Renting car in Germany and driving around few countries in Europe - What to look out for

Before: ensure your driving license is valid in all countries (example Germany) and what is needed to have a valid driving permission (in Germany IDP is mandatory by law for your case - §29 FeV).

a. If contract of rental car company allows it, yes. Sixt classifies all named countries as zone 1 (link) without limitations. Just inform them that you plan to drive there.
b. See before for Germany. Austria Autobahn vignette. Switzerland Vignette. Frnace, tolls only? Certificate of spectacle prescription for eyeglass wearers is recommended.
c. Customs are always valid if you cross borders.
d. See b. Germany has no toll roads for cars.

Think of winter tyres (depending on travel date).

With German rental car you will be fine for German low emission zones - not knowing in the other countries.

Avoid renting an e-car. Some restrictions in garages, on ferries, etc.

Child seats for kids under age of 12.

And make yourself familiar with the national traffic rules, e. g. Germany (brochure): drive in the rightmost lane on Autobahnen, except when overtaking is expected within 20-30 seconds. Or no no-turn on red except a green-arrow-sign or traffic light allows it.

Hi rup_sha

We have rented many times in Germany and have driven to different countries.

So here are my answers:
a. Yes, you can drive across to other bordering countries with no problem. Some rental companies may have fees if you do this but you are allowed to drive to these countries.

b. Be sure to get an International Driver's License (at AAA). You only need it if you are stopped btu can be costly if you do not have one and are pulled over.

c. I use Hertz and do not get charged a fee to drive across borders, but other companies may have them.

d. Most rental cars are equipped with a decal that has a barcode for tolls or you are given a device. Most of the time i have seen the old fashioned take a ticket at a toll booth and pay at the other end.

Good luck and have fun driving.

Thanks All for the valuable information. We will be traveling in October so I don't think we will need winter tires.
It will be full size sedan (perhaps, hybrid). I will get IDP from local AAA and will also remember to carry eye doctor's prescription papers just in case someone asks for it.

I'm afraid that there is more.

Based on "Munich Germany, InnsBruck Austria, Zurich, Geneva and Basel in Switzerland, Strasbourg France and then back to Frankfurt via Stuttgart."

In Austria you will probably be on highways in and out of Innsbruck. For that you need a Vignette. It takes care of most of your tolls and can either be a sticker or electronic on line once you know your registration - car plate - number. Around 11€ for 10days, or less for only one day.

If you are driving through Austria to get to Zurich there is a very long tunnel, the Arlberg tunnel which costs an additional 11,50€ on top of the Vignette. Bad news - the tunnel is closed for repair for quite a while. Good news, because you have to go around you don't have to pay that extra toll. Bad news, doing that takes a long time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArlbergRoadTunnel

Don't be so sure about the winter tyres. Plenty of snow is possible in October in the mountains. It is required after Nov 1, or in wintry conditions.

In Switzerland you will need the Swiss Vignette, either a sticker or electronic. CHF 40, about 40€, valid for one calendar year, covers all car tunnels in the country except for trains carrying cars under the mountains which are expensively extra.

Strasbourg is in a large clean air area, well beyond the centre of the city. You need a Crit'Air sticker certifying your compliance if you want to drive there. You can park out of the zone and take train or tram into the centre.

Every country has its own rules you see.

Most rental cars are equipped with a decal that has a barcode for tolls or you are given a device.

I don't know of any of the OP's counties using a barcode, and the only device could be a Liber-T in France but the cost would be astronomical, if it was an option for just a little bit of Alsace.

This is what my reservation stated when I rented in Frankfurt last year. I rented through Costco and the rental company was Enterprise.

“ Cross Border Policy: Vehicles can be driven in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Northern Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. Vehicles can also be driven in Croatia, Southern Italy, the Vatican, San Marino, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary with exception of vehicles of the brands Audi, BMW, Mercedes, VW, Land Rover, Jaguar. Luxury Elite Electric Vehicles cannot be rented for cross border travels. In all cases, customers must inform the rental branch of their intention to leave the country with the vehicle and require authorization. The following additional charges will apply for all cross border travels: Airport Rail locations 6.24EUR per day. All other locations 5.00EUR per day. Maximum charge is 10 days. Prices include taxes and fees.”

Under the "What to look out for"

Keeping the car, and your possessions safe so this doesn't happen:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/everything-stolen-shop-to-replace

Be also aware that Basel, Zurich and Geneva are cities that would make driving a car illegal if they could. In stead they just will try to make it a miserable experience...

OK, first, I have driven everywhere on your list in the last 6 months and over the past 18 multiple times. Your car rental place needs to know everywhere you are going to drive to ensure you meet the regulations for those countries, and in a couple cases, cities.

You need an IDP.
You are best advised to have international drivers insurance.
You need to understand the local traffic regulations.
You need to understand that there are a lot of traffic cameras and you will get a ticket if you do something illegal.
You will need a Crite de Air vignette for Strasbourg. You can get an electronic version of this online once you have the car registration. Parking in this city can easily reach 50 euro / day.
You will need a vignette for Austria and Switzerland if you go to the cities you have listed.
You will probably drive toll roads in Switzerland, Austria, and France. Every country collects separately, there is no common pass.
In October you should have winter/all season tires. Make sure your rental company provides them. Especially in the Alps. It may not snow, but temps can get into the 20's and it will be wet.
I'd recommend Sixt over Hertz as Hertz is actually very limited in EU.
You might want to look into getting a membership with ADAC. they have the best road service and it's not expensive. Much better than AAA.

According to a test there are better offers for road service than ADAC although also they help people often effectively and professional.

For rental cars this is not really necessary - they have own hotlines for issues and at least also the car manufacturers are servicing in the first 24 months to avoid appearing in issue lists.

We did a similar route last summer. In addition to what has already been discussed:

Know your credit card’s PIN number. If you don’t know it, request it from your credit card. I’m not talking about a debit card. We needed a PIN number at gas stations with no staff. Apparently there is a way around it, but we didn’t know it. You don’t want to be stuck out of gas somewhere.

I highly recommend the zero deductible insurance for peace of mind.

You also need to be familiar with the rules of the road in each country. They are not all the same particularly when it comes to yielding and roundabouts.

In addition to the vignettes in Austria and Switzerland, there can be additional tolls for long tunnels. Always have some change ready, in case the credit card doesn’t work.

Read about how the parking disks work. You’ll need it for parking.

Be aware of the environmental restrictions that require stickers in various areas (including Strasbourg). Countries are making harder and harder to drive in them (on purpose). Cars rented in Germany will have the sticker for Germany only.

a. Is it allowed to drive rental car between these countries (Germany - Austria - Switzerland - France )?

As a non resident, it could be illegal to drive a random rental care into or out of Switzerland and the fine for doing so runs into the tens of thoursands, which means you'd be detained until the fines are paid.

Switzerland is not part of the EU, nor part of the EU Customs Union. Pretty much all of the rental agencies have "Bonded" car that they are allowed to rent to customers entering Switzerland and other non EU states. You just need to make sure the agency is aware of your intended trip and they will give you a suitable care that will pass through the automated plate recognition checks.

You might want to be aware the differences between driving in the US & Germany. Here's a useful web site - https://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/index.shtml
especially the section on highway signs: https://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/zeichen.shtml

I have important information for you!

Take pictures and or video all the way around the car and interior before you leave the lot. And, I wouldn't rent from Sixt! I recall hearing some bad news about Sixt and that people had issues with them, so I had some concerns when my hubby rented from them. He was on a trip with his buddies, and they only needed a car for one day. Lucky for him he actually took a video of the car before he took it off the lot and again when he dropped it off. There was a scrap on the car, and I think he noted that with a person before he left. But, many months later we got a bill for damage of around $2500. There was no mention of what the damage was, and it was collection company from Germany that was telling us we owed money. Thank goodness he had the video! After a lot of calls and hassle, we have not heard from them again, at least not yet. We were told if we didn't pay by Sept 2024 the fee would be going up. We haven't heard from them and I hope we don't. We never did send the video but we told them we had proof. After renting cars in Europe over the last 20 years this is the first time we had a problem. We won't ever rent from Sixt again!

Sounds like a fabulous trip! Enjoy!

for those who may not have noticed this thread is from July last year, and was woken the day before yesterday by a new poster.

Thank you everyone for all the advice and suggestions. Our travel back in October 2024 went flawless. I was able to drive through all the countries and cities and had no issues getting the Toll pass for Austria and Switzerland online (All you need is License plate number). I rented car from Hertz at Frankfurt and took the pictures and videos of it before I started driving. No issues returning it either.

Be aware that some rental car services do not provide much help if you have trouble. Two years ago I rented a car from Sixt in Munich and the car literally died on the autobahn in France. I was close to a rest stop and managed to drive the car in there. I spent four and a half hours on the phone with one person after another trying to find out how to get the car towed and get another car. As it turned out
Sixt didn't service the brand of car I rented in a country other than Germany. I finally got somebody who could tell me what to do and it involved calling the police who had to order a towing company to tow the car. We were close to the German border so we spent the night in France and got a cab to take us across the border to Germany where I picked up another car. They were nice enough to upgrade the car. Just make sure you know about the car rental road assistance.

If you are on a French Autoroute with a broken down car, it is illegal to have a car recovered except by the official company associated with the Autoroute. That is the case no matter if you are in a rental or your own car, French or foreign.