Driving in Germany
 

Hello Fodorites!

We will be renting a Ford Focus in September and I have a couple of questions and also am feeling slightly anxious about driving on the Autobahns after reading about them. No speed limits? Wow! Will we be run over in a small car like a Focus?
Also, what does gasoline cost?

Our itinerary is Passau to Regensburg, to Rothenburg, to Garmisch, to Berchtesgaden, then to the airport in Munich. We can tell from the maps which autobahns and roads to take between most of the places except between Garmisch and Berchtesgaden - I can't tell which is the best way to go. Are there any routes between these places that are particularly scenic?

Also, I would love to hear about any interesting places to see when driving between these towns.

Thank you all for taking your time to answer my questions. I very much appreciate it!

The Ford Focus will have plenty of power for the Autobahn. Go as fast as your comfortable driving(110-130 km works for me), just make sure to stay in the right lane except to pass. I haven't been in Germany in a few months but gas should be somewhere between 1.10 and 1.30 euro a liter. The Focus shouldn't cost you much to drive.

To drive between Garmisch and Berchtesgaden you could take the Deutsche Alpenstrasse to the Tegernsee and then go up to the Autobahn and head east toward Berchtesgaden. The entire drive should be enjoyable.

I was nervous about that before my first time but I soon discovered that driving the autobahn is easy. As already mentioned the left lane should only be used for passing. As soon as you pass the vehicle get back into the right lane immediately. And be sure to look twice before getting into the left lane, cars DO come out of nowhere. I enjoy the autobahn much more than narrow country roads.

Gas is 1.4 Euros/liter right now, around $7.00/gallon. You're driving around 650+ miles or so, right? I'm guessing it'll be around 20 gallons of gas once all is said and done, so figure $140. The rental car will run maybe $250-$400? Then there are parking fees, etc.

Your 5 legs of travel are all within Bavaria, so you'd pay 140 Euros total - the same as for gas alone - for 5 Bayern (Bavaria) ticket daypasses (which cover 2-5 people) to cover the same route by regional train. Worth considering if the price of gas concerns you at all.

Gas is between $7 and $8 per gallon.

We always get a larger care with bigger engine (Audi if we can) since we like to drive fast. (I would be afraid to drive a Focus - but then I'm afraid to drive one here - just not quick enough pick up for me. I have a small sporty car - not a huge engine - but it is geared for quick pick up and will do 160 if you push it - not that I have here in the US.)

If you prefer a more moderate speed you can easily drive on the autobahns but you MUST stay in the right lane only - and you must keep up with the traffic there (40 or 50 mph won't make it - you would be seriously blocking traffic in some areas).

Speed of cars in the faster lane will depend on areas (some areas near cities do have limits) - but the limit is typically 70/80 mph or higher - and that's what traffic in the right lane will do. We typically stick to no more than 100 or so - unless passing. In areas with no limits you will be passed by Mercedes and Porsches doing 130 or more - and Ferraris or similar going who knows how fast. But it's simply not an issue as long as you stay out of the way.)

Just to put your mind at ease. The Ford Focus in Europe is a much better car than the one they sell in the USA. You will have plenty of power and you will get good gas mileage.

But as PM stated, the cars in the left lane come out of nowhere, so make sure you have plenty of space to pass.

No tailgating either...not that you would consider doing that!

You don't have to drive the autobahn, if you don't want to. Besides, many sections of the autobahn have speed limits between 100 -120km/h. And you better stick pretty closely to them; speeds on the autobahn are controlled by speed cameras. You will get your surprise when you get home and find speeding tickets in the mail.

The Focus is perfectly suited for travel on the autobahns. Many Germans drive the Focus. We will get the new German Focus in the States next year. When I get to the car rental place in Munich or Frankfurt, I always ask for one with a diesel engtine. Diesel is cheaper and more fuel efficient than gasoline and you hardly notice the difference in driving. Just a bit noisier.

Are you baked into city sequence as described? To me it would make more sense to go Passau, Regensburg, Garmisch, Berchtesgaden, Rothenburg. If you can change the sequence, let me know and I'll route you

IOtherwise, from Passau to Regensburg, you can take the B-8, which goes along the southern banks of the Danube instead of the autobahn.It's a Federal Highway.

From Regensburg to Rothenburg,take the B-16 to Ingolstadt, and from there head to Eichstaett and drive through the aturpark (sort of national park) Altmuehltal to Treuchtlingen. Eichstaett is a nice town, and the drive in the Altmuehl valley is very pretty. From Treuchtlingen drive to Noerdlingen, and north to Dinkelsbuehl, Rothenburg, avoiding the autobahn. From Noerdlingen you are on the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road). Nothing romantic about the road itself, but the towns it connects gave it its name. In fact, I like Dinkelsbuehl better than Rothenburg; not so overrun by tourists.

From Rothenburg take the A-7 (this is a "tame" autobahn) south to Fuessen, and from there go through Austria (Reutte, Lermoos) to Garmisch Partenkirchen.

From Garmisch take the B-2 to Mittenwald (worth a stop) south to the Austrian border and Zirl. There take the Austrian Autobahn A-12 east to the exit #59. That's about 80km past Innsbruck.

This is the only autobahn I kind of hate. It's fast, has lots of traffic and you have to pay toll. As far as speed and traffic are concerned, follow the advise by the other posters. Keep right, look twice before you get into the left lane to pass, and get back quickly. As for the toll: BEFORE you get on the autobahn, in Mittenwald or on your way to Zirl, stop at one of the gas stations and buy a "Vignette", a toll sticker that goes on your windshield. It costs about EUR 7 or 8 and will be good for all Austruian autobahns and Schnellstrassen (a esser form of limited access highway), for 10 days. Don't drive on the Austrian autobahn without it. It will costs you about EUR120, on the spot, if the cops catch you, and they WILL catch you. Tourists are a prime means of income.

From exit 58, head east on the Austrian Routes 510/172 to Walchsee (nice place to have lunch), Koessen, and Reit im Winkel. This is a very scenic trip. In Reit, pick up the German B-305 toward Ruhpolding. This is part of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Highway) system. Just BEFORE Ruhpolding,22km out of Reit, the B-305 turns right. Just follow the signs and it will take you to Berchtesgaden. Beautiful drive.

Yep, many times looked in my rear view mirror and not a car in sight.... a second or two later....WHHHHHHMMMMFFFFFFFFFFF, what the heck was that????

;-)

Use your directional signals... they are very good about that.

And, when entering the autobahn, cars in the right lane move to the center lane to allow you to enter, then return to the rightr lane.

If you are passing in the left lane and you see blinking headlights in your rear view mirror get in the right lane as soon as possible because it is a Beamer or Benz coming at 150+. German drivers are predictable, just learn the rules. See all of above.

I agree with most of the other responses that you will have no problem with a Euro-specced Focus on the Autobahns. Just follow the advice above and you will be fine. In my experience the roads are better and the drivers have a higher average skill level in Germany as compared to the U.S. You will not have to avoid any 16 year olds while there.

As Treplow mentioned getting a diesel will save you money on fuel and I actually like the feel of the increased torque. Also remember that unless you specifically reserve (and pay an additional fee for) an automatic that you will get a manual transmission in your rental car.

I would also suggest that you consider getting a navigation device of some sort. We have rented cars with them in the past, but on my last trip I bought a Garmin Nuvi with European maps. It takes much of the stress out of driving. If you make a wrong turn it will quickly determine how to get you back on track.

Good Luck!

It never hurts to review the rules of the road.

http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/driving.html

Also be sure to check how to put the car in reverse before you leave the rental area. Some European cars have a button or ring you must push down before the car will go into reverse.

There is no reason to be afraid of the Autobahn.
Trucks have a speed limit of 80kph (50mph) and usually go 90kph (55mph). So if you wish to go slow, just stay right, go with the flow of the trucks, and no one will even notice.

The Autobahns are the safest roads. Much more attention require smaller roads with no signposted right-of-way. Or squeezing your car safely into the smaller spaces in a car park.

This is the route we've used from G-P to Salzburg, with a stop at Königssee.
http://thirdmansystems.com/vacation/...20Salzburg.htm
We can recommend Walchsee also. we've based there twice.

We just returned from a road trip through southern Germany. We had a Ford Mondeo, which was quite spacious, about the size of my Maxima here. I saw a Ford Focus over there that looked even larger than the Mondeo. Our car was fine on the autobahn, although I didn't much enjoy the experience. Every few kilometers there was construction, or the road inexplicably reduced to two lanes from three. As a result, the speeds were constantly changing. Traffic was heavy, often resulting in lines of cars moving at 100 kph in the left lane. Even trucks that are speed-limited at 90 kph were trying to pass each other at 90 kph in the left lane, causing bottlenecks. Also, trying to park that large of a car in a garage was a nightmare. My wife had to get out and help navigate around the impossibly tight corners.

It sounds like your trip is amenable to train travel. Depending on how long you want to stay in Garmisch and/or Berchtesgaden, you could day-trip out of Munich. For me, the train is much less stressful, and it allows you to enjoy the fine brews that the region has to offer. OTOH, if you've never driven in Germany before, you probably need to do it for the experience.

Since I frequently notice, many tourists don't seem to know the traffic signs would some NON German please tell me what this sign is supposed to mean.

http://www.ifz.de/tipps%20und%20Tricks/beiNaesse80.gif

If you don't know, just guess, when you need it, you don't have internet access in your car to get an explanation anyway.

i believe when its raining limit is 80kph

A couple of notes if you're not used to parking in tight quarters (from a New Yorker who is used to it).

Assume the spot will be very little larger than the car. (I love following the SUVs down a street and grabbing the spots they are too big to park in.)

Try to get a feeling for how big the car actually is (I know this is hard when you're used to your own car) but it will help.

Practice parallel parking on both sides since there are often one way streets.

After parking always fold in your side mirrors to avoid having them knocked off. And remember to unfold them before driving off.

We rented an Audi at the Munich airport and headed right for the Autobahn. Of course, within a half hour there was a huge pileup with trucks and cars. We got around that safely and everything was okay. It is amazing to hear a soft buzz and a car has come and passed you in seconds. In the slow lanes there is no problem.

We had snow driving from Rothenburg to Ruette and then snow from Ruette to Salzburg. This was in September which we found out later was the earliest snowfall in Bavaria in 25 years.

Don't worry about driving in Germany - it is very easy and you should have no problems.

Ingo - I'm not German and I know what those signs mean! :-)

Just back from a 4 week trip. No cars were ready and i took a opal zifara. Way to big for one person,but i had no trouble parking. I put 5000 km. on it. gas ran about 140 in germany and 120 in austria. hope this helps. jayvee

In response to Logos's question, I was wondering that myself recently. However, when the German cars didn't slow down when confronted with that sign(it wasn't raining), I figured it must be the speed limit when the road is wet.

Parallel parking wasn't much of a problem, it was trying to negotiate the tight turns in the parking garages. The locals seemed non-plussed, so it must have been a lack of experience on my part. Also, when I locked the car doors upon exiting, the side mirrors automatically folded in. Pretty cool.

The sign means go 80kph when it's wet.

I was looking for this website the other day on this topic and couldn't find it. But this is worth a read, http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info

It answers many questions about all transportation in Germany.

BTW, I am a non German. Another quiz question for non-Germans.
What can you get a ticket for in Germany that is just a lack of common sense?

>max 80kph when it's wet.
Yes, correct :-) some interpret it as "when raining", but it can be raining and still the road may not yet be wet.

LSky,
That is such a loaded question :)
Common sense for most is not a tangible or measurable thing.
Today for me, getting out of the center lane for a faster car is good common sense, but in 1990 during my first 15 minutes on the A3, it took an extended arm and fist to get the point across to me.
Ken

Wherever you drive in Germany, autobahn or other roads, do pay attention to posted speed limits. We were trying very hard to observe speed limits, yet we have received two notices from Avis that we have violations. (Nothing from German authorities as yet). We remember one "flashing" when, aparently, we exceeded the limit when passing a car. We have no clue as to the other infraction.

There do seem to be more speed camera in Bavaria this year. We got "flashed" once and avoided several others. It's been over 2 months and so far no word from Sixt or the police. We going about 10km over the speed limit in a rural area where the speed limit was mostly 80 but there was a brief stretch where it was reduced to 60 and I think we were going just over 70.

We were in a Smart car and are hoping it's so small that the camera missed the license plate.

Gee, I thought it was 80kpm when driving on the river!

LOL! ;-)

Note that while some drivers might flash their headlights at you to get by on the Autobahn, it is now illegal in Germany to do this unless you are maintaing a "proper" distance from the car ahead of you. So don't you flash your headlights to get someone to move over unless you are certain that you are "proper" distance behind him.

Also, over half the Autobahn mileage now has permanent or conditional speed limits, so watch for signs.

The recommended speed in areas without speed limits is 130 km/hour. You can go faster than this legally, but if you are involved in an accident at higher speeds you are deemed to be at least partially at fault in causing the accident.

Thanks for that update

Ignore any tailgaters if you don't think that reverting to the right lane is safe at the moment. Remember that even if the big Mercs and BMWs arrive at 220 km/h they also have brakes and they don't have more rights to safe use of the road than you are. Do keep in the right lane as far as possible but don't be nervous or afraid to force the "race drivers" to wait if your safety is at the stake.

OTOH don't hog the left lane if there is space on the right. There is nothing wrong in keeping to the right wherever the right lane is free but overtaking on the left whenever necessary. That's what your turn signals are for.

Above all: drive predictably.

By the way, what's all this nervousness about a Ford Focus? It's on the smaller side of the average but 90% of the cars you will encounter on the Autobahn are like that. SUVs exist but are thankfully fairly rare. And the accident rate per driver is much lower in Germany than in USA.

The Focus is REALLY small, I'm not that big but as a rental car it felt like scrubbing the floor on my knees in a tin can 10 cm above the ground. A smart has a better feeling imho. Not too long ago Ford was synonymous to big car, lots of metal, decent price, lots of rust, just don't expect anything special. Today it's as tiny as many others. I'd say about 20% of all cars I encounter as that small. Well, if at least it were cheap, but it's at least 14000€... For THAT???

Not too long ago, I bought a brand new Audi 80 for 16000 Marks (8000€). Either I'm getting old ;-) or they have done something to my money.

"Und kost's Benzin auch 2 Mark 10, es wird schon weitergehn."

What's "not too long ago"? It would have to be several decades.

Thanks again to you all for your advice. And thank you norrisken for your map for driving to Garmisch to Berchtesgaden.

Only a little more than two. Gold is a lot better than paper. The interest they give you never equates the loss of purchasing power plus taxes. The Audi almost would be a classic by now with a tax free "H" number plate. The Focus is worthless trash after only a few days of use.

Reviving this thread because it provides some helpful info; thanks! We're planning to rent a car in Frankfurt next year and drive eastward (Wurzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Nurnberg, Rothenberg, environs). I'm hoping to avoid the autobahn where possible, mainly because I want the three of us to see more of the countryside at a slower speed than 90-100 mph. So far, not having any luck finding alternate (non A) routes on viamichelin. Any ideas for a good, comprehensive road map?

Michelin has rod maps for eery part of europe and they should be easily available from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.