Agree with Tomboy - particularly on German roads, stick to the right-hand lanes on the Autobahns. The rightmost lane is for trucks and slower cars, and goes at about 80 km/h. The middle lane/s go a bit faster - say up to 150 - 170 km/h. The furthest left - which you may occasionally want to get into for overtaking - goes over that. On no account should you stay in that lane. Someone with a bigger, faster car will come up behind you at 200 and you might cause a serious accident. European drivers are very disciplined and expect you to be, too.

Do your research on road signs before you go, and download the European maps for your GPS, if you get one before you go. You can rent a GPS for about $5 a day with your car rental, but many of the newer cars have them fitted already and are part of the deal. BYO map - it is better to get an idea of routings on a real map than on a GPS, IMO.

Lavandula

I think the GPS is more than $5 a day. Last month in Belgium it was $16 a day. I guess they wanted someone to pay for it that week.

Get a GPS before you go and learn how to use it. Turn it on every time you get in the car at home... even for a run down to the corner store. The more you know about using it properly the more you'll get out of it. Look on eBay, Craigslist etc for a used one. Some people buy a unit for Europe then sell it on their return. I've bought TomTom units with European maps for 80 dollars on eBay.

Stay out of the left lane except to pass and do it quickly has been mentioned multiple times. Here it is again and for a good reason. Ferraris, big BMWs etc come up so fast on you it's hard to believe. Keep right!

If an IDP is required in Lichtenstein I guess I broke the law when I drove through in like 20 minutes! LOL Kidding aside, the IDP is a necessity in Italy, Austria and more recently France.