 Poster: A snowHead
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We are hiring a car at munich airport and driving to lech. Our flight lands at noonish. Would be very grateful if anyone can advise me on the best route ie a96 e60 a14 or a95 and e532 a12 s16. Have read that can be delays at border crossings at the moment. Additionally if the car hire firm does not provide us with snow chains will snow tyres be sufficient? Are chains readily available at petrol stations etc if we need to buy them?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A96-route has most highway, and valley roads. And Google says it's fastest. Would think this is the best option.
Eastersunday afternoon should be quiet.
Bordercrossings delays are only the other way around, out of Austria into Germany. (Due to intensifying controls because of refugees)
Snowtyres definitely not sufficient in case of snow. Chains often obligatory. And in fact you must carry chains anyway by law. Would not gamble with buying these at petrol stations, and the carfirm at Munich will definitely have them in stock.
But why are you renting a car anway? You don't need a car in Lech, and a taxi might very well be more economic, and definitely more comfortable. Do take note that you will be crossing two passes (Arlberg and Flexen) shortly before getting into Lech. Can be veeeery tricky in snowy weather. And this is the snowiest corner of The Alps, also end March.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thank you.would prefer not to drive but transfer by shared bus more than 3 times cost of hire car. If necessary i assume we can get bus for last leg of journey on flexen pass
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Holidayqueen, just a thought - there will almost certainly be a cross- border charge of about €30 on the car hire. If your booking hasn't asked then they will ask at the airport
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Holidayqueen, you could train from Munich Hbf to St Anton (or even Langan Am Arlberg) and grab a local taxi or bus from there. It will be cheaper and a lot less stressful than driving, assuming you are not under time pressure.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Holidayqueen - Rental cars don't come equipped with Snow Tyres (you may get Winter Tyres - but they are not the same as Snow Tyres)
As advised above - for Lech you should have chains - and you should book them in advance with the car rental company because chains aren't "readily" available at petrol stations and, even if you do find them, they will almost certaonly cost more than hiring. It's normally a fixed fee to hire chains for the duration of the hire (not a daily fee).
You might not need them - so it might see expensive to hire chains that you don't use.
However, even if you don't need them on arrival day, it could snow whilst you are there and you might need them on departure day. I have driven to Lech (several times from Zurich) and, one time in mid-April, the night before leaving Lech it snowed heavily and we needed chains to leave the resort.
In theory ...and I repeat, in theory, without chains you could find somewere (much) lower down to park your car and then take a bus to/from Lech if there was too much snow to drive - but it would hardly be worth all the inconvenience and cost for the sake of hiring snow chains - which will probably cost no more than £35. (btw -I'm not aware that you will need to pay a cross-border charge for taking a car from Germany to Austria - although I may be wrong)
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thank you all. we have a car with winter tyres and I have requested snow chains. if it is snowy at the time we will probably leave the car somewhere like Langan Am Arlberg and get the bus or a taxi from there.
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I've hired cars in Munich airport a few times, always to go to Austria, and I've never been charged a cross-border charge. You'll be going over the Arlberg pass in the afternoon when it will be well trafficked so unless it's snowing really heavily you shouldn't need the chains on. But it's always worth having them.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I don't think it will be an issue driving as I have done that road many times by bus, while snowing, and they get across. You could bypass some of the Arlberg pass (climb to St Christoph) by taking the tunnel and exiting on the Lagen side and head up the Arlberg pass from that side to the turnoff to Lech half way up.
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I have been over the Arlberg & Flexen passes in early March during a snowy period, no problem with a car equipped with winter tyres. Those roads are ploughed & gritted extensively. The Arlberg is most exposed, but has the tunnel as an option to bypass it. The climb back up to the Flexen isn't too bad from the Langen/Stuben end and most of the Flexen is undercover, under a gallery, you would have to very unlucky to find it closed or impassable at the end of March.
Can you not get a train to Langen am Arlberg, then bus or taxi to Lech, if you are nervous about driving? Check out the DB website. It's likely the car would only be cheaper if you have 3 or more passengers.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Looking at the official Lech/Zurs Travel Info page and bus timetable links, there are buses from Langen every hour throughout the day, evenings a bit less frequent, but looks like they are timed to sort of coincide with trains from Innsbruck direction.
http://www.lechzuers.com/travel-information
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 9-03-16 8:48; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Just checked the DB website, there is a train departing Munich Airport T1 at 1304 (with changes at Munich Ost & Innsbruck) arriving at Langen at 1702 for €68pp, that meets the 1705 bus to Lech.
Various options to return the following Sunday for similar price.
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@Holidayqueen, Hire car (route via Innsbruck and St Anton/ Arlbergpass) and refuse to pay the cross-border charge, its a scam. Argue the point at the hire desk, they can not enforce this.
Re chains I never hire them but that said we go to St Anton which is next to the motorway and is heaving de-iced, if you are going over the pass and to Lech you will provisionally need them (and better still know how to put them on). My suggestion would be hire them (at an exhorbitant rate no doubt), BUT check the wheel size on car collection to ensure the hirer has put the right ones in the car boot for your tyres size.
OR, train to St Anton or better still Langen if it stops and pre-book a taxi. If on train go via Bregenz rather than Innsbruck, less changes and German trains are notoriously very crowded and poor quality accommodation at weekends. Once you are in Austria and onto the Railjets your good.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Holidayqueen, I think the cross-border fee is, as others here have implied, a bit of a cash cow for the hire companies. Each car comes with a Green Card as part of its insurance documents and as long as you are not visiting any of the countries listed as having restricted insurance cover, the the insurance you have for driving that car in Germany is valid in all the neighbouring ones. I have a German registered car and am issued with a Green Card with my policy, listing all the countries my insurance is valid without any restrictions and those where there are restrictions. It is the car that is insured NOT the driver(s). I have fully comp for any driver over the age of 25, that is the same for most cars regardless of whether you have fully comp (Vollkasko) or Third Party, fire and Theft (Teilkasko).
As for your route from Munich Airport, the quickest and easiest is to take the A92 from the airport and stay on it until you reach its junction with the A99 (Simply follow the signs Stuttgart, Lindau, GAP (short for Garmisch-Partenkirchen). Once on the A99 heading west, follow the signs for Lindau on to the newer western section. Make sure you are in one of the centre lanes as you enter the ALLACHER Tunnel just after the Dachau/Karlsfeld junction, then simply hanger left with the motorway rather than going straight ahead on the the A8 heading towards Stuttgart! Do be careful of your speed along this section as it very active with speed cameras. Once through the tunnel and turning on the long curve to the left that leads to the A96 Lindau motorway, move into the left-hand lane to avoid inadvertently ending up going into Munich itself. You stay on this section of the A99 until the Munich-West junction where you turn off to the right onto the A96 heading to Lindau. As this is a new section of motorway, the Tunnel (Aubingertunnel) has flashless, infra-red speed cameras as well as average speed ones, so stick to the 80km/h limit.
Once on the A96 it is painless all the way down to the border just after the Lindau junction. Again most of the tunnels along this route have been upgraded with speed cameras as well as the average speed ones, so do stick to whatever the signs say. I would stop off at AICHSTETTEN (there is a big Autohof/Service area there) and buy your vignette (get a 10-day one as it is by far the cheapest at 8.90 or something close to that. Then all you have to do is stay on the same road and cross the border without fear of being stopped and fined. Once in Austria the road becomes the A14 (Rheintal-Autobahn) until just after Bludenz where it changes to the S16 (Arlberg-Schnellstrasse and also needs a Vignette). If the weather is fine, then come off at Langen and drive over the spectacular Arlberg Pass. If it is cold &/or snowy then perhaps going through the Arlberg Tunnel (extra toll but worth it to save the stress and worry) and approaching via St Anton along the B197 up to St Christoph where you turn off on to the B198. This route is kept very clear and free flowing except in the very worst of snow storms, a lot of the road runs through galleries so it does not get covered in snow. The B198 takes you through Zurs and on down to Lech.
Traffic-wise if you have a sunny day you may find it pretty busy around Munich, but not gridlocked as most of the holiday traffic will have passed through the previous weekend or at the latest on Good Friday/Easter Saturday. The day-trippers will be off to visit relies after Easter Mass &/or have a day out at Ammersee. The worst traffic will be later in the day as they all return home towards Munich. The usual caveats with regard to accidents causing the motorways to be closed for a period while the emergency services sort out the mess! If this is the case, the police are pretty good at directing you to one of the several signposted diversions (Umleitung routes marked with a blue sign and the letter U and a number plus the name of the biggest town in that direction). You may have an increase in the volume of traffic as you approach Lindau and Bregenz as Bodensee (Lake Constance to most Brits) is a popular day trip as well, but I doubt it will be too bad by the time you are passing by.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The cross border thing is dependent on hire car co.
Europcar don't charge. Enterprise state €5 per day up to a maximum of €50 per rental. Think Sixt were free, and Avis/Budget. But at prices like that, Enterprise with a fee is still going to be cheaper than Avis.
Main restrictions seem to be on which brands you can and can't take where, but within DE, AT and CH you can take any brand across the border, including Porsche etc.
Every time I've driven that bit of A96 between Memmingen and Bregenz it has been deserted. Both in winter (usually friday night after work), and in spring/summer (usually after work at the start of one of the 4 long weekends we get in May/June). Deserted on a Saturday am too if I decide to drive down early, until the Schnellstrasse bit starts.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@andy, it is still a con in my mind because it has nothing to do with the insurance despite what the companies say. It is simply a way of wringing more money out of the hirer to offset their supposedly "low" prices!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Both Enterprise and Europcar have tried the cross border thing on with me recently and I flat refused to pay, they backed off and said it was ok. It's an incentive they run for the desk staff I think but if you push they waive it pretty quickly!!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Samerberg Sue, agreed
@Markymark29, Europcar clearly states in their T+C. I had such a car the other day, and the guy at the counter even said "Oh we've upgraded it to a 4WD, so perfect if you want to go skiing in Austria". Perhaps airport counters add additional T+C and charges beyond what Europcar.de's onw T+C state?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@andy, I just said to both that my Contract was with Holiday Autos and not them directly, I then said that I dealt with both regularly (which I do) and they then agreed it was not appropriate. My understanding is that unless they can demonstrate loss and expense it's a scam. A bunch of lads in front of us at the Europcar counter in January were on our flight and we're all going to Kitzbuhel to watch the Hahnenkamm downhill, the guy tried it on with them (2x transit people carriers) and they said they were going only within Germany.....not sure how that'd affect any insurance in the event of accident but I'd do the same in future if had to, I'm not paying cross-border charges.
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FAQ
