Minibus hire in Germany

[sparkythecat]

10 of us are flying to Munich in September for a one week hill walking holiday. We'd like to hire a minibus for the week, but are having some difficulty. The major rental companies only have transit sized vehicles for up to 9 people so, where can I rent a vehicle to carry 10 of us?

My UK driving licence allows me to drive vehicles with up to 17 seats, are things different in Germany ?

[JMGS4]

Normal minibusses have only 8 seats due to EU license regulations. Any larger is classed as a PSV vehicle and you'll have to bring a PSV license to be able to hire (if at all). I also have the 16 people thingy but have never been able to hire a larger minibus....
Why not do a normal minibus and a car as your luggage probably will not all fit into the minibus anyway?

[sparkythecat]

JMGS4 said:

Normal minibusses have only 8 seats due to EU license regulations. Any larger is classed as a PSV vehicle and you'll have to bring a PSV license to be able to hire (if at all).

Do you have a link to the relevant EU licence regulations to which you refer?

I can only find these 2006 regulations which state that category D1 is an entitlement to drive vehicles with up to 16 seats.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?...

[JMGS4]

sparkythecat said:

JMGS4 said:

Normal minibusses have only 8 seats due to EU license regulations. Any larger is classed as a PSV vehicle and you'll have to bring a PSV license to be able to hire (if at all).

Do you have a link to the relevant EU licence regulations to which you refer?

I can only find these 2006 regulations which state that category D1 is an entitlement to drive vehicles with up to 16 seats.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?...

Sorry might just be german law, which definitely states (as does french) that a driver and 8 passengers on a group 3 (german car) license only

[sparkythecat]

Ahh..I understand now. There are no 10 - 16 seater vehicles available to hire, because there are no natives entitled to drive them.