There comes a time in the lives of most of us when we want to be alone.
Not necessarily to be off all by ourselves, but away from the crowds and common happenstance.
If you've travelled in Europe a time or two, it is quite certain that you've had that wanting-to-be-alone feeling or that you will get it on your next visit across the Atlantic.
Following a guide, and gratefully so, is an excellent way to see all the important places when everything is strange and new.
However, after you've seen all the historical piazzas and plazas, the places and forums, the churches and museums, the palaces and castles, and begin to feel at home in the capitals of Europe, you'll want to change your course and follow the by-roads at will, far from the market places.

The champagne at Troyes, the traditional capital of the champagne country, has more ambrosial taste somehow than it has at a sidewalk cafe on the Rue de la Paix or at Tour D'Argent.
You can relive history and follow, in fancy, the Crusaders in their quest for the Holy Grail as they sail out from Brindisi, an ancient town in the heel of Italy's boot.
And you don't meet the folks from home in Northwest Spain which has remained almost untouched by time and tourists since the Middle Ages.
Time stands still as you climb the narrow, stone stairways in tiny villages clinging to steep mountain slopes or wander through story-book towns, perched atop lofty crags, their faces turned to the sea.
They've been there since the days of the Moors and the Saracens.
And what better way to end a day than by dining with artists and gourmets in a squat but charming fisherman's village on the Mediterranean?

An almost too-simple-to-be-true way to set forth on such adventures is just to put yourself behind the wheel of a car and head for the open road.

For those who need or want and can afford another car, buying one and driving it on the grand tour, then shipping it home, is one popular plan for a do-it-yourself pilgrimage.
Then, of course, there are those of us who either do not want or need or cannot afford another car.
The answer to this diathesis is to pick up a telephone and arrange to rent one.
It is that elemental.

Almost any travel agent will reserve a car for you.
You can call one of the car rental services directly (Hertz, Avis, Auto-Europe Nationalcar Rental, and others) and ask them to reserve a car of your choice, and some transportation lines offer this service as well.
With few exceptions, your car will be waiting for you at dockside, airport, railroad station or hotel when you arrive, oftentimes at no additional cost.
You can wait, of course, until you arrive in Europe before renting your car.
The disadvantages to this method are that you may not have as great a choice of models readily available or you may have to wait a few days or, during the busy tourist season, when cars are in great demand, you might find it fairly difficult to get a car at all.
Since charges are relatively the same, reserving a car before you leave for Europe will assure you of having one on tap when you want it.

For those who plan to travel to Europe by one route and return by another some agencies offer a service whereby you can pick up a car in one city on arrival and leave it in another city, or even another country, when you are ready to return home.
At some cities, this pick-up and delivery service is without additional charge, and, if you are budget-wise, when you are planning your itinerary, you will take advantage of these free delivery and collection stations in major cities within the larger European countries.

International Touring Documents are usually provided with the car as are road maps and touring data.
A valid American driving license is accepted in all countries except Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe.
If you plan to visit any of these countries, you can obtain your International Driving Permit before you leave at a nominal fee -- around $3.00.
Your insurance, too, with most agencies, is provided with the car, covering comprehensive fire, theft, liability and collision with a deductible clause which varies in different countries.
If you would feel happier with full collision insurance, there is a small additional charge, again varying from country to country and depending on the term of such insurance.
The average charge for this additional insurance coverage is roughly $1.00 a day.
The charge is variable, however, and goes as low as $.50 a day in Ireland and as high as $2.00 a day in Greece.

Rental fees are variable, too, throughout the countries of Europe.
There are as many rates as there are countries and models of cars available.
As in the United States, there is a flat fee-per-day rental charge plus a few cents per kilometer driven, and the per-day rate drops if the car is retained for a week.
It drops again after fifteen and/or twenty-one days.

It is well to bear in mind that gasoline will cost from $.80 to $.90 for the equivalent of a United States gallon and while you might prefer a familiar Ford, Chevrolet or even a Cadillac, which are available in some countries, it is probably wiser to choose the smaller European makes which average thirty, thirty-five and even forty miles to the gallon.

Your choice of model will undoubtedly be governed by the number of people travelling in your group.
With the exception of the sports cars, even the quite tiny sedans will seat four passengers if you are willing to sacrifice comfort and luggage space for really economical transportation.
There is a large variety of models to choose from in most countries, however, including 6-passenger sedans and station wagons and the rental fee isn't all that much greater than for the wee sedans.

The basic costs are generally pretty much the same regardless of the agency through which you reserve your car, but some of them offer supplementary advantages.
There is the free intra-city "rent it here, leave it there" service, as an example, the free delivery and collection at the airport, dockside or your hotel, luggage racks, touring documents and information and other similar services.
A little investigation by telephone or reading the travel ads in the newspapers and magazines will give you these pertinent details on the additional money-saving benefits.
The investigation will be well worth your time.

All model cars are not available in all countries.
Quite naturally, there is a greater availability of those models which are manufactured within a specific country.
If you would like to start your tour in Italy, where the rental fees are actually the lowest in Europe, Fiats in all sizes are available, as are Alfa Romeo Giulietta models.
If you wish to budget closely on transportation, saving your extra dollars to indulge in luxuries, one agency lists the small Fiat 500 at only $1.26 a day plus $.03 a kilometer and the Fiat 2100 Station Wagon, seating six, at just $1.10 a day and $.105 a kilometer.
If you will be using your car more than fifteen days, which isn't all unlikely, the daily rates drop quite sharply to $.86 a day for the Fiat 500 and to an infinitesimal $.30 a day for the Fiat 2100 Station Wagon.
With six in the group, the cost comes to just a nickel a day per person on the daily fee.

In the majority of countries, however, the rates range from $3.00 to $3.50 a day for the smaller sedans and graduate up to $7.00 and $8.00 a day for the larger, luxury European models, with the rate per kilometer driven starting at $.03 and going up as high as $.12.
The same model car might be available in six or eight countries, yet not two countries will have the same rate either for the daily rate or rate per kilometer driven.
The variations are not too great.
Rates for American cars are somewhat higher, ranging from about $8.00 a day up to $14.00 a day for a Chevrolet Convertible, but the rate per kilometer driven is roughly the same as for the larger European models.
Rates in Greece and Finland are fairly high, actually the highest in Europe, and, surprisingly enough, they are also quite high in Ireland.

If you are planning to tour Europe for longer than a month, it might be wise for you to lease a car.
The actual over-all cost, for the first month, will perhaps not be too much lower than the rental charges for the same period of time, but you will receive a new car.
You will be entitled to all the advantages of a new car owner, which includes the factory guarantee and the services valid at authorized dealers throughout Europe.
Further, there is no mileage charge or mileage limitations when you lease a car, and you pay only the flat monthly rate plus a nominal charge for documents and insurance since the car is registered and insured individually for your trip.
There is a fairly wide selection of models of English, German and French manufacture from which you can choose from the very small Austin 7, Citroen 2 CV, Volkswagens, Renaults to the 6-passenger Simca Beaulieu.
Leasing a car is not as common or as popular as renting a car in Europe, but for long periods it will be unquestionably more economical and satisfactory.
After the first month, rates are considerably less, averaging only about $60 a month for most 4- and 5-passenger models.

There are reasons for some people not wanting to rent cars and going on the do-it-yourself plan.
For one thing, the driver usually sees less and has less fun than his passengers since it becomes pretty necessary for him to keep at least one eye on the road.
Then, too, European drivers have reputations for being somewhat crazy on the road and some Americans are not particularly keen on getting mixed up with them.
Still there is a way for those who want to see some of the back country of Europe by car.
The way is to rent a chauffeur-driven car.
It isn't as expensive as most people believe it to be.

Your chauffeur's expenses will average between $7.00 to $12.00 a day, but this charge is the same whether you rent a 7-passenger Cadillac limousine or a 4-passenger Peugeot or Fiat 1800.
The big spread is in the charge for each kilometer driven, being governed by the rate at which gasoline is consumed.
Since most European cars average more miles per gallon of gasoline than American cars, it naturally follows that the cost per kilometer for these models will be less, but the greater seating capacity of the large American cars will equalize this, provided your group is sufficiently large to fill a 7-passenger limousine.

The fees for the rental of chauffeur-driven cars vary in the different countries in the same manner as they do for the drive-yourself cars.
However, whether you arrange to have a European or American model, if you rent a car with the proper seating capacity in relation to the number of people in your party, your transportation expense will average very close to $10.00 per day per passenger.
This will include your helpful, English-speaking chauffeur and a drive of an average of 150 kilometers in any one day.
If you drive greater distances than that, you'll just be skimming the surface and will never discover the enchantment, fascination and beauty which lured you in the first place to explore the hinterlands.
Of course, if you want to throw all caution to the winds and rent an Imperial or Cadillac limousine just for you and your bride, you'll have a memorable tour, but it won't be cheap, and it is not recommended unless you own a producing oil well or you've had a winner in the Irish Sweepstakes.