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Driving in Germany this Christmas (2010)

We are renting a car in Paris on December 27th and driving to Germany. when we rented our car, the rental agreement said you could drive in Germany. we have since found out there is a mandatory snow tire rule for driving in germany. we have contacted our rental company, and have been told that snow chains are avaialble. We have not heard back on our request about the mandatory snow tire provision. any suggestions?

Posted by
2910 posts

Hi Susan, I'd call the rental co. and request winter tires for your rental car. We just returned from a trip to Germany and Austria and requested the car have winter tires when we reserved it. It's an added charge to get the tires. Paul

Posted by
2297 posts

Snow <I>chains</I> do not replace snow tires!!! If you want to drive in Germany you'll have to get snow tires which is usually an extra charge.

Posted by
23 posts

Thank you guys for these great responses. (and for the wonderful link!) We are looking forward to an exciting trip. (once we get the snow tire thing figured out!)

Posted by
973 posts

Susan, good advice above. The rental company ought to provide the snow tires.Tt was recommended that we also get snowchains since we were driivng thru the Alps but the liability for damaging the snowtires with the chains was beyond desirability. You can buy chains many places if you get desperate.

Posted by
349 posts

Good luck lots of snow all over as of 20 DEc

Posted by
32214 posts

Susan, Given the current weather in Europe, hopefully you won't have any problems. The news reports this morning didn't look good, as air, rail and especially road transportation has been seriously disrupted in many parts of Europe. Hopefully it improves by Dec. 27th.? Be sure to get the full CDW! Good luck!

Posted by
12040 posts

I'm looking out the window right now and what do I see? Heavy snow fall. It's supposed to be warmer this week, but more of the same forcast in terms of precipitation.