Guys who have tested this from their own experience will tell us how cool it is to not depend on bus and train schedules when traveling.
Anastasia Zakharova
Andalusia-Algarve Route
Andalusia is one of the most interesting provinces in Spain, and traveling through it by car turned out to be a smart decision. By car you can travel around several cities and choose on the spot which one makes sense to stay overnight (for example, we did not book accommodation in advance). If you are planning to stay for a couple of days on the Spanish coast, then keep in mind that to the east of Gibraltar there are expensive resorts – Malaga and Marbella, and to the west is cheaper, but no less beautiful Cadiz. But all the most interesting things in Andalusia (Seville, Cordoba and the “white cities”) are located inland, and in August it can be excruciatingly hot there, so if the main purpose of your trip is sightseeing, do not repeat my mistake and choose another month. For a beach holiday, we went from Andalusia to the Portuguese province of Algarve. The main advantage of the Portuguese part of the Atlantic coast compared to the Spanish one is that holidays there are cheaper, the downside is that the water is almost always colder than in neighboring Spain. The Cadiz-Albufeira road will take only a couple of hours, during rush hour it is reasonable to take toll roads, and the rest of the time it is quite possible to use free ones, nothing like our traffic jams happens there anyway.
Alexey Glazunov
Auto or motorcycle trip is our favorite travel format. Only with personal transport do you get complete freedom of movement, and it’s so wonderful to not depend on bus routes and schedules and have many opportunities for improvisation and spontaneous decisions during the trip.
When we go on a road trip, we usually map out the general direction and the main points along it, but we always also try to see something interesting along the way – go off the road, make an unplanned stop, and sometimes even change the route altogether.
The first car in which we went on a trip to Europe was a trailer (motorhome) – my friends and I wanted to go somewhere for the New Year holidays, but we realized it quite late and it turned out that all the hotels were for normal money is no longer available, so the crazy idea came to mind to combine a hotel and transport together and in the end, this trip became one of the most unforgettable!
Sometimes, a car for us is just a means of moving from one point to another, but there are some routes that are simply created for road travel. For example, we received great pleasure and a lot of impressions from trips along the French Riviera and the Portuguese coast.
Well, in addition to a beautiful and interesting route, the car itself can create a separate impression – for example, I don’t even remember what kind of car we rented in France, but trips around Portugal and the USA in convertibles, as well as around the Indonesian islands on a motorcycle, definitely remained in memory for life.
Irina Krohaleva
When traveling around Asia, I like to rent a car. Yes, the most popular transport here is a scooter, but it is also the most dangerous. The traffic is not at all the same as in Europe or Russia, but it is much better to lose a little time due to denser traffic and less maneuverability on narrow roads than to spend your entire vacation with skinned knees and not swimming in the ocean. Walking is generally not accepted here, but with your own transport you can create a route to interesting sights and not be tied to an excursion group. In addition, a car is your own home on wheels, where you can throw swimsuits with towels, warm clothes for climbing the mountains, and a light dress for a party on the beach: this way you can travel to a lot of places in a whole day, without having to stop at a hotel .
Well, in island countries, for example, in Indonesia or the Philippines, where ferry connections between the islands are well established, with your own car you can go very far from the tourist areas and see completely wild places and unforgettable landscapes. My friends and I once rode across three islands in a week and a half, visited a dozen wild beaches, climbed two volcanoes and saw three waterfalls. At the same time, on each island we easily found hotels equidistant from the main attractions, and we could vary our route based on our immediate desires.
Ulyana Tomshina
Traveling through the center of France from Paris to Dijon, we rented a Ford Focus for a group of three people. Taking a small car in France is a definite plus – you can always find a parking space. Well, the main advantage of traveling in your own car is the opportunity to visit all the small and non-tourist places on the way to your destination.
A funny story happened when we needed to refuel the Focus. In the accompanying documents in English there were no entries about the type of fuel (or there were, but in small print),
and no one knew French. As a result, we were perplexed for a very long time why the “gun” did not go into the gas tank. The comical situation continued until the compassionate Frenchman explained that we were trying to fill a gasoline car with diesel.
In general, I advise you to book a car online in advance, don’t skimp on insurance, and be sure to understand all the booking options. For example, you don’t have to overpay the company if you fill up the tank yourself before returning the car.
Marat Abdrakhmanov
I have a funny story about traveling in a rented car in Europe:
My parents and I traveled around Spain. Arriving in Valencia, we stayed in a small family hotel near the airport. Budget hotels in Europe at the entrance to a city or right next to the airport are a good way to save money. After all, if you rent a car, you don’t have to stay in the city center and overpay for a room. All attractions are ten to fifteen minutes away from you. Among other pleasant bonuses, the hotel offered free parking.
– Let’s take it! — we decided, and paid for several days at once. The owner himself met us at the hotel and pointed to the parking lot. There was a sign at the entrance to the “free” parking lot: Welcome! The first two hours of parking are free.”
“How can this be?,” we asked at the reception in disappointment. — We were promised free parking, but here it is. We can be fined!
“Don’t worry,” the hotel owner smiled. — Nobody will fine you, and you won’t pay a cent for parking. Go up to your room and don’t think about anything. Two hours later I looked out the window. The hotel owner came up to our car, removed the cardboard meter – the clock that is given with the rental car so that the driver can set the start time for parking – and moved the hands forward two hours, starting the next free period.
