Driving in Germany

Driving in Germany is easy and enjoyable. If you are travelling to Germany by car, you will experience a highly modern road network.

The German Autobahn  (motorway) is known through out the world for its sophisticated engineering and for being fast with parts having no speed limits. Unlike in many other countries the German Autobahns are also completely toll-free.

The first ever motorway was built in 1929, between Cologne and Bonn. During the opening ceremony in 1932, Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne, proclaimed: "This is how the roads of the future will look". Adenauer supported the autobahn project partly as a way to create jobs during hard economic times.

Today the Autobahn network is approximately 11,000kms long with no less than 700 conveniently located service stations, many providing round-the-clock service for motorists. At minimum, they usually feature a petrol station (Tankstelle), snack bar, convenience store, telephones, and restrooms. Many also feature cafeterias or full-service restaurants, bakeries, hotels, showers, playgrounds, conference rooms, ATMs, and chapels.

Autobahns have names that consist of an 'A' followed by up to three digits. As a rule of thumb, even-numbered roads connect east to west destinations, whereas odd numbers indicate mainly a north to south direction. Road signs on the Autobahn are similar as in the UK with blue and white text signs. On the other hand 'B' roads, referring to Bundesstrasse, have orange and black text signs.