UK car hire for EU road trip...

[Brother D]

I have had a look for previous threads... but I would like to hire a car in the UK for a 2 week road trip to France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy...

Do UK hire companies let you take the car abroad? Or am I better off flying to Paris and hiring a car there (and do they let you drive to other countries)?

I don't live in UK but will be flying in to see family and having a car from the start would be helpful.

Any tips or suggestions would be helpful

TIA

[SaulGoodman]

Just checked Hertz who I rent most with. They say no. Europcar say you can but it's extra paperwork and most likely an extra charge. Probably best off renting in Paris, you are good within the EU then pretty much as long as you tick the boxes for whatever country you go to - vignette in Switzerland etc.

[//j17]

Yep some do/others don't - and I think all who do charge an additional cross border charge.

Certainly Europcar do as I used them for a ski trip a couple of years ago but the cross border charge was noticable and it may be cheaper to hire 1 car for use while in the UK, then travel to the continent by plane/train and hire a different car once you get there.

And on the continent it varies from hire company to hire company, and even from hire car company X in France to hire car company X in Germany/Italy/etc so you need to check the T&Cs. In general though cross border travel inside continental Western Europe is permitted, though while some companies you can just get in the car and drive others need you to notify them when you pick the car up, and others again need notification and have a small cross border charge. I've never needed to look at the T&Cs for driving a continental hire car to the UK though so you'd need to check that yourself.

[zbc]

Just to add as I see you have Switzerland on your list of countries to visit where you would need a vignette. Car company can sort this of course and depending on how long you will be there it might or might not be easier but it reinforces the fact that when you book you should tell them where you plan to go with the car. As others have said there should be no problem going to these countries but best to warn them ahead of times. Also to add I've hired cars in the UK and driven to Europe. It was a few years ago and there was additional paperwork but absolutely doable.

[Chucklehead]

You'll definitely struggle with that from any of the majors. Better to get to one of those countries first and then you might be able to do some if not all those destinations in the same car.

I'd recommend Sixt for that list of countries. I think you'll manage it in one hire.

[Harpoon]

You can look at the Sixt terms for cross border for each country here:

https://www.sixt.co.uk/rental-information/#/

Somewhere like Geneva Airport could be a good place to start (if it works) with it being close to so many borders

[//j17]

zbc said:

Just to add as I see you have Switzerland on your list of countries to visit where you would need a vignette. Car company can sort this of course and depending on how long you will be there it might or might not be easier but it reinforces the fact that when you book you should tell them where you plan to go with the car. As others have said there should be no problem going to these countries but best to warn them ahead of times. Also to add I've hired cars in the UK and driven to Europe. It was a few years ago and there was additional paperwork but absolutely doable.

Actually you don't NEED a vignette for Switzerland, similar to Austria it's just for the motorways.

And while you [u]might[/u] be able to get one through the hire car company they will probably charge you a bonus fee for the privilege - when you can easilly buy one at the border. If you use the A14/E62 crossing just South of Geneva there are loads of parking spaces and automated machines to sell them, and if you use the N57/E23 crossing North West of Lausanne you can either stop at the petrol station 50m past the border or sometimes the border guards will actually stop you and sell you one. Those are the 2 routes I've done and both were painless.

[Brother D]

//j17 said:

Actually you don't NEED a vignette for Switzerland, similar to Austria it's just for the motorways.

And while you [u]might[/u] be able to get one through the hire car company they will probably charge you a bonus fee for the privilege - when you can easilly buy one at the border. If you use the A14/E62 crossing just South of Geneva there are loads of parking spaces and automated machines to sell them, and if you use the N57/E23 crossing North West of Lausanne you can either stop at the petrol station 50m past the border or sometimes the border guards will actually stop you and sell you one. Those are the 2 routes I've done and both were painless.

Cheers for that

[balham123]

Harpoon said:

You can look at the Sixt terms for cross border for each country here:

https://www.sixt.co.uk/rental-information/#/

Somewhere like Geneva Airport could be a good place to start (if it works) with it being close to so many borders

If you do get it from Geneva airport, it's quite a bit cheaper from the French side, however it's really hard to find the French side when you return, and the hire companies will fleece you if you drop it back on the Swiss side. On the way back into airport, you need to spot the French side access a fair way out and get into the correct lane

[Bill]

balham123 said:

If you do get it from Geneva airport, it's quite a bit cheaper from the French side, however it's really hard to find the French side when you return, and the hire companies will fleece you if you drop it back on the Swiss side. On the way back into airport, you need to spot the French side access a fair way out and get into the correct lane

It's easy enough if you put a pin on Google maps at the entrance and then use it for sat nav.

The only issue I've come across (outside winter when some countries mandate winter tyres) is breakdown cover. We had someone at the Geneva French (IIRC, it may well be the other way round...) desk trying to sell extra cover as we wouldn't get help if we broke down in Switzerland.

[//j17]

balham123 said:

If you do get it from Geneva airport, it's quite a bit cheaper from the French side...

Actually while that always used to be the case post Covid it's become much more _can_ be cheaper. Sometimes you compare prices and can make a £200 saving hiring on the French side/others it's just £20 and not worth the walk.

[Pete102]

//j17 said:

Actually while that always used to be the case post Covid it's become much more _can_ be cheaper. Sometimes you compare prices and can make a £200 saving hiring on the French side/others it's just £20 and not worth the walk.

The other thing to keep in mind, depending on what time of year you are planning to do this, the French side don't always fit winter tires.

Theres an awkward quirk as well if you are a Swiss resident, we need to stop at the border on the way back into Switzerland and get a special form, otherwise there is a risk we become liable for import tax!

[Guyr]

Just fly to France and hire a car there. It will be cheaper, easier and you get a left-hand drive car fully certified for all the French low-emissions zones. Then if you go into Austria/Switzerland via Motorways then just buy a Vignette at the Border.

We have done this several times out of Germany, taking an E-Class from Stuttgart Airport to Italy/Austria and a Z4 Roadster to Switzerland.

[//j17]

Pete102 said:

The other thing to keep in mind, depending on what time of year you are planning to do this, the French side don't always fit winter tires.

Actually that one's now 'unclear'.

A couple of years ago France introduced either winter tyres or chains during the winter, but either whole departments or individual maires could opt out. Last time I looked I think the department the French terminal sits in had opted "in" but the marie it sits in had opted "out". While in theory that means the hire car companies could give you a car with summer tyres you'd be limited to driving it in something like a 5 miles radios of the airport - so you'd hope even cars from the French side would now have wintre tyres...

Yet to have feedback from people hiring from the French side for skiing in the last year or 2 if their cars did/didn't have winter tyres...