ALL ABOUT DRIVING IN GERMANY

Germany's landscape is straight from the Fairy tales: castles, deep dark forests and mythical rivers; extraordinarily diverse, with graceful big-city appeal, small picture-postcard towns, pagan-inspired harvest festivals, a wealth of art and culture, and the perennial pleasures of huge tracts of forest, delightful castles and fine wine and beer.

Driving in Germany can be a great experience; German roads are well maintained, and many scenic routes lead you through wonderful German landscapes. And flying down the German freeway is, for many travelers, a fun part of their German vacation.

Germany has over 80 theme highways for tourists. The most well-known is the Romantic Road (Romantische Straße), a 180-mile route through small, picturesque Bavarian villages from Würzburg to the foothills of the Alps at Füssen. Other popular routes are the Castle Road (Burgenstraße) from Heidelberg to Nürnberg and the Fairy Tale Road (Märchenstraße) from Frankfurt to Hannover. Guided bus tours are available along these routes, but the best way to see them is by driving yourself. The routes are well marked and information is available at every town along the way. If you do choose to travel one of these routes, do so outside of the prime tourist seasons to avoid the crowds and get the best hotel and restaurant rates.

Germany is a country that takes its driving very seriously. This is understandable when you realize that a German driver's license costs [over $2000], after a minimum of 25-45 hours of professional instruction plus 12 hours of theory, and such a license is good for life. (As of 2013, the German license must conform to the EU term of 10 or 15 years. German licenses issued before 2013 will become invalid by 2033 and must be replaced by the new European (EU) driver`s license).