Driving Thoughts

GET A GPS! PAY THE EXTRA MONEY! Experiences (pro/con) of driving in Germany:

·      Autobahn is wonderful! Cruise 150-160 kph (90-100 mph)

·      Stay in right lane except to pass!

·      Study road signs…there are no words so know your signs.

·      Excellent at telling you the name of the road you’re about to turn on but then you never see this name on any signs EVEN if the road changes names! You get names of cross streets but NEVER a reminder that you are on the correct street.

·      Nice that the red light turns yellow then green. Everyone starts moving on the yellow.

·      The Polizei station may be there but that doesn’t mean someone is in the station to assist.

·      Google maps aren’t always a good resource especially when you don’t know where you ARE so you can’t figure out how to get to where you want to be!

·      Contact hotel/hostel in advance of your stay for directions and know the time of closing for the front desk. Some close at 4pm and you need to know a code to claim your key in an outdoor box.

·      Cities are the worst for finding your hotel street.

·      If you aren’t going to walk the city streets, save money and don’t stay IN TOWN!  You’ll reduce your stress level in trying to find your hotel AND probably have an easier time of it.

·      Try to choose hotels with free breakfast. Save money, have a good breakfast and you might be able to skip lunch as we do.  Also, the dinner portions are large so consider sharing a meal.

·      European breakfasts are different from ours. Most will always have cheese, cold cuts, tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, bread, tea, coffee and juice. Some will add boiled or scrambled eggs and generally the bacon is not crispy.

·      Get to your hotel BEFORE dark! We wandered Konstanz for an hour searching for our Hotel Gasthaus Centro on Bahnhausplatz.  I kept pulling over to be able to find and read the street signs. Found Bahnhausstrasse and thought I had found it until I discovered we were ON Bahnhausplatz all along but no Hotel Gasthaus Centro in sight. Left Melodie to “mind the car” in case we were in a no parking area and went into the McDonalds to ask for directions. OMG! THE HOTEL WAS RIGHT ABOVE THE MC Ds! We had to go around the corner to the front door. And a parking garage was right there too! WHO KNEW?

·      Don’t rely on photos. Konstanz location didn’t look at ALL like the booking.com outdoor photo now that a McDonalds is downstairs on the main level.

·      Public parking abounds in many cities but find your hotel before choosing a lot too far away to lug your bags. Many places offer free parking. In Fussen we stayed at a location that charges 3.90 euro for overnight parking for their guests and to get to it you had to drive the narrow pedestrian streets, SQUEEZE through an arched tunnel with your rear view mirrors pulled in and then do a 7 point squeezing turn around to get back out the next morning.

·      Bathrooms cost. Be sure to have .50 euro handy or be limber enough to hop or crawl under the turnstiles when no one is looking.

·      More to follow as experience dictates!