Renting a car in Estonia has never been easier

Text Mark Taylor
Photos Bolt, Evelin Linholm

From small city cars to vans, there is a wide variet of vehicles you can rent

 

Renting a car in Estonia has never been easier thanks to car sharing apps like Bolt and CityBee. Now its possible to get off the ferry in Tallinn or walk out of the airport and directly into a car to wherever you want to go in Estonia.

Renting a car used to mean contacting a rental company in advance, making a booking, and heading to the car rental office to fill out paperwork and collect the car. And, that doesn’t include the retainer fee (often hundreds of euros) reserved on your bank card until you returned the car safely at the end of your trip.

Apps like Bolt and Citybee offer something more. Not only do you have the option to rent a car for a set number of days, you can also use them for just a few hours, or even to drive from one place in Tallinn to another.

Renting a car from one of these apps is also much easier, all you have to do is download the app and upload your license. “Usually it takes no longer than a couple of minutes for our team to check your driver’s license and other information a new user has provided,” explained Kristiin Jets, the press officer at Bolt.

 

 

Once your account and driver’s licence has been approved all you need to do is pick a car. Finding a car is also easy, “we have recently also expanded the fleet with around 400 cars and plan to add even more cars this year,” added Jets. All of this meaning that you can literally step out of the ferry terminal or airport and there will likely be a car you can take within 100  or 200 metres. And, this is usually the same all over Tallinn.

Both Bolt and Citybee offer a variety of different cars from small city cars, saloons, and convertibles, to 4x4s and even vans. So, whatever kind of journey you plan there is the perfect kind of vehicle for you. 

 

 

When it comes to the cost, you will be charged by the minute, hour, or day (depending on how long you have the car), as well as by how far you drive. Each car model in the app having its own time and km prices stated. The latter also meaning that you don’t have to fill the car up before ending your journey. In fact, you may get a small discount on the price if you do tank it.

As you are only charged for how long you rent the car and how far you drive, apps such as “Bolt Drive are very often more affordable than traditional car renting or ride-hailing services” explained Jets.

Ending the car rent is even more simple than getting the car, all you need to do is get out of the car, leaving the keys inside, and click end journey in the app. Do bear in mind that you cannot leave the car anywhere in Estonia. Although almost anywhere in Tallinn is permitted, places where you can leave the car are more limited in other cities, or not possible at all without incurring a fine. However, where you can leave the car is clearly marked in the apps.

Both the Bolt and CityBee apps are available on the Google Play and Apple Stores.

 

To learn more about this and similar topics
Bolt Bolt Drive Car Rental Estonia Car Rent Estonia City Bee How to Rent a Car Estonia Renting a Car in Estonia