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Driving a rental car into Germany without Umweltzone (emission zone) sticker?

Hello - I am renting a car in Amsterdam and driving through Germany, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium over 2.5 weeks. The rental car agency (Hertz) has informed me that since I am picking the rental car up in the Netherlands, they cannot guarantee that it will have the Umweltzone (low emission zone) sticker, although it will qualify for green. The itinerary I spend months mapping out takes us through many zones that require the Umweltzone sticker. I am able to find lots of information online about why and where it is needed, as well as that I can purchase one for my rental car...but there is no clear list of locations to purchase such a sticker. I cannot purchase online before we depart as I will not know the vehicle registration information. Our first night is in Cologne, does anyone know where in the city I could purchase the sticker? Or will there be a building as we cross the boarder?
I have also included a link to a site I got most of my information from http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/environmentalzones.html

Posted by
32517 posts

A TUeV inspection station should be able to help...

Posted by
9 posts

You can get it here 24 hours a day, even on weekends: Rolshover Straße 420, 51105 Cologne

That's a gas station. I found this information today on the web page of the city of Cologne (in German only).
I used Google to calculate the route from Amsterdam to Cologne and this address would be very near to the shortest route.
The web page of the city of Cologne also states (translated): "If you intend to stay in a Cologne hotel, think about the "Feinstaubplakette" when booking. Ask your hotel: many Cologne hotels will get the "Plakette" for you to be availabe on the day of arrival." (Feinstaubplakette means fine dust sticker)

Posted by
9 posts

You can get it here 24 hours a day, even on weekends: Rolshover Straße 420, 51105 Cologne

That's a gas station. I found this information today on the web page of the city of Cologne (in German only).
I used Google to calculate the route from Amsterdam to Cologne and this address would be very near to the shortest route.
The web page of the city of Cologne also states (translated): If you intend to stay at a Cologne hotel, think about the "Feinstaubplakette" when booking. Ask your hotel: many Cologne hotels will get the "Plakette" for you to be availabe on the day of arrival. (Feinstaubplakette means fine dust sticker.)

Posted by
12040 posts

The sticker is only issued in Germany, so it seems reasonable that a rental agency in the Netherlands can't guarantee it.