Autobahn quality in old E Germany?

[JohnM]

I'm going to be in Berlin in October and intend renting a car for a few days to visit Dresden and Leipzig.

I've always promised myself that after the numerous VW Golfs and equivalent I've used in the past, one day when I rent a car in Germany I'm going to get something that goes FAST.

Question is: are the roads in that region true W German quality autobahns that would justify this exuberance?

 

[Bofter]

From what I remember of the Autobahnen in that area, they had been mostly upgraded to a good standard post reunification and had less traffic than in the former west.

 

[marki]

From what I remember of the Autobahnen in that area, they had been mostly upgraded to a good standard post reunification and had less traffic than in the former west.

In Berlin now and have especially done the Berlin Dresden autobahn drive it's an experience !


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly

 

[jsoprano]

Ah, the Autobahn, the one thing I miss most from Good Ol' Germany (the other one high on my list is the high-speed rail network).

Autobahn A9 between Leipzig and Berlin is top for high speed. The 120km stretch between Leipzig Airport and south of Potsdam should allow for some serious speed, traffic and construction sites permitting. You can probably make that in 35-45 mins.

 

[JohnM]

In Berlin now and have especially done the Berlin Dresden autobahn drive it's an experience !

Thanks marki and others.

I take it that you mean a good (fast) experience.

 

[jsoprano]

Safe + fast = good!

Hertz have the M5 or Jaguar XK in Germany if you're after a serious car, not sure if in Dresden or Leipzig but in Berlin for sure. Those should make for a nice journey of up to 250kmh.

 

[burrco]

The relative lack of cars makes some of the old east german autobahns a good drive. As mentioned the A9 can be quite good, if you're just after a drive rather than a destination the A14 to the Polish border is another good drive.

Sunday is often best with no trucks allowed.

I had a BMW M550d as a rental on my last trip - limited to 220klm due to winter tyres, still a lot of fun.

 

[Cossie]

Just come back, road works and accidents can cause havoc, I got caught in 4 major traffic jams, 3 of which were in the western part, but it was around Easter, so that was probably the cause, the traffic was unbelievable. I would avoid the E30 south of Berlin if you want to go fast, major problems heading towards and from Poland!

The E40 from Erfurt to Nossen gets a good solid amount of traffic as well.

As mentioned earlier, Sundays are good as there are virtually no trucks on the roads.

If you are going north in the old east, the best road I found was a couple of years ago, the E22 between the Greifswald and Rostock areas.

One other thing that you may not be aware when renting a car in Germany expect the final price to be a lot more, because often the CDW isn't included in the original quote. I had my own through one of my cards, but wasn't accepted by the agent.

 

[UP4014]

I'm going to be in Berlin in October and intend renting a car for a few days to visit Dresden and Leipzig.

I've always promised myself that after the numerous VW Golfs and equivalent I've used in the past, one day when I rent a car in Germany I'm going to get something that goes FAST.

Question is: are the roads in that region true W German quality autobahns that would justify this exuberance?

Eastern block autobahn, fast car, sounds like a Top Gear challenge, be sure to report with photos.

Matt

 

[Cossie]

Top Gear, Series 15, Episode 2. Top Gear (series 15) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[serfty]

...

One other thing that you may not be aware when renting a car in Germany expect the final price to be a lot more, because often the CDW isn't included in the original quote. I had my own through one of my cards, but wasn't accepted by the agent.

Hmm. ... Seems fishy to me ...

Who did you rent through?

 

[Cynicor]

Just come back, road works and accidents can cause havoc, I got caught in 4 major traffic jams, 3 of which were in the western part, but it was around Easter, so that was probably the cause, the traffic was unbelievable. I would avoid the E30 south of Berlin if you want to go fast, major problems heading towards and from Poland!

The E40 from Erfurt to Nossen gets a good solid amount of traffic as well.

As mentioned earlier, Sundays are good as there are virtually no trucks on the roads.

If you are going north in the old east, the best road I found was a couple of years ago, the E22 between the Greifswald and Rostock areas.

One other thing that you may not be aware when renting a car in Germany expect the final price to be a lot more, because often the CDW isn't included in the original quote. I had my own through one of my cards, but wasn't accepted by the agent.

Not my experience with Sixt. Went really well, no hidden fees. Name and shame, unless there is a good reason not to!

 

[Buzzard]

Sounds like a great motorcycle road that autobahn

 

[serfty]

Sounds like a great motorcycle road that autobahn

Could be great ... of couse you would not want to come off ...

 

[Cossie]

Not my experience with Sixt. Went really well, no hidden fees. Name and shame, unless there is a good reason not to!

I've used several companies at Frankfurt Airport including the above and Avis without any issues, I won't use this one again. It was Thrif ty, no relation to the Australian one.

If you want to ride a motor bike in Germany there are much better roads than the autobahns unless of course you just want pure speed, small back roads are favourites, I've even seen signs stating motorbikes are forbidden on a road, guess they had too many accidents.

Anyway back to the original question, my least favourite German word is "stau" (traffic jam), if you have traffic incidents turned on through your radio, you will hear it a lot.

It is good fun, although I haven't been up to speeds anything like 180+, in my younger days I might have tried to hit 200. Trips at 110 along the Hume seem all so pedestrian!

 

[prozac]

My experience last October on roads along the Baltic Coast was high quality roads with not much traffic. If you are unlucky you will hit road works sometimes which seriously reduce your average. Sitting at 190-200k's don't be surprised when you are passed like you are a slug. I just wish drivers in Australia understood freeway/motorway etiquette ... actually it's law.

Also happy with Sixt as mentioned earlier.

 

[OZDUCK]

I was also on the Baltic coast on October last year and concurr about the good roads and little traffic - as long as you stick to the Autobahns - once you get off them the roads are very pretty to drive along but also very slow. The autobahns in in the old DDR areas are usually newer and of a better quality than in western Germany and usually lack the continous convoys of trucks you strike around Frankfurt & Stuttgart..

In fact my German friends complain about how much money was spent on the former DDR roads to bring them up to standard and that therefore "their" autobahns have fallen behind.

 

[FlashKiwi]

I'm going to be in Berlin in October and intend renting a car for a few days to visit Dresden and Leipzig.

I have rented a few cars in Germany over the years. My first piece of advice would be to make multiple bookings with different rental car companies. Several times I have booked a particular class and ended up with the most boring or slowest car in the class. Status doesn't even help. Booked a vehicle at Europacar as Prem Exec. and was given a BMW 520D. Went across to Avis and walked out with a Audi Q5 S line, and it was a 30% cheaper. I now ask the counter person what they have, smile nicely, and generally get something I want to drive.

Once outside the Berlin Ring Road it is quick drive south - plenty of places to hit the speed limiter (generally 250kmh). In the right vehicle you can get to Dresden in just over an hour. Some nice winding roads in the hills north of Dresden and south towards the border (but have speed limits :-(). Make sure you visit the VW factory in Dresden (Transparent Factory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Halfway between Dresden and Leipzig is Colditz - great place to visit - WWII POW camp and now a hostel and museum (Colditz Castle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Also note you can't take German manufactured cars into Eastern Europe - you have to rent a nissan/toyota etc.

Have fun!

FlashKiwi

 

[jukebox333]

I drove Frankfurt - Augsburg - Dresden - Berlin in Easter 2011. Great fun. Best thing about the roads, after the autobahns, is the drivers: aware of others on the road, and seem to manage to keep out of the way of faster cars. Driving was a pleasure!

I used Avis - no extra charges - booked through the Avis UK website, to get the best rate.

 

[prozac]

Generally the further out you can make your vehicle booking the cheaper it will be. I noticed, but failed to take advantage of in time, an anomaly when a BMW 5 series was priced the same as the 3 series, 43 Euro a day! When I later asked the Sixt people about this they said it is supply and demand related. If there are few bookings for a class they will drop the price to get it out the door. The window may last a few days (in my case) or just a few hours.

Don't forget to take your basic CDW insurance. Your travel insurance or CC travel insurance should then cover the excess in the event of a claim.