Car
The city is loath to encourage more people to own cars, but there are far worse urban areas for driving. There is rush-hour traffic, but it pales in comparison with most big cities. German drivers are also fairly well behaved and Berlin has wide streets, so new drivers won’t feel particularly intimidated. Like the rest of continental Europe, Germany drives on the right. One of the key traffic rules is regarding right of way – it’s always right before left at an intersection without a stoplight, unless a street has a yellow diamond marking it as having right of way (Vorfahrt).
This is a bike-friendly city, so drivers need to pay attention to cyclists and bicycle lanes. Often, people riding bikes will come up fast while a motorist is attempting to make a right turn, so be sure to look in your car’s blind spot.
The speed limit in all urban areas in Berlin and Brandenburg is 50kph. The city’s motorways also have limits, so if you want to do the Autobahn speedster thing, you’ll have to head far out of town.
The main east-west axis cutting through town is Strasse des 17 Juni. Stretching all the way from the Havel waterway to the west, this broad avenue has several different names before bisecting the A100 motorway, heading through the Tiergarten and stopping at the Brandenburg Gate. On the other side it continues as Unter den Linden through the eastern part of downtown. The A100 links the southern part of the city with the A111, which leads north to the A10 motorway ring and the A115 to the south. The latter was once the historic AVUS (Automobil Verkehrs und Übungs Straße) motor racing track (you can still see the viewing stands as you drive to Potsdam). Cutting across the city from north to south is less clear, although there is a new tunnel near the main train station that channels traffic under the Tiergarten and towards the A100.
The city has a new environmental zone (Umweltzone) regulating car emissions in the city centre. No vehicles are exempt from having an environmental sticker that proves they meet the city’s emission standards. More information can be found on the city’s website, www.berlin.de/umweltzone.
This is a bike-friendly city, so drivers need to pay attention to cyclists and bicycle lanes. Often, people riding bikes will come up fast while a motorist is attempting to make a right turn, so be sure to look in your car’s blind spot.
The speed limit in all urban areas in Berlin and Brandenburg is 50kph. The city’s motorways also have limits, so if you want to do the Autobahn speedster thing, you’ll have to head far out of town.
The main east-west axis cutting through town is Strasse des 17 Juni. Stretching all the way from the Havel waterway to the west, this broad avenue has several different names before bisecting the A100 motorway, heading through the Tiergarten and stopping at the Brandenburg Gate. On the other side it continues as Unter den Linden through the eastern part of downtown. The A100 links the southern part of the city with the A111, which leads north to the A10 motorway ring and the A115 to the south. The latter was once the historic AVUS (Automobil Verkehrs und Übungs Straße) motor racing track (you can still see the viewing stands as you drive to Potsdam). Cutting across the city from north to south is less clear, although there is a new tunnel near the main train station that channels traffic under the Tiergarten and towards the A100.
The city has a new environmental zone (Umweltzone) regulating car emissions in the city centre. No vehicles are exempt from having an environmental sticker that proves they meet the city’s emission standards. More information can be found on the city’s website, www.berlin.de/umweltzone.