We will be spending some time in the Baden-Wurttemberg area, and are planning on renting a car while there. While we are in the Black Forest, we would like to visit Sissach (a suburb of Basel), Switzerland, which is about 10 miles across the border (less than 20 miles from Lorrach), and accessible on a secondary road.

Our questions: Do we need to buy the special "road tax stamp/permit", or whatever it's called, for driving in Switzerland, or is it only for major highways? If we do, where would we purchase one, and how much does it cost? Are there any other compliance issues that we need to be aware of, driving in German and Switzerland.

Peace,
Robyn

You need to tell the rental agency you will be taking the car out of Germany and make sure the insurance covers that. You don;t need ti vignette as long as you stay on local roads.

Thank you for the info, nytraveler.

Robyn

Be careful. According to Google map, the only way to avoid highways and tolls is by going through Basel itself. Of course, it may be that the first bridge up-river from Basel is a toll bridge, but I would check and see if taking the first exit after that bridge allows you to drive without a vignette.

If you want to avoid the toll roads and also the traffic in Basel (which is chaotic) then drive via Bad Säckingen. Beautiful town, btw.