No vignette and no motorway toll, so the money goes on the deposit, winter tyres and fines that arrive after the trip.
Europcar holds €300 on your card in Germany, €100 if you buy its zero-excess cover. From 1 October 2024 only tyres with the Alpine snowflake count in snow; the driver pays €60 and the keeper €75, and the keeper of a hire car is the rental company. Using a speed-camera warning app is banned.
Germany is the cheapest country in this group to drive through: cars pay no motorway toll and need no vignette. The surprises in a German hire car come from the contract and from the post, not from the road.
Expect a €300 Hold, or €100 With Zero-Excess Cover
Europcar publishes its deposit for Germany: €300 held on the card, or €100 if you take the protection that cuts your excess to zero. Sixt, Hertz and Avis do not publish a German figure on the pages we read, so ask at booking.
Put the hold on a credit card. A debit card hold takes the money out of your account until it is released. More on holds and why they are bigger when you refuse the cover: hire car deposits.
Ask for Snowflake Tyres, Not M+S
Germany has no winter tyre dates. The duty applies whenever there is ice, snow or slush on the road, in October or in April. Since 1 October 2024 only tyres with the Alpine snowflake symbol count; plain M+S no longer does.
Driving on the wrong tyres costs the driver €60 and a point, or €80 if you hold up traffic. The keeper pays €75 on top, and on a hire car the keeper is the rental company, which passes it on with its own fee. That is €135 (€60 + €75) before the fee.
The rental contract does not have to give you winter tyres. Ask in the booking notes, then check the sidewall at the desk: winter kit on a hire car.
Check the Green Sticker Before an Umweltzone
German cities with an Umweltzone let in only cars with the green Umweltplakette on the windscreen. Driving in without one costs €100. The sticker is tied to the plate and never expires; Munich and Stuttgart also keep older diesels out.
A car hired in Germany is German-registered, so the sticker is a matter between the rental company and its car. I'd still look for it, bottom right of the windscreen, before driving into a city. The zone list is on Germany's low-emission zones.
Turn Off Speed-Camera Alerts Before You Drive
Using a radar detector, or the speed-camera warning function of any app or sat nav, is banned while driving in Germany. A detector carried ready for use costs €75. If your phone app warns of cameras, switch that feature off before you set off.
Know the Fines That Follow You Home
Offence
Fine
15 km/h over the limit
€40
30 km/h over in town
€180; at 31 km/h over, €260 and a month's ban
Holding a phone while driving
€100
Alcohol, first time
€500 and a month's driving ban
Child under 12 and under 150 cm without a child seat
€60
Umweltzone without the green sticker
€100
Germany gives no discount for paying early. Police can ask a driver who lives abroad for a security deposit on the spot, so carry a card that works.
The alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l, but zero for drivers under 21 and during the probation period for new drivers. Speed limits are 50 km/h in towns and 100 km/h outside; on the Autobahn there is no general limit, 130 is advised, and a posted limit binds. Everything else is on driving in Germany.
On a hire car, every one of these reaches the rental company first. It gives your name to the authority or pays and recharges your card, with an administration fee of its own. We found no published fee for Germany; ask at the desk and photograph the tariff sheet: hire car fines.
Bring the Right Licence, and Book the Child Seats
An EU or EEA licence is valid in Germany, and so is a UK photocard licence for a visit. A US licence can be used for up to six months, with a German translation or an International Driving Permit.
Children under 12 and shorter than 150 cm must ride in a child seat suited to them. Book the seats with the car.
German rules require a warning triangle, a high-visibility vest and a first-aid kit in German-registered cars, which is what a German hire car is. Check all three are in the boot before you leave.
Ask Before You Leave Germany
Taking the car into another country is a contract question. Without permission the cover you paid for can fall away. Ask by email, and keep the answer: crossing borders in a hire car.
Where to leave the car, from our sister site. Each card is the short version; the full guide has every car park, the tow pound and the charging points.
ParkingInEurope
Munich
Saturday is a full charging day, and a Park+Ride space costs €1.50.
Best bet
A Park+Ride on the U-Bahn: €1.50 for 24 hours at Fürstenried West, Neuperlach Süd or Feldmoching, €1.00 at Garching-Forschungszentrum. The U3 from Fürstenried West runs to Marienplatz with no change.
Watch out
Saturday is charged until 23:00. Enforcement runs Monday to Saturday, 09:00–23:00. Only Sunday is free. In the Altstadt you may not stay longer than two hours, 08:00–19:00, whatever you pay.
A towed car is usually moved round the corner, not stolen. €4 an hour in Mitte, free on Sunday except in zone 29, and charging bays that cost nothing to park in.
Best bet
Parkhaus Europa-Center: €2.50 an hour, €20 for 24 hours, open round the clock. At Alexanderplatz, Alexa is €25 a day but closes 00:30–06:00. Then a 24-hour AB transit ticket for €11.20.
Watch out
Mitte zone 29 charges every day 09:00–24:00, Sunday included. Green sticker needed inside the S-Bahn Ring; German E-plates are exempt and a foreign EV may show the blue E-Plakette.
Free park and ride on the U-Bahn, a €1-an-hour garage across the river, and €4 an hour at the kerb. The cathedral garage is 1.95 m high and shuts at midnight.
Best bet
Free P+R at Kalbach (376 spaces, U2/U9) or Preungesheim (110, U5), then the U-Bahn in. In town, Parkhaus Alt-Sachsenhausen is €1 an hour, €20 a day.
Watch out
Green sticker compulsory inside the A5/A3/A661 motorway ring, foreign and electric cars included. The Dom-Römer garage is 1.95 m high and open only 06:00–24:00. The Christmas market has no parking at all.