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Home - City Guide - Berlin - Road | ||
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Road Germany is covered by an excellent and extensive system of major roads (prefixed 'B') and motorways (prefixed 'A' for Autobahnen). There are no tolls or speed limits on the Autobahnen, but a maximum of 130kph (81mph) is recommended. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) or 100kph (62mph) and 50kph (30mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right. The minimum age for driving in Germany is 17 years. Proof of insurance is required and a Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker is compulsory. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05%. Seatbelts must be worn at all times and children under 12 are forbidden to travel in the front seat without a child restraint. Leaded petrol is unavailable; unleaded petrol with a lead additive may be found at some petrol stations. The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil Club (ADAC) (tel: (0180) 510 1112; fax: (0180) 530 2928; website: www.adac.de) provides breakdown services throughout the country. In the Berlin area, Auto Club Europa (ACE) and Allgemeine Deutsche Motorsportverband (ADMV) can also offer assistance. Emergency breakdown services: ADAC (0180) 222 2222 ACE (0180) 234 3536 Routes to the city: Autobahn 10 is an orbital motorway, entirely circling the city. The A111 and A115 connect it to the Western centre from the north and south respectively. The main roads leading to Berlin from outside the orbital are A24 (from Hamburg), A2 (from Hanover), A9 (from Leipzig and Munich), A13 (from Dresden) and A12 (from the Polish border). Driving times to Berlin: from Hamburg - 3 hours 15 minutes; Prague - 5 hours; and Frankfurt am Main - 5 hours 50 minutes. Coach services: Eurolines international coach services are operated by Bayern Express & P Kuhn Berlin GmbH (tel: (030) 860 960; website: www.deutsche-touring.com). Buses arrive at the Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB) am Funkturm, located on Masurenallee near the western end of the Ku'damm and the Messe Berlin (tel: (030) 301 0380). U-Bahn station Kaiserdamm (U2 and U12) and S-Bahn station Witzleben (S4) are located nearby. The station also handles domestic services. There is a general coach information line (tel: (0180) 525 0254). |