Nuieve

Considering a ED but I've never driven outside US/Canada and from what I've see on TV driving in other countries can be scary... From Italian city traffic madness to Switzerland obscene speeding enforcement to just different road markings/rules... all of this makes me worried. I'm afraid to get into an accident or get the car confiscated in Switzerland for inadvertently speeding if I don't notice a sign or just pull into the road without a speed limit sign or something... Lots of things to worry about.

I'd love to make a loop: Germany - Austria- Switzerland-North Italy -South France and back to Germany. Just stay within Alps

How would you describe driving in these countries if you like me, never driven outside US?

How to stay out of trouble?

How different are driving rules? Which countries are more stressful?

wagonsrock

I find driving in Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland to be much less stressful than US. In these countries drivers follow a simple set of rules: (1) Never (its illegal) overtake on the inside, (2) always keep to the inside or middle lane on highways, except when overtaking (3) Do not exceed the posted speed limit (your worries about being arrested in Switzerland are unwarranted, unless you intend to grossly flaunt the limits). Generally the roads are in fantastic condition, no US style potholes, and sign posts, speed limits etc are very well posted. If you have doubts about the speed limit, go at the same speed as surrounding traffic and you will be fine. I've also driven in northern Italy, in the Dolomites, and had no problems. Its worth learning European specific and country specific road signs (e.g. in Germany Ausfahrt means exit on the highway, in garages etc) but this information is widely available on the web.

Things to avoid: driving in large cities (Paris, Rome etc) can be stressful, roads can be very narrow, on street parking impossible to find; better to park in a garage and take public transport or uber, which is usually excellent.

Check earlier posts in this forum. There are several posts addressing the issues you raised. My advice: do a little homework and you will have a fantastic trip.

menchaman

I agree with above. If you have the driver assistance package in the car you shouldn't be worried about the speed limits anywhere on the trip unless you're deliberately speeding. The car will know the speed limits through the navigation and by reading posted signs via camera. Even when I wasn't aware of the speed limit due to absence of speed limit signs the car had the speed limit posted on the navigation and the autopilot will need to be deliberately changed to exceed it. If there is a temporary change in the speed limit due to construction or as it happens on autobahns all the time, due to traffic, the car will immediately identify it and adjust the autopilot. You'll be pleasantly surprised if you ever survived driving in a big city in the States. Driving schools are mandatory and very stringent in Europe if you want to get a driver's license and it shows on the roads. EDP is an amazing experience.

ted_jane

You will also want to get an international drivers license to drive in Switzerland and Italy. You can get one at any AAA office, you will need to bring two passport type photos. An International drivers license is your state license translated into multiple European languages.

On my last trip I drove in both Paris and Rome. Paris was similar to driving in L.A. and Rome was similar to Boston (lane markings and stop signs are just a suggestion, adherence is not required ) The advice to park the car and use public transport is good, but I did have fun "learning" how to drive in both cities. Don't forget to pick up a vignette at a boarder crossing or petrol station upon entering Switzerland or Austria.

mdsbuc

I think this link is helpful:
http://europe.stripes.com/pcs/road-rules-germany

Pay special attention to the "right of way" section. In Germany, cars entering from a side street on the right have the right of way over the cars in the straight direction, even if it is a more major road. The exception is when the street is marked otherwise by street signs. In reality, there are a lot of these signs. Even in the grocery store parking lot, cars coming from the right have the right of way over you who is going straight. You'll get a horn toot when you screw up on this.

One strange law in France requires that you have a spare pair of eyeglasses on board when driving and your license shows the requirement.

Nuieve

Good info here, thanks guys.

rroberts

I took ED on an AMG C63s in May. My only prior non-U.S. driving experience was in Africa, Canada, and Mexico.

Driving in Europe (Holland, Germany, Czech, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark) was generally a dream. As others note, the laws are different (intelligent and enforced reasonably) and drivers are generally polite and very law abiding. Big cities can be stressful, e.g., Berlin and Bremerhaven, but contra Prague and Stockholm. Having the heads up display and using the navigation system helps a lot. Older areas in cities and villages can be a challenge because they are not laid out like a North American grid of blocks. For instance, you may have three or more right runs in less than what we consider a normal city block, and sometimes you will take the wrong turn. But the nav system will simply recalculate and you can go from there.

One hint: No not ask a Dutchman in English to help you program a German address into a nav system. I did this in a rental Volkswagen (garbage nav system) before picking up my car and that was a big mistake. In fact, that Volkswagen nav system was so bad that I never could find the Sixt rental car drop off point in Stuttgart and I had my hotel call them to come pick the car up.

superswiss

I'm new to this forum, but not new to ED and Europe in general. I'm originally from the German part of Switzerland. I currently have an order for a '19 C63 S Coupe, taking delivery in Germany the week of May 6th. Still waiting for the exact date. I've done ED with my current Audi RS5. An ED trip is like going home for me, so I can't really imagine how it feels for somebody not from Europe, but there isn't anything to be scared of. Having lived 20 years in the USA and another 20 years in Europe, let me try to give you some tips.

The biggest difference between the USA and Europe is road discipline (with some exceptions). Americans don't seem to give much of a crap about the rules of the road, so turning from the wrong lane, making U-turns in the middle of the road and other crazy maneuvers seem to be part of the daily driving ritual. In Europe, people pay attention to the rules, at least in most parts of Europe. Italy is more of a seat of the pants approach, combined with a lot of hand gestures . So, the biggest thing is really not to be that guy who doesn't seem to know the rules of the road. A few things not to do. Don't turn from the wrong lane. Don't make a U-turn if you miss your turn. Just keep going and take the next turn. Your GPS will recalculate. The left lane is for passing, and never pass on the right (already mentioned), however there are exceptions. For example if the right lane is about to go in a different direction, like a fork then you are allowed to drive faster then the cars on the left, or if there is congestion, then you are also allowed to drive faster on the right. There are a few nuances to this and not everybody remembers them all. Don't hang out on the left lane. Unfortunately, this one is getting worse in Europe as well. Use your indicator, as opposed to the USA, you will get a ticket if a cop sees you turn or making a lane change w/o indicating first. In Germany, learn to judge the speed of other cars on the Autobahn. On sections of the Autobahn with no speed limits, don't underestimate the speed of a car passing you. Somebody doing in excess of 200 kmh will be on your behind quicker than you think, so don't pull in front of them and risk being rear ended. If you yourself are planning on experimenting with the top speed of your car, pay a lot of attention to those next to you that might pull into your lane. Especially if they are following a big rig, they might pull out at about half your speed depending on how fast you are going. Always let off the throttle when passing other cars at high speed and be ready to brake hard.

Regarding fines, as kinda mentioned above, pay attention to the rules. You will get ticketed for things that usually don't get you a ticket in the USA, even if a cop might see you. As far as speed limits are concerned in places like Switzerland etc. In town speed limits are taken with extreme seriousness. There are generally radars all over the place, especially in cities. Typical speed in town is 50 kmh, and even a few kmh over can already get you a ticket. There are also a lot of 30 kmh zones. These are residential areas and areas with pedestrians. Don't ever exceed 30 kmh in those zones. On the Autobahn, the speed limits are a bit more relaxed I would say, but speed traps are common. In Germany, the fines are not very high. I've gotten a few. In Switzerland, they are based on your income and the more serious the nature of the violation the more they sting. The system is meant to be punishment for everybody, no matter how much money you make and yes it is possible to kiss your car good bye if you are caught driving at an excessive speed in Switzerland. There was a story a few years ago of a bunch of rich Chinese who traveled to Italy and bought themselves Lambos and Ferraris and then got caught in Switzerland doing excessive speeds. They claimed they thought they were in Germany . The Swiss didn't care, confiscated their brand new supercars and fined them millions. This may all sound scary, but it really isn't as long as you reasonable try to pay attention to the rules. Know the speed limits in each country. For example Switzerland doesn't post the regular speed limits everywhere. You typically only see speed limit signs when it differs. So, you do need to know what type of road you are driving on. For example Autobahn in Switzerland is 120 kmh, roads outside of a town (Landstrasse) is 80 kmh and as soon as you cross a town limit it's 50 kmh. Other countries have similar standard speed limits that you need to know by heart as there aren't necessary speed limit signs.

Above all, ED is an amazing experience and don't let driving in a foreign country scare you. Just do some reading about the rules of the road for the different countries you plan to visit. I do wanna expand on one point made earlier. Europeans generally drive smaller cars and there are lots of historic towns and cities, so roads can be narrow in places. Parking spots are much smaller than in the USA and parking garages are also a lot tighter, so be aware of that. If you've never maneuvered a car in a tight spot, you might wanna practice somewhere first. Would be a shame to scratch your brand new car in a parking garage. It obviously takes a while to judge the size of a new car, so combined with the tighter space in cities and other places, this could be the a challenging part of the trip, but public transportation is superior in Europe, too, so you can always park at the edge of a city for example and take the train etc.