Cheapest Car Rental in Europe: 34 Cities Ranked (July 2026)
All rates verified manually on June 21, 2026.
Methodology:
- Each destination searched on DiscoverCars (my review) with the same parameters:
- July 1–8, 2026
- pickup/dropoff at 12:00
- driver age 30–65
- residence: PL
- Daily rate calculated from a weekly rental.
- Suppliers rated below 8.0 excluded.
The cheapest car at checkout goes in the table. Prices change – use the links to check current rates.
| City | July €/Day | 2026 Low | 2026 High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porto (Portugal) | €2.38 | €1.37 (June) | €2.38 (July) |
| Bucharest (Romania) | €2.41 | €2.41 (July) | €3.28 (June) |
| Tenerife TFS (Spain) | €4.68 | €3.80 (June) | €4.68 (July) |
| Barcelona (Spain) | €5.54 | €5.54 (July) | €7.72 (June) |
| Gran Canaria (Spain) | €5.87 | €3.47 (June) | €5.87 (July) |
| Faro (Portugal) | €7.27 | €3.03 (June) | €7.27 (July) |
| Alicante (Spain) | €7.91 | €6.50 (June) | €7.91 (July) |
| Lisbon (Portugal) | €8.08 | €2.07 (June) | €8.08 (July) |
| Malaga (Spain) | €9.02 | €4.12 (June) | €9.02 (July) |
| Mallorca (Spain) | €11.78 | €11.78 (July) | €12.02 (June) |
| Luqa (Malta) | €12.21 | €5.95 (June) | €12.21 (July) |
| Madrid (Spain) | €12.46 | €12.46 (July) | €14.01 (June) |
| Athens (Greece) | €12.90 | €3.48 (June) | €12.90 (July) |
| Dublin (Ireland) | €13.08 | €12.08 (June) | €13.08 (July) |
| Larnaca (Cyprus) | €14.02 | €8.30 (June) | €14.02 (July) |
| Prague (Czechia) | €15.32 | €8.66 (June) | €15.32 (July) |
| Milan MXP (Italy) | €16.26 | €6.35 (June) | €16.26 (July) |
| Heraklion (Greece) | €16.61 | €7.06 (June) | €16.61 (July) |
| Rhodes (Greece) | €16.98 | €8.29 (June) | €16.98 (July) |
| Krakow (Poland) | €17.21 | €11.73 (June) | €17.21 (July) |
| Thessaloniki (Greece) | €17.98 | €7.94 (June) | €17.98 (July) |
| Split (Croatia) | €19.14 | €6.36 (June) | €19.14 (July) |
| Madeira (Portugal) | €19.71 | €12.07 (June) | €19.71 (July) |
| Rome (Italy) | €20.30 | €6.83 (June) | €20.30 (July) |
| Bergamo (Italy) | €20.62 | €11.23 (June) | €20.62 (July) |
| London LGW (UK) | €21.57 | €11.04 (June) | €21.57 (July) |
| Catania (Italy) | €21.77 | €20.30 (June) | €21.77 (July) |
| Warsaw (Poland) | €23.48 | €19.94 (June) | €23.48 (July) |
| Budapest (Hungary) | €24.13 | €12.49 (June) | €24.13 (July) |
| Santorini (Greece) | €24.19 | €13.32 (June) | €24.19 (July) |
| Palermo (Italy) | €31.75 | €22.22 (June) | €31.75 (July) |
| Frankfurt (Germany) | €34.85 | €31.59 (June) | €34.85 (July) |
| Keflavik (Iceland) | €36.89 | €36.89 (July) | €39.22 (June) |
| Paris Orly (France) | €37.45 | €15.10 (June) | €37.45 (July) |
The cheapest rental cars in Europe go for under €2/day. Porto’s 2026 low sits at €1.37/day, hit in June. Rome and Athens have both gone under €7/day this year too. These are real listings I pulled manually from DiscoverCars. The listed price assumes you decline all extras at the counter – if you walk in unprepared, expect €20–€30/day in upsells.
Portugal, Spain, and Greece top the table because their rental fleets are massive and competition is brutal – too many cars sitting around, so prices drop. Northern and Western Europe is expensive for the opposite reasons: smaller fleets, fewer providers competing at each airport, and higher local labor and insurance costs included in every quote.
In Catania, Sicily I paid €3.12/day for a February rental (€21.84/week, see my receipts). Off-season gets you the best prices. The same car in June costs €20/day. Sicily at €3.12/day was real. So is €30/day if you say yes to everything at the counter. Full strategy: €3/Day Rental Car Guide.
How to Actually Get These Prices
- Book through an aggregator like DiscoverCars. Booking directly through a rental company’s website costs 2x–4x more.
- Buy independent excess insurance before you travel – from €50/year. Decline everything at the counter.
- Use the provider rating filter. Stick to 8.0+ to avoid suppliers who invent reasons to charge you more.
- Age under 25 means a surcharge on top of these rates – sometimes higher than the base price itself.
- Book 1–2 weeks before your trip. Months in advance is rarely cheaper.
- Make sure your credit card has enough headroom – the deposit hold is usually €500–€2,000 and freezes that portion of your limit until release.
- Whatever you book, check the fine print on your voucher. Card requirements and grace periods are buried there.
Honest Take: I’d be cautious booking a €1.50/day rental. The lower the rate, the more reviews I’d study before committing. There’s a real chance it doesn’t work out at the desk. That said, I’ve rented at around €3/day twice. Both times it worked.