Germany Car Rental Guide
The current page gives you information about car rental in Germany and also describes the car rental and driving restrictions valid in the country.
Rental Traditions
You must be at least 21 years old and have held your license for 1-3 years depending on the rental car category reserved. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a young driver surcharge.
Cars rented in Germany are allowed into the following countries when arrangements are made in advance with Auto Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the former republics of Yugoslavia.
Driving Restrictions
In Germany, the minimum driving age is 17 years. Children must be at least 12 years old to be allowed to sit in the front seat, unless the seat is equipped with a child restraint. Children under 12 must be seated in the rear of the vehicle or in a child seat. All passengers have to use seatbelts at all times.
The legal blood alcohol limit is 0.5‰.
It is illegal to drive with your parking lights only. In case of poor weather conditions, low beams must be used.
If you leave your vehicle or stop for more than 3 minutes without loading or unloading cargo or passengers, you are considered parked. When parking, you must leave at least 3 metres between your car and the middle of the street or the nearest lane divider.
In order to catch traffic violators, automatic cameras are used. The tickets will be posted to the offender. Car rental companies will forward such tickets to the offending client.
Speed limits:| Area | Limit |
| Expressways | 100-unlimited KM/H |
| Outside the City | 90 KM/H |
| In the City | 50 KM/H |
Emergency Numbers
Police: 110
Fire Brigade and Ambulance: 112
Road Tolls
Germany has no road tolls for cars.
Some useful expressions for tourists travelling in Germany
Car – das Auto
Car rental – Autovermietung
Road – die Autostrasse
To drive – fahren
About Germany
After uniting the two parts of the country together again, Germany as a tourist destination is improving. The regions of the country are sharply defined, each one preserving its distinctive character in terms of dialect, foods and traditional dress. Berlin is the greatest tourist magnet. You will also find improvements in the cultural centres of Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Baden-Baden is a famous spa town, being a site of the country’s most celebrated casino as well. There are picturesque castles and steep vineyards along the Rhine and the Moselle.
Although Germany has plenty of beautiful sights and picturesque scenery, it is still a postindustrial, multicultural country with all the advantages and conflicts.
Population: 83,251,851
Area: 357,000 sq km
Capital City: Berlin
Language: German
Time Zone: GMT + 1
Monetary unit: Euro
