Border crossing with a rental car

Rental company will have a box to check on the agreement if you plan on driving in another country.

We have done this many times. No problems . Just make sure you return it in the same country where you picked it up to avoid huge drop off fees.

Thanks, guys!

Now to figure out where to stay in/near Amsterdam with a car :-)

Hi. "Now to figure out where to stay in/near Amsterdam with a car :-)" Have you considered just renting the car when you leave Amsterdam...? Enjoy your trip!

I just rented a car in the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago. I took a train from Amsterdam to Arnhem where I picked up the car. I can't imagine trying to have a car in Amsterdam proper. I then drove to Nijmegan, Kranenburg (very close to Germany) and Heusden before ending my trip in Delft, and it was a PITA because I needed to arrive in Delft on a Sunday afternoon/evening, and had to drive to Schiphol and drop my Hertz rental car off there. No rental offices seemed to be open on Sunday in Delft, Rotterdam, or The Hague. My rental contract was very specific that I was not to drive into another country. But I don't think there was any sort of way for them to know as long as my car ended up back in The Netherlands.

I would be upfront about your intent to drive into Germany. If there is a clause saying not to drive out of Netherlands, it would invalidate any insurance coverage in case of an accident.

@Sam

No way would I try to sneak a car across an international border :-)

@Bob

I will think about getting the car when we are done with Amsterdam but the savings may not be worth the inconvenience. See below.

@PharmerPhil

I need to return the car to AMS because Germany is at the end of our trip and have discovered that airports are ideal for car pickup and return because of their inventory of cars and hours of operation. I need to think through the costs of getting to our hotel from Schiphol and back to Schiphol to pick up the car compared to renting it for a few additional days and paying the hotel EUR20 per day for parking because of the convenience

You could get a 3-day Amsterdam Travel Card for 30 EUR. Covers train and buses from and to Schiphol airport and Amsterdam plus travel in Amsterdam on the GVB trams and buses. Otherwise a ticket each way on the train is 6.90 EUR if you don't have a reloadable ticket card.

Looked into prices and the cost of a 3 day rental is one third that of a 5 day rental but only from Schiphol. Worth the train ride!

Thanks everyone