kreveta

I have noticed there are pretty popular myths circulating around the internet regarding overhyped and great German autobahns. If you're too excited, you shouldn't be. I've traveled many kilometers/miles through Germany and here's my experience for foreign friends:

1. Ridiculous speed limits every 20-30 miles or so
2. Cops, cameras, radars everywhere
3. Road work everywhere
4. Road condition questionable - while really thick and high quality, Denmark or Hungary have much newer and smoother highways.
5. Stop & go traffic very often on every approach to/from any smaller or bigger city
6. Conservative drivers - while obeying the strict rules, often very angry and don't let you pass even if they're driving slowly in the left lane on a no limit section
7. After all, autobahn translated means just "highway". Some think it's a "brand", but it's just a word.

Note that I like the country very much, and I'm not a troll, but German highways are not so good and limitless as one may think. I'm mostly enjoying Hungary, because those very few highway roads they have are much smoother, very few road works and drivers are more playful. You're risking a fat ticket while racing with another bimmer or AMG in 240km/h, but you're risking it too in Germany every 20-30 miles or so too if you don't slow down. And nobody plays in Germany, for that matter.

Germany is great, their highway infrastructure is astonishing, highway sections with no speed limit are great as well, but overall totally overhyped on auto-motive forums.

I realize it's difficult to compare Germany to any other EU country, because there are 100 times more highways and they are FREE in Germany ( ), which is an 8th tax and economy wonder to me, but still, my 2 cents from my experience: Good, but not as good as many think.

KAF

It's no secret, there are some good stretches of Autobahn where you can go VERY fast.

BUT because the autobahn is free it is very heavily used, they have frequent traffic hold ups.

When I drive to Austria I use the French road system, it is a lot quieter and I have to pay for the pleasure, but it works out much quicker.

xBMWx

Like KAF wrote, there are some awesome stretches of Autobahn, but you need to be on the right one at the right time -- easier said than done!
Unforetunately what krevata wrote is also very true; there are more and more speed restrictions and at this time of year, i.e. between summer vacation period and winter, there are soooo many roadworks. Most recently I went down the A1 past Hamburg and that was no fun what so ever.
On a more positive note, I lived in Germany for about 10 years and still head back there regularly. If possible I try to plan my journey to hit the "fun" stretches well outside of the busy periods. In fact for about 3 years in a row I was travelling to the Netherlands each week from Frankfurt, and had an absolute blast on the A3, especially on the return journey when I would be driving down it in the evening (20:00-22:00) with almost zero traffic and minimal speed restrictions -- that was just great in the E60s.

So dispite the problems, these motorways still give you somewhere to really push the car legally and safely, without having to go to a race track. I find it very frustrating here in Denmark, because if you floor it in the 550i you are very quickly a long way into licence loosing territory. In Germany, you can floor it, maybe not always to the limiter, but still for long enough to get that kick of accelerating hard without having to worry about getting fined by the police.

I guess it all comes down to expectations. They are not perfect roads, but I REALLY look forward to the autobahns every time

DD_545i

If people are going around saying it's unlimited Nirvana all the time, then that is clearly misinformation. They are just highways/freeways/motorways like you said, and they get as busy with traffic and roadworky as in any country. If you travel the whole country, you get to know which are the least busy and have less restrictions. My favourites are the A9 from Munich to Berlin, and the A7 from Ulm up to Kassel. If you're on these roads at the right time of day, you can Vmax it for 20 minutes straight.

I can usually manage the trip from Munich area up to Köln (Cologne) area with an average speed of about 100mph. My best long distance average was about 400 miles in 3 hours on the A7 at an average of 133mph.

Anyone that thinks it's a race track all the time though will be disappointed.

xBMWx

You totally nailed it on those 2 favorites
I used to also do the A9 stretch, but only between Erfurt and Berlin -- that's like driving down a never ending runway!
With regards to the A7, I am assuming you are also referring to the Kasseler Berge stretch on the A7, which is the 3-lane derestricted stretch winding through the mountains That's an incredible stretch, but again, you need to be on there when its dry and empty.

DD_545i

I know the part you mean, it's nice there. But the fastest section of the A7 in my experience is from around 30 miles (50km) north of Ulm up towards Würzburg. It's only two lanes each way but some incredibly long straight stretches and traffic is light.

pukka

I can't remember the highway numbers, but the stretch of autobahn from Munich to Garmisch (A96??)never has alot of traffic except for rush hour near Munich and the drive into the Alps is spectacular. I've gone as fast as 150mph on some stretches there.

The autobahn running from Munich to the Bodensee is another good one.

Isaiah_Charles

Autobahn huh For those NYers, Cross Island after 11 P.M, my Autobahn lol

545IblupasdU

sweet im gonna take a ride at midnite to check it out....

IndyRedBeast

I was in Germany last year ago and I have to say going 100km/h on the autobahn is like going 40. People will honk your ass down. You see stupid little mini vans going 160km minimum lol. So my experience with the autobahns I have to say are crazy. People there just drive fast and have way better driving skills. And yes I have to aggree there are some nice NO speed limit streches there too. Just make sure your high beams work lol