of towing something or being towed, tire damage, windscreen damage, and side window damage. Again, most coverages exclude off-road driving and more generally any driving off paved/sealed/bituminized/macadamized/tarmacked roads.

Members of certain national organizations qualify for auto rental insurance at reduced costs. For instance, several rental companies entitle members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to discounts and additional liability coverage if the member provides the company-specific AARP identification number for listing on the rental agreement. To get this number AARP members should contact the organization. Members of the USA's National Council of Senior Citizens qualify for similar benefits. Often such discounts apply to only the more luxurious classes of vehicles, and they may not apply to one-way rentals.

All auto rental companies require their customers to be of some minimum age — usually either 21, 23, or 25 years. Sometimes an additional fee applies if renters are less than 25 years old but older than the bare minimum. Morevoer, many companies deal only with customers who have held a non-provisional driver's license for at least a year or two. As for the other end of the age-spectrum, most companies enforce a maximum age limit of 65 or 70 years. If because of your age or the age of your license you do not qualify, please don't take it personally. It's all about statistics. For travel in Europe, you can instead consider a European tax-free short-term auto lease: most visitors to Europe who are 18 years of age or older — there is no maximum — can lease a vehicle in Europe for as few as 17 days (actually fewer if you're willing to pay for 17 days).

Regarding international rentals, depending on the law applying at the rental depot and depending on the primary language spoken there, the auto rental company might require that the customer have an international driving license — i.e. an IDL, better known as an international driving permit or IDP. You should contact the relevant rental company and the relevant tourist office, consulate or embassy to determine whether a company or country requires you to carry an IDP while driving. A good secondary indicator in this respect is the IDP webpage posted by the UK's Automobile Association. Basically an IDP is a means by which police in a foreign country can know — in terms of translations in nearly a dozen different languages — that your domestic driver's license is indeed recognized as being valid by the proper authorities in your country. (See the excellent article at Drivers.com.) Hence you must obtain the license while in your home country. The local office of your auto club (AA, AA, RAC, ADAC, etc.) sells IDPs for the equivalent of about US$ 20. If you need an IDP, take your license, two passport-sized photos and the requisite cash to the club office. (Though for about US$ 10 the club may snap Polaroid photos for you.) If you plan to operate a motorcycle, be sure to have the auto club certify your qualification to do so. Web searches will bring up a host of websites selling documents that conform to the model delineated in annex 10 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (1949); but according to Article 24 of that convention, a truly valid IDP is one which is "issued .. by the competent authority of another Contracting State or subdivision thereof, or by an association duly empowered by such authority ...."

If you cannot identify or arrange proper supplementary coverage from other sources, you should buy the collision damage waiver (CDW) and/or collision damage reducer (CDR; alias excess reduction waiver, ERW) and/or loss damage waiver (LDW) and/or theft protection waiver (TP or TW or TPW or TPR) and/or additional liability insurance (ALI or SLI or EP) and/or personal accident insurance (PAI) and/or personal effects cover (PEC, covering luggage, but probably excluding jewelry and perhaps certain electronics and other sorts of items as well) — or some set of variations on these themes — from the auto rental company. … Special note: It is the opinion of IdeaMerge that damage waivers/reducers are usually a better value in connection with motorhome rentals than they are in connection with car rentals. We've formed this opinion from anecdotal evidence and because: (a) the bigger a vehicle is the more likely it will collide with something; and (b) a damage to a motorhome tends to be more expensive to repair than the same sort of damage to a car, this because the pieces involved are larger and are not as mass-produced; and likewise (c) the deductibles included in the base motorhome rental rates tend to be higher than deductibles included in inclusive car rental rates.

There's no such thing as a universal definition of CDW and the other terms peppering the previous paragraph. In most markets the rental company is largely free to define and call these things however and whatever it likes. The motorhome rental industry has developed an especially rich set of such terms, including "SCDW," "VIP," "RLI," …. The IdeaMerge online car and motorhome rental booking software and our associated webpages are carefully designed to explain these terms clearly and contextually.

Often a waiver termed CDW provides certain coverages against damages or losses due to collision, vandalism, natural disaster or theft of part or all of the vehicle. However, in many cases such term is taken literally to refer only to collision damage, whereas the term LDW is used in contrast to designate the wide spectrum of losses including not only collision damage but also vandalism, natural disaster, etc. The term collision damage reducer (CDR) might be used instead of CDW to indicate more heuristically that a deductible/excess remains involved. When indeed the CDW or LDW or CDR does not reduce the deductible/excess all the way to zero, the rental company and/or broker might give you the opportunity to purchase a yet another waiver or reducer or (via another, specialist insurance company such as www.insurance4carhire.com) an insurance policy which further reduces that deductible/excess — typically to zero. Such further waivers/reducers/policies go by many names, such as peace of mind (POM) or no worries cover (NWC) or total damage excess waiver (TDEW) or excess waiver (EW) or excess reduction cover (ERC) or excess reimbursement insurance (ERI). When the CDW or LDW or CDR does not cover theft of part or all of the vehicle, a theft protection waiver (TP, TW, TPW, TPR) is typically offered. Furthermore, personal accident insurance (PAI or PI) and perhaps personal effects cover (PEC) may be offerred. PAI provides the renter and passengers with coverage for accidental death, disability or medical expenses. Personal effects cover (PEC) typically excludes the likes of jewelry and expensive electronics, and it may be unnecessarily redundant in relation to one's personal homeowners policy.

Other General Car Rental or Motorhome Rental Issues

Unlimited miles (or kilometers) are common (and virtually the standard) with car rentals and with motorhome rentals in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Not so with motorhome rentals in the USA and Canada (in which cases the IdeaMerge online reservation software computes the optimal mileage solution for you, given the miles you expect to drive).

Typically there is a surcharge for picking up or returning a car rental at an airport or train station or certain other "premium" locations. Such surcharge basically reflects costs which are imposed on the rental company by the airport and/or government. By the way, in virtually all cases motorhome rentals must be picked up at the motorhome rental depot, not directly at an airport or train station or hotel.

If you will be picking up the vehicle in connection with a flight arrival, inform the rental company long beforehand of your flight arrival details (airline, flight number, expected landing time). Thus if your flight is delayed the rental depot personnel will know enough to hold your vehicle and perhaps even stay open a bit longer to meet you.

In many countries, regions, states or territories a road tax or road registration fee applies to auto rentals. Various other imposed taxes or surcharges might also apply. Some governments allow auto rental companies to charge licensing fees whereby the company can recover the cost of getting license plates for the vehicles.

One-way car rentals are quite common. Usually with European car rentals you can pick-up in one city and return to another in the same country without suffering an extra charge; returns outside the country usually entail a one-way fee. In other markets one-way car rental fees are common and costly. One-way motorhome rentals are not commonly supported in Europe (although they are available within and from Spain, within France, within Italy, within Scandinavia, and from Holland), yet they are common in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Determine whether smoking is allowed in the vehicle, and whether pets are allowed.

Most rental companies place their vehicles into a lettered or numbered category. Unfortunately, these classifications are not consistent across companies — and they may vary within the companies themselves.

If you need an automatic transmission vehicle, be sure to specify this when placing your reservation. The transmission type can often be guaranteed, and in many countries manual transmissions are the norm. Another feature that typically can be guaranteed is air conditioning. In some countries — especially in relation to motorhome rentals — vehicles without air conditioning are the norm. (Motorhomes often come with engine-generated, i.e. dash, air conditioning but not roof, i.e. 120 V or 220 V, air conditioning; either kind can typically be guaranteed.)

Otherwise the car and motorhome rental industries are such that reservations may be made for particular vehicle category only, not for a specific vehicle. Which is to say, although the various images, model numbers and vehicle specifications presented throughout or via the IdeaMerge car and motorhome rental pages — especially on the vehicle-specification pages — are carefully selected to accurately and precisely indicate the vehicle that you will get, the vehicle model (and layout) you get might not be identical to what is indicated by said information. In the very unlikely event that a vehicle in the reserved category is not available upon the pick-up date, the rental company reserves the right to substitute a comparable or larger vehicle with the same equipment and the capacity to accommodate the number persons you have delineated (in terms of, say, adults and children) as being in your party. In this case there should be no additional charge for a larger vehicle. However, the higher ancillary costs associated with a larger vehicle — such as ferry charges, tolls, and fueling costs — are to be borne by the customer.

Employing a diesel car in Europe will cut your fuel costs there by almost 40 percent, because the diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline and the diesel engines are more efficient than their gasoline-powered counterparts. However, to get a diesel you may have to jump up a vehicle class, and this may wipe out any savings you'll realize from the reduced fuel costs. (Most motorhomes in Europe are diesels.) Try to estimate the number of miles or kilometers you'll be driving. Next, using the expected fuel efficiency of the vehicles you're considering, figure the amount you'll pay to fuel each vehicle. Finally, add these figures to the rates charged for the various vehicles.

These days over 60 percent of the new cars sold in Europe are diesels. This percentage continues to climb. Why? For one thing, diesel fuel in Europe costs about 20 percent less than gasoline. (Visit Ireland's Automobile Association (AA) website for an up-to-date listing of fuel prices.) What's more, a diesel engine runs about 30 percent more efficiently (and lasts longer, for it has far fewer parts) than its gasoline-powered counterpart. Hence you save close to 40 percent fuel-wise by going with a diesel.

By the way, IdeaMerge can guarantee you a diesel vehicle if you select one for a European tax-free short-term auto lease.

In a diesel engine, the fuel — which inheres more free energy than gasoline — is pressurized in a "common rail," an intake pipe leading to all cylinders. Electronically controlled injectors allow a precise amount of vaporized fuel to squirt into the cylinders. Consequently diesel engines offer great work capacity — which is of course good for larger vehicles, heavy loads and mountain driving — and they consume less fuel while in like measure producing less exhaust.

Admittedly, diesel exhaust long ago gained a reputation for being sooty and smelly. (As if gasoline doesn't smell too!) Yet certain other important pollutants — especially sulfates — have always been considerably less present in diesel exhaust than in gasoline exhaust. And technological improvements in diesel-engine efficiency and especially in the filtering of diesel exhaust have rendered the diesel engines of today considerably more eco-friendly than gasoline engines. Gone is the remarkable sootiness. Gone, too, is the darned glow plug (in contrast to spark plug); now you can start a diesel as quickly as a gasoline engine. Moreover, all these Renault diesels are turbo charged such that their acceleration approximates that of gasoline-powered vehicles.

Given the native demand for diesel engines in Europe, diesel fuel is available there wherever gasoline is available, and the diesel fuel is of a higher grade than that sold in the United States. Likewise, fuel stations in Europe provide diesel pumps on the same service islands as the gasoline pumps. Plastic gloves are even provided so you need not dirty your hands!

But BEWARE: A diesel nozzle in Europe is considerably wider than either a leaded gasoline nozzle or the even smaller unleaded gasoline nozzle and indeed will not fit into either such tank. Consequently a European gasoline nozzle will fit into a European diesel tank. Therefore, be careful not to put gasoline into a diesel tank!!! Even a liter of gasoline added to the tank of a modern diesel car can cause irreversible damage to the injection pump and other components due to its relatively low lubricity. In some cases, the diesel car so abused has to be scrapped because the cost of repairs exceeds its value. (Diesel in a gasoline engine — while creating large amounts of smoke — does not normally cause permanent damage if it is drained once the mistake is realized. Similarly, older diesels using completely mechanical injection can tolerate some gasoline, which has historically been used to "thin" diesel fuel in winter.) A green pump holds unleaded gasoline or else diesel, a blue leaded gasoline. Diesel pumps are sometimes colored black, sometimes green. Diesel pumps are chiefly signified linguistically, either with the very word diesel or with one of the equivalents: gas-oil, gaz-oil, gasolio, gasóleo, dieselolie, mazot, motorina, or nafta.

Many experienced renters make it a practice to reserve the popular and cheap economy class vehicles. This because rental outlets often run out of such vehicles, and consequently anyone who has reserved one of them gets a free upgrade. Rental companies should not charge you more if they're forced to give you a more expensive vehicle than the one you reserved. If you have no intention of driving the economy class vehicle you've reserved and if the fleet of such vehicles is not depleted, you'll probably be able to upgrade — but for a charge.

Car rental companies typically offer daily, weekend and "weekly" rates. Weekly rates are usually their best deals, and in most cases they require only 5 contiguous days to qualify for a (pro-rated) weekly rate. However, if you extend a weekly rate rental you'll typically be charged the daily rate for those extra days — unless you very carefully negotiate the extension with the rental company and get the negotiated rate in writing before you agree to it, or unless you book through a service like IdeaMerge and, after giving such service several days notice, you allow that service to attempt to negotiate the rate and arrange the extension for you. Hence if you're unsure about your rental duration, consider booking a duration originally which involves a extra few days; you'll likely be able to get an early return refund if you don't need them. Yet beware: some companies charge an early return fee, and if the lesser actual duration is no longer commensurate with the weekly rate, the rental company is likely free to charge you based on a more expensive rate (e.g. a daily rate) than the rate you originally agreed to. In contrast to car rental companies, motorhome rental companies, tend to offer seasonal rate schedules, and these are usually embellished with certain and various long-term discounts for durations exceeding various thresholds (e.g. 14 nights, 21 nights, 34 nights, etc).

Rental rates vary widely depending on the country in which the rental vehicle is to be picked up. Furthermore some countries require the customer to purchase the CDW or LDW or TP. For instance Italy notoriously requires TP. Consequently, you may want to rent a vehicle in a country that neighbors the country you plan to travel in. Switzerland amounts to an interesting case in this respect. Switzerland's average car rental costs are some of the cheapest in Europe. Moreover, cars rented in Switzerland come bearing a sticker or vignette which signifies someone has paid the necessary annual tax for the privilege of driving that vehicle on Switzerland's expressways. If your car doesn't have a vignette but you want to use the Swiss expressways, you must buy the vignette at a Swiss border station, a Swiss post office, a Swiss motor vehicle service station or garage, or from a Swiss National Tourist Office. At the border you can pay in SwF, EUR £'s or USD. You can also pay inside the Customs office onsite by credit card. The vignette costs about CHF 40 (about USD 37, or EUR 27) for all cars with maximum admissible weight of 3.5 tons or less. The sticker is valid for 14 months, from December 1 to January 31 the next year (Of course, many rental vehicles in cities nearby Switzerland, such as Milan and Munich, come with this sticker as well since their former renters tend to have ventured into Switzerland and opted to travel the expressways there.) Austria, Slovakia and other countries recently introduced similar systems. See Wikipedia's Vignette page for more about such vignettes and road taxes.

Fines for toll violations, traffic violations, parking violations and such which become attached to the rental vehicle during the rental devolve upon the rental customer. In many cases the rental company will in addition charge an administration fee for processing these fines.

In some countries the law requires certain traffic offences be settled on the spot unless the violator presents a bail bond or unless a resident of the country guarantees payment on the violator's behalf. Failure in these respects can result in the vehicle being impounded and the driver detained. Most car rental companies include such bail bonds with the rental vehicle if the law applying to the rental pick-up or return location, or perhaps more generally to part of a likely itinerary, requires such on-the-spot settlement. Spain used to be infamous for this way of handling such offenses. However, Spain no longer requires on-the-spot payment of traffic violations or presentation of a bail bond.

The company's policy or offers concerning the initial and final fueling of the vehicle is also important. There will never be a refund for unused fuel. In some cases a deposit is payable for fuel and is refunded insofar as the car is returned with a full tank. The best deal, however, is if the company fills the tank initially and agrees not to charge you for fuel unless you return the vehicle with less than a full tank; this way you avoid both the annoying task of trying to return the vehicle with some specific but less-than-full amount of fuel and the roughly doubled fuel prices that rental companies charge. This is to say, the convenience touted in a pre-paid fuel offer — according to which you can return the vehicle with any amount of fuel at no further cost — is outweighed by the cost of the offer; such offer is just a way for the rental company to line its pockets. Hence note where the nearby fuel stations are; they tend to be quite far removed from airport car rental depots.

Determine whether amendment or cancellation or no-show fees are associated with a booking. Cancellation (and no-show) fees and schedules are especially considerable with motorhome rentals, because such business is very seasonal.

Determine whether there is a refund for early return? Such refund is common with car rentals but typical not offered with motorhome rentals.

Determine what the costs are for late return of the vehicle. A one-hour grace period usually applies. Exceeding a grace period by even a small amount of time might result in a charge for a whole new 24-hour duration, although usually there is an hourly fee applying to the first two hours or so that a car is late. Motorhome rental pick-up and return are often accounted for on the hotel model: pick-up (i.e. check-in) is slated for the afternoon whereas return (check-out) is slated for the morning. Some motorhome rental companies, however, account for cost according to calendar days, meaning the time of day of pick-up and the time of day of return do not affect the price. Generally with motorhome rentals late-return costs are far higher than with car rentals, this because motorhome rental is a smaller, far more seasonal industry and hence the fleets are smaller than car rental fleets — meaning the specific motorhome rented to you is likely slated to be rented to another customer the same day or the day after you return it.

Pick up or return of the vehicle outside of the rental depot's standard hours of operation may be possible for a special fee.

Get appropriate authorization the rental company before you engage any repairs of the vehicle. Of course solicit and keep bills for any repairs which are done to the vehicle during the rental.

Winterization of Motorhomes

Where and when the ambient temperatures of the low-altitude regions near a motorhome rental depot are expected to be below the freezing point during a customer's rental, the motorhomes delivered to customers there will typically be delivered winterized. Winterization typically means that the water is drained from the fresh water tank, hot water heater and both waste tanks. Of course this drainage involves the water pipes, toilet, sink, shower, and external shower (if this latter feature is present). Once the vehicle is winterized as such, no water should be put into the fresh water tank and it should not be hooked up to the public water supply. Therefore no water at all is available from such motorhome. The toilet, however, can still be used as long as windshield washer antifreeze is poured down to rinse it. Special antifreeze will have been run through all the pipes and put into the black and gray tanks by the rental company. If the customer removes the antifreeze and puts water into the system, the tanks and pipes will likely crack. If this damage occurs, the customer will be responsible for the entire cost of repairing these systems and for the entire cost of any other consequent damages. If the customer unwinterizes the vehicle for travel into a warmer climate, typically the customer is responsible for having the vehicle re-winterized before returning it, lest the motorhome rental company charge the customer for re-winterization. Of course upon the pick-up occasion the motorhome rental company can provide instruction regarding the draining and rehydration of such system.

Car Rental & Motorhome Rental Optional Extras

Again, unlimited miles (or kilometers) are common with car rentals and with motorhome rentals in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This is not so with motorhome rentals in the USA and Canada; but in these cases the IdeaMerge online reservation software will compute the optimal mileage solution for you, given the miles you tell it you expect to drive.

Child safety seats, luggage racks, bicycle racks, tire chains for driving in snow, and other such items are not always immediately available; you should book them in advance and determine whether they cost extra.

If winter tires are required by the law applicable to the pick-up location, an additional charge may be required either upon booking or upon the pick-up occasion.

Inform the rental company of the age and weight and height of any children that will be traveling in the rental vehicle, and ask what the applicable body of law stipulates regarding the safe transport of such children. Perhaps ask whether the you may legally use your own child safety seats in the vehicle. Don't assume that the childseat you own is legal — or even functional — in relation to car or motorhome rentals, especially international rentals.

We can more precisely address child safety seats in terms of law or, more wisely, in terms of one or another more general and more conservative (i.e. child-conserving) consensus about child safety. Nevertheless please note that IdeaMerge is neither obligated nor qualified to present to clients (i.e. customers) nor to the general public the full set of relative laws nor the letter of those individual laws; the comments below, whether about law or consensus are merely intended to indicate the nature of the general issue of child motor vehicle safety. In many cases (such as in Canada and the United States) the law applies based on the state, province or territory in which the vehicle is registered or in which a particular rental commences. In Canada such law is strictest in Quebec and in Ontario. Which is to say, these are the only provincial units in Canada that require booster seats. The general North American consensus considers booster seats necessary for children weighing 18–36 kg (40–80 lbs), forward-facing safety seats necessary for children weighing 9–18 kg (20–40 lbs), and rear-facing infant seats necessary for children weighing up to 9 kg (20 lbs). Age-wise these ranges correspond to 4.5 years through 7 years, 1 year up to 4.5 years, and 0 years up to 1 year. In Germany, however, the high-end figure is more conservative, in the sense noted above. German law puts this figure at up to 12 years or up to 1.5 m tall (4 ft. 11 in.); moreover, children under age of 10 may not travel in the front passenger seat of a car, the exceptions being: (a) a child younger than 1 year old seated in a rear-facing safety seat, (b) a vehicle with no rear seats or seats that temporarily cannot be used, and (c) a situation in which all rear seats are already occupied by children under 10 years old. French law puts said high-end figure at up to 10 years. In Ontario a child need not use a safety seat if (a) his/her weight is over 36 kg (40 lbs) or (b) his/her age is over 8 years (i.e. he/she has turned 8 years old) or (c) his/her height is over 1.45 m (4 ft. 9 in.).… Generally a rear-facing safety seat should not be used in a seat equipped with a functional frontal airbag. Also generally speaking, children under 12 years old should sit in a rear seat.… In the context of the whole IdeaMerge website it is appropriate to address a few more specific cases. The state of Washington in the USA is relatively strict: children up to 1 year old or less than 20 lbs must be seated in a rear-facing infant seat; children from 1 year old through 3 years old or 20–40 lbs must be seated in a forward-facing child seat; and children from 4 years old through 5 years old or 40–60 lbs must be seated in a booster seat (in the rear if the front passenger seat is equipped with an airbag). In the state of Oregon children from 0 through 3 years old or less than 40 lbs must be seated in a child seat, and children 4 years old through 5 years old or 40–60 lbs must be seated in a booster seat. In the state of California, children from 0 through 5 years old or less than 60 lbs must be seated in an appropriate child seat, perhaps a booster seat. In the state of Nevada children from 0 through 3 years old or weighing less than 40 lbs must be seated in a child seat. In the state of Colorado, children from 0 up to 1 year old or weighing less than 20 lbs must be seated in a rear-facing child seat; children from 1 year through 3 years old or 20–40 lbs must be seated in a front-facing child seat; and children from 4 through 5 years or less than 55 in. tall must be seated in a booster seat. In the state of New Jersey, a child 0 through 17 months old must be seated in a child seat; a child 18 months through 4 years old must be seated in a child seat if riding in front; and a child less than 8 years old or less than 80 lbs should sit in the rear, if rear seating is available.… In Australia a child from 0 up to 1 year old must be seated in a child seat, and this seat must be fitted with a top tether that is in turn attached to a suitable mounting point on the vehicle; other constraints apply per territory, but the general rules noted above should nevertheless be applied and are typically indicated by vehicle rental vendors. In New Zealand a child from 0 through 4 years old must be seated in an appropriate safety seat; a child from 5 through 7 years old must if seated in front be seated in a booster seat or, we are told, secured with an adult safety belt (although this latter option seems too lax); and again the general rules noted above should neverthless be applied and are typically indicated by vehicle rental vendors.

For European rentals, also ask if a parking disc or "blue card" is included: many European cities require such a disk or card to be displayed on a vehicle's dashboard while it's parked in certain zones called "Blue Zones." If you plan to take a British vehicle to the continent, or vice versa, ask whether headlight conversion kits are available and, if so, whether they are free of charge.

If renting a motorhome it's especially important to determine what's included in the rental cost. Most motorhome rental companies charge extra for bedding, kitchen utensils, and the like. The IdeaMerge online reservation software is carefully designed to prompt you in these respects and to clearly incorporate the associated costs into a single, inclusive total price.

Before You Leave Home

If you pre-paid for the rental, you may have paid for the vehicle and all the taxes and surcharges and optional extras. Regardless, the rental company or the consolidator (i.e. a broker such as IdeaMerge) will send you a voucher showing the rental details — including a list of the cost components that have been paid and the cost components that are due to be paid (e.g. upon the pick-up occasion), and giving detailed directions to and contact information of the actual supplier's (e.g. Hertz's) exact pick-up and drop-off address(es), this information lending ultimate precision to the general yet accurate delineation of such locations (e.g. merely "Frankfurt airport terminal 1"") which is typical of an online order process. Print that voucher and bring it along to the pick-up occasion and to the return occasion. The voucher might be required on the pick-up occasion — and with motorhome rentals it typically is required on the pick-up occasion; and it might also be a good reference on the return occasion.

Picking Up the Car or Motorhome

When you arrive to pick up a hire car, the counter agent may pressure or simply require you to buy a damage waiver and/or theft protection or place a large security deposit, or both. Foreign rental depots especially are keen to ensure quick reimbursement for any loss they might suffer on an international rental. If the counter agent compels you to buy a waiver contrary to your printed rental voucher, you'll naturally still have recourse to eventually get a refund from the company. You may be asked to sign a blank charge slip as a deposit. Don't do it! Always make sure your signature is associated with a specific amount.

Rental locations often do not accept charge cards, in constrast to credit cards. If you don't have a credit card, ask how you can pay the deposit. Debit cards, Euro checks, travelers checks, and cash are typically not accepted forms of placing such deposit. Typically a vehicle rental company requires that a valid credit card — with sufficient available credit — be presented upon the pick-up occasion by a member of the rental party, which member must indeed be present there on that occasion and must sign said rental contract. Otherwise the company will refuse to allow the rental and, moreover, will consider the rental booking to be thereby cancelled (i.e. by the customer), making the customer responsible for any applicable cancellation fee — whether such cancellation occurs upon the pick-up occasion or at an earlier time. More than one card cannot be used for this purpose.

Why do automobile rental locations typically require such a valid credit card upon the pick-up occasion? It's essentially an industry standard. Automobile rental companies must take extra precaution when renting to a person who cannot present to them a valid credit card, because a person without a credit card is generally considered a greater credit risk than is a person with a credit card. Remember, the automobile rental company is entrusting to the customer a piece of property worth tens of thousands of dollars (US or otherwise). One car rental executive used the following analogy recently to describe the situation: "Let's say you're going to your cousin's wedding, and you need to rent a tuxedo. You can go out and rent one tomorrow, no questions asked. You can go to the wedding and destroy the rental, and you're going to be responsible for a couple hundred dollars. When you rent a car, the net worth is around $30,000. It's really just a numbers game and we need to have some way of being sure that the risk is not higher than it needs to be when we rent you a car." Increasingly, some car rental locations (in contrast to car rental companies in general) do accept debit cards for this security purpose, but in those cases they typically must therefore perform a check of the customer's credit history.

With car rentals, the security deposit per se is usually just authorized or blocked on the customer's credit card, rather than actually charged to it.

Motorhomes are on average far more expensive than cars. Therefore in the motorhome rental industry, large security deposits are the norm. Some motorhome rental companies merely authorize or block these charges, but others actually charge them and (if all goes well) credit them back to the card after the rental. It remains almost generally true that motorhome rental companies and their various rental locations do not accept debit cards, cash or travelers checks or the like for the purpose of a security deposit.

If you pay for a rental with a credit or charge card, put the deposit on the same card: this minor precaution will simplify and expedite the processing of any claim you might have to file.

Consider asking the agent whether you can upgrade to a more luxurious class of vehicle free of charge. You'd be surprised how often this works. If, on the other hand, the agent first suggests an upgrade, ask whether it is free of charge. If offered a smaller vehicle than the one you reserved, demand a discount.

Always refuse to pay more for a vehicle that's more expensive than the one you reserved. If the agent presses you to upgrade for a price — under the pretense that the vehicle you've reserved cannot comfortably accommodate your party or, say, negotiate the local terrain — you're probably being subjected to the old bait and switch. The agent may know that the smaller vehicles are nearly sold out, and if you, not being privy to the same information, agree to pay for an upgrade, you've been duped.

As mentioned earlier, an additional charge may be required locally where winter tires are required by law.

Before you leave the counter, write the names of any additional drivers on the contract. If you don't add these names, you may be traveling without proper insurance when the other person or persons are at the wheel. Usually additional drivers entail an extra (but perhaps pre-paid) fee per driver; and usually they must be present upon the pick-up occasion — presenting valid drivers licenses — to qualify.

Of course you must inspect the vehicle. Note if all the optional extras specified in your agreement are indeed present. Be sure you know where the jack is. Understand where the spare tire is. Note where the fuel tank opening is. Check out the quality of the tires and the vehicle. Make sure the headlights, taillights, windshield wipers, seat adjustments, and seat belts work. Especially look for cut or bulging or bald tires, inoperative brake and turn signal lights, and dysfunctional windshield wipers. Remember, if you sign a rental contract, you are likely agreeing that the vehicle is in fine condition. Note, along with the rental company employee assisting you, any mechanical or cosmetic problems the vehicle exhibits. If such flaws exist, make sure the staff either fixes those of a mechanical nature or provides you with another vehicle. Make sure any flaws that are not fixed at this point are noted on the contract. And take a bunch of photographs of the vehicle from all sides, with several of the photos unmistakeably showing the rental depot premises in the background. Note as well how much fuel is in the tank so that you can return the vehicle with about the same amount. (Take a photo of the fuel gauge.) Also determine that you have the insurance papers and and contact addresses and phone numbers in case of an accident, breakdown or theft. In Europe a European Accident Statement form should be in the glove compartment or the compartment on the driver's side door. This is the standard form in Europe on which to record the details of an accident. Note as well the business hours during which you can return the vehicle. Lastly, memorize the make, model and color of the vehicle, so you don't end up losing it in large, busy parking lot.

Categorically a vehicle rental company reserves the right on any occasion (especially including the pick-up occasion) to refuse to deliver a vehicle or other product or service, whether these are already booked or not, to any customer whom they professionally consider unfit to operate the vehicle or other product or whom they otherwise professionally consider as presenting too great of a risk (in terms of safety, security, credit, or any other sort of risk) to the company, the company personnel, representatives of the company, or the general public, regardless of whether the customer presents such risk directly or by way of a travel partner. Such denial of vehicle, product or service terminates any existing contract the customer has in connection with that vehicle, product or service, including any such contract not only with the vehicle rental company but also with any representatives of that company (e.g. IdeaMerge, holiday autos, etc); henceforth those companies will have no liability in relation to that contract or those contracts, and no therefore no refund will be due to the customer.

Returning the Car or Motorhome

Upon returning the vehicle, confirm with the rental agent that no damage occurred to it. Get this fact written on the contract. If you placed a security deposit using your credit or charge card be sure that the car rental counter agent removes this deposit. (Motorhome rental companies typically reserve the right to return the deposit at a later date, because motorhomes are far more complex than cars and hence damages to them are sometimes not immediately obvious, or because the customer is in a hurry and can't be bothered to remain present during a complete inspection.) On the other hand, if an accident did cause damage to the vehicle, note this damage accurately and precisely on the contract. Take photographs of the vehicle which show the vehicle from every major direction and which substantiate that the pictures were taken in the presence of rental company personnel after you returned the vehicle. Note on the contract the amount of fuel in the tank. Keep a copy of this contract; keep copies of all the documents associated with the rental. (In Germany, by the way, it's considered bad manners to leave the keys in the ignition.) If returning a motorhome, the toilet's holding tank should be empty.

At some locations — such as the Frankfurt airport — agencies operate separate pick-up and drop-off desks, usually in close proximity to each other but often with different hours, the pick-up desk being open longer. IdeaMerge's managing director Eric Bredesen once waited an hour from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. for the Avis desk to open at the Frankfurt airport, only to learn he was waiting at the drop-off desk and that the pick-up desk 100 meters down the hall had been open since the beginning of his wait.

Don't forget to search the vehicle to make sure you don't leave a personal item behind.

Keep the rental paperwork.

When you return home check your credit card statement, this to make sure no unexpected charges have been made to the card in connection with the rental, and to make sure any security deposit which was actually charged to the card (in contrast to being merely authorized or blocked on the card) has been wholly or partially returned to the card as expected.

rv rental europe

Please see our motorhome rental Europe page.

car leasing europe

Please see our car leasing Europe page.

buying a car in europe

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth . . .
Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

It is no longer legal for a person who does not own a residence in or otherwise legally reside in a country belonging to the European Union to register and in turn insure an automobile in such country. Typically a few utility bills and perhaps a property-rental lease in one's name suffice as evidence of such residency.

However, there are four ways around this prohibition: (1) you can short-term lease a brand new car; (2) you can purchase a brand new BMW, Mercedes, or Volvo for eventual export via the manufacturer's tourist delivery program; (3) you can buy a used campervan from an IdeaMerge business partner in the Netherlands, which company will "carry" the registration and supply the insurance for you (and they will also sell your vehicle for you, on consignment, if you like); or (4) you can have a close personal friend or relative who resides in an EU country carry these necessities for you (other persons being extremely likely to balk at bearing such responsibility).

This said, let's take a further look at the topic of buying a vehicle in Europe.

Insurance

We should begin by discussing basic liability insurance, what Europeans call "third-party" insurance. Drivers in Europe must at least insure themselves with third-party insurance; you cannot register a vehicle in Europe without first presenting proof of such insurance. Note that this insurance alone does not cover damage to your car, nor does it cover injury to the occupants of your car (including you). Rather it covers damage or injury that the operation of your vehicle may cause to other vehicles, properties and persons. In considering any third-party insurance, determine if it covers at-fault drivers and additional drivers. Of course you should also check the monetary limits of the coverage. Moreover, note if you can settle a claim from your home country: some insurance companies may require that you stay in Europe to settle a claim.

If you want to cross borders, your insurance should be International Motor Insurance—what's commonly called "Green Card" insurance. Green Card insurance covers your minimum legal liability in a certain array of countries. The Green Card is actually a folder filled with green documents, one of which is small enough to be displayed in a clear plastic pocket adhered to a vehicle's windshield. This small card signifies (to Customs personnel, especially) that the vehicle is covered by some sort of liability insurance. Listed at the foot of the papers in a Green Card folder are the countries in which the insurance is valid. Be sure to check this list before buying such insurance. If you plan to travel in Turkey, make sure your Green Card is valid for both the European and Asian sectors. And if you're headed to Scandinavia, be warned that reciprocal insurance agreements between Finland, Norway and Sweden require your insurance to cover all or none of these countries: a policy that on paper excludes one is a policy that effectively excludes all three. Another document—the European Accident Statement form—can simplify things in case of an accident; get this from your European insurer.

In considering insurance that's more comprehensive, note if it covers collision damage, fire damage, damage from natural disasters (such as hail), damage from vandalism or attempted theft, theft of personal items stored in the vehicle, theft of the vehicle itself, and personal injury. Of course you should also note the deductibles and limits associated with these protections. Don't be offended if you, as a foreigner, are asked to pay a slightly higher rate than the locals. Regardless a statement of accident-free driving from your home insurance company or a copy of your driving record may qualify you for lower rates. Preferably these documents should account for at least a three- to five-year period terminating within the last three years. In fact you can get up to 65 percent off the gross premium if you can prove you haven't filed an accident claim in the past five years.

Independent European insurance companies—in contrast to companies based outside Europe—offer the most inexpensive European auto insurance, and most have English-speaking staff. Although some companies may be reluctant or will flat out refuse to deal with foreign tourists, you should, in the end, have little trouble finding a European insurer who will sell to you insurance that is good value. Be sure to try the national automobile club, for many such clubs offer good inexpensive insurance. Green Card insurance purchased on the open market in Europe is sold in one-month increments minimum.

If you can't be bothered to deal with a foreign insurance company, you can arrange European auto insurance from a domestic provider before you leave. Although it's quite unlikely that your current auto insurer offers such insurance, at least one North American insurance company does: American International Underwriters, 600 King Street, 2nd Floor, Wilmington, DE 19086, tel. 800 343 5761 or 302 594 2175, e-mail ExpatCoverage@aig.com.

Most tourist-delivery programs of manufacturers and brokers offer auto insurance as an option or part of a package. Unless as incentive this insurance is given free of charge, it will probably be much more expensive than the insurance available through the other sources discussed. If you must buy insurance through a motor-vehicle manufacturer or broker, consider opting for the shortest coverage-period possible and securing insurance from another source to cover the remainder of your trip.

Certain non Green Card auto-insurance policies—designed specifically for foreign motorists, sponsored by one European country or another, and effective in that country only—allow you to augment Green Card insurance so that you can drive in more countries and/or be insured over periods that are not multiples of one month. Most countries make such insurance available through their embassies or consulates or through offices located at their border entry points. Italy, for example, sells auto insurance—good in Italy only—that covers fifteen, thirty or forty-five day periods; but if you want to buy this insurance, you must do so before you arrive in Italy.

Many people have trouble finding auto insurance to cover them in the Baltic States or the Russian Federation. Auto insurance covering only the Russian Federation is available through the agency Ingosstrakh (offices in several European countries) or at the border posts at Brest (on the Polish border) and Uzhgorod (on the Czech border). Contact embassies, consulates or tourist information offices for more information.

What about breakdown coverage? As discussed in the Why Drive? chapter, you may be adequately covered if you're a member of your national automobile club. If not, you can buy European-wide breakdown coverage from either of Britain's automobile clubs—the Automobile Association (AA), tel. 01256 21023, or the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), tel. 0800 678000—but you must first buy a membership, which is an expensive proposition. A cheaper and adequate alternative is the coverage offered by the London-based outfit National Breakdown, tel. 0171 499 0039.

Registration

Registering a vehicle is of course another common point of concern. Foreign tourists qualify for "tourist plates." You may have to pay a nominal registration fee or "road tax" if you buy such plates, but you should eventually be able to get part of this fee refunded, a part proportional to the amount of time you spent outside the country during the registration period. So get your passport stamped at the border when you exit from and return to the country. You can also get a small refund for returning the plates themselves.

If you plan to export a vehicle from Europe, you must register it for export. Vehicles—new or used—are subject to non-refundable value-added tax (VAT) and Customs duty unless you register them for export. (Though diplomats and military personnel enjoy tax-free status regardless.) But beware: a vehicle you register for export but keep in one country for more than six months may become subject to heavy taxation and be dutied unless you take certain steps. In Britain, for example, you must extend the tax-free status of your registration by the end of six months or else pay a special tax and VAT that sums to 40 percent of the vehicle's value. Germany charges a tax of several hundred dollars if the duration of your German export registration exceeds three months; but this tax is refundable if you prove that you drove across the German border within six months after registering the vehicle. In most cases the terms of export registration will require you to export the vehicle from Europe within one year. If you buy a factory-fresh vehicle through one of the sales programs that I discuss later, you must export the vehicle from Europe within one year or else pay extremely high taxes and possibly surrender the vehicle to European authorities. If you do qualify for a tax-free purchase, most likely you'll have to pay the tax up front and await upon export a refund from the Customs office of the country where you registered the vehicle.

One particular should be made clear at this point. You may have noticed the above discussion implies you can buy a vehicle, avoid the VAT tax by registering it for export, and all the while plan to sell it before leaving Europe. It's not that simple. Such a vehicle cannot be re-registered under non-export registration unless the new owner pays the back VAT tax. If it were possible for Europeans to register such vehicles without paying tax, they could pay foreigners to buy vehicles for them and thus avoid their country's VAT. Technically the buyer will be responsible for paying the tax, but in effect you'll absorb the cost of the tax because you'll have to lower the asking price to appeal to the tax-paying European public. Still there is one way to avoid this tax altogether if you must sell an export-registered vehicle before you leave Europe. Any non-European citizen traveling in Europe can, with written permission of the owner, drive a properly insured vehicle. Therefore if you sell the vehicle to another non-European traveler who intends to export it under its current registration, you can avoid the tax. (If you sell such a vehicle to a traveler who doesn't plan to export it, he or she won't be able to register it as a vehicle not for export without first paying the back VAT tax; essentially, then, you'll pass the buck—not cool.) If you find such a buyer (and that's a tall order), you can figure the remaining insurance cost into the price of the vehicle, give the buyer the registration and Green Card plus a signed note stating that the person can use the car as they wish and a signed note stating that you sold it to this person. Leave the date on the bill of sale open; the buyer can eventually complete the bill when he or she gets back home.

Conforming Vehicles

Most vehicles manufactured abroad that conform to your country's emissions, safety and bumper standards spend no time on the European market; instead their manufacturers immediately export them to your country. One exception is the case of dealers who service US and Canadian military bases; they may stock US-version vehicles. Of course you'll find such dealers in the immediate vicinity of a military base. Be skeptical of claims made by any other European dealer or private individual that a vehicle either complies with or needs only minor adjustments to comply with these standards. A vehicle that does comply should bear a label that clearly states this fact. Manufacturers affix such labels in readily visible positions in the engine compartment and/or on the vehicle body inside the driver's door. If such a label is not present but the vehicle is nonetheless in compliance with your country's standards, you should obtain a letter of conformity from the manufacturer's representative in your country—not from a dealership—before buying the vehicle with the intent to export it.

You can order factory-fresh, conforming vehicles through domestic- or European-based brokers, through your local dealer, through a manufacturer's office in your country or abroad, or through a dealer in Europe. Although in several instances you'll need to place such an order some ten months in advance of delivery, usually three or four months suffice, and some orders can be filled in just four weeks or less—with brokers being able to fill certain orders in as few as three days. Indeed in many cases lead-time time will be shorter than the duration your domestic dealers are able to quote. Note, though, you may be required to place the order in an individual's name rather than a company's. What's more, for one year or so after you buy a European vehicle factory-direct the manufacturer may prohibit you from selling it outside Europe. Such a policy deters profiteering.

The manufacturer can handle all the insurance, registration, shipping and importation paperwork for you. And not only do some manufacturers pay for your European motoring insurance but some may sweeten the deal with free or cut-rate airfare and hotel accommodation. Ask about rebates (discounts) and warranties. Customers importing to the US will likely qualify for factory rebates, but European warranties are usually void in the US. Customers importing to the UK often get no discount and a shorter warranty period than offered through UK dealers. If you're told you'll receive a valid warranty, inquire as to its validity and duration in your country and ask if an extended warranty can be purchased. If the warranty is void in your country, ask if you're still entitled to certain free parts and service. There should be few hidden costs: one price will likely include the sticker price, auto insurance, tourist registration fee, dealer preparation fee (which covers the cost of the factory's final inspection), catalytic converter, marine insurance, and ocean freight. This total will probably be about 10 percent less than the price you'd pay otherwise—although brokers may offer deals that are better. Of course this percentage is strongly dependent on the exchange rate. I've already discussed how you can further increase your savings by securing insurance separately. And I've outlined—and will later detail for three specific locales—the registration process. If you register a car in Germany yourself, for example, you can save EUR100 to EUR155. It'll take an hour and give you a memorable insight into German bureaucracy. Delivery charges always apply to sites other than the factory. The charges and site selection for non-factory pickup vary from company to company—and change frequently; be sure you're working with up-to-date information concerning these. Some brokers, it's worth pointing out, customarily deliver vehicles at or very near Amsterdam's international airport. If you are buying a German vehicle, you will save you as much as EUR525 (depending on the vehicle type) if you pick it up at the factory. Furthermore vehicles designated for factory delivery require less leadtime. And most manufacturers offer tours of the factory.

An aside. If outside Germany you take delivery from a German manufacturer, you still have to fill out paper work that registers the vehicle in Germany. No big deal. But here comes the tricky part. German law requires a vehicle's registration and insurance to cover the same duration. Therefore on the day you take delivery you cannot register your vehicle for the duration of your trip, buy expensive factory-offered insurance to cover a period shorter than the registration period, and drive off. Rather, you must either (1) buy the expensive insurance for the duration of your trip, (2) leave the vehicle at the site while you spend a day or two shopping for insurance, or (3) insure and register the vehicle for the same short period with the intention of driving to Germany during that period, buying more insurance and extending the registration. If you hadn't planned on traveling to Germany during the initial stages of your trip, each option entails an expense in terms of money or inconvenience—or both.

You must arrange the financing. Be sure to arrange this financing before you place your order: banks may hesitate to extend a loan for a vehicle delivered abroad. Usually customers buying a vehicle for export to the US must place a, say, 5 percent deposit with the order, with full payment due some forty-five days later. Customers exporting a right-hand-drive vehicle to the UK or Ireland may be asked to pay a series of deposits, something like 25 percent with the order, 65 percent once the vehicle has been built, and 10 percent upon delivery. If you can, use a credit card to pay the deposit(s).

A caveat, now, for ye from Britain or Ireland wanting to buy from a European dealer a right-hand-drive vehicle for export to your country. European car manufacturers realize their greatest profit margins in the UK, and thus they very much prefer that you buy on your own soil. In turn their dealers will use various tactics to direct your focus homewards, such as quoting very long delivery times and requiring onerous deposits. The European Commission in Brussels points out it is illegal for a producer to prevent its dealers from selling to people from other member states, and manufacturers have stated they give their dealers the power to sell to whomever they want. And that's the pivotal point. Apart from considering the manufacturer, dealers prefer to sell to local customers because they're likely to bring the vehicle back to the dealer for maintenance—and maintenance is where dealers make most of their profit. By quoting ridiculous delivery times and such, dealers pay lip service to the above-mentioned law while they exercise what they see as their bottom-line right to choose whom they sell to. End result: UK buyers won't have much luck shopping on the continent. You might have better luck outside Belgium and Holland and Germany, whose low prices and proximity to the Britain have attracted the bulk of British buyers and whose dealers have thus prepared to fend you off. But of course travel costs mount as you look elsewhere, red-tape tends to be worse, and language difficulties may be more likely. Best for now to go through a broker. Surely as the European market unifies further, individual UK residents will find more success buying on the continent, but likely in turn the price disparities and thus the savings will decrease. If you do succeed by one means or another in buying a car on the continent and you register it for export, you will qualify for tax exemption in the country of purchase simply by using the car before you export it; a drive from delivery point to port suffices. You'll also need an insurance cover note for the journey; typically a £40 premium. Your Customs will want to see proof that the vehicle is yours, that it is insured, and that you have used it abroad. You'll be given a month to pay the VAT. Of course you'll have to register the car at home and apply for a tax disc. For more info there are at least two useful booklets out there. How to Permanently Import Your Vehicle into Great Britain is available from your local registration office or by ringing 0171 202 4087. Value Added Tax Motor Vehicles—Intra-EC Movements By Private Persons is available from HM Customs and Excise, Central Processing Unit, Parcel Post Depot, Charlton Green, Dover, Kent CT 16 1EH.

Lead-free fuel is now almost universally available in Europe. Therefore you should experience no problems driving a vehicle with a catalytic converter. Still, if your itinerary is unusual, ask if you should wait until you return home to have the catalytic converter fitted; the manufacturer will pay for such delayed installations. Waive the installation of expensive and removable options like CD players: theft of such accessories is common across Europe and notorious at sea ports. Although most marine insurance covers the theft of these items, settling claims can be a pain. Otherwise choose every useful option that doesn't boost the price out of your budget. When you try to sell the vehicle a few years later you'll get a better price. Just three years ago ABS, airbags, central door locking and power steering were quite rare. Now they are standard. Shy away from special-edition models, however. These are differentiated by extras that add little utility, such as spoilers, light alloy wheels and sporty pin striping. When you try to sell such a vehicle people will compare the price with tables listing the prices of standard vehicles.

Before you close the deal get the price and delivery date in writing, insisting that the price be fixed on the date of the order. Ask that the seller's responsibility in the event delivery is delayed be clearly expressed and put in writing. At the very least you should ask the manufactuer pay for your lodging if a delay requires you to wait. Finally, confirm the date with the factory.

You need to address several more points before you hit the road with your brand-new vehicle. Upon taking delivery insist on receiving a detailed invoice (and registration, if you aren't registering the vehicle yourself). Tell the clerk that you have a first-aid kit and warning triangle: these are expensive to buy at the factory or dealership. Next be sure everything on and in the vehicle (including the jack ) works and that you know how to work them. Check the lug wrench. Check the spare tire. Check the fluids. Fuel at the factory or dealership is expensive; get the minimum amount necessary.

After you finish driving the vehicle in Europe, you'll just drop it off at the designated site. (Before doing this, however, you need to educate yourself about shipping issues; I discuss these in the next chapter.) You probably won't see your vehicle again until you pick it up later at a local port or dealership in your home country.

Brokers tend to offer cheaper deals than the manufacturer's representatives—dealers or otherwise—in your country. As for your local dealer, he'll initially discourage you from taking delivery abroad, but once he realizes that you're serious, he should happily assist: the dealership probably won't make money on an overseas delivery, but, inevitably, they'll profit by performing the maintenance on the vehicle and by gaining a customer who is more likely to buy from them in the future.

Below is a list of brokers. It's worth checking out what each has to offer.

Here's a list of the US offices of European manufacturers.

Non-Conforming Vehicles

If you bring home a vehicle that doesn't satisfy your country's emissions, safety and bumper standards, you'll fight a maze of paperwork and pay for expensive shipping, Customs and conversion fees. Despite all these costs, you can still realize bargain savings. Bargains endure because European-version models run the gamut from plain and moderately powerful to luxurious and faster than hell; while the models marketed outside Europe tend to be on the luxurious and racy end of the spectrum. Of course with lower-end models come lower sticker prices. And most new European-version models come with a kill switch installed, making the vehicle very difficult to steal. But be careful not to buy a vehicle whose body style is not safety-approved by your country. BMW's Z-1 roadster, for example, is illegal in the US no matter what emissions and bumper modifications are done to it. Lower sticker prices are not the only savings you can realize: over time, lower-end models tend to require smaller and less frequent expenditures on maintenance and fuel.

Still, shipping and importing a vehicle is very tricky business. As such, I devote the next chapter to the subject.

Big Savings at Import Time

Whether the vehicle you import does or does not satisfy your country's emissions, safety and bumper standards, you may be able to realize further savings.

To illustrate one component of these potential savings let's take the example of a hypothetical US citizen takes delivery of a Volvo C70 Light Turbo Auto Coupe Turbo in Europe and thus pays US$33,970 instead of the US$37,570 he would've paid to his hometown dealer. In addition, citizens of the US must pay a 6 percent luxury tax on the amount of a vehicle's cost that's over US$36,000. Therefore, our US citizen saves US$3600 on the purchase price and another US$94 in of luxury tax—$3694 in all. As with customs duty and sales tax, the US government calculates luxury tax based on the price paid for the vehicle minus the depreciation it incurs abroad. Therefore, even if your vehicle is slightly above the US$32,000 mark, you can bring it under the threshold by driving it a sufficient distance in Europe.

As for depreciation, it's your responsibility to claim a certain amount and to back up your claim with a reasonable argument: the government won't volunteer to downgrade the value of your vehicle. You can calculate the depreciation of your vehicle using whichever generally accepted accounting method suits you. However, the best method for a car that's less than a year old is the 200 percent declining balance (or double declining balance) method, which lets you depreciate a car's value by a full 20 percent regardless of whether it's been driven for only a day or for up to 355. To prove the value of your vehicle you need to provide documentation of the price you paid for it, the date of the purchase, and the corresponding odometer reading. Although the methods for calculating depreciation are defined in terms of time only (based on the assumption that the average vehicle is driven 14,000 miles per year), Customs officials will take distance and damage into consideration.

The mention of damage brings up a noteworthy point. If during your trip the vehicle you buy and plan to import becomes damaged but remains drivable, wait to have the repairs done until after you return home (assuming you don't have to stay in Europe to settle the claim). The damage will make the vehicle's dutiable and taxable value just that much less. In such a case, of course, you'll need to provide a police report to prove that the damage occurred after you purchased the vehicle.

In addition to the subtraction for depreciation, US Customs allows citizens to subtract their and their accompanying family members' standard US$400 Customs exemptions from the dutiable value of the vehicle. With the value of the vehicle finally determined, US Customs applies a flat duty rate of 10 percent toward the first US$1000 before applying one of the following rates to the remaining amount: 2.5 percent for autos, 3.7 percent for motorcycles up to 700 cc, and 25 percent for trucks valued at US$1000 or more.

US citizens employed abroad or government employees returning on TDY or voluntary leave may import a foreign-made vehicle free of duty provided they enter the US for a short visit, claim non-resident status, and export the vehicle when they leave. Military and civilian employees of the US government returning at the end of an assignment to extended duty outside the Customs territory of the US may include a conforming vehicle among their duty-free personal and household effects. The vehicle must have been purchased abroad and been in its owner's possession prior to departure. Generally, extended duty is considered to be duty lasting 140 days or more.

Some states and territories may consider vehicles to be used if they were kept abroad for a certain amount of time before importation (the usual threshold is ninety days). Because some of these states and territories don't place a sales tax on used vehicles, you may be able to avoid such a tax by keeping your vehicle in Europe for a few extra days. Contact your local department of motor vehicles to determine the exact taxing policies concerning used vehicles.

Apart from the luxury tax, the US government imposes no federal tax on post-1985 automobiles that have a combined fuel-economy rating of at least 22.5 miles per gallon; other vehicles, however, may be subject to a federal gas-guzzler tax.

Private Party or Dealer?

Unless you buy a vehicle direct from a manufacturer or broker, you'll have to decide whether to buy from a private individual or from a dealer. As I mentioned earlier, the vehicle you buy in Europe will be subject to VAT unless you register it for export. Technically, this means that used vehicles bought from individuals are also subject to VAT. In other words, the seller should calculate the VAT, include it in the selling price, and eventually pay the tax portion of the selling price to the government. As you might expect, however, in many cases private sellers neither include the VAT in the selling price nor report the sale to the government. Thus one advantage of buying from a private seller is that you may be able to avoid much if not all of the VAT. Moreover, vehicles available from individuals are usually cheaper than those available from dealers, regardless of tax considerations.

You can find such vehicles for sale on the streets (especially around universities), through ads in the classifieds, through bulletins posted on community or university boards, at auto flea markets, at police and post office sales, and at US military bases.

Although private parties may offer lower prices on vehicles, dealers may offer warranties and services which more than compensate for their higher prices. Some dealers, for example, can authorize repairs at facilities throughout Europe; and they may even offer to reimburse you for such repairs. Furthermore, some dealers offer to buy-back—under certain terms—the vehicles they sell; these dealers are most likely to offer a warranty and good service. Finally, most dealers will also help you insure and register any vehicle you buy from them.

You're likely to be asked to pay in cash if you buy from a private individual. But if you don't want to walk around with tons of cash on you, there are other options. You may be able to make a wire transfer of funds from your account back home into the account of the seller; before you go abroad, ask your bank what's involved. Many sellers will accept traveler's checks since these give you the same credibility as a certified check. And some dealerships may even let you use a charge card such as the American Express card

See Appendix B of this chapter for a discussion about how to evaluate a vehicle. And see the Preventive Maintenance chapter to learn how to perform proper preventive maintenance on your vehicle.

But which is the best European country or city in which to buy and/or sell a vehicle? The answer, of course, largely depends on you and your itinerary. Still, the grand-scale state of Europe's automotive market is worth analyzing here.

Despite the ongoing homogenization of the general European market, striking disparities persist within Europe's automotive market. European Community law stipulates that EC citizens are free to buy and sell vehicles in any EC country and at the local prices. But by making it difficult to permanently import a foreign vehicle and by keeping the public in the dark about the price disparities, cabals consisting of national governments and their pet domestic manufacturers have successfully discouraged cross-border shopping. What's more, European automotive manufacturers wield maximum leverage in the market because auto dealers in Europe tend to sell the products of just one or another manufacturer. As such the dealers don't play the mediating role that they otherwise would. The widely varying taxes imposed by the various countries add another twist to the price disparities. In high-tax countries such as Denmark and Holland, manufacturers typically reduce the wholesale price to dealers so the overall retail cost will remain affordable. Thus you can take advantage of not only the after-tax price disparities but also the before-tax disparities.

However, in some countires—Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands, for example—non residents cannot buy auto insurance. This makes it impossible for a you to register a vehicle in these countries unless you first secure insurance from a company at home or in, say, Germany. But you don't necessarily have to register the vehicle right away: you can ask the owner to give you written permission to drive the vehicle for a specific time under his or her insurance and registration, giving you the leeway you need to insure and register the vehicle in another country. Italy is another special case: it's illegal for non residents to buy a vehicle in Italy unless it's registered for export.

Naturally businesses have cropped which exploit the above disparities. So-called re-importers buy vehicles in European Union countries where prices are relatively low and sell them in the European countries where prices are high. Many re-importers sell in Germany. Auto Bild, which is published there every Friday, routinely lists names and addresses of re-importers as well as agents in other countries who will ship vehicles to order. Often you can save as much as 35 percent on the price of a German new car re-imported from Portugal, Spain or Denmark. Automakers don't like this business, of course, but in Germany, for instance, dealers are required by law to honor the one-year factory warranty on BMWs, Audis and VWs that have been re-imported from Italy, France or Spain. In the last three years, re-imports have become so popular that German automakers raised the prices of their cars abroad—especially in Italy where most of the re-imports originate.

Perhaps unique to Germany is the institution of the Jahreswagen. These are vehicles which have been sold at a discount to automaker employees and their dealers and which in turn are sold a year or so later at further discount. These tend to be in excellent condition. Both dealers and automakers provide lists of available Jahreswagen. (Ask for Jahreswagen-Vermittlung.) The German BMW website in our links offers an interactive page dedicated to the listing and sale of Jahreswagen. Also, actual Jahreswagen markets are held.

Along with sales price, factors such as geographic location, the English skills of the population, the quality of the vehicle population, the ease of insuring and registering a vehicle, the cost of airfare, and the typical traveler's itinerary have conspired to make Britain and Germany by far the most popular places for non Europeans to conduct the business of buying and selling a vehicle in Europe. Therefore I'll culminate this chapter by describing in detail how to buy a vehicle in London and in Germany.

Selling

But before I focus on these three specific places, I'll discuss the topic of selling a vehicle in Europe. Since the selling process virtually mirrors the buying process, I need to make only a few specific points about selling.

For one thing, the spring season amounts to a seller's market; while the fall season amounts to a buyer's market. For another, it is legal to sell a vehicle outside the country you bought it in; though because the buyer in another country—if a citizen of that countrymay have to deal with substantial hassles and expenses associated with importing a vehicle, it may be easier and more lucrative to sell the vehicle in the country where it's registered. Of course, if you plan to sell your vehicle to a traveler who'll register it like you did—as a tourist's vehicle—importation won't be an issue.

The case of Germany, however, demands special attention. The German government will force a citizen who buys a German-registered, tourist's vehicle to pay the registration fees that the government originally waived for the tourist. And regardless of where the vehicle is registered the German citizen must immediately submit a tourist-registered vehicle to a meticulous inspection of its mechanical and structural integrity (a "TÜV" inspection). The citizen must pay to fix any significant flaws discovered by this inspection—including rusty body parts. On the other hand, the German government waives the registration fees and TÜV inspection for non Germans who buy a vehicle from a tourist. Thus, Germans will tend to offer much less for your vehicle than will non Germans. It's also worth noting that German-made vehicles are in high demand outside Germany.

Turning to London, consider running a free add in the Loot, London's most popular classified ad paper (tel. 01891 888888; deadline at 2:00 p.m. each day); or in Exchange and Mart (tel. 01202 671 171, FAX 202 678 156) or Auto Trader (tel. 0181 543 8000), two other weeklies. Three other effective mediums may be Southern Cross magazine (tel. 0171 376 0211, FAX 0171 938 4943; deadline for Wednesday publication is noon on Monday), TNT Magazine (tel. 0171 937 3985; deadline for Monday publication is noon on Thursday), and New Zealand News UK (tel. 0171 930 6451, FAX 0171 930 8780; deadline for Wednesday publication is noon on Monday); all three are weeklies that cater specifically to Aussie and Kiwi travelers. (Don't dial the leading 0 if calling from outside Britain.)

If you place such an ad, do so several weeks in advance, explaining when you'll be in town and asking interested parties to mail their name, address and phone number to you at the American Express office (if you have an American Express Card or traveler's checks) or some other address where you can receive mail.

Of course you can always sell your vehicle to a dealer, but you probably won't get a good price.

London

If you want to buy a vehicle in Europe and drive it around the continent and/or Britain before selling it, several factors combine to make London an excellent starting and/or ending point for your trip: (1) English is the native language, so all transactions will be that much easier for you; (2) the "tube" (or subway) renders London's motor-vehicle market easily accessible; (3) London is home to a truly phenomenonal, concentrated and thriving market where campervans (or "combis") and motorhomes change hands between spirited travelers, mostly Aussies and Kiwis (or "combi trippers"), who are beginning or finishing their grand tours; (4) several automotive repair and insurance services in London cater specifically to combi trippers; and (5) as I detail near the end of the Itinerary Planning chapter, London is the best place to start and end a grand tour regardless of your mode of transportation.

On the downside, right-hand-drive vehicles (steering wheel on the right, gear shift on your left) make up the bulk of London's vehicle population. Driving a right-hand-drive vehicle on the continent makes it extremely difficult to pass other vehicles unless you have a passenger in the left front seat who is acting as your eyes or unless you're driving a vehicle that has a seat high enough to let you see over the majority of vehicles. Furthermore, you must adjust the headlights of a right-hand-drive vehicle before taking it to the continent. Although a headlight conversion kit, containing specially shaped adhesive black plastic that sticks to the glass and alters the direction of the beam, will make this procedure easy; such kits are widely available in Europe. It may be legal to drive your right-hand-drive vehicle on the continent, but transporting it over or under the English Channel will cost you more than simple passenger fare. Finally, note that the vehicle population in England is of poorer quality than the vehicle populations of the Netherlands and Germany.

If you want to know how to get from here to there in London, get a Mini London AZ Street Atlas and Index; it's used religiously—even by the residents. The Atlas illustrates and indexes every street, alleyway, tube line and tube stop in London. You can pick up an Atlas in one of the countless shops and bookstores in London or from a bookstore in your country.

Before you search London for the perfect vehicle, you need to understand what an MOT certificate is. To keep dangerous vehicles off the road the British Ministry of Transport (MOT) subjects every vehicle to an annual inspection. If a vehicle passes inspection, the MOT issues a certificate to the owner. Make sure the vehicle you're considering has such certification. If you plan to either keep the vehicle in Britain or return to Britain to sell it, it's important that the MOT certificate will be valid for the duration of your trip. If the certification runs out, you'll have to pay for a new inspection and any required repairs. Moreover, the longer the certification is valid the easier it will be for you to sell the vehicle in Britain.

If it's a used van or caravan you're after, one London spot demands your attention: a stretch of Market Road two blocks west of where it intersects Caledonia Road just south of the Caledonia Road tube stop. As you stroll up the slight grade of Market Road and the tops of the vans and caravans that line it begin to appear—mirage-like at first and then snapping, like a 60s flashback, into salient super reality you'll feel the buzz of being in a truly holy place. The place is called The Van Market—the capital letters reflecting, apart from the aforementioned sacredness, a certain state of organization, but an organization which arises soley from the individuals who go there to buy and sell. Although London's city officials have forced the Market to move from place to place over the years, countless groups of intrepid travelers continue to sniff it out, making it, ephemeral as it is, an apotheosis of the European budget travel scene. Most of the vans are VWs in the US$1500 to US$3800 (£1000 to £2500) range. Such vans—if they're in excellent condition—get about 24 mpg (10 kpl). The sellers sleep right there in their vans and caravans, showering at the adjacent tennis club for £1.5. Of course this concentration assumes a social dimension; indeed, it's not a bad place in which to wile away a few days before you sell your vehicle.

Many of the buyers begin their tour in late June, crossing to Calais and heading down the coast to Pamplona and the famous San Fermin Festival (a.k.a., The Running of the Bulls), where they intend to meet some of their new Market Road buddies. Well, those buddies bring some buddies who meet up with their buddies who . . . And out of the seven-day frenzy of drunken bovine virility that is San Fermin come sundry convoys of van trippers, their ultimate goal to converge on and help fertilize Munich and the Oktoberfest two-and-a-half months down the road. A recent summer saw one such convoy grow to twenty-three vans.

The Market crowd does tend to be young, but when I happened to check it out one October day I met a friendly—and very normal—middled-aged Australian couple who were selling their van after a tour of Europe.

Of course there are also dealers in and around London. Here's a partial list.

The following company rents Honda motorcycles and sells them with a buy-back option that promises repurchase of the vehicle at 80 percent of the selling price.

If you're looking for a car, Market Road may be worth checking out, but you'll probably have better luck shopping elsewhere. Try stopping in the New Zealand News UK office, address 25 in the alley of shops just west of and running parallel to Haymarket, off Piccadilly Square. On the board just inside the front door, travelers and others post messages concerning, among other things, the following: vehicles for sale, vehicle insurance and repair, travel partners, tour packages, and jobs. It's a good place to check out regardless of your transportation plans. While in the office, you might as well pick up free copies of New Zealand News UK and Overseas magazine. Travel articles aimed at the Kiwi expatriate crowd fill both and make interesting reading for any traveler. Another free weekly publication you should grab in London is TNT Magazine, which caters to Australian expatriates and contains travel articles as well as classified ads listing vehicles for sale. Southern Cross is a similar magazine; it seems to contain more classified ads listing vans for sale than do the others. You can also check the various papers. The best for classified ads is the Loot, updated and available every day from newsstands. Also try Exchange and Mart and the Auto Trader, both published weekly. (Note that British classified ads give odometer readings in terms of miles.) London's tube is so comprehensive that you should have little trouble getting to private residences to check out cars.

The following establishments will perform a thorough inspection and testing of a vehicle before you buy it. These guys are good; unless you're a mechanical whiz, you'd be wise to enlist their services.

As I mentioned already, you cannot register a vehicle anywhere in Europe until you present proof of its insurance. I recommend the following insurance agency; they act as a broker to arrange insurance from any one of a multitude of British companies.

Also try contacting the British Automobile Association Insurance Services, Ltd., Fanum House, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2EA, England, tel. 01256 20123; or the RAC Insurance Services, Spectrum House, P.O. Box 700, Bond St., Bristol BS99 1RB, England, tel. 01800 678000.

Apart from proof of insurance, you need to secure two other documents before you can register a vehicle in Britain. The first document is the bill of sale. Usually the bill is simply a hand-written note from the seller. The note should describe the vehicle, the vehicle identification and license numbers, and the price you paid; both parties should sign and date it. Second, you need the Vehicle Registration Document; also get this from the seller. If the registration document is in the process of being replaced at the time of sale, you can apply for a free Certificate of Registration (form V379) at the local Vehicle Registration Office. European governments recognize this certificate in place of the registration document; you should keep it in the vehicle always. Unless your insurer tells you otherwise, take the bill of sale and the Vehicle Registration Document to the Department of Transport, Vehicle Registration Office, 1 Zoar Street, London SE1 OSY, near the London Bridge tube station. This office will present you with a Certificate of Registration—proof that you own your vehicle. You'll have to register the vehicle for a minimum of six months and pay a minimum registration fee (or "road tax" as the Brits call it) of £72.50 (US$US110). This fee is refundable in proportion to the amount of time you spend outside Britain during the registration period.

Germany

For the following reasons, Germany is an attractive country in which to buy a vehicle: (1) most people in Germany speak fluent English; (2) Germans tend to take excellent care of their vehicles; (3) each vehicle is subject to an extremely thorough inspection every two years; (4) the many US military installations in Germany amount to good places in or around which to buy and sell vehicles; (5) virtually all vehicles in Germany are designed for driving on the right side of the road; and (6) Germany is centrally located on the continent.

Like the governments of Britain and the Netherlands, the German government requires vehicle owners to regularly submit their vehicles for inspection. New vehicles are checked after three years, and after that every two. However, unlike the analogous inspections conducted by Britain and the Netherlands, Germany's inspection evaluates a vehicle not only on the basis of the threat it poses to public safety but also on the threat it poses to the reputation of German engineering and manufacturing and to the German sensibility. In fact, a vehicle showing rust will fail. The Germans call their inspection a "Technischer Überwachungsverein" or "TÜV". The basic TÜV, fee is about EUR30. The government stamps the due date of the next inspection on the rear license plate of each vehicle. In classified ads, "TÜV 5/04" means that the buyer must submit the vehicle for inspection in May 2004. In Germany—again, unlike in Britain and the Netherlands—a vehicle registered to a tourist will not become subject to government inspection unless someone buys it and registers it as a permanent German vehicle instead of a tourist's vehicle. This policy is so because Germany assumes that any tourist registering a vehicle will export the vehicle from Germany. Thus you have one reason to buy a vehicle whose TÜV inspection is imminent: the German citizen selling the vehicle will be trying to avoid the cost of a new inspection and therefore will tend to offer a good selling price. Of course, buying such a vehicle can also work against you. Such a vehicle represents a greater risk because almost two years will have gone by since it last passed a TÜV. And unless you plan to ship the vehicle home or sell it to another traveler—or to someone else who won't register it in Germany—the same phenomenon that you originally took advantage of will erase any savings you realized in the purchase price; in other words, you'll have to lower the price commensurate with the impending inspection. Because, as I explained earlier, you should avoid selling the vehicle to someone who must re-register it in Germany, this second point doesn't carry as much weight as you might think it would. Apart from the TÜV document, there's another document that can clue you in on the mechanical integrity of a vehicle. That document is the ownership book, or Kraftfahrzeugbrief, that the manufacturer issues with each new vehicle. The ownership book lists all the past owners and any major repairs done to the vehicle.

But where to find the vehicles? Frankfurt, being a hub for Lufthansa, is a popular point of entry into Germany. There are many showrooms on Hanauer Landstraße and Minzer Landstraße.

For no hassles comparison shopping, stop by a few big dealerships on Sundays: they'll let you look at the vehicles but aren't allowed to try selling them to you. Shopping around may pay off, as prices within Germany vary by as much as 15 percent. Most dealers' profit margins come in at 15 percent as well. As another option remember the re-importers I discussed earlier, and the Auto Bild publication which comes out every Friday and lists them. And don't forget the Jahreswagen phenomenon I described early on.

University towns amount to good places in which to buy a cheap vehicle. All students know English; and if you throw in a promise to mail them a Green Bay Packers or Toronto Blue Jays or Wallabies or All Blacks T-shirt, they're likely to help you get the vehicle insured and registered. Note that the university school year in Germany runs from mid October to mid July. Go to the student union, the Mensa, and look for a bulletin board with vehicle ads posted on it. Also check the streets around the university. The German equivalent of "For Sale" is "Zu Verkaufen". You'll find a flock of VW cars for sale in front of the Art Institute on the Hardenbergstraße in Berlin. Because of its historic interest, large university, and nearby US military bases, Heidelberg is a good place in which to base your search. Note, however, military bases amount to better places for selling a vehicle than for buying one; the soldiers tend to ask more and pay more for vehicles than do the German citizens. Munich is another university town replete with historic and cultural attractions. Vehicles up for sale line Munich's Leopoldstraße just past the Siegestor Arch in the Schwabing section of town. And used vans and caravans are usually up for sale at Munich's wonderful Thalkirchen campground. Moreover, Munich's Bodensee Straße (street) harbors one of the largest concentrations of camper dealers in Europe. The following towns and cities are home to large universities as well: Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Goettingen, Hamburg, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Marburg, Meersburg, Nurenburg, Stuttgart, Tuebingen, Ujm, and Wurzburg.

Auto flea markets take place each weekend in many cities. Because the transactions that occur at these markets do, in fact, occur between individuals, you may be able to avoid the VAT by buying at such a market. Usually these markets take place on the grounds of outdoor movie theaters near the edges of cities or towns. If this is the case the market is an Autokino Markt, kino being the German word for a movie theater. Otherwise, the market is a Private Automarkte or AUTOPRIVAT. You'll be charged a small fee to enter these markets. Ask at local tourist offices or service stations about the times and locations of upcoming markets. German police and postal services hold auctions several times a year. Vehicles sold at these auctions can go at unbelievably low prices. Call or stop by the local German police or post office and ask about such auctions. There are also the Jahreswagen markets.

To read the classifieds, you must know some German. Table Buying.1 is an alphabetically ordered list of terms that are typical in car ads. (Of course, German classified ads present odometer readings in terms of kilometers. Remember that 1.67 kilometers equal one mile.) If you see the letters "gew" in an ad, it means a dealer placed the ad; the word "privat" means an individual placed it. In VW ads the word "export" does not mean the vehicle is up to export standards; rather, it designates a luxury model. By the way, it may help you to know that ß in the German alphabet is pronounced "ss", not "b".

Watch out for catalytic converters. Since July 1, 1997, automobile taxes have tripled for vehicles that don't have a G-Kat (geregelter Katalysator), and penalty taxes are expected to rise in line with new environmental legislation making its way through Brussels.

Regardless of how you go about buying your vehicle, note the phone number used to place classified ads. If you decide to sell your vehicle in Germany, you can place an ad in the paper before you return.

Of course you'll need to insure a vehicle before you can register it. The word that designates insurance in German is Versicherungs. Of the myriad insurance companies in Germany, most can deal in English. Some insurance companies, in fact, cater largely to US military personnel. German auto-insurance providers, however, do not base premiums on vehicle or driver age but, rather, on vehicle horsepower and the length of time a driver has held his or her license. What's more, some companies charge higher premiums for tourists.

If you buy a vehicle from a German dealer, the dealer will have the proper vehicle-registration forms and can fill them out for you. You'll need to show him your passport (stamped with your residence permit, Aufenthaltserlaubnis), if you officially reside in Germany); proof of the vehicle's insurance; and, again if you officially reside in Germany, your residence registration (Anmeldebestauml;tigung) stamped by the appropriate residence-registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt). Otherwise, apply for the vehicle-registration forms at the local Kraftfahrzeug-Zulassungsstelle (or Kfz-Zulassungsstelle, Motor Vehicles Department) In Frankfurt this office is at Am Römerhof 19, near the Rebstock Bad and the Rödelheim intersection, tel. 069 212 42 750. Probably somebody at the Department will be able to speak English. (Note if you live in Germany: German license plate numbers always begin with a letter or letters designating the community where the vehicle is registered, so you must register it where you live.) With the registration forms in hand and filled in, it's time to go get your license plates at the Motor Vehicles Department mentioned above. Bring along the vehicle and all those documents I just described, plus your driving license(s) and three more documents: the Kaufvertag, the Kraftfahrzeugbrief, and the Kraftfahrzeugschein. Buyer and seller must sign the Kaufvertagthe contract of sale. Stationary shops sell this simple form, but usually the seller supplies it. Each party should keep a copy. The Kraftfahrzeugbrief proves ownership of the vehicle and lists each owner, but the seller doesn't sign it. The Kraftfahrzeugschein is another ownership document and is meant to be kept it in the vehicle. If you are a tourist, you should request Zollnummer or tourist plates: registering a vehicle under such plates allows you to avoid German registration fees. The clerk will ask you to fill out a few forms; the department officials will conduct a cursory inspection of your vehicle (not a full TÜV inspection); you'll pay a nominal fee; and you'll receive the proper papers—including your vehicle's tourist-specific registration, the Internationaler Zulassungsschein, if you've registered as such. If you have obtained tourist-registration, the clerk will have cut off the lower right corner of the Kraftfahrzeugbrief, invalidating it based on the assumption that you will export the vehicle. Keep this document if you plan to sell the vehicle in Germany. Finally, go to the local Customs office (the clerk will tell you where it is) and pick up your tourist plates. German Customs will charge a nominal fee for the plates, but the fee is refundable if you return the plates in good condition.

Germany does of course impose a tax on motor vehicles. When you register your vehicle, "application" for this tax will automatically be made. This is a road tax and is levied once a year on all vehicles. You pay the tax to your local Finanzamt if you reside in Germany. Vehicles registered for export do not suffer this tax. The tax amount depends on the vehicle's size and environmental impact.

Conclusion

Although I present in this chapter a substantial if not sufficient amount of information about how to buy, insure, register and sell a vehicle in Europe, you may be wise to search out more information from more sources before you embark on such an enterprise. Certainly before you leave for Europe you should confirm with the appropriate government department, embassy or consulate all crucial points that are uniquely subject to change at the hands of government—importing/exporting policies being a primary example. To hunt down contacts not listed herein, try calling your local libraries and asking if they stock a phone book and/or newspaper from the city or country you plan to buy a vehicle in. Because university libraries cater to foreign students, they're likely to have such resources. Using the relevant yellow pages, you can look up the addresses and phone numbers of auto-insurance companies and auto dealers; using the relevant newspaper or newspapers, you can study the classified ads to determine the deals being offered by dealers and individuals. To find a particular phone number, it'll be easier if you call the relevant tourist office, embassy, or national chamber of commerce: they usually stock directories. The US Armed Force's newspaper Stars and Stripes (tel. 703 697 6695 in the US; tel. 06155 601 349/447 civilian, tel. 348 8349/8447 military, FAX 0429 29332 in Germany) is an excellent source for classified ads in English. Unfortunately, the paper is not distributed in the US. But if you call the US number listed above, the staff may send you some recent classified-ads sections free of charge. You can also check the classifieds in the Army Times, tel. 800 424 9335 or 703 750 8900. You might want to compare the prices charged for vehicles in Europe to the prices charged for the same vehicles near your home. In the US the N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide and the "Blue Book"both available at libraries and banks—will help in this comparison. Note, however, that European models may differ in composition if not in name from the models marketed in North America; if you have questions concerning such a discrepancy, call the manufacturer.

Appendix A ­ Evaluating a Motor Vehicle

When a vehicle catches your eye, evaluate it as I describe below. If the owner can easily help you complete this evaluation, he or she is probably a responsible owner with a good mechanical understanding of the vehicle; in other words, he or she probably took good care of it.

When the engine is cold, open the radiator cap and inspect the coolant; it shouldn't be rusty colored. Also, greenish-white stains on the radiator cap suggest pinholes and the prospect of growing leakage.

Look for dark stains or puddles underneath the vehicle: they indicate leaks from the cooling system, transmission, or engine. Other bad signs include excessive residue of lubricants on the engine, transmission, hoses or other under-the-hood components.

Rust, if it eats through the vehicle, can let deadly exhaust fumes inside. And if left unchecked, rust can compromise the structural integrity of the body and suspension. Lift one of the front floor carpets to check the condition of the sheet metal underneath. Inspect other vulnerable areas such as wheel wells and rocker panels, the door edges, and the trunk floor. If you place a small magnet against these areas, you can tell if plastic putty patches cover rust or accident damage.

Fresh welds in the underbody, ripply body work, a part whose color or fit doesn't seem quite right, new paint on a late-model vehicle, or fresh undercoating on an old vehicle testify that it's has been in an accident.

A vehicle with 31,000 kilometers or less should have its original tires; new tires may indicate an odometer that's been tampered with. Uneven tread wear indicates an accident or poor wheel alignment. Uneven tread on the front tires may signal serious suspension damage.

Grab the top of each tire and shake it; if you feel play or hear a clunking sound, suspect loose or worn wheel bearings or suspension joints. Look behind the front wheels of front-wheel-drive vehicles to check the covers on the universal joints: torn or missing covers are expensive to replace.

Check the shock absorbers by pushing down hard at each corner of the vehicle and then letting go. If the vehicle needs more than one rebound to level off, the shock absorbers may be worn.

Step back about ten feet (three meters) and check if one side is lower than the other. Do the same looking perpendicular to the long axis of the vehicle, noting if the front or rear sags. A lopsided vehicle may need new springs.

A saggy driver's seat suggests heavy use. On a low-kilometer vehicle the pedals shouldn't be brand new or worn flat. Musty odors in the vehicle suggest a water leak that may be hard to find and costly to fix.

When you drive the vehicle, roll the windows down and turn the radio/stereo off so you can better hear any odd noises. You shouldn't have to push the brake pedal any further than three inches above the floor to stop the vehicle. Speed up to 60 kph on a flat stretch of road; apply the brakes firmly, without locking the wheels; repeat: the vehicle should stop quickly and in a straight line. With the engine idling, press firmly on the brake pedal for thirty seconds. The pedal should feel firm and steady; if it sinks to the floor or feels spongy, the hydraulic brake system may be leaking.

A clutch that doesn't engage smoothly could signal trouble. The pedal shouldn't have more than two inches (four and a half centimeters) of play. You can test the clutch by turning on the vehicle, setting the parking brake, and slowly letting out the clutch as if to drive away; if the vehicle stalls without the clutch slipping, it's a good sign.

Test the transmission by going through all the gears. At the point that you would shift up to the next gear, don't shift up. Instead, take your foot off the accelerator; if the transmission pops out of any gear upon deceleration, it's faulty. Do this in reverse gear too. If the clutch doesn't engage until the pedal is all the way up or if the pedal doesn't have an inch or so of free play at the top, you could face an expensive clutch job.

An automatic transmission shouldn't slam into gear or slip as you drive. With the engine warmed up, let it idle in Park. Inspect the dipstick for the transmission fluid; the fluid should be reddish, with a faint odor of chestnuts. A dark brown color, a rancid smell, or metal particles on the dipstick signal trouble.

With the engine warm, accelerate to about 60 kph, take your foot off the accelerator for a few seconds, and then accelerate fast. A friend should be with you, watching out the rear window. Black exhaust may mean only that the fuel system needs adjusting, but blue exhaust means that the vehicle is an oil-burner—the engine will probably have to be rebuilt or replaced. Persistent billowy white exhaust means coolant is getting into the engine's combustion chambers, probably through a blown gasket or a crack in the cylinder head or engine block. (But white vapory exhaust upon start-up on a damp, frosty morning is nothing to worry about.)

The vehicle should hold the road nicely. Steering should be smooth and precise, without much free play or vibration. Have your friend stand behind you in the road, watching as you drive straight ahead (if possible through a puddle so you can just look at the wet tire tracks to see if the front and rear wheels travel precisely in line); if the vehicle sidles along like a crab, an accident has probably bent the body or frame; give up on such a vehicle. If the vehicle's steering just pulls to one side, however, a wheel alignment may be all that's needed.

Here are some other important things to determine when you test a vehicle.

With campers, check if there's a built-in, two-burner stove with a detachable propane tank. Besides being convenient and odorless, propane refills are obtainable all over Europe at stores, service stations and campgrounds. An electric refrigerator would be another plus in a camper.

shipping to/from europe

For purposes of economy, much of the discussion in this chapter assumes that you're a US citizen. Still, the majority of the principles and a substantial amount of the details here presented in terms of the US apply to citizens of other countries as well. I begin the chapter by discussing the pros and cons of shipping a vehicle to Europe. Then, I describe how a US citizen can import a vehicle that does not meet US standards. In the last section of the chapter, I explain how to arrange shipping. Any person planning to ship a vehicle should read that last section.

Shipping Your Car, Van or Motorhome to Europe

Shipping your own car, van or motorhome to Europe and then bringing it back by freighter will cost at least US$3000 return.

One interesting alternative to freighters is Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2. This grand passenger ship accepts vehicles as accompanied baggage. The cheapest way to get your vehicle over on the QE2 is to opt for the so-called Relocation Package. That is, one-way passage on the QE2 in at least a C5 cabin, with one-way vehicle passage and passage for up to two pets included in the fare. (Nothing can be stored in the vehicle.) For a double occupancy C5 cabin this would cost US$3823, US$4173 or US$4603 per person, during the low (April and early May sailings), shoulder (late May, early June and November sailings) and high (late June through October sailings) seasons, respectively. No cabin mates are assigned, so double occupancy means your party must pay for the whole cabin. For a single occupancy C5 cabin the cost would be US$5763, US$6293 or US$6963.

This offer of included vehicle passage substitutes for the one-way airline ticket that otherwise accompanies a one-way ticket on the QE2. The airline ticket covers travel between London and New York, with connections to 117 cities in North America for an additional US$275, US$375 or US$475, depending on whether it's an eastern, central or western city; there's a further option to fly the supersonic Concorde one way between London or Paris and New York as part of the package or at a reduced fare. Air Package fares are available for all cabin classes, not just the C5 and above, and so can be considerably less than Relocation Package fares. Apart from the Relocation Package, there is no option to travel one way on the QE2 without in effect paying for the airline ticket; you either use the air ticket or lose it.

If you opt for a one-way Air Package but still bring your vehicle, Cunard will charge about US$2550 for the vehicle if it's no more than 5500 pounds, US$1195 if it's a motorcycle. During low season the minimum cost of doing this will be $4840, which means the flight to New York in effect costs you about US$1000—an expensive flight. If you travel return, the cheapest cabin fares are US$2963, US$3203 and $3513 per person for double occupancy (again, depending on the season); US$4713, $5133 or US$5653 for single occupancy. You pay the fare for the higher season of the two crossings. Cunard will tack on US$4120 for a vehicle not over 5500 pounds to travel return, and double the one-way rate for motorcycles. The cheapest cost for traveling return and shipping a car both ways is US$8063 double occupancy, US$9813 single occupancy.

Rates vary for vehicles that weigh between 5501 and 8000 pounds. Cunard accepts no vehicle weighing over 8000 pounds or exceeding any of the following dimensions: 6 feet high, 20 feet long, or 6 feet wide. All vehicles must be thoroughly steam cleaned just prior to being placed on the ship. And a vehicle cannot have more than just enough fuel in its tank than safely will get it to a fuel station after disembarking; this translates to, say, no more than one-quarter tank. Marine insurance is available for US$1.53 per US$100 value of the vehicle. Bicycles cost US$45 each way; dogs, US$500; cats, US$300; birds, US$200.

All QE2 fares include your onboard meals and entertainment. The QE2 makes the five-day crossing from New York to Southampton, England, twice a month from April to October and much less frequently during the remainder of the year. Space on the QE2 is limited however, so make reservations well before your sailing date. You can contact Cunard Line at 555 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017-2453, tel. 800 7-CUNARD or 212 880 7545 or 212 880 7500, FAX 212 949 0915.

Taking a vehicle to Europe and selling it there is an option you may want to consider. Europeans are nuts about anything that smacks of Americana. Many Europeans would consider a Harley or a big 'ol model from Detroit the find of a lifetime; in other words, you may get a very good price for it. However, don't casually approach such an endeavor; you must thoroughly investigate your responsibilities, as well as the costs Europeans would face in buying and importing your vehicle. Contact the Customs officer at the nearest embassy or consulate of the countries you want to ship and import to.

Shipping a motorcycle over or back, or both, is more practical than shipping other motor vehicles. Shipping a motorcycle to Europe costs as low as US$350 one way and is generally less than half as expensive as shipping a car. And since a motorcycle relates more intimately to both the road and your body than does a car, your comfort and safety depend more on the particular bike you ride than the particular car, van or motorhome you drive: you may not get a good "fit" buying or renting a motorcycle. In addition, motorcycle rentals in Europe are more expensive than car rentals, averaging about US$100 per day plus mileage; and they're not easily available in every country.

Similarly, motorhomers who've converted their vehicle into their castle may not want to pay US$170 a day to visit real castles in a modest European surrogate. Remember, however, that a larger North American model will be significantly more expensive to fuel and difficult to maneuver than a typical European model. And though American manufacturers such as Airstream, Holiday Rambler, and Winnebago maintain representatives in Europe, their networks are not impressive, and spare parts are difficult to come by. What's more, your vehicle's electrical system won't jive with European standards. As such, you'll need to install a transformer before you go. If you forget to do this, a soldier at an American military base in Europe might be nice enough to procure one for you. One of very few European companies that sell them is Trueblood RV, Justinianstraße 22, 60322 Frankfurt, Germany, tel. 69 34 53 54. In addition, since most European motorhomes sport chemical toilets feeding into small removable holding tanks, few European campgrounds offer facilities for emptying the large built-in tanks gracing most North American models. Instead of removing the tank and gayly skipping to the campground's receptacle, you—assuming you're conscientious—will find yourself in frequent intimate relations with something less than an attraction, a modern-day wonder nonetheless, the municipal sewage treatment plant; but, hey, you will be off the beaten path! See the "Camping" section of the Accommodations chapter for more on the availability of dumping stations.

Before you make a decision, read the beginning of the Buying chapter to come up to speed on insurance issues. Compare the insurance offerings I relate in that chapter to the insurance sold by International Insurance Underwriters, tel. 800 248 4998, a GEICO affiliate.

If you do decide to ship your own vehicle, you need to gather the necessary paperwork to satisfy US and foreign Customs. US Customs needs to determine that a vehicle shipped abroad is not a stolen vehicle. As such, you need to present Customs with two copies of a notarized title. You'll also need a Shipper Export Declaration form and a Declaration of Dangerous Goods form. Stationary stores sell these forms, but only in US$15 pads of one hundred. You'll have to deliver your vehicle and the proper documents at least three days before the vehicle's scheduled departure. For details, citizens of the US should contact the US Customs Service Trade Operations, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20229, tel. 202 927 0300. While inquiring about such issues, ask how you can get an oval nationality sticker for your vehicle: "AUS" signifies it's registered in Australia; "CDN", Canada; "NZ", New Zealand; and, you guessed it, "USA", the United States.

But what about foreign Customs? Customs documents, issued in accordance with the terms of the UN Customs Conventions, are still required by a number of non-European countries in order to avoid the payment of the often substantial deposits demanded for the temporary importation of a vehicle (whether via a land-locked point of entry or a sea port). If you're a member of your national motoring club, the international organization it belongs to—either the AIT or the FIAwill extend to you such a document, the "Carnet de Passages en Douane", that, in lieu of deposits, guarantees foreign governments that the organization will pay any Customs duties and taxes required if you don't re-export your vehicle. But before providing this document, your club will require you to place a deposit with them; the idea being that it's better to leave your deposit with someone you trust rather than in the hands of some capricious if not corrupt foreign government. But to repeat, European countries do not require such deposits or guarantees. Nevertheless, contact the nearest embassy or consulate of the country you're shipping to and ask for copies of any mandatory forms and instructions for getting cargo through their Customs. While you're at it, ask how long it takes to clear their Customs and what steps you must take to export from their country.

One option that's much easier and less expensive than shipping your vehicle to Europe—and more popular and practical each year—is a home and vehicle exchange. From 1988 to 1992 the number of Europeans visiting America grew steadily from about 5.5 million to nearly 8 million; while the number of Americans traveling to Europe wavered between a high of 8 million (in 1990) to a low of 6.35 million (in 1991). I'm sure many of these Europeans would've loved to swap homes and vehicles with you. The biggest hurdle for such an arrangement is trust: the easier it is for both parties to establish the more practical this option becomes. Several organizations arrange such swaps and provide the kind of professional third-party assistance that is the catalyst of this trust. I list these organizations in the Alternative Accommodations chapter. If you have a motorhome, a couple of services can help you arrange to swap it with motorhome owners in Europe: Vacation Home Exchange Club, P.O. Box 650, Key West, FL 33041 USA, tel. 800 638 3841; and Camper Exchange, Inc., P.O. Box 947, North Bend, WA 98045 USA, which for a fee of US$60 will send you a list of potential caravan swappers in Europe.

With a little work, however, you may be able to make all arrangements for a home and/or vehicle swap. If you're an academic, work for an international company or firm, or belong to some other reputable international organization (such as a church or a medical society), contact some of your European colleagues. If you can tap into the so-called electronic superhighway, send out messages asking for information about potential international swaps; and keep an ear or an eye tuned for individuals or new services that offer European homes and vehicles for temporary swapping.

If you succeed in securing someone else's vehicle in Europe, you should obtain written permission from that someone and carry it in the vehicle always, along, of course, with proof that the owner has properly insured and registered the vehicle. You need to carry a special form of authority, an Autorizacao certificate, if you plan to drive someone else's vehicle in Portugal; get the form at a registration office in Europe, or contact your local motoring club or a Portuguese tourist office or embassy. If you lose any of the registration or permissive documents, contact the police.

Importing a Non-Conforming Vehicle

If you plan to import a European vehicle that does not conform to your country's vehicle standards, you need to do some substantial homework. If you know exactly what vehicle you'll be buying abroad, you should be able to determine all the costs associated with importing it. On the other hand, the slightest misunderstanding by any party involved in such an enterprise can result in unexpected and overwhelming costs to you and you alone.

US citizens must deal either directly or indirectly with three separate government agencies, each with its own agenda: Customs, which I addressed largely in the previous chapter, will concern itself with establishing the value of your vehicle and placing a proper duty and federal tax on it; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will concern itself with establishing that your vehicle does not pose an unacceptable threat to the environment; and the Department of Transportation (DOT) will concern itself with establishing that your vehicle does not pose an unacceptable threat to the immediate safety of the population. In the end, a US citizen importing a vehicle must be able to prove to Customs that he or she has satisfied the requirements of the other two entities; otherwise the citizen will face long delays and high port-storage fees while he or she arranges the necessary paperwork and modifications to the vehicle.

The US EPA does not restrict the importation of vehicles manufactured before EPA requirements took effect. Such vehicles include gasoline-powered passenger vehicles manufactured before 1968 and motorcycles manufactured before 1978. Any person may import such vehicles without bond, under the applicable declaration category on EPA Form 3520-1.

The US government does not permit individual US citizens to import non-US version vehicles other than those described in the previous paragraph. Instead, an individual must enlist an Independent Commercial Importer (ICI) to handle the importing. The ICI must possess a currently valid qualifying certificate of conformity for the particular vehicle the individual wants the ICI to import. The ICI will be responsible for performing all necessary modifications, testing, and labeling, as well as providing an emissions warranty. In Table Shipping.1, I list the seven ICIs authorized by the US EPA.

Table Shipping.1 US EPA-authorized Independent Commercial Importers.

Any US citizen planning to import a non-US version vehicle should use these ICIs as a primary source of information. Never buy a non-US version vehicle without first speaking with an ICI who assures you they can bring the vehicle into compliance for a certain price. The ICIs are remarkably helpful; after all, they stand to make lots of money if you contract their services. An ICI will even suggest certain vehicles that are good deals and tell you how to locate such a vehicle in Europe.

One ICI contracted by the US military is Import Trade Services, Inc. As such, ITS maintains an office with seventy employees near the Frankfurt airport (Kelsterbach) in Germany. Contact Kay Lester at Langer Kornweg 16, 65451 Kelsterbach, Germany, tel. 06107 8051, if you determine which vehicle model you want only after you arrive overseas—a likely scenario.

It's worth noting that Ken Shaffer, owner of ITS, tells me his company must either flatly turn down or at least discourage roughly nine out of ten people who solicit its services. The rejection rate is so high because, as with all ICIs, ITS lacks a license to modify certain models and because the cost of modifying some models is so high that ITS would not be serving its customers' best interests if it agreed to modify such vehicles. Not all ICIs may exercise the same integrity concerning the second point, however.

US citizens can call the EPA Imports Hotline at 202 233 9660 for information regarding ICIs that may have obtained approval since the issuance of the list that I reproduced as Table Shipping.2. For further information US citizens should contact the US EPA Manufacturers Operations Division (EN-340F), Investigation/Imports Section, Washington, DC 20460, tel. 202 260 2504, FAX 202 260 6089; or the EPA Investigation/Imports Section (6405-J), Washington, DC 20460, tel. 202 233 9660, FAX 202 233 9596. Canadians should contact the Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate, Transport Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N5, tel. 613 998 2174, FAX 613 998 4831, and ask for the brochure Private Importation of a Motor Vehicle into Canada. Also, Canadians should contact Revenue Canada, Customs & Excise Travelers Division, Connaught Building, 5th Floor, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L5, tel. 613 954 6370, FAX 613 954 1765, and ask for the brochure Importing a Motor Vehicle into Canada.

Regardless of your citizenship, the emission requirements of your state or province or territory may be more strict than those of your national government. So before importing a vehicle, you should confirm with the appropriate state or province or territory authorities that the vehicle and your plans to modify it are satisfactory.

Now it's the US DOT's turn to enter the picture. In planning to import a vehicle, you must determine that your government considers the vehicle model and model year eligible for importation. An owner attempting to import a vehicle ineligible for importation must pay to return the vehicle to its point of origin or surrender the vehicle to Customs for immanent destruction. US Federal regulations 49 CFR, parts 593 and 594, specify the petitioning process and fees required for a US citizen to obtain such a determination of eligibility. For additional information or details on these requirements, contact the US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Compliance (NEF-32), 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20590, tel. 202 366 5313, FAX 202 366 1024; or contact some of the RIs I list in Table Shipping.2. (All the previously listed ICIs are authorized RIs also.)

Table Shipping.2 US DOT-authorized Registered Importers.

Eastern United States

Western United States

*affiliated with Import Trade Services USA, Inc., one of the ICIs.

In the US the importer (you if the vehicle being imported is a US version, an ICI otherwise) must file form DOT HS-7 at the time of entry, indicating whether the vehicle conforms with applicable safety and bumper standards. You can obtain this form from Customs brokers (see the last section of this chapter) or at ports of entry. The importer must enter non-US version vehicles under a DOT bond equal to 150 percent of the vehicle's dutiable value. The government requires this bond in order to ensure that the vehicle is brought into conformance within 120 days after importation. The bond is in addition to the regular Customs entry bond. Bonds may be difficult to obtain and can be expensive; the issuer may require security deposits equaling 50 percent or more of the bond's value.

Unless specifically excepted, the importer must sign a contract with a DOT-Registered Importer (RI) who will modify the vehicle so it conforms with all applicable safety and bumper standards and who can certify the modifications, just as an ICI can do for the EPA-required modifications. The importer must attach a copy of the RI's contract to the DOT HS-7 form and furnish these documents—along with the DOT bond—to the Customs Service at the port of entry.

Other documents that you need to present upon importation include the shipper's or carrier's original bill of lading, the bill of sale, foreign registration, and any other documents concerning the vehicle. Note the following words of caution from the US Customs Office.

Arranging Shipping

Of course there are two ways to send freight: by air and by sea. Shipping by air, with the exception of a few carriers such as Lufthansa, is expensive. Furthermore, shipping a car, van or motorhome by air is impractical. Shipping by sea is less expensive, but it takes much longer. Shipping to or from the East Coast of North America takes about two weeks by sea; while shipping to or from the West Coast takes about three to four weeks. Shipping to or from Australia or New Zealand takes about eight to twelve weeks by sea. Always allow for delay: your items could be delayed clearing customs; a dock workers strike could be on; and an item like a vehicle may be seriously damaged or else stolen in transit.

Before I further discuss the mundane subject of shipping, I must reiterate one delightful option: Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2, which accepts vehicles as accompanied baggage. See the first paragraph of the first section of this chapter for a detailed description of the QE2's service.

At the end of this chapter I list several shipping companies. If you make your own arrangements to ship your vehicle, contact some of these companies. Begin the correspondence by asking whether the company is a broker (or freight forwarding company) and not just a carrier. Brokers maintain rate contracts with airlines and cargo ships, contracts that make their prices less than those of carriers. Besides, shipping lines often refuse to carry cargo that's not booked through a broker. What's more, brokers know the ins and outs of Customs issues. As such, brokers have rapport and leverage with Customs officials at home and abroad; if your shipment has trouble clearing Customs, a broker can usually clear up the problem over the phone. If you're unfamiliar with Customs rules and shipping, I highly recommend using a broker. Lufthansa Airlines, however, is one carrier that offers competitive rates and service.

Regardless, the carrier that either you or a broker eventually enlist should offer a payment protection scheme against their going out of business. If a carrier tells you that they do offer such a scheme, get a copy of the protection policy in writing, and read it thoroughly before you make any arrangements. The best schemes are the Customer Payment Guarantee or CPG (operated by the Association of International Removers) and the IMMI (operated by the overseas division of the British Association of Removers). Any member of these associations has a proven track record in the industry. US citizens can call the Interstate Commerce Commission to help determine the integrity of a broker or a carrier.

When investigating the cost of shipping a particular vehicle, you'll need to tell the shipping company the exact weight and dimensions of the vehicle, where you're departing from, where you want to go, and what your schedule is. Ask about the costs of air freight (for motorcycles) and/or sea freight (for motorcycles and other vehicles), shipping insurance, preparation for shipment (fuel drainage, oil and transmission fluid drainage, battery disconnection, crating, steam cleaning and waxing), other port and handling fees, special delivery and return, documents, and the time it will take to ship the vehicle. Also ask about reduced rates from certain ports (Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg are among the cheapest). Finally, ask if the freighter takes passengers; many do. I'm told that the companionship, food and lodging on a freighter are wonderful. With the crew and, usually, about twelve other intrepid travelers, you dine on delicious food; and you stay in your own spacious and well appointed outside cabin with a huge window (instead of a tiny porthole).

Be sure you understand the terms and conditions of the marine insurance available. Watch out for the following in a marine insurance policy: exclusions for bruising, scratching and denting; exclusion of accessories such as stereos; high deductibles; and anything less than complete coverage from the moment you hand over the vehicle until you touch it again back home. Always ensure that a company with offices or settling agents in your home country underwrites your marine insurance: it's essential that the policy allows you to settle claims in your home country. The best way to confirm this allowance is to get the name and address of the settling agent in your home country before you book your shipping. Remember to ensure your vehicle and any accompanying items for their full replacement value in your home country.

You may have to put your vehicle in a crate and arrange to get it to a terminal. You can crate the vehicle yourself or have a dealer, packaging company or freight company crate it for you. One good solution is to have a trucking company package and send it, but ask to watch the packing. Brokers will arrange to get the crated vehicle to the terminal; this will cost extra, but it's the simplest way.

If you have a motorcycle that you want to crate, you can get a crate from a dealer for about US$50. Make sure there's no mud or grass on the machine. Customs officials worry about contaminates that may come in on dirty items. The June 1986 issue of BMW Owner's News contains instructions for building a reusable crate. You do this by bolting the top, sides and bottom of the crate together instead of nailing them together. Here's a real killer: every motorcycle has identification numbers—one on the engine and the other on the frame—which Customs officers must be able to see to match them with your title. If they can't see these numbers, you'll have to uncrate the bike. To avoid this inconvenience, cut a hole in the crate so the serial number can be seen.

When shipping from Europe, consider surrendering the vehicle at the dock or shipping agent's warehouse. If instead you have the vehicle picked up, you may open yourself to trouble. Marine insurance doesn't take effect until the vehicle has arrived at the warehouse, and the insurance covering the vehicle in the meantime may require you to stay in Europe to settle a claim if an accident occurs during that short transport.

Before surrendering a vehicle, there are several things you should do. For one, try to gage the vehicle's fueling so that you leave little fuel in the tank: the shipping company will drain the fuel before loading the vehicle. To safeguard against the importation of dangerous pests, the US Department of Agriculture requires that the undercarriage of imported vehicles be free from foreign soil. As such, your vehicle must be steam sprayed or otherwise cleaned thoroughly before shipment. And have your shipper or carrier notify you of the freighter's arrival date, and be sure to inform Customs of this date: this info will allow Customs to quickly clear your vehicle.

Note that if you leave the vehicle in port storage for more than three days you'll pay a steep daily storage charge. Customs clears shipments at the first port of entry unless you arrange for a freight forwarder in your country to have the vehicle sent in bond to a Customs port more convenient for you. Customs ports exist in virtually every US state.

Theft is a major problem at ports and during transit. As such, remove loose or detachable parts of your shipment; and do not use your vehicle as a container for personal belongings. Indeed, many shippers and carriers will not accept your vehicle if it contains personal belongings. Regardless, you must declare the entire contents of your vehicle to Customs upon importation. Failure to make such a declaration can result in you being fined and your vehicle and its contents seized. And you may incur a personal penalty and your vehicle may be seized if anyone conveys illegal narcotics in your vehicle.

If you do go ahead and put possessions in your vehicle or in the crate that the vehicle is in, make sure you have proper insurance. Marine insurance falls into three main categories: if you insure your entire consignment against loss and theft, you can only make a claim if everything disappears; coverage against loss and theft of the entire consignment or any one package allows you to make an acceptable claim if all or any complete package (suitcase, etc.) doesn't arrive; coverage against loss or theft of either of the above plus any individual item or piece of goods out of a package allows you to make a claim for anything missing. You can also elect to have your loss and theft policy cover breakage of professionally packed items and/or owner packed items.

Besides arranging the proper insurance to cover your possessions, you must take care in packing these items. Note that suitcases and trunks often get marked or scratched on the outside. It's acceptable to lock such luggage and keep the keys, but the keys must be available at the destination when the luggage arrives. Weight does not affect the shipping cost, but movers are more likely to drop heavy containers. If you have many books or heavy items, split the load so each container (or "tea chest") is half full of heavy items and half full of light items. Most important, always pack boxes tight and to the top, filling in gaps and holes so that nothing can move. Ultimately, freighters carry all cargo in sealed steel containers, some of which travel above deck. The temperature changes during a voyage can be extreme, causing condensation. Clothing, books, etc., wrapped in plastic can arrive covered in mildew. Wrap items in paper or clothes instead. Marine insurance policies exclude damage caused by atmospheric temperature extremes.

itinerary planning

Traveling by motor vehicle offers unparalleled access to the land and to the people and creatures that inhabit it. If you take adavantage of this power and weave your itinerary with a spirit of adventure, with a desire to learn about places and people and about yourself, with a willingness to shed the familiar, a willingness to change, you'll find it quickened by the unexpected; you'll feel it assuming wonderful dimensions; you'll put it on and go go go, and it'll fit like a glove.

Traveling by motor vehicle offers unparalleled access to the land and to the people and creatures that inhabit it. If you take advantage of this power and weave your itinerary with a spirit of adventure, with a desire to learn about places and people and about yourself, with a willingness to shed the familiar, a willingness to change, you'll find it quickened by the unexpected; you'll feel it assuming wonderful dimensions; you'll put it on and go go go, and it'll fit like a glove.

Of course you can vitalize your itinerary simply by the tried and true method of leaving the beaten path—and I do heartily recommend this tactic. Yet humanity has run rough-shod over the expanse of Europe for untold thousands of years. As a result, there are lots of beaten paths. Many of these paths are hard to avoid; many are glorious and should be sought.

What's most remarkable, then, about the state of the continent is its ubiquitous and seemingly irrepressible natural beauty. From the verdant Pyrénées to the savannah-like wilds of Hoge Veluwe National Park in the Netherlands, from the dusty plains of Southern Spain to the misty and precipitous fjords of Norway, from the stretching lochs of Scotland to the angel-hair falls on the sculpted cheeks of Swiss valleys, wonderful nature waits both on and off the beaten path.

As for Europe's civilization, it hasn't yielded fully to the virus of pyramid-bedecked strip malls, coast-to-coast culture-clones, and all the homogenizing effects of 20th-century machinery. In the villages of France, people yet ride rickety black bicycles with a baguette strapped across the rear rack; and groups of old men sit-out the afternoon on corners along the main roads, recounting and making and becoming stories. In Scotland and Wales and Ireland, farmers still call to their children the ancient Gaelic language. Alongside tidal rivers in Portugal, knotty-knuckled fishermen stand, leather-skinned and wincing, in the heavy afternoon, their fingers moving furiously to untangle nets, everything else—from their thick-soled black shoes to their greasy blue-gray pants to their bent backs to the hang of their necks to the slow sideways turns of their heads in the dense shadows of their hats to the oil blue sky—seeming sapped of time and swollen with the ocean's inertia; jazz drifts from the restaurants there and drops in the street. Levity is the rule not far away in Spain, where past low white-washed houses on dusty dirt streets, black-clad men beneath thin black hats ride high in the saddle and hugged from behind by women whose long dresses caparison the horses too. Even in tourist-choked Venice you can stroll as the lone anachronism in alleyways under windows open to the ever coming and peaceful night, the meal-time cling-clangs and banter of ghostly Venetians the repast of your haunt. This must be exactly the way it was, you'll think.

Indeed, from our perspective ghosts still pass for neighbors in Europe: they live on and compose the physical and cultural fabric of the continent. But as such, these ghosts are dynamic and cannot be captured by canned descriptions or preconceived notions—although they will play along. Consider the words of esteemed historian Daniel J. Boorstin.

Modern tourist guides [circa 1961] have helped raise tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives—from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of the Chichacestenango—with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to-date scripts for actors on the tourists' stage.

Yet if you let the natives tender their story instead of encouraging them to reinforce yours, you may even make friends with a few. In fact they rather than some book—should function as your primary guides.

Nevertheless, you should use a good guidebook or two. Indeed, I specifically designed this book to go hand in hand with one by leaving out detailed descriptions of sights, accommodations, etc. Guidebooks should function as the islands of information from which you launch journeys of true discovery. In other words, sometimes it's best to put your trust in a guidebook and sometimes it's best to put the guide away.

Besides, you don't want to work too hard at having a good time: such work can be a pain and it tends to be misguided. Remember the fecundity of the unexpected I spoke of in the Why Drive? chapter? How the wise traveler—indeed the true traveler—must ultimately surrender to it? Here's what intrepid traveler and novelist Lawrence Durrell had to say about that.

Journeys, like artists, are born not made. A thousand different circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will—whatever we may think.

An example of this fecundity is a visit I made to the little town of Dômme, in France's Dordogne River valley. I happened to meet an American woman at one of the valley's many caves that house prehistoric paintings. She told me I must go to Dômme. She didn't offer much more advice, just that I should go. I'd planned to go to Bordeaux that day; I went to Dômme instead. Well, the view of the valley from the bluff Dômme sits on overwhelmed me as much as a stretch of peaceful space can. Later in my journeys I met a guy who became a good friend, and I told him about the view at Dômme; I was proud to possess this relatively esoteric piece of travel knowledge, and I enjoyed relating the experience, wrestling with it to draw some meaning, verbally painting its picture, making it mine. When I returned home, that friend sent me a letter with this quote by one of my favorite writers, Henry Miller.

Just to glimpse the black, mysterious river at Dômme from the beautiful bluff at the edge of town is something to be grateful for all of one's life. I believe that this great peaceful region of France will always be a sacred spot for man and that when the cities have killed off the poets this will be the cradle of poets to come … it gives me hope for the future of the race, for the future of the earth itself.… The Dordogne will live on just as dreams live on and nourish the souls of men.

It was as if back there at Dômme I'd looked at a great painting for the first time—with no preconceptions—and felt exactly what the painter had felt when he created it. Indeed, many artists and art historians abhor the trite explanations which plaques or tapes afford the museum-goer. Such connoisseurs prefer to open themselves to the art rather than to some canned description of it; they trust primarily their own reactions; they know this approach is their only hope of maximally experiencing the art. It's like when you nudge a child and say, "Go take a look": you may want to describe a wonder to the child, but you know it's in their best interests to let them discover it for themselves. Once a writer describes a place and once you've read that description before arriving there, the place, in at least one way, is lost to you forever: your impression of that place will always be distilled through the eyes and words of another. Not an altogether bad thing, but not the type of thing that makes for discoveries. My original ignorance of that natural work of art that is the view from Dômme, my original ignorance of Henry Miller's or any other writer's or traveler's description it, lets me claim my experience of the place as my own; it let me experience a discovery. And long after I left Dômme, that ignorance let me truly connect with the very thoughts—seemingly still wet in the brain—of one of my favorite writers. Sometimes it's better to learn about a place after you've traveled to it.

Still, most of us already have a collection of knickknack notions about Europe, ideas that we tend to employ as the linchpins of our itineraries. Of course these ideas work just fine to support a bric-a-brac set of experiences, but they give way under an itinerary laden with reality. And that's what we're after isn't it, reality. But how to come up with an itinerary that will sop it up?

Well, since the ideal teachers are waiting all over Europe, and since I'm just as likely as you to bias the itineraries I come up with, and, what's more, since it'd be hypocritical to define a path when it's my stated goal to help you leave the beaten path, I'm not gonna delineate specific itineraries. Besides, there are already a handful of guides that do this. But not only are such itineraries suspect spiritually, they're suspect practically as well: it's virtually impossible to properly treat the continuum that a motor vehicle opens to you. Famed Czech author Milan Kundera captured the essence of these basic faults when he wrote,

A route differs from a road … because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.

In attempting to strike the right balance between interacting with the locals (or, for that matter, with your fellow travelers), using a guidebook or two, using your own head, and surrendering to the fecundity of the unexpected, you'll naturally imbue your travels with the kind of spirit that makes for invaluable experiences.

Nonetheless, a systematic analysis of more mundane issues is necessary to manage that effort and let it work its magic amid the unavoidable constraints of time and space and resources, constraints that suggest certain patterns for the grand scale design of your itinerary. In later chapters I provide the kind of nuts-and-bolts information that should prove helpful if not essential in this grand-scale planning. You might notice that I include no topographical and very little road-condition information in them. I omit the first kind of info because I don't want to waste your time with verbal descriptions of landscapes when maps can pictorially give you much more precise, thorough and immediate information. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Even non-topographic maps are filled with clues about the nature of the landscape: you can bet that the more winding the roads the more problematic and interesting the landscape.

It's worth noting here that mountainous countries such as Austria, Norway and Switzerland boast mountain tunnels—oftentimes marked on maps by dotted lines which allow roads or trains to carry motor vehicles through. Many of these tunnels are disconcertingly long and many run below natural passes and in an essentially parallel relation to a much older road which painstakingly but beautifully negotiates the vertical as well as the horizontal. I detail all these in the country chapters.

In Switzerland especially it's often impossible to "make good time" unless you use the expressways and tunnels. Check your Switzerland road map carefully when planning your schedule. But besides realizing the limits that the hyper-meandering roads impose, you should realize the potential they offer—increasingly breathtaking views on every turn. Plan to drive for driving's sake, and try to minimally constrain yourself with time-related issues. Ask yourself this question: Why do I want to drive quickly and horizontally through Switzerland?

Switzerland's postal coaches are famous for challenging the third dimension and thus providing unrivaled service to the extents of the country. Experienced chauffeurs with special training captain these coaches (which have three independent brake systems) on half- and full-day excursions along the backroads—both high and low. You can even take hand luggage of up to 50 kg (110 lbs.) free of charge.

As for road conditions, virtually none of the roads in 1990s Europe constitute a prohibitive threat to your safety or your plans; their condition should play little to no role in the planning of your itinerary. Go where you want to go.

To form the bulk of each country's chapter, I combine information regarding customs requirements, concessions for hostellers, toll roads, mountain passes, fuel considerations, unique road signs, rules of the road, driving tips, parking tips, bank hours, shop hours, national holidays, BBC broadcasting hours and corresponding radio frequencies, and how to handle breakdown or accident or other emergency situations. Countries with toll roads demand more attention if you want to avoid paying tolls. Mountainous terrain of course, as alluded to earlier, demands especially careful planning because of the up-and-down and winding nature of the roadways—and the unusually slow and difficult-to-predict pace of travel that results.

But don't get hung up now on the details. It's both more realistic and more cost-effective to address many of these issues when you're out on the road rather than when you're at home. Why overwhelm yourself with info you're likely to forget before you need it? For one thing, your instincts will quickly process most of the driving situations you'll encounter; and what's too complex for them will probably be easy pickings for your analytical side. Hey, besides this or any other guide, you've got untold millions of years of evolution going for you.

What's more, saving some studying and decisions until later tends to jive with the spirit of adventure and the fecundity of the unexpected that I discussed earlier. Indeed, it's arguable that you should minimize the planning you do each travel-day. There's so much to do and see in Europe that you'll never be at a loss for wonderful new experiences: everything will tend to fall into place. This tendency is especially strong in a motoring tour. Despite all the flexibility that a motor vehicle gives you, it also constrains you. The reasonable per-day distance associated with motor travel is much less than that associated with rail travel. Immediate options are limited: the next day's destination should lie within roughly a two hundred-mile radius. The route that tends to emerge and often makes sense is some sort of circuit or circular route. As such, the next destination usually emerges as obvious.

For those of you without much time in which to travel, adhering to a practical circular route may keep you from experiencing the kind of variety that you want to experience. Well, by putting your vehicle on a train or by dropping off a rented or leased vehicle somewhere other than where you picked it up, you can effect linear itineraries. Driving an essentially straight route allows you to experience great variety at a leisurely pace and in a relatively short time.

The French rail system, SNCF, offers a service called "Trains-autos-couchettes" that can take you and your car and passengers overnight to destinations in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. Finland's trains also provide such a service. In fact, the train systems of most countries offer some sort of auto-train service (called "Motorail" in English, "Autoreisezuge" in German, "Treni per Auto Accompagnate" in Italian, and "Trenes de Autos" in Spanish). Look for signs reading "auto/train" and depicting car-carrying flat beds or box cars. See the Motorail chapter for detailed descriptions of the Belgian, French, Italian and Spanish services.

Apart from offering the merits of a linear route, the advantages of traveling by Motorail include savings on gas and tolls (you'll take toll roads if you want to make the best possible time; figure about US$0.10 per mile, US$0.06 per kilometer) and the avoidance of wear and tear on your vehicle and yourself. Motorail trains make far fewer stops than typical trains; you travel faster and without having to change trains. Of course traveling overnight by train frees the daylight hours for other pursuits. Some sort of sleeping accommodation is compulsory on most overnight Motorail services. These accommodations range from, say, first class single-bed sleepers costing US$160 to second class couchettes holding six berths costing US$16 per.

But the savings don't necessarily stop with the above. The European-wide hotel chains Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, and Minotel grant reduced rates to SNCF (not just Motorail) travelers, as does Avis. Several ferry services do the same—but for Motorailers only. These include the following which cross between Britain or Ireland and the continent: Brittany Ferries, Hoverspeed, Le Shuttle (through the Chunnel), P&O European Ferries, and Stena Sealink. See the Motorail chapter for further mention of these reduced fares. Motorailers will also get discounts when plying the sea between France, Corsica or Sardinia on SNCM Ferryterranée, and between Spain and the Balearic Islands on Transmediterranea.

Stena Sealink also offers tickets combining Motorail service with their Landbridge ferry service that connects Ireland to the continent by way of Britain. The offerings include one-way ferry passage plus one-way Motorail travel, return ferry plus one-way Motorail, and return ferry plus return Motorail. Let's take one example: return ferry to Britain plus one-way Motorail between Rome, Italy, and Calais, France. The corresponding fare for two adults who initiate travel during the period early July to early September is approximately US$840; each additional adult pays about US$192; each child 4–11 years of age, about US$103. The return ferry service alone for a car, van or caravan plus driver and up to four extra adults costs something like US$339 during roughly the same period.

Whether a linear route will save you money depends on several factors. Let's say, for example, you got a good deal on a return flight to London and you want to taste a little of England before getting a car and driving at a leisurely pace to Rome. Let's also say that you have three weeks to get to Rome and back to London. Finally, let's say you lease a Renault for free delivery in Calais. One option would be to pay the US$190 return charge to leave the car in Rome, before returning to Calais by train at a cost of about US$190 per adult (not including the roughly US$75 charge for a sleeper), not to mention children, or by plane to London at a cost of US$250–350 per passenger (if you buy the plane ticket on the London market, where tickets are exceptionally cheap). Another option would be to make flight arrangements into London and out of Rome—arrangements, however, which may cost much more than a simple return flight to and from London. Motorail allows you to take delivery of the car in Calais, drive it to Rome, and put it on an overnight train back to Calais at a cost of about US$450 for the car and the driver, US$135 for each extra adult, US$68 for each extra child 4–11 years of age, and, say, US$75 per person for a two-berth sleeper.

Regardless of whether you plan to travel a circuitous or linear route, you'll have to start from a city. But you do not need a motor vehicle to see a European city. At least you don't want to begin your trip by doing lots of driving in a city: not only is it unnecessary, but it's also the most difficult driving you'll encounter in Europe. Plan to see the city in the days before you get the vehicle or in the days after you return it—or both. I recommended you do both. A vibrant city may be just what the doctor ordered to battle the jet lag at the beginning of your trip; while as a more experienced European traveler, you'll be more relaxed at the end of your trip and able enjoy the sophisticated side of a place like Paris much more than you were in the beginning.

Once off the beaten path you should have little trouble finding quality and relatively inexpensive accommodations—even during the high season. Unless you plan to rent a property or properties, consider making few accommodation reservations, some to cover the nights you'll spend in the city or cities you fly in or out of and some, perhaps, for your first day or two on the road, just to encourage a smooth start. Abstain from developing a detailed schedule. Also, think twice before driving on a holiday weekend. Not only are the roads more crowded on such weekends but so are hotels and restaurants. The Easter holiday and the two weeks around it play host to the worst crowds and traffic—especially in Southern Europe. On the other hand, many interesting festivals take place around holidays. My advice is that you plan your trip to include a national holiday but that you don't plan to travel much during that holiday.

To estimate distances, mark your map's scale on the edge of a piece of paper and then move the marked edge around your general route, adding the miles or kilometers as you go and using your imagination to add miles or kilometers to winding sections. Most atlases and maps, however, boast tables relating driving distances between major cities.

If you plan to do the classic grand tour, consider circling south early in the year, enjoying the early season warmth and avoiding the high season heat, humidity, crowds and prices.

The further south you go the more prevalent becomes petty crime. Most European countries don't experience a high incidence of vehicle theft. Unless you're driving a very expensive vehicle, thieves probably won't consider taking the vehicle itself. The taxis in Western Europe are evidence of this—they're Mercedes Benz. Still, the South is noted for its high incidence of theft from vehicles. The cities of Seville, Spain, and Naples, Italy, are infamous hotbeds of such crime. Instead of taking your vehicle into Naples, stay on the Ischia or Sorrento Peninsula and take the catamaran or aliscafi to the city. Otherwise, try parking out of view of the streets in such cities, or park on the street but near a place where traffic police are working or in front of banks or embassies where security measures are in place already. Parking on the even the busiest street in broad daylight won't help. Thieves, usually in packs of three or four, cruise the streets looking for foreign-registered vehicles, which they pilfer in a matter of seconds.

No matter where you are in Europe, don't leave any valuables in your vehicle if you can help it. Leave the glove compartment open and emptied. If you have a hatchback, take off the shield that conceals the trunk space. Pull down the back seat that gives access to the trunk. Consider leaving the passenger door unlocked: thieves will get in a locked door easily, but they may break a lock or a window doing it. In short, don't tempt; make the vehicle look as if someone else beat the thief to the prize.

You can even make your vehicle repulsive to certain thieves by leaving a life-like, rubber tarantula or snake in full view on the front passenger seat or on the open door of the glove compartment. This advice may sound ridiculous, but even the most hardened criminal has his phobias. And besides, you'll get a kick out of knowing that you—who most petty European thieves would take to be a fumbling, naive tourist—might be able to freak out one of these jerks.

On top of these tactics, you should take care to avoid a more much more rare type of thief, the type that's not deterred by the prospect of a confrontation with you. From Madrid comes a story about how such thieves might operate. The rental agencies at Madrid's airport park their vehicles in unprotected and unsupervised areas. This being so, thieves in Madrid have learned to puncture the tires of these vehicles, wait outside the parking area, follow the exiting vehicles, and rob them when the unsuspecting driver pulls over with a flat. Always be wary of roadside help offered by anyone other than a police officer or civil guard. If someone stops to help, ask them to contact the police for you. And conversely, don't you stop to help a stranded motorist: in the more marginal parts of Europe, roadside brigands are known to feign car trouble then rob you and/or steal your vehicle when you stop to help.

Undoubtedly you'll hear horror stories about driving in Italy. Try to evaluate the source. For example, on my first tour I met a family from Oregon who'd just finished driving in Italy; they resounded that driving in Rome was ridiculous chaos. Two days later, however, I met a couple from Manhattan who laughed and said driving in Rome was a breeze. Fewer deaths occur per million registered vehicles in Italy than per million registered vehicles in the United States. After driving extensively in Italy I'll say this: The cars move fast, but the streets in the cities are surprisingly wide, and the highways are fine. Italy, after all, is the home of the paved road. I'm from Iowa; some people call me "Corn Boy"; I've had fun.

Although I want to abstain from giving specifics, there are at least two campgrounds in Italy that demand special mention. One of these is in Florence, immediately below and to the right of the Piazzale Michelangelo as you face the city from the Piazzale. The view from the Piazzale at sunset is unforgettable: the River Arno running from the grapey night, hugging the bluff's base, passing the silhouetted mountain that is Brunelleschi's magnificent dome, cutting through the city's plateau of desultory red roofs, suffering bridge after antique bridge, and, in a long French kiss with the dying day, taking on before the folded arms of the horizon's hills the glow of memory and promise … a tableau of time. The view from the campground is essentially the same. The other campground worth mentioning is across the lagoon from none other than Venice. Camp on the shore and look across to the glorious city. From the campground entrance take the regular boat service across the lagoon for a ten-minute approach to the city that'll have you pinching yourself, thinking that such things were reserved for movie stars.

If, on the other hand, you choose to park at Venice's huge Tronchetto garage, you may be met on approach by a man seeming to be an employee and who will direct you to the right side of the garage, away from the Vaporetto dock. He'll try to help you with your bags and usher you to a water taxi charging rip-off fares of about US$100. If you balk he'll claim that the boat line you want is not in service. Just ignore these lowlifes and head to the left side of the garage for fairly priced parking and a cheap boat ride to the city center.

Looking to the east of Italy the question arises: How to do Greece by car? This is a good question. Currently, the best answer may be that you shouldn't. The problems in the former Yugoslavia make the most direct overland route to Greece very problematic, and traveling across the Adriatic accompanied by a vehicle means a costly ferry ride. Regardless, the myriad-island nature of Greece doesn't lend itself to driving. And the Greek roads are generally the worst in Europe. Perhaps as a direct result of these poor roads, Greece endures Europe's second highest incidence of motor-vehicle fatalities—and the worst accident rate in terms of the number of collisions per vehicle. Furthermore, the ports at Bari and Brindisi, Italy, are infamous for their thieves; think twice before you leave your vehicle at one of these ports.

But when will you have a better chance, right? You'll have a better chance if you fly in or return to London, where a return flight to Greece costs less than US$150. Persons using train passes should consider doing Greece separately as well. Train travel in Greece is slow and frustrating; the bus system is much better. Note that by going to Greece later in the year, you can avoid the big crowds and the high prices that go with them. Furthermore, you can avoid the uncomfortably hot days and nights. May is considered the best month in which to visit Greece. By October the rains return—but only one day a week on average. And averaging 60° Fahrenheit, nights are cooler and more comfortable in May and October (on average, 12° Fahrenheit cooler than July and August, 6° Fahrenheit cooler than June and September). Ferries serve some Greek islands on a daily basis and some on a weekly basis. If you want to maintain maximum flexibility in your travel plans, consider traveling only to those islands that the ferries serve daily.

You can travel to Turkey by motor vehicle via the Istanbul route—an expressway bypasses the city—or by ferry. Note that Turkey's train system is quite bad; buses there offer much more timely and extensive service and cost only about $1.50 per hour. Perhaps the bus travel is so good because Turkey's roads are surprisingly good; don't hesitate to drive in Turkey.

I mentioned earlier that theft of vehicles is not a problem in Western Europe, but this is not the case in Poland, for example. Poland suffers (or benefits, you might say) from a very high rate of theft of western vehicles, which, once swiped, are taken to Russia and sold. (In Poland the taxis are not Mercedes Benz!) The same is true for Prague, in the Czech Republic, and for the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In these places consider parking near a train station in outlying areas or towns that tourists don't frequent. Thieves hang out where the tourists hang out. You can take one of the frequent trains (there's usually one every hour) into the major metro areas, where you don't need a vehicle anyway. The ride will cost just a few dollars. I once left my car for four days near the train station in Plzen, the birthplace of pilsner beer and the home of the world-famous Pilsner Urquell brew. From there I took a US$3 train ride the remaining one hundred miles into Prague. To read the train schedules, however, you should know that in Slavic languages like Czech and Polish the preposition Do, do, or go, pronounced "doe," means to (literally, until), as in "departing to"; while the preposition om, pronounced "ott," means from, as in "arriving from." There's a good chance, however, that thieves won't rip-off your vehicle if you drive into the major metropolitan areas of these countries—especially if it's ugly and you're careful. Of course a deterrent such as "The Club" or an installed kill switch (standard now on many new European-version vehicles) will help, as will turning your wheels all the way to the curb and engaging the steering-wheel lock.

If you plan to drive a BMW or the like, you may be justified in fearing the criminals of Southern and Eastern Europe. As such, one compromise option to consider in the initial stages of planning your journey is the following: take the trains in Southern and Eastern Europe and drive in northwest Europe. Not only is crime more prevalent in Southern and Eastern Europe, but the train tickets are much cheaper there as well. For example, the number of kilometers you can travel per dollar in various countries or sections of Europe are as follows: Turkey—40 km; Eastern Europe—17 km; Spain—13 km; Italy—12 km; France—10 km; Germany—8 km; Scandinavia—7 km; England—6 km. To take advantage of these price gradients, you'd have to buy point-to-point train tickets or single-country passes instead of inter-country passes. Besides the issues of crime and rail fares, there's the issue of language. The populations of Southern and Eastern Europe do not speak English with anywhere near the frequency or skill as do the populations of Europe's northwest. In the northwest you can realize the full potential of your motor vehicle by getting out to meet and actually converse with the people who don't see tourists very often. I've already mentioned that it's better to buy a vehicle in the northwest. Well, if you do buy, staying in that region with the vehicle will keep your fuel costs down, and if any problems arise—and they are less likely to arise in the more temperate, industrialized and Anglicized northwest—you can deal with them much easier. Defining the limits of your itinerary on a more geological basis, however, may be the best approach. Here's an idea: Don't drive south of the great mountain ranges (the Alps and the Pyrénées) or east of the former Iron Curtain. You'll want the motor vehicle in the mountains, however, to propel you up into beautiful scenery and hard-to-get-at hideaways.

The criminal, economic, and cultural issues which prompt consideration of the above compromises are complex and generally not weighty. I don't want to give the impression that enough circumstances, dangerous or otherwise, exist to justify a broad recommendation of these compromises. On the contrary, I recommend that you resist, in spirit at least, such compromises, for they are based largely on fear and fear alone—and fear is usually overblown and much more likely to sabotage your trip than are criminal elements or monetary or cultural constraints.

There's another grand plan which combines train and motor vehicle travel, a plan which is not basically a compromise and which does arise from weighty issues. Because a motor vehicle is usually a liability in major cities, you may want to use the high-speed trains to dart disjointedly to the major cities you wish to see, doing this either before you get a motor vehicle or after you return one. You can use the motor vehicle to explore the smaller towns and the countryside. This way you'll experience all the major facets of the European travel infrastructure and subculture, avoiding the most negative aspects of each while exploiting the most positive. The one drawback to this plan is the unbalanced nature of the itinerary—a continuous series of cities followed by a continuous series of small towns and countrysides. Although I hesitate to call such series monotonous, they may not constitute the proper balance for you. You can be flexible, however, using the train to go to some smaller towns or countryside stops and using the motor vehicle to make an occasional excursion into a larger town or city. You may also want to combine this plan with the compromise of taking trains in Southern and Eastern Europe and driving in northwest Europe.

Moving north we come to the land of my forebears: Scandinavia Norway's cost of living is the highest in Europe—you'll pay US$30 a night for a bed in an Oslo or Bergen hostel. Surprisingly, however, I've spent less money per day there than in any of the other countries I've visited. Why the paradox? Norway, Sweden and Finland sanction or tolerate tent camping on just about any unfenced land—even if private—as long as you're 100 meters (about 100 yards) from any dwellings, stay no more than two nights, and pick up after yourself. The long summer days in Scandinavia make camping there easier still. Bring a good sleeping bag though: it can get cold. I've spent three-fourths of my Norwegian nights free-camping. However, for safety's sake, I recommend that you do not free-camp. I recommend that you camp only in secure camping places designed to accommodate campers.

Norway's scenery is truly incredible, especially her fjord country—maybe the world's most salient precinct of the possible. And the civilization is ideally and wonderfully integrated: In Norway you always feel close to nature, but never far from civilization. If you do go to Norway, be sure to visit Oslo's Frogner Park. Over 150 granite and bronze statues sculpted over some thirty years by Gustav Vigeland stand in the park—the most remarkable collection of sculpture in Europe, in my opinion. Admittance to the park is free of charge.

Late spring or early summer is the best time to visit Scandinavia. The longest days occur in late June, when it's light until midnight. There is snow in the summer, high atop the fjords. In fact, you can ski in the summer near Stryn, Norway, about six hours by car northwest of Oslo. Check the Norway chapter for information about road closings.

Of course you'll have to end your motoring tour in a city or town. Note that Paris makes a good transition point. Not only is Paris one of the best places in the world in which to hangout without a vehicle, but if you plan to continue traveling you may be able to sponge a still-valid Eurailpass off one of the many travelers who fly home from there. With this ticket you can get to Ireland and travel around it for free. This trick is illegal, however. If a conductor or ferry operator asks for your passport and compares it to the name on the pass, you may be in some trouble. I'd say such an investigation is quite unlikely and that by far the biggest threat associated with such chicanery is the threat to your good conscience.

Several factors coincide to make London the best place in which to transition or conclude a grand tour. First, you'll make many Aussie and Kiwi friends while traveling on the continent. Most of these folks base their travels out of Britain—London especially—where they've come to spend a couple of years. Late in the summer they tend to return to Britain to work and pay for their summer fun. As such, you can travel the Isles with these temporary Brits or stay at their place and avoid the high costs of London's accommodations. And it's likely that after showing this book to these notoriously high-spirited travelers, you can persuade them to chip in and help you buy a motor vehicle in which you can then travel the Isles together. The market will be a buyer's in late summer. Second, London is the home of the cheap flight. Off season you can fly from London to Greece for the aforementioned US$150 return, or to Moscow for US$300 return, or to Bangkok for US$300 one way, or to Sydney for US$425 one way, or to Auckland for US$550 one way, or to New York for $150 one way, or to Chicago for US$275 one way, or to Los Angeles for US$200 one way. Third, your command of the local language will allow you to make complicated arrangements for extensions to your trip. If you do plan an extension to your trip, stop in Stanford's Travel Bookshop, 12 Long Acre, London: they claim to offer the largest selection of travel literature in the world. Fourth, note that in the beginning stages of a trip you'll be psyched to try other languages, but by the end you'll pang for good 'ol English. Finally, a special note for budget travelers on a serious budget: unlike those on the continent, most hostels in Britain and Ireland take Visa and MasterCard, so if you're running low on funds, you can finance more of your traveling with a credit card.

Also contributing to the above argument are three factors which make Britain an outstanding bookend to a grand tour—whether it stands at the beginning or the end. First, Britain does not honor Eurailpasses but it does offer many exciting alternatives. Second, the English Channel and Britain's left-side driving convention tend to make transporting a vehicle between Britain and the continent an unwise venture. Finally there's the weather. Rain falls in Britain and Ireland an average of two to three times a week all year round. Don't get too cute and go to the Britain or Ireland with sun and warmth figured into your plan; sun and warmth are not why you go there. Although the waters that surround these islands buffer them from grand climate changes, this just succeeds in making the weather consistently blah. But you can work the isles' blahness to your advantage by realizing that most people equate high temperatures with good weather and good times. The vast majority of people visit the Isles in July and August when the temperature is highest. But what's this? It rains much more in July and August than it does earlier in the year. And in the South of England and in Ireland it also rains less in September and October than it does in July and August. A tour bus operator in Killarney, Ireland, told me that in July and August up to 150 tour buses work the Kerry Peninsula; while in October there are only five or so a day. He also noted the fortuitous nature of the colder temperatures: the days tend to be clearer after the night frosts. Of course, the lower temperatures and smaller crowds mean lower prices and fewer hassles as well. Strongly consider combining the world-famous Edinburgh Festival—held from mid August to early September—with a September and October tour of the isles, but make your reservations in the spring for accommodation in Edinburgh during the festival. As for spring around Britain, you'll love England and Holland in late April and May if you're into flowers. Note also that June is considered the best month—weather-wise—in which to visit Britain.

Here are some other major European festivals and happenings.

accommodations

Nothing has done more to take a sense of civic identity, a feeling of community, from small-town America than the loss of old hotels to the motel business. The hotel was once where things coalesced, where you could meet both townspeople and travelers. Not so in a motel. No matter how you build it, the motel remains the haunt of the quick and dirty, …

As travelers are becoming more sophisticated, intrepid, and value-conscious, they're looking for accommodations that promise a real connection with the European people and landscape and with fellow travelers—a connection that the modern-day hotel or motel doesn't foster. Well, between hostels, pensions, camping, rentals, homestays, farmstays, home exchanges, volunteer work, paid work, and study there are increasingly many such accommodation options to choose from.

Hostels

Hostels began in 1920's Germany as lodges for fattening and cheering up German youths who'd suffered through World War I and it's aftermath. Hostels are much more than that now—although on occasion they still play host to swarming school groups. Today, hostels operate Europe-wide in the cities, in the villages, in the countryside, in castles, on islands, along the beaches, on sailing ships, and in the mountains. Many are spartan, but a considerable number rival hotels—offering single rooms, doubles, triples, and quads, apart from the classic summer camp-style bunkhouse arrangement. Most have an area for socializing. Some even sport bars. One hostel I've stayed at, nestled near the base of small medieval town gracing the lip of a yawning Provençal valley, boasts a crystal clear swimming pool extending into a vineyard and serves up a delicious meal—complete with all the wine you want—each night. And the average hostel charges just US$12 for a night's stay. As such, hostels attract interesting and fun people of all ages from all over, who either seek out or find themselves caught up in hostelling's unparalleled and positive social dynamic, people with whom you'll exchange travel advice, jokes, addresses, cooking duties and more, people who'll contribute to and share some of the best days of your life. As travel guru Rick Steves says, "Hostelling is a philosophy. A hosteller trades services and privacy for a chance to live simply and in cooperation with people from around the world."

Most people associate hostels with the college-age crowd. It's true that the clientele slants toward the young; but middle-class families, school groups, the elderly, and professionals—young and old—frequent so-called "youth" hostels. Only Bavaria's hostels still impose an age restriction (26 years and under). I've met a jazz musician, a sculptor, an architect, and a private detective in hostels; I've met actors, engineers, Australian Golden Oldies rugby players, teachers, welders, writers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, computer programmers, a group of fifth graders in former East Germany who bashfully practiced their English on native speakers—a friend and me—for the first time; I've met families; I've met ninety-year old women; and I've met several people who work for the same international business consulting firm I once did. If people are as worthy of exploration as are continents, then each hostel is like a Pangea, a supercontinent or conglomeration of continents, waiting for you to discover it. In this sense hostels transcend the physical continent of Europe and become destinations in themselves. Often you'll hear people describing their travel plans in terms of hostels: "I'm going to [this or that] hostel," they'll say.

A remarkably high percentage of hostellers basically travel by themselves—and it's worth noting of this subset that a fantastically high percentage are young women. I say "basically by themselves" because a phenomenal and universal tendency exists for lone travelers to bond and band together. Often such bands end up traveling together for several days or weeks or months even, splitting up with great memories and no hard feelings whenever this or that member decides to go his or her own way. It does take a measure of courage to travel alone, but this fact helps explain why lone travelers tend to be even more interesting than people who travel in groups or with old friends. On many occasions I've sat drinking beers or eating dinner with a group of five or six travelers who were all traveling solo. These groups have always been unanimous in concluding that solo is the best way to travel. Indeed, solo travel results in such an unusual and marvelous dynamic that you'll wonder if it'll change for the better the social approach you take at home; unfortunately, though, I think it's unique to the travel circuit. In fact I've found that when I travel with even just one friend, we tend not to meet as many people: we're usually having a good time as is and so don't need to meet others. It's this common need, combined with a desire to interact, that's the catalyst of the wonderful hostelling dynamic. What Arthur Frommer said is remarkably true: hostels are the "most dynamic travel facilities on earth."

And a hostelling "circuit" truly exists. On myriad occasions I've run into people I'd met one or two months previous and a thousand or two thousand miles away. Or I've met someone who'd met someone I'd met. You follow? The circuit amounts to a true and powerful, albeit transitory, community that springs from its fun-loving, gutsy, intelligent, multicultural and multinational elements and is catalyzed and intensified by amazing surroundings and the transience inspired by the plurality of those surroundings. Indeed, the hostelling community is one of the most modern communities on earth, analogous to a manifestation of the burgeoning virtual-community that exists traveling fiber optic cables.

It all reminds me of John Cllellon Holmes' description of Jack Kerouac and company.

Though they rushed back and forth across the country on the slightest pretext, gathering kicks along the way, their real journey was inward; and if they seemed to trespass most boundaries, legal and moral, it was only in the hope of finding a belief on the other side.

But apart from recognizing the inwardly spiritual journeys that many hostellers are on, you sense a collective and unmistakable vibe—still spiritual in its nature, but outwardly so—when you're tossing back a few cold ones with, say, a couple of Germans, some Italians, a South African, two Swiss, an Aussie, an Israeli, a couple of Canadians, a Kiwi, three Belgians and a Swede; it's like in e.e. cummings' Enormous Room, but with the players brought together by the power of peace instead of war; it's the answer to and the result of centuries of conflict; it's the super reality of a new world, the salty stuff of living history; and you drink drink drink it down.

Of course, not every hostel will jive with your sensibility or catalyze a profound tickling of your spirit. Rely first on word of mouth and second on the budget-travel guidebooks.

Many hostels belong to the Hostelling International organization. Such hostels denote themselves with the stylized logo—standard worldwide—that I show in the General Driving Info chapter. To stay in such hostels you should get a Hostelling International (HI) membership card. You can still stay in these hostels if you don't have the card, but you'll have to pay a bit more. The card costs US$10 for persons under 18 years of age, US$25 for adults 18–54 years of age, US$15 for persons 55 years of age and up, US$35 for families with children under 16 years of age, or US$250 for life. See the Documents chapter for instructions on how to order the card.

Aside from the lower rates at hostels, a membership in HI entitles you to numerous substantial discounts. As part of each country chapter, I list those HI discounts that relate to driving and to ferry passage. Other HI discounts include reduced prices for museum admission, sporting equipment rental, and more. Even if you don't plan to stay in hostels, you may find that these discounts make membership in HI worthwhile.

Furthermore, hundreds of HI hostels operate in wonderful spots across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. I bet you never even knew they were around. Such domestic hostels offer a great way to cheaply travel your home country while you act as unofficial ambassador to visiting foreigners.

Thanks to a new international computer system, you can now make reservations with participating HI hostels in over seventy countries by calling one source; in the US the number to call is 202 783 6161. You can use Visa or MasterCard to pay for the reservations. A US$2 reservation fee applies. However, only make reservations if you must: your plans are likely to change. (Remember the fecundity of the unexpected.) For example, do make reservations for popular big-city hostels during the high season. And always make reservations in Paris, or else get to the hostel before 9:00 a.m. Some hostels, though, don't take reservations.

Hostels operating separately from the HI organization are known as "independents" and, of course, require no membership card. The services provided by these hostels tend to be better than those of HI hostels, the rules less limiting, and the atmosphere more fun and easy going. But of course this rule doesn't always hold true.

Apart from hostels located in the center of a major city, almost all offer free parking. What's more, nearly every hostel sports a well-equipped kitchen (with pots, pans, silverware, dishes, ovens, refrigerators, etc.) where you can cook your own food. Often I team up with other hostellers to cook—and clean up after—rather impressive meals. Many hostels also offer coin- or token-operated laundry facilities (soap included gratis). Of course the sink or a laundromat is always an option. (Laundromats sell soap.) Hostels provide the pillows and blankets; but many HI hostels require a "sleep sheet", a sewn-up sheet that you sleep in. If you don't have a sleep sheet, the hostel will provide one—usually for a small fee. You could claim you have a sleep sheet and then proceed to use, say, your sleeping bag; but for your comfort, and to avoid these small charges piling up, it's worth making your own sleep sheet and bringing it along. You should bring a pair of ear plugs too; the little foam kind are the best. These beauties will add at least one hour of sleep to each of your nights in a hostel. Even if you're in a room with five other people, ear plugs will make it sound like an empty nest. Buy your ear plugs at a pharmacy at home or in Europe, or get them free of charge when you order something such as a sleep sack or neck pouch from Europe Through the Backdoor. You might also want an eye mask; North Americans can buy a mask and ear plugs from the marvelous Magellan's Travel Essentials catalog.

Hostels have a reputation as being places of theft, a reputation that's largely undeserved. No budget traveler ever comes home and rattles off a list of all the hostels where nobody stole something from them, but be sure they'll tell you of the hostels where such a theft occurred. In other words, these things tend to get blown out of proportion. Many hostels offer lockers for your use—some with a coin-operated lock, some without a lock. I bring a chain and padlock that I use on lockers without locks and to lock my pack to something if there's no locker at all. Never have any of my possessions been stolen while in a hostel. Yet I'm careful: I take a clue from nature and sleep with my valuables between my legs, and I don't leave other things in view if I can help it—out of sight is out of mind. The overwhelming number of hostellers wouldn't think of stealing your stuff, but it only takes one to ruin your day.

Many hostels—usually only HI hostels—enforce a daily lockout, from, say, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During this time the staff cleans the place. Usually a lockout means that you can't enter your room, but it may mean you can't enter any part of the hostel. Lockouts are an infamous drawback to hostelling, but at least they force you to get off your butt. Don't worry, the operators of the hostel will let you leave your possessions in the room, or, if you're gonna check out later that day, they'll store your possessions in a safe place. To keep costs down, some hostels ask each guest to perform a small chore each morning; try to do it with pleasure.

Pensions

Pensions constitute a major alternative to hostels—especially in the South. Pensions are cheap hotels, often as cheap or cheaper than hostels; but they cater to travelers rather than the down and out, and as such the room-quality tends to be much better than you might expect. (Be sure, however, to check before you pay.) You either get your own room and key or share a room with other travelers. A chief advantage over hostels is that you can come and go as you please. What's more, pensions tend to be located right in the thick of the action. They don't, though, offer the cooking or laundry facilities that most hostels do.

If you plan to stay in a combination of hostels and pensions, and if you plan to adhere to common budget-travel principles, you should budget at least US$30 a day to cover your lodging, food, drink, sightseeing, metropolitan public transport, and miscellaneous expenses.

Camping

Most Europeans view camping as being cheap, socially oriented accommodation rather than the rugged, back-to-nature experience that North Americans tend to picture. As such, organized campgrounds are good places to meet the middle class sector of European society, a somewhat different crowd than you'll find in hostels or hotels. Still, since Europeans are relatively reserved, European campers probably won't come up and introduce themselves to you; you should make the first effort.

European campgrounds usually itemize fees—charging for each person, tent, vehicle and trailer. Campgrounds there are rated on a four-star scale; and apart from the basics, four-star operations are likely to provide several of the following: laundromat, grocery store, restaurant, bar, disco, swimming pool, water slide, sauna, tennis courts, fitness facilities, miniature golf course, horseback riding, a library, and a playground. Many campgrounds also offer mobile homes or bungalows for rent. Unless you plan to rent one of these, don't worry about reservations: European campgrounds are never "full"; the operators will pack you in if need be. But beware that most campgrounds lock the gate for the night at about 10:00 p.m. and for lunch from noon to 2:00 p.m. Also, most don't provide picnic tables, and, sad to say, disallow campfires. Though the toilets can be perplexing, I'd rather let you discover their wonders for yourself than force you to suffer through a description here. As for the showers, expect all varieties; and if using one that's token operated, make sure you know how much time a token gives you.

So many well-marked campgrounds dot the European landscape that finding them is usually a no-brainer. Look for the international camping sign: either a "C" with a tent superimposed or else a stylized trailer. Greece, however, denotes campgrounds with a sign reading "EOT." And if you find a campground labeled "FKK" or "Frei Körper Kultur" (literally translated, free body culture), you've found a clothing-optional campground. The major cities, too, harbor popular campgrounds. For instance, Thalkirchen campground on the Isar River just twenty minutes outside Munich is a wonderful spot, bordered by the river and within a forest and boasting cafes and bars and an international clientele. Most budget guidebooks describe the best campgrounds in and around the bigger cities or otherwise-popular spots. If you plan to do lots of camping, however, a special guide may be worth its price. Also, many of the tourist offices will send you detailed information about campgrounds.

We at IdeaMerge suggest that our clients do not plan to rely solely on any one campground guide nor even on any collection of such guides (whether they be in book form, software form, or online) to determine the location or quality of appropriate campgrounds. Such a guide — especially if it is provided free of charge by the motorhome rental vendor, tourist office or another entity — should not be considered suitably thorough and up to date, although in many cases they are very useful. Even if a vendor’s policy is to provide such guide with every rental vehicle, they occasionally run out of supply because too many clients lose or abscond with the guide, or for other reasons beyond the vendor's control. IdeaMerge therefore suggests a sort of rule of three: use at least two published guides (in book form, software form, or online), and rely on your own on-the-ground research (e.g. following local signage, questioning local people, and so forth) to complete the picture. Market forces usually take care of the rest because they result in campground locations per the general demand and thus near where you are most likely to desire such location. Neither IdeaMerge nor the vendor is responsible to assist in locating or recommending campgrounds to clients. Any assistance IdeaMerge or the vendor does give in that respect should not be interpreted as sanctioning or signifying the suitability of the services or products provided at the campground, although IdeaMerge never provides such support unless we believe the company or institution we name is reputable and engaged in the business or service they purport to. Inclusion or exclusion of mention of such entity by IdeaMerge does not necessarily signify the suitability of their services or products.

Camping, of course, is a huge money saver. Discreet free-camping, though explicitly prohibited in certain countries, is tolerated almost everywhere in Europe. Sweden officially sanctions free-camping, and Norway and Finland tolerate it in principle. The people of those countries consider free-camping a right: everyman's right (allmansratten), they call it. To properly exercise that right, as it were, a person camps in their tent on unfenced and uncultivated land, at least 150 meters (just over 150 yards) away from any dwelling, stays no more than two nights, and cleans up after himself or herself. Note that Allmansratten does not apply to motorhomes. I've camped on Norway's wooded hills, on precipices high above fjords, on the shores of fjords, and even within the city limits of Oslo. When hygiene became an issue, I'd duck in to an organized campground and either bum or pay for a shower. Furthermore, I took advantage of the long summer days in the "Land of the Midnight Sun," often setting up camp in daylight between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. (By the way, Europe in general is on a much higher latitude than the US; as such, the summer sun sets much later there.)

When not in Scandinavia, you could take your chances and free-camp unannounced in some discreet spot or you could do the right thing by asking permission of the land owner. If you choose the second option, chances are your host will engage you in a fascinating conversation and, if you're lucky, invite you to dinner. Of course you can sleep in your vehicle if you like.

For safety's sake, however, I recommend that you do not free-camp. I recommend that you camp only in secure camping places designed to accommodate campers.

Many motorhomers spend the night in the parking lots of tourist attractions — under the pretense that they're waiting to get in early — or, say, of supermarkets or marinas. Even more popular are the rest stops along expressways. Many of those are designed to facilitate overnight stays. In England you're supposed to pay a small charge to stay overnight at such stops, but the charge is rarely enforced. Again, however, for safety's sake, I recommend that motorhomers stay overnight only in secure places designed to accommodate such campers.

Most European motorhomes have chemical toilets with detachable cassettes designed to be emptied in special receptacles—called "Chem WC" units—installed at most campgrounds, or into a regular toilet. As made clear in the Shipping and Importing chapter, because irremovable holding tanks are not common on European motorhomes many campgrounds don't have a North American-type dumping station. Campgrounds or other camping facilities with such a station are denoted by the trailer pictogram and/or the words "Entsorgungskanal" (German), "scarigare" (Italian), or "vidoir" (French). The German auto club ADAC (see the Germany chapter) publishes and distributes—free of charge to members of affiliated clubs—a list and map of such dumping stations. For a charge, some campgrounds will allow you to dump without staying overnight. Don't dump these tanks by a highway or in a field—this is highly illegal. If you must, visit a municipal sewage treatment plant to do the job.

Most campgrounds provide central drinking-water taps with a hose connected so motorhomers can fill their tank. Bring a length of hose—having a half-inch fitting—so you can fill up from a distance.

Virtually all European motorhomes are wired with 10 Amp circuits that, given the 220 Volt standard, allow you to use up to 2200 Watts (that's 10 x 220) of power at any one time. Note that an appliance such as a hair dryer can demand almost this much power. And where the voltage is lower, you'll have even less power to play with. Though in the mid eighties Europe went to a standard known as CEE 17 for campground sockets and plugs, many campgrounds are not in compliance. Still, most will provide free of charge any adapter you might need to interface a European model vehicle to the camp's system. (See the Packing chapter for a discussion of electrical standards.) Some campgrounds offer a meter at each site, charge you to hook up, and then charge per kilowatt-hour. Others impose an inclusive charge. Since you may have to park quite a distance from a socket, bring a 25 meter connecting cord designed for outdoor use. See the Documents chapter for a discussion of the camping carnet document. See the Packing chapter for a list of necessary camping equipment.

Rental Properties

Rental arrangements usually require more lead time than do hotel arrangements, sometimes as much as eight months. And although some rentals are available for one- or two-day stays, most require a stay of a week or more. What's more, you may be asked to pay extra and in advance for maid services and the like that are normally included in the price of a hotel room. And if you must cancel, you might lose the entire prepayment. Once you arrive you'll likely be required to meet with a property manager, local agent or neighbor to obtain the keys, turn on the utilities, and arrange phone service. Still, a rental can be well worth all this.

A popular option in France is a country cottage or gîte ("zheet"). Gîtes de France is a French government agency that was created after WWII to help the French rural economy stay afloat. It serves as a sort of rental agency for private property owners who want to supplement their incomes. The units, usually in small villages or in the countryside, must meet certain government standards. Another helpful source for thousands of inexpensive rural rentals in France is the Maison des Gîtes.

In Italy you can stay in a working seminary or other religious institution for about US$20–30 per night.

If you want to physically inspect a property before you rent it, you can book a hotel room for the first day or so and then shop around for a rental. Apart from inquiring at the local tourist office, you can try stopping by the local train station: most of the main train stations host real estate agencies. You can also go direct to the manager of a large rental complex. Don't expect much, however, if you're operating in the high season.

If you're looking for a flat in Britain, the following translations of ad-speak will prove helpful.

If you want to take the easy way out and pay more money, try the property rental agencies in the Links.

Homestays and Farmstays

Rather than renting your own hideaway, you can arrange to stay with Europeans in their homes—sometimes for a charge, sometimes not. The following organizations help arrange homestays: American International Homestays, Borton Overseas, Friendship Force, The Hospitality Exchange, Global Social Venture Network, SERVAS, Worldwide B&B and Exchange Services.

Also take note of the People to People series of directories by Jim Haynes, and the International Meet-the-People Directory.

It's especially common for farmers to host travelers who want to stay for a week or more—in the farmhouse itself, a guest house, or a barn-like structure. As with a typical homestay, there's almost always a charge for such accommodation.

Home Exchanges

One option that gets easier and more popular each year is a home and vehicle exchange. The biggest hurdle is trust; the easier it is for both parties to establish the more practical this option becomes. Several organizations arrange such swaps and provide the kind of professional, third-party assistance that's the catalyst of this trust. It's ultimately your responsibility to screen potential tenants and to take whatever precautionary measures you deem necessary. Make sure your homeowners insurance covers damage done by temporary tenants and includes liability insurance to protect you in case a guest is injured in your home. If you rent to or exchange with strangers, make sure the contract stipulates that they pay for the replacement value of anything they happen to damage. Consider asking for a security deposit as well. There's really nothing stopping you from including motor vehicles in the swap. If you do include vehicles, first OK this with your auto-insurance provider, and confirm that the other party has done the same. If you're an academic, work for an international company or firm, or belong to some other reputable international organization (such as a church or a medical society), contact some of your European colleagues.

If you succeed in securing an exchange, consider exchanging lists of friends, too. And if you agree to exchange vehicles, get the agreement in writing, and carry it in the vehicle always, along, of course, with proof that the owner has properly insured and registered the vehicle. You need to carry a special form of authority, an Autorizacao certificate, if you plan to drive someone else's vehicle in Portugal; get the form at a registration office in Europe, or contact your local motoring club or a Portuguese tourist office or embassy. A similar requirement is made by Turkey. If you lose any of the registration or permissive documents, contact the local police. Don't swap for a French-registered vehicle, however: in France it's illegal to drive a vehicle not registered to you and not bearing a person it is registered to.

Volunteer Work

Apart from the saved cost of accommodation, the spiritual rewards of volunteer work can be enormous. Recently I volunteered for a two-week stint (usually the minimum required stay) on an archaeological dig in France. The work was hard but interesting (Neanderthal artifacts); and the project provided a great opportunity to eat, drink, and play with the natives. And we ate and drank and played a lot. I made many friends—despite the fact that I was the only one on the dig who didn't speak, or at least have some background in, French. It was also a nice way to take a break from traveling.

Paid Work

You may want to work for pay while in Europe. Technically speaking, European governments require most foreigners to obtain a work permit before working for pay in Europe. Contact Council Travel, Travel CUTS, or STA Travel (see the Documents chapter) to obtain European work permits.

Study Abroad

If you plan to stay abroad for an extended length of time, you should consider subscribing to Transitions Abroad. This no-nonsense, information-packed magazine addresses, among other things, all the subjects discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, TA's annual Educational Travel Resource Guide is the most thorough directory available of volunteer-work, paid-work, study-abroad, and living-abroad resources. TA's mission statement is the following:

documents

Driving

The Fédération Internationale de l' Automobile (FIA) and the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) each sponsor alliances of various national motoring clubs—including the AA, AAA, CAA, and NAC—such that participating clubs reciprocate their benefits to members of allied clubs. Depending on its affiliation, your club will give you an FIA and/or AIT booklet as your entitlement to these benefits. In each country chapter, I note and provide the address and telephone number of the applicable clubs; still, AAA members might as well ask for the brochure "Offices to Serve You Abroad". In addition to assuring your reciprocal membership in dozens of European motoring clubs, the FIA and AIT booklets contain letters of credit which help cover such costs as vehicle repair and medical and legal fees. If you don't belong to an FIA or AIT-affiliated club, you can effect the above coverage by paying free—some low, some relatively high—for temporary membership in foreign clubs.

Some of these clubs sell separate breakdown coverage. For instance, you can buy Europe-wide breakdown coverage from either of Britain's automobile clubs—the Automobile Association (AA), tel. 01256 21023, or the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), tel. 01800 678000—but you must first buy a membership, an expensive proposition. A cheaper and adequate alternative is the coverage offered by the London-based outfit National Breakdown, tel. 0171 499 0039.

Many countries require of you, the foreign driver, no license apart from your domestic drivers license. However, certain countries require of certain non-resident drivers an International Driving Permit (IDP) in addition. You should contact the relevant tourist office, consulate or embassy to determine whether a country requires you to carry an IDP while driving. A good secondary indicator in this respect is the IDP webpage posted by the UK's Automobile Association. Basically an IDP is a means by which police in a foreign country can know — in terms of translations in nearly a dozen different languages — that your domestic driver's license is indeed recognized as being valid by the proper authorities in your country. (See the excellent article at Drivers.com.) Is it really necessary that you obtain an IDP if you plan to drive in the aforementioned countries? In practice of course it depends on the particular police officer who might happen to pull you over. The vehicle leasing company (e.g. Renault Eurodrive) doesn't care whether or not you have an IDP; it's up to you whether you cover yourself in this regard.

The local office of your auto club (AAA, AA, CAA, etc.) sells IDPs for about US$20. If you need an IDP, take your license, two passport-sized photos and the requisite cash to the club office. (Though for about US$10 the club may snap Polaroid photos for you.) Ten minutes later you'll be able to legally drive on any European road—assuming you're at least 18 years of age. If you plan to operate a motorcycle in Europe, be sure to have the auto club certify your qualification to do so. The USA's AAA now has a Webpage whereby drivers licensed in the USA can obtain an IDP: AAA's application for IDP. Web searches will bring up a host of Websites selling documents that conform to the model delineated in annex 10 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (1949); but according to Article 24 of that convention, a truly valid IDP is one which is "issued .. by the competent authority of another Contracting State or subdivision thereof, or by an association duly empowered by such authority ...." The US State Department says it has empowered only the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) to issue IDPs. (The AATA offers IDPs through the National Automobile Club.)

Whether you rent, lease, buy or ship a vehicle, you'll surely get Green Card auto insurance in the process, the kind that explicitly covers you in several countries instead of just one. However, as I describe in the Buying chapter, even Green Card insurance excludes certain European countries from the domain of its coverage. And if you buy your own insurance to cover a vehicle you ship to or buy in Europe, you'll have to buy it in minimum one-month increments. Fortunately, certain non-Green Card auto-insurance policies—designed specifically for foreign motorists, sponsored by one European country or another, and effective in that country only—allow you to augment Green Card insurance so you can drive in more countries and/or be insured over periods that are not multiples of one month. A country may make such insurance available through its embassies or consulates or through offices located at points of entry. Italy, for example, sells auto insurance—good in Italy only—that covers fifteen, thirty or forty-five day periods; but if you want to buy this insurance, you must do so before you arrive in Italy. Finland, Norway, and Sweden, on the other hand, form a common border insurance area: insurance that does or doesn't cover you in one of these countries does or doesn't cover you in the others. Scandinavian regional insurance is sold at border entry points of each Scandinavian country; minimum validity 30 days, maximum 1 year.

It used to be that Green Card insurance was the only true blanket coverage available, but besides the Scandinavian agreement, many other countries have recently agreed to join one alliance which recognizes as valid in any member state the auto insurance sold in such states. Countries not party to this agreement are Albania, Andorra, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. A Green Card is compulsory in Andorra, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania; and it's strongly recommended for travel in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. A Green Card covering Turkey should be valid for both the European and Asian sectors.

Despite all the other insurance options, good 'ol fashioned Green Card insurance is still preferable: the documents that come with it are familiar to officials Europe wide and are very useful when reporting a traffic accident.

If you plan to buy auto insurance in Europe, you should, if possible, secure from your auto-insurance provider a statement of accident-free driving. By presenting such a statement when you buy your insurance, you can qualify for substantial discounts.

As discussed in the Renting chapter, vehicles using Swiss expressways must be graced by a special sticker or vignette. You can buy this vignette for 40 SwF at Swiss National Tourist offices, Swiss Customs posts (the border), Swiss post offices, or Swiss garages. At the border you can pay in SwF, EUR £'s and USD. You can also pay inside the Customs office onsite by credit card. The vignette is valid until the end of the January of the year after you buy it, is non transferable, and should be thoroughly affixed to the windshield. If you buy it from the person stationed for this purpose outside the office (who accepts only cash), they will insist on affixing the sticker. If you buy inside the office you can affix the sticker yourself. You must obtain a separate vignette for a trailer or caravan. If your vehicle doesn't bear a properly affixed vignette and the Swiss police catch you driving on an expressway, you'll be subject to a 100 SwF fine—on top of the vignette's cost. Expressways offer the only hope for speedy and level motor travel through mountainous Switzerland. Still, it's not absolutely necessary to use the expressways there; I abstained on one trip. You have to ask yourself this: Why do I want to travel quickly and horizontally through Switzerland? Carefully study your map and the Switzerland chapter to determine if you want a vignette. Austria, Slovakia and other countries recently introduced similar systems. See Wikipedia's Vignette page for more about such vignettes and road taxes.

If you're renting or leasing a vehicle or buying one direct from the factory, bring any vouchers and copies of any agreements or other contracts. And of course if you're shipping and importing, you'll need the proper documents for Customs, etc.

Never leave the ownership papers (called a "Grey Card") or the insurance papers alone in the vehicle. In fact, you should make photocopies of these papers and of your domestic driver's license and IDP and then stash them in the same safe place (a neck pouch or money belt, for example) you keep the copies of your passport and birth certificate. If you're missing one of these documents when police pull you over, you'll be fined on the spot.

If you'll be driving someone else's vehicle, you should get written permission from the owner. In Portugal, however, you must obtain an Autorizacao certificate also; to get one, contact your local motoring club or a Portuguese tourist office or embassy, or stop in a European vehicle-registration office. Again, make and stash photocopies of these documents.

Health and Security

Buying travel insurance is the closest thing to buying a guarantee for a hassle-free trip. Such coverage can include personal liability, personal accident, hospital benefit, medical expenses, evacuation, money loss, baggage loss or damage, travel delay or interruption, cancellation, legal expenses, and loss of passport expenses. A friend of mine took ill on her trip and spent ten days in a British hospital; besides the fact that her regular health insurance covered the bills, she got about US$150 a day from her travel insurance. Of course you must determine for yourself if the risks justify the costs.

Beware of package travel insurance plans that span health, baggage, autos and the like: they usually duplicate insurance that you already have and contain too many exclusions. Check if your current health care covers you abroad, and bring along any medical insurance claim forms you may need. Also check how your credit cards may cover you. Baggage insurance benefits for lost or stolen articles tend to be lousy—covering up to, say, US$1000 only and excluding items like cameras, jewelry and currency. Airlines may automatically cover each passenger's luggage to a similar degree. Motor vehicle rental and leasing companies also offer baggage insurance. As such, develop a list of the areas in which you are now not adequately covered. Next, call the travel insurance companies I list below. Determine if these companies can offer a piecemeal, customized package. I recommend that you consider purchasing the insurance from a company that's underwritten by an insurance company in your home country: this will ease the settling of any claims when you return home and, sorry to add, will cover the costs of transporting your body home if you meet your end abroad. Regardless, determine (1) if you're covered for personal effects left unattended in a locked motor vehicle (specify if you'll be traveling in a camper van), (2) the maximum coverage of any single article, and (3) if sports activities such as skiing or hang-gliding are covered.

The International Travelers Hotline of the United States Centers for Disease Control will tell you what inoculations you may need for a particular destination. Consider bringing a record of all your inoculations in case you decide to continue on to less developed areas of the world.

Bring your eyeglasses prescription: it's possible you'll lose your glasses. My old glasses are probably still on the shore of the Geiranger fjord in Norway; if you find 'em, let me know.

Hostellers and/or Students

To stay in hostels that are affiliated with the Hostelling International (HI) organization, you should have an HI membership card. See the Accommodations chapter for more on hostelling.

The International Student Identification Card (ISIC) entitles students under 26 years of age to big discounts on everything from museum entry to ferry passage; it may also provide limited travel insurance. Be sure to get this card if you qualify.

Miscellaneous

Campers should consider getting a Camping Card Internationale (CCI)sponsored by the FIA, the AIT and the International Federation of Camping and Caravaning (FICC) and commonly called a "Camping Carnet". Some campgrounds require that one CCI per campsite be deposited with the office. Some demand either a CCI or a passport. (Though you should carry your passport with you at all times.) For campground managers, the CCI amounts to a guarantee of payment: if you damage anything and/or leave without paying, the campground will turn in your card and eventually receive compensation. For you, the Carnet provides several million SwF worth of insurance against any damages you might accidentally cause to the campground; and in some cases it entitles you to discounts. See the Accommodations chapter for more on camping.

If you'll be hostelling, camping, or staying with families or friends, consider bringing some of your favorite recipes, or researching recipes that are representative of the areas you'll be traveling to.

If bicycling, write down the make, model, and serial number of the bicycle. Do the same with the address of the lock insurer.

If you're bringing an expensive, foreign-made item such as a camera or camcorder, you should either take the sales receipt with you or register the item with Customs before you leave your home country. Such documentation allows you to prove upon return that you didn't buy the item abroad, and thus ensures that you don't have to pay duty on it.

Don't forget a list of contacts in Europe and addresses and phone numbers of people who you want to write to or call back home.

Business or calling cards are especially respected in Europe; they'll open many doors.

If you plan to land a job in Europe, don't forget your résumé and letters of recommendation.

packing

Luggage

For motorhome travel soft-sided, collapsable bags are the best sort to use, because they can be stored within the vehicle without taking up much room. See our relevant Locations page for information about whether or not the rental depot will store luggage for you.

Electronics

Most European countries maintain a standard electricity supply of 50 Hertz AC frequency at 220 or 230 Volts. However, certain areas of Greece use 110 Volts; parts of Italy, 115 Volts; parts of Spain, 120 Volts; parts of the Netherlands, 127 Volts; parts of Portugal, 210 Volts; and Britain and Ireland, 240 Volts. Most of Europe employs a standard two-pin plug; in Britain and Ireland, however, a three-pin plug is standard. Oftentimes, however, 110 or 115 Volt outlets are employed in bathroom sockets, to lower the chance of lethal injury due to an electrical device contacting water.

Unfortunately most North American appliances are designed to operate on 60 Hertz AC at 110 Volts and with plugs that don't fit in European sockets. Check whether the appliances (shaver, hair dryer, camcorder, laptop computer, etc.) you plan to take can accept the necessary voltages and frequency; if they can't, you may need to buy a transformer. Most camcorder battery rechargers are designed to accommodate world travelers and thus accept a wide range of voltages and frequencies (in other words, they are "autosensing") and come with a two-pin plug adapter. Newer-model laptop computers autosense as well. Many hotels provide electric razor and toothbrush sockets that supply the North American standard 110 Volts, but they're intended for these low-wattage items only—don't plug a high-wattage appliance, such as a hair dryer, into one of these sockets. If you need a transformer or plug adapter, try contacting Magellan's Travel Essentials or Franzus. You can purchase two- and three-pin plug adapters abroad as well.

Some camcorder tips…

• Keep the sun at your back in most situations.
• Don't zoom in and out too much.
• Pan slowly and zoom consistently.
• Don't shoot too long; keep it short and sweet.
• Don't start a scene with a pan. Establish the scene first and then, if you must, pan. Change the pace of the filming. Begin scenes differently: fade in and fade out, but not every time; begin with a zoomed shot, then increase the angle (and vice versa). Don't overlook the details of a place: flowers, food, signs, vehicles, faces. Mix in staccato shots of minutiae with the hackneyed and unimaginative slow-pan. Occasionally interview the participants in the video as to their impressions of the place. Ask what surprised them most: this'll preserve first impressions that are naturally telling but too often forgotten.
• Some people don't like to be filmed. You must strike a balance between getting the shot, not offending the subjects, and not compromising your own experience. Try not to let the camera affect the shot. The most poignant and truthful videos are shot when the subject is unaffected by the recording device. Although at times it's great fun to get people playing to the camera, this quickly becomes tiring when watching two hours of video—assuming you're not working with great talent. I once missed filming an Aussie girl during a dusk wine-drinking fest on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean; she was perhaps one of the most brilliant gabs I'll ever meet, and I missed recording her.
• Label the camcorder with your name and address, and label the tapes themselves. If one or both items are lost, at least there's hope that some nice person will return them.
• Consider bringing a backup battery.

Some camera tips…

• Keep the sun at your back in most situations.
• Recall the rule of thirds when taking landscapes: avoid aligning the horizon across the middle of the picture; align it across the bottom or top third.
• Incorporate people into most of your pictures. It makes the pictures more interesting. What's more, unless you photograph them, you will forget the faces of many people you'd swear you'll never forget.
• Mix in some close-ups with the wide-angle shots.
• Consider making lots of black and white shots.
• Label the camera with your name and address. If it's lost, at least there's hope that some nice person will return it and the precious film inside.

A waist pouch works great for carrying both palm-sized camcorders and cameras, among other things. Beware, however: the pouch is an instant signal that you're a tourist. This signal is bad if you're trying to be hip, but it's also bad if you don't want to be singled out by thieves. Trouble is, it's pretty hard not to look like a tourist—no matter what you do. (Baseball hats, shorts and tennis shoes are other giveaways.) But who are you trying to fool? I wouldn't worry about it. During one trip, I wore a waist pack containing my camcorder and some money and credit cards wherever I went—not too cool, but great for getting good shots. Just be careful in crowds. By applying some tape around the clip or tying the loose end of the strap to a belt loop, you'll thwart most thieves. A hint for North Americans: don't call it a "fanny" pack; trust me on this one.

Consider bringing a voice recorder to record your impressions. If you're traveling alone, a voice recorder is easier to operate while driving than is a camcorder. Don't forget extra tapes and batteries. Also bring some music tapes for the car stereo.

If you absolutely must, bring an alarm clock. Magellan's sells tiny alarm clocks designed for travelers.

Things for the Vehicle

Bring the maps and brochures that the tourist offices sent you, or maps you bought yourself. But remember, maps are cheaper in Europe.

If you're physically handicapped and have a wheel chair placard, bring it along. You'll be afforded the same rights in Europe that you are at home.

Bring booster cables, a flashlight, pliers, screwdrivers (both flat- and Phillips-head), open-end wrenches, electrical tape, duct tape, a wire hanger, and a pocket knife. Also bring chalk: if you get in an accident and have to move your vehicle, you can mark the position of the tires before you move it.

You might want to bring a magnetic box in which you can place an extra set of vehicle keys and stick somewhere on the underside of the vehicle.

A compass might come in handy.

Bring some clear plastic to use as a temporary window in the event that one gets broken. Duct tape will work to fasten the plastic to the vehicle. In fact duct tape will prove useful in many an emergency.

Consider bringing a container and siphon to siphon gasoline in case you run out. But don't worry; there's no lack of fuel stations in Europe.

Consider bringing a rubber tarantula or rubber snake. You can leave one of these on the front passenger seat to repel thieves. Who knows? It might work!

The incidence of vehicle theft is high in the city of Prague and in Poland. Consider bringing a car-theft deterrent like "The Club" if you have one. Whether you buy such a device specifically for your trip depends on the insurance and vehicle you'll have. Usually, renters and leasers are adequately covered by theft insurance; others may have to purchase auto-theft insurance at a substantial cost.

Some countries require motor vehicles (except motorcycles) to carry certain safety items. Vehicles rented in a particular country should come with such equipment. When leasing, buying or shipping a vehicle, the responsibility for obtaining the proper accouterments lies with you.

• If traveling with children, you may need to obtain a child-safety seat or two or three or . . . See the relevant country chapter.
• You must carry a warning triangle in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,the Czech Republic, Denmark,Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia and the other countries of the former USSR, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Two triangles are necessary if traveling through Cyprus, Spain or Turkey.
• If traveling in Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Russia or the other countries of the former USSR, or Turkey, you must carry a fire extinguisher.
• If traveling in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Russia or the other countries of the former USSR, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, or Turkey, you must carry a first aid kit.
• Carry spare bulbs of the correct wattage for your lights: bulbs may be difficult to obtain abroad. In Spain and Germany and certain other countries it's compulsory to carry a spare set of bulbs.
• In Spain vehicles are required to have at least two rear view mirrors. Drivers there must have a clear rear view of at least 50 meters; thus caravans should be equipped with extension mirrors.
• If you plan to drive on the continent with a vehicle that's designed for driving on the left side of the road, or in the British Isles with one designed for the right side, the headlight beams should be adjusted before you make the switch. Headlights are designed to point slightly to the outside of the road, so they don't blind oncoming vehicles. Of course you can buy a headlight conversion kit in Europe. The kits are sold at service stations near borders but may be provided by ferry companies, cost about US$5 and consist of specially shaped adhesive black plastic which sticks to the glass and alters the direction of the beam or clip-on beam deflectors which do the same. Alternatively you can rig your own conversion by placing duct tape or the like over the refracted portion of the glass.
• Motorcyclists should do the following:
• Get a helmet that has a full face cover; all European countries require a rider to wear a helmet.
• Bring a good motorcycle lock.
• Bring a jacket that is warmer than you think you'll need.
• Buy the best brightly colored rain gear you can find; it can double as a windbreaker.
• Bring heavy boots and waterproof gloves.
• Get crash bars: they may save your legs if you wipeout.
• Buy a luggage rack, hooked rubber straps, and a plastic bag to secure and cover your luggage; or else buy a lockable luggage carrier.
• Pay extra for an electric starter: it'll save much effort and anxiety.
• Replace a side kickstand with another type: side kickstands sink into many surfaces.
• Forego buying a tank lock: such locks rattle and are a pain to get open.
• Carry spare light bulbs and spark plugs: the plugs consistently foul.
• Replace with a better one the cheap rearview mirror that's standard on most motorcycles: otherwise it'll constantly vibrate and quickly come loose.

Van-trippers and motorhomers, you should buy a large airtight container, fill it with water, soap, and dirty clothes, and let the motion of your vehicle do your washing for you. (Laundromats are quite expensive in Europe.) And don't forget lengths of hose and electrical cable as described in the Accommodations chapter.

Security

Always split your valuables into two separate places, such as a dummy wallet (containing spending money for the day) and a neck pouch or waist pack. A neck pouch is more comfortable and accessible than the admittedly more secure money belt. Keep one or more credit cards in each of these carrying devices: if one of the carriers is stolen, you can use the other card. You can order neck pouches and money belts from Europe Through the Back Door. If you have traveler's checks, keep the bulk of them in one place and a list of the check numbers in another. Put a note tin your wallet telling potential robbers what you think of 'em: in case of a robbery, you can hand over wallet and feel pretty good about it. If you want to use a shoulder bag, get one with a long strap so you can put it securely across your opposite shoulder. You might even want to use safety pins to pin your pockets and pack zippers shut. Don't use padlocks on pack zippers; the thief will just take the whole pack then. A rubber wedge can function as a door lock where the latter is absent or insufficient.

Budget travelers, why make your backpack the most expensive thing you have and the biggest target for theft? Backpacks are made for hiking miles and miles of rough terrain. You probably won't be doing much of that—especially if you drive—unless, that is, you plan to do overnight hikes. (In Switzerland and other countries communal huts are to be found spaced along the beautiful alpine trails.) The pack will spend most of its time at your feet or locked away at a hostel or pension. Consider getting a canvas backpack, sea sack or duffle bag instead. You can find these at your local Army Surplus store. Not only is such luggage cheaper, it gives you the aura of a salty sea-dog. Sure it'll require you to pack light, but note the virtues of light packing that I describe later.

A cell phone—even a fake—always provides a measure or two of security.

Miscellaneous

Bring your favorite toiletries: you probably won't be able to find them in Europe.

Don't forget any medication you may need, including aspirin.

Ear plugs will add hours of sleep—especially on the plane and in the cacophonous cities.

Along with your prescription, consider bringing an extra pair of glasses or contacts—especially if you'll be driving in Spain, where drivers are required to have a backup pair in the vehicle.

Bring a journal to record your experiences and thoughts and the addresses of people you'll meet. This is very important.

An audio tape recorder will let you capture impressions and conversations while driving.

Phrasebooks work best as an icebreaker. The natives think it's hilarious to see their language condensed as such, and they appreciate your effort to learn. Open it up, hand it over, and listen to 'em roar; you'll be off to a good start.

A book of poetry might be apt. It's amazing how inspiring a group of friends, a bottle of wine, and the Swiss Alps can be. Try Rimbaud.

Bring along a good paperback, preferably one with a travel theme.

To push the budget-travel envelope consider making your own postcards using tourist brochures obtained in Europe, thin cardboard, knife or scissors, and glue. The results are amazingly professional-looking. But sure the cardboard isn't thicker than the normal postcard material, or you may end up paying more in extra postage than you save by not buying postcards. By the way, postcards cost only US$0.30 or so. Or get doubles made of photos while abroad and send extras as postcards.

Bring a cheap solar calculator to calculate exchange rates, fuel efficiency, etc.

Sewing machine oil is great for cleaning Swiss Army knives.

A roll of clear Scotch tape will let you repair worn novels. And if you want to tear out a few pages from your guidebook to carry with you, go ahead and then tape them back in later.

Campers, you can exchange empty propane cylinders at campground or sporting goods stores. Propane refills are available all over at stores, service stations and campgrounds.

Consider bringing a Nerf football, a baseball and gloves, or a frisbee. Foreign pastimes intrigue Europeans and thus serve as great icebreakers. If you can make balloon animals, you can be a star street performer wherever you go.

Two suitable plastic cups will add class to wine drinking sessions.

Dental floss can also function as a cheese slicer and as emergency thread.

Ginger is said to stave off car sickness. It comes in capsules, but ginger tea is more a enjoyable vehicle. Applying pressure to the point on the wrist where the pulse is typically taken can also do the trick.

A Palestinian-style scarf, 1 x 1 meters, can function as a sun hat, a rain hood, a table cloth, a towel, a sling, padding, a pillow, a laundry bag, a rope, etc.

A small plastic hook with a suction cup will be handy in bathrooms where hooks are absent—an all too common case.

Bungee cords are handy for attaching miscellany to your pack.

Consider bringing a fishing pole. Some great streams and lakes exist in Europe. Furthermore, a fishing pole gives a traveler instant credibility with natives everywhere across the globe.

It might be better to leave the family pet at home. An imported animal must be put under quarantine for six months in some countries.

If you want a knife for protection (though I don't recommend carrying one), make it a dive knife: Customs officials are used to seeing these. Better yet, consider bringing a Maglite flashlight: useful for camping and for inspecting your vehicle, and basically innocuous—but quite a nasty club should you need to display or swing one (holding the nub end).

Light Packing

You may want to consider "traveling light". The less you have the less you have to carry and worry about and the less you have to lose. And to reduce your belongings to the essential is one of travel's most sublime and surprising pleasures; the old nomad in you will well up and grin. Below is a list of items that are widely considered necessary.

Bicycles

Usually you can bring a bicycle on a plane free of charge. Go to a bike shop and get a used bike box for free. To get the bike in the box, you'll have to remove the handle bars, pedals, and rear wheel. So you can reassemble the bike when you arrive and disassemble the bike when you leave again, bring along the tool you used to disassemble the bike. Throw away the bike box when you arrive; you can pick up another from a bike shop just before you leave.

Here's what you need for long distance bicycling.

Note that in the absence of panniers—and by employing the light packing approach described previously—you can save about US$100 by purchasing a simple canvas sea sack instead of panniers. Four or five bungee cords can secure a properly packed sea sack to the rack over the rear tire; but get at least one extra, just in case. A large plastic garbage bag can protect the sack from rain.

If you currently have bike insurance (such as that associated with a lock guarantee), check if it applies abroad.

Jet Lag

The most reasonable advice I can give you about avoiding jet lag is this: Don't try too hard, at least not until you get to your destination. Your body is a very smart machine and is not easily tricked. As such, there is no sure-fire, esoteric formula for beating jet lag. Forget the eating and sleeping changes that some people preach you should practice the week before you go; just get excited and enjoy your flight—that's what it's all about. There are some reasonable measures to take, however. Consider drinking carrot juice before the flight: carrots offer the best resistance to the oxygen deficiency which can occur at 10,000 feet and above. Avoid carbonated drinks, cabbage, beans and cauliflower: these cause gas, which expands with altitude. Drink lots of uncarbonated liquids, eat lightly, don't drink coffee or alcohol, eat little or no sugar, and try to cop a two- or three-hour in-flight nap. Sounds like a recipe for right living, eh? But maybe that blows your idea of fun.

When you land in Europe, not only will you be displaced in space and time, but an unpredictable combination of fatigue and adrenaline will create a sense of unreality that may be interesting enough in itself to keep you awake. And this is exactly what you must do: stay awake. You can help matters by immediately spending two hours outdoors: the natural light will begin re-tuning your body clock. If you make it to the local bedtime, chances are you'll have beat the jet lag; you'll wake the next day and be back in phase. Besides, with Europe at your feet, you'll never have a better reason to stay awake.

There is, however, at least one good book on the subject. Overcoming Jet Lag, by Charles F. Ehret and Lynne Waller Scanlon, offers a three-step program (used by the US Army) to counter jet lag. Berkeley Books; US$8.