Do clever when renting a car in Prague

Prague is for sure one of those cities in Europe travelers tend to visit over and over again. The Czech capital has a certain charm to it, which is different from the pompous atmosphere of Vienna, the busy feel of Berlin or the grandeur of Budapest. The things what all type of visitors, from tourists to business travelers always get attracted by are narrow old streets, gothic cathedrals and great beer. But if you're having a long stay in Prague or want to travel across the Czech Republic (which has many great attractions in general) dealing with car rental companies is inevitable. In general, the policies and practices employed by local rental services aren't any different from the ones practiced by car rental companies in Western Europe or the USA. Anyways there are certain peculiarities that you should know and some tips to follow if you want to avoid any possible inconveniences. Choose the local car make Among many other things bringing fame to the Czech Republic is Skoda. You probably know, the local car make has experienced a drastic revival since it became part of the VW group and there are different models to choose from. Due to the fact these cars are generally very decent and provide good comfort and great gas mileage when compared to other car makes, they also come very cheap to rent. To your service is the whole line from entry level Fabia to business-class Superb or even the AWD Yeti and you will surely enjoy the comfort and quality of these cars, which come at a much lower price than similar models from foreign car manufacturers. When by the Czechs rent a Czech car Even if it seems to be just history, there is still a possibility to have inconveniences with the border police if you are driving a rental car with plates from another country. It may come to the situation that some police workers will assume that the car's stolen and you will have to provide all the papers to convince them otherwise. Sure, this doesn't happen a lot since the borders are generally open and there's no strict customs or border control. Anyways, you may want to go with the local car rental companies in order to minimize the risk of such nuisances. Moreover, it is usually cheaper to rent a car in Czech Republic and the gas prices are generally a bit lower than in Germany, Austria, Italy or France. Learn more about the local car rental market Most of the well-known large international car rental companies like Avis, Budget, Hertz or National Car Rental have their offices in Prague and are always happy to offer you a very broad range of cars to choose from. Still, there is also a large number of purely local companies that usually have more affordable prices and more flexible rental policies. Nowadays nothing's easier than just searching local car rental companies on the web, shopping around a bit and booking a car for your arrival. In such cases it will normally cost you less than going with large international services. Parking can be tricky Even if most of the roads around the capital and the country are in very good condition, the parking can be a problem of its own, especially in Prague. It's good to know that the capital is known for a rather high rate of car break-ins, which is common for all popular tourist destinations. Don't forget to lock your car and prefer paid parking lots to the free ones. Besides, there's a complex residential parking policy in Prague, which allows parking a car near the sidewalk only to people residing in the respective building, otherwise your car may be towed to the police office or you'll simply get a substantial fine. Everything you have to learn in order to avoid this problem is that the residential parking spots are denoted with the blue lines these are denoted with. So pay attention where you park your car if you don't want to get in trouble.