For some people, traveling with pets can be a very rewarding experience, while for others, not so much. It’s easy to throw the family dog in the car for a fun filled vacation, but there is a proper way to ensure your friends in the animal kingdom get the most out of your vacation.

When in the US, it’s pretty easy to take your cat with you, however most people only do this if they are moving. You can bring your cat with you into the cabin on many airlines, provided you keep it in a proper crate. If you are doing this, you definately need to check with your airline first before making arrangements. We all know how quickly airlines can change policy.  It is usually very scary for dogs to fly, as they are typically put into a cargo hold. Animals prefer routine, so if you can leave a dog at home, it’s always best to do so.

If you do decide you are taking a dog to Europe, you have some research to do, as each country has a different law regarding the importation of visiting dogs, and most countries will require a doggy passport. This process can take up to six months and cost hundreds of dollars, so it’s important to ask yourself, do you really need your dog with you?  All animals must have recently had a rabies vaccination if you do decide to bring a pet. It all depends on your needs, and where you are going.

The best way to find out information is to contact the embassy of the country you want to take your pet to. They will be able to tell you the exact steps you will need to take in order to make it happen.

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Soon, millions of first-year students will be off to college, looking to experience all the wonders that secondary education has to offer. Many students will elect to take a semester abroad. Many of my friends have done this and found the experience very rewarding, and came back a little more cultured. Here is a list of the top ten colleges and universities in Europe.

1.  University of Cambridge (UK)
2.  University of Oxford (UK)
3.  Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU)
4.  Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (CH)
5.  Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (DE)
6.  National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
7.  Université de Genève (CH)
8.  Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
9.  Universität Zürich (CH)
10.  Technische Universiteit Delft (NL)

Have you ever taken a semester overseas? If so, what was your experience like, and where did you go? Would you do it again?

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Congratulations to Alison and Leeroy! Both knew the correct answer to last week’s travel trivia was Edinburgh! This week’s image may stump some of you I have a feeling!

What is the name of this church and what French city is it located in?
Good Luck!

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One of the most common questions we get at Auto Europe is in regards to sound systems. When you’re heading overseas and planning on doing some serious driving, the radio doesn’t always cut it, especially if you don’t speak the native language. Travelers are always curious if they should bring CD’s, tapes, or MP3 players. The answer is not quite as simple as you may think. In nearly all locations, all cars come with CD players. It’s highly unlikely that you will get a vehicle that has a tape player. As for the MP3 players, while many cars have built in 1/8″ inputs, it’s not guaranteed. Your best bet is to bring an FM transmitter, as all cars, everywhere, will have FM radios.

Remember if you have questions about any aspect of your rental, this blog is a great place to bring them up!

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We had some good feedback on the Ice Hotel blog entry, so here are some more zany and interesting hotels from around the world!

Hotel De Vrouwe van Stavoren

At first glance, the Hotel De Vrouwe van Stavoren appears to be a warm friendly hotel tucked away in the quaint port town of Stavoren, Netherlands. Upon closer inspection, you will find so much more! What makes this hotel stand out, is its unique housing arrangements. The rooms are made of empty 14000 liter wooden wine casks! Inside of each room, you access the cask through a doorway, and in the cask is two beds and a couple of windows with a scenic port view. The casks have been cleaned and dried, and provide a very cozy atmosphere for travelers in the Netherlands. A car rental in Amsterdam will get you there in under two hours.

Hobbitton

If you’re as much a fan of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy as I am, you will undoubtedly want to make a trip to New Zealand at some point in your life. While checking out the now famous locations from the film, you can set up a base camp at the Hobbit Hotel in Otorohanga, New Zealand. Here you will find two hillside burrows, that have been reproduced as working replicas from the film. They are however, slightly larger than scale, so you won’t have to be ducking under doorways or running into light fixtures. The Hobbit Motel is actually part of a company called Woodlyn Park, who also has rooms set up in an authentic train car and a room in a once active military plane! You can get to Woodlyn Park in about 2.5 hours with a car rental from Auckland.

Sala Silver Mine

Who hasn’t at some point in their lives wanted to burrow themselves into the ground and stay the night? Well now you can, sort of. The Sala Silver Mine used to produce massive amounts of sliver, and is now closed, but tours are still available. In Addition to the tours, you can stay the night in the cave, 300 feet below the surface. You get dinner, and one of the quietest nights of rest ever. When the morning comes, the guides come down with breakfast before leading you back to the surface. It’s about an hour and a half drive with a rental car in Stockholm. Sounds like a deep experience!

Do you have an interesting hotel story from Europe? Post a comment and tell us all about it!

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In 2007  Iceland won the United Nations “Best Country to Live” award. It will only take one visit to understand why.  Iceland is well on it’s way to becoming more of a popular tourist destination. Visitors will be quick to discover that Iceland is a beautiful, safe country with a small friendly population.

The Capital of Iceland is Reykjavik. Nearly all of Iceland’s residents live in the Greater Reykjavik area. The city is filled with many high quality restaurants, which will be a bargain due to the exchange rate. There is a very active nightlife and no shortage of fantastic boutiques and stores selling everything from traditional Icelandic keepsakes, to designer clothes.

Outside of the city you can really experience Iceland’s stunning beauty. Volcanoes pepper the landscape. One of the most popular destinations is The Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal heated spa about 25 miles outside of Reykjavik. It is warm year round and attracts visitors from all over the world with its surreal blue water. There are even shuttles that will take you there directly from the airport if you just can’t wait.

(above)Strokkur Geyser

A car rental in Iceland is a great way to get out and experience more of the country’s natural beauty. You won’t want to miss out on Vatnajökull National Park. Opened on June 7th, 2008 this park combines the former Skaftafell and Jokulsargljufur National Parks. It is the largest national park in all of Europe, and covers roughly 12% of the surface of Iceland.

Here are five facts you may not know about Iceland:

-Over 99% of the electricity used in Iceland comes from hydropower and geothermal energy.

-One US dollar is equivalent to 120 Icelandic kronas.

-Iceland is about the Size of Cuba, and has a population of around 320,000.

-During the summer, you will experience nearly 24 hours of daylight.

-Iceland has a total of 15 active volcanoes.

Do you have an Icelandic story to share? If so leave a comment!

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Looking to chill out on your next vacation? If the answer is yes, then think about a visit to the village of Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. There you will find the world famous Ice Hotel. It all started  with an art exhibition from French artist Jannot Derid that was held in a cylinder-shaped igloo.  As hotels in the area were sold out, some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin thus, beginning the tradition of the Ice Hotel.

When the temperature drops in mid-November, the building process begins. The snow is sprayed on huge steel forms and allowed to freeze. After a couple of days, the forms are removed, leaving a maze of free-standing corridors of snow. In the corridors, dividing walls are built in order to create rooms and suites. This year, the Ice Hotel will have seventy-four rooms and occupy an area of 5,500 square meters. Nearly 21,000 cubic meters of snow and 900 tons of ice will be used to complete it. The hotel is open from the 10th of December until the middle of April. When completed, the hotel features a bar, church, main hall, reception area and rooms and suites for over 100 guests to sit and sleep on blocks of sculpted ice in the form of chairs and beds.

The Ice Hotel never gets colder than –5° C (23 F), regardless of how cold it may be outside. Before you climb into bed, you dress in warm thermal underwear, pull the hat over your ears and slip down into a comfortable sleeping bag on a bed built of blocks of ice, a thick mattress and reindeer skins. During the daytime the Ice Hotel is open to the public and everyone who wants can join a guided tour through the pillar hall, the suites and the ice rooms. You won’t want to miss out on having a cold beverage in the Absolut Icebar, located on premises. Here, your drink is not served “on the rocks” but rather “in the rocks” with glasses molded and frozen from the purest river water.

When spring comes, the ice melts away and returns to the Torne River, so don’t miss out!

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Many famous movies have been filmed in Europe, and there are some people who theme vacations around visiting these famous sights! Visiting a location from one of your favorite films can be just as exciting as seeing a famous landmark or work of art. Some films have a way of almost making the city a character, while other locations are not so recognizable. With a little research, you can add one of these destinations into your itinerary on your next trip to Europe.

Did you know that several scenes from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace were filmed in Italy? Queen Amidala’s palace on Naboo is actually the Palazzo Reale, in Caserta. This baroque palace was originally built in 1752, for King Charles III of Naples. It is open to the public and offers tours for all the Jedi historians and travelers alike. It’s easily accessible with a car rental in Naples.

The 1973 mystery Don’t Look Now uses Venice as a backdrop, which only adds to the eerie feeling throughout the movie. Head over to the gates of the Palazzo Grimani at Santa Maria Formosa to see where the thrilling finale of this movie was filmed.

Many of the scenes from the cult classic Withnail and I were filmed in Notting Hill (West London), England. The story of two eclectic main characters begins here, and many people come to these locations to pay homage to this underground hit, however many of the locations have changed. The cozy pub from the film, “The Mother Black Cap,” is now a fancy restaurant called Cresent House and unfortunately you won’t be able to order the “finest wines available to humanity” as the “Penrith Tea Room” in Stony Stratford is now a pharmacy. A car rental from downtown London will take you to all these sights.

Fans of the film Trainspotting often make their way to Glasgow, Scotland, where 30 of the 50 locations from the movie were filmed. Some fans even choose to jump on the train over to Corrour railway station in Lochaber in an attempt to climb Leum Uilleim Mountain, hopefully with more success than the films main characters.

Salzburg, Austria was where many of the real events from The Sound of Music took place, although much of it was filmed in Hollywood. There are however some Austrian locations that were used in the film, and there are tours available that will point out these locations, such as the Mirabell Gardens, where the Do-Re-Mi was sung.

Fans of the movie Run, Lola, Run find themselves in Berlin, recreating their favorite scenes, as the film was shot almost entirely there.

Many scenes from The Bourne Trilogy were filmed throughout various locations in Europe, including France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany and Russia.

Needless to say, Europe has provided for many more famous films. What’s your favorite movie with a European backdrop?

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With global temperatures rising, our environment is something that everyone should be concerned about. All over the world, massive efforts are being made to reduce greenhouse gasses, limit pollution and repair the planets delicate ecosystem. Many of us here in the United States and Canada have taken measures at home to reduce our own carbon footprint by walking, biking and driving more fuel efficient cars, eating organic foods that weren’t grown using harmful pesticides, using energy efficient lights in our homes and work places, and supporting companies who do the same. Many of us are finding that “going green” reduces costs and saves money on everyday expenses. This is good news for our planet, as well as your bottom line.

When on vacation there is no reason not to continue these practices. Here are some helpful hints designed to help you have the green vacation you’ve always wanted, without having to sacrifice the amenities you are used to.

Try to find an eco friendly hotel. There are many of them all over the world, and they generally won’t cost you more than anywhere else.  Conserve resources as much as possible by turning off the lights when you’re not in the room and by limiting the use of the heat and air conditioning.  Also, do you really need a fresh towel every day? Put a do not disturb sign on your door and stay with the same linens, for at least two days.

Take your digital camera along. Digital cameras are far better for the environment than a disposable camera. You can also take more photos, see them immediately, and print only the ones you want.

Eat the local food, as it does not have to travel as far to get to your plate. By eating locally, not only are you supporting the local economy, you are supporting the families of the region directly. Avoid all fast food and chain restaurants. After all, you wouldn’t go to Florida for a fresh Maine lobster would you?

When renting a car on vacation, there are little things that you can do in order to cut down on your gas consumption.

Rent the smallest car possible. If you are willing to be slightly cramped in the back seat of a compact versus renting a midsize, not only will you save money on the rental, but you will get better gas mileage.  Accelerate gradually in your rental car. Acceleration uses more gas than anything else. Once the car is moving, it will use less gas to stay moving, so set the cruise control at a reasonable speed while on highways.  When stopping, don’t wait till the last minute to use those breaks. Use the clutch and allow the car to stop gradually.  Ease off the air conditioning if you don’t need it. Roll those windows down instead and breathe in the fresh air!  Check the tire pressure, every time you fill up, even with your rental car.  You can sometimes do this before you even drive it off the lot, and attendants will show you where to fill up those tires.  Carry as little around with you while driving. The less weight in your car, the better it will perform.  Pack light in general to save fuel while on the plane. The less baggage the plane has to carry, the better it will run.

Do you have some eco-friendly travel tips?  Leave a me a comment with anything you can think of!

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Greetings from Portland, Maine! My name is Hans Ericsson and I will be sharing ideas, travel tips and stories for your information and enjoyment. Having family all over Europe, travel is a large part of my life, and I look forward to writing more on the blog here at Auto Europe.

Don’t Fear the Locals

A couple years ago I took a solo tour of Ireland. A scary idea at first, it ended up being one of the best possible travel experiences. Basically, I landed in Dublin, picked up my rental car, practiced driving it around the airport for an hour (right side drive) and hit the road. I soon found a safe place to park my car overnight, locked my belongings in the trunk and took off on foot.

After visiting the Guinness brewery and taking a city bus tour, I stepped into the nearest pub for a two Euro ale and some local Irish craic (light hearted conversation). I enjoyed the company of locals all afternoon. I asked many people what they recommended I do, and was mostly told to visit Cork, Kerry and Galway.

It was soon eight in the evening and I mentioned I needed a place to stay. Within minutes I had several people offer me their couch. Then one gentleman came over and said he owned a motel two blocks down, and would give me a room for €20 euro if I would buy the next round. Needless to say I did, and drifted off in a cozy bed around eleven. The rest of the trip was just as fun, as I met many more friendly people, all of whom had excellent advice on where to go, places to see, and what to drink.

To me this was the perfect balance of seeing the main attractions, and experiencing the local culture. If you speak the language and feel comfortable, talk to as many people as you can, you will be glad you did. Locals can provide insightful information that no guide book will ever have. Use your better judgment when approaching people and you will be sure to see some things you otherwise never would have heard about.

Feel free to comment about your experience with locals while traveling abroad!

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