European Travel Skills: Driving in Europe - Rick Steves' Europe Travel Guide 

+OstrichGaming or cruising on the left lane in the autobhan, or ranting why all exits go to ausfhart,

and with roundabouts here stateside (excluding new jersey, they always had them) you have people just randomly stop in roundabouts, go the wrong way around a roundabout (somehow) or just blatantly refuse to acknowledge it's existence and drive straight through the center (caught myself doing this a couple times in ETS2)

Many roundabouts got a huge "channeling island" in Germany. Unless you want to use it as ski-jump, steer around it ;o)

alphons bretagne trust me, there are plenty of people that would launch off of them

Love all the positive Euro hypocrites ALWAYS pointing their fingers.

Never seen an automatic in the UK but I know they exist.

Not from car rental agiences tho. Almost all car rentals only have automatics for the past 5-10 years.

@@kasposblazos864 I rented a car in the UK a year ago, a ford fiesta. It was manual.

@@bmc9504 Really? What rental agencie? Maybe its more common in the UK then. I know the largest agencies (hertz, avis ect) in for example sweden and germanny usally dont have manuals except maybe their cheapest economy group.

@@kasposblazos864 I looked in my emails and it was a company called "Budget" at Birmingham airport (UK). It was a manual gearbox. *Longer back than I thought

Nobody do that in Spain

Radiophobia many if not all do it in Spain

That depends on the country. We don't do that in Belgium.

@@Maxime_K-G Yes we do that in Belgium, only the bad drivers don't do it. Then again, every driver in Belgium thinks, falsely, he's the best driver ever... up to and including when they miss there turn and end up in someone's living room.

@@PDVism Yeah, you're completely right. I found that out about a month ago. You really wouldn't know with how few people actually do it!

No they don't...

And right overtaking!! Which is illegal in Europe (except for pulling up and merging)..

In USA I was surprised because many cars overtake me on the right line. In Europe you always have to overtake other cars on the left line.

Love driving in the countryside in Scandinavia. Beautiful landscape, twisty and fun roads in excellent condition and , best of all, no traffic!!

Awesome video

Americans know roundabouts too, since shortly..

Some places in the US such as the state of Massachusetts they are called Rotaries.

Traffic circle is actually a roundabout with traffic lights so, at least in Belgium, those signs would not indicate traffic circles.

Dave Griffiths LOL. He is Rick Steves. Google him.

How did it go..?

and?

Gotta have an adventure hahaha

Hello Robert, you are lucky, Germany hasn't introduced the controversial foreigner's toll ("Ausländer-Maut") so far. Regarding your question about headlamp converters: As far as I know you only have to use converters (foils etc) if your car is equipped with asymmetrical dimmed-beam headlamps that are adjusted for use in the UK; which should apply for most newer cars. Also, as far as I'm informed, newer cars using halogen lights require an adjustment of the lamps itself from left-and traffic to right-hand (and vice versa). Your local garage should be able to carry out the switch; some cars with an on-board computer have a menu item which allows the driver to change the light configuration.

I'm sorry I misspelled your Name, I meant to write Rupert, of course! Hope you enjoy your trip to Southern Germany! Greetings Nick

Thanks - Can't wait

ngw1976 Hello Rupert, I small correction of my previous post: From what I've gathered on the net all cars using either halogen or xenon lights should feature asymmetrical dimmed-beam lights. Therefore you should check your car's manual and adjust your beam either by using foils, reflectors etc or by switching the lights itself. As I have already written some cars with an on-board computer have a menu item for that task. Also, as far as I know, some cars have a mechanical handle on the backside of the light casing, and, unfortunately, there are some cars which require an engineer at a garage to do the switch for you. Cheers Nick

Are you still allowed to enter the EU ? 😅

It's a lot simpler. Just take the lane of the roundabout you want. The only thing you have to have in mind, is that to exit the roundabout, you have to be on the exterior lane, and the cars already on that lane have preference. If you cannot get to the exterior line before the exit, just go around the roundabout until you can switch to the exterior lane.

Nobody follows any rules in the roundabouts...every man for himself and all in a big hurry.

You need to check with the car rental agency, as policies vary. Be sure to tell them which countries you plan to visit when you reserve. -- Laura

They don't want you to ruin suspension on polish roads

Jesus Gonzalez many German companies won’t let you take a car to many east European countries with the exception of Czech Republic

That's not true. On many parts, there's no Speed Limit, that's right. But not everywhere. Mostly in Big Cities like Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Munich, there's a speed limit on Autobahn Highways in the City area set to 50, 60 or 75 miles per hour. There are many Autobahn-routes with longer 75 speed zones.

You drive 5km/h too fast in Switzerland, that 40 Francs please.

Well, that's just a rule of thumb calculation and I find it actually a useful one. It's fast and easy to calculate and accurate enough for calculating on the fly.

Drop the zero and multiply by 6 to convert km/h to mph

@@greggmitchell4173 wow good one thanks!

But why would anyone want to calculate the miles anyway? Both the signs and the car use km/h, so why even bother? Just match the numbers.

The spelling is "km/h", not "kmp".

I see you didn't get your answer yet. I'm an everyday driver here in Europe, so I can answer al of your questions. 1. The first-in-first-out rule as in USA is not in force in Europe. If there's a regular intersection with no signs before, the car on your right always goes first. If you're turning left on the same kind of intersection, not only you must give way to the car on your right, you also need to wait if there's a car coming up from ahead (and it's turning right or going straight ahead). If the car is turning left just as you, you both go simoultaneously. 2. If you're approaching the intersection with a give-way sign (upside down triangle), you have to give way to the cars that are coming from your left or right. The rules for cars coming up ahead are pretty much the same as in regular intersection with no signs. The STOP sign works actually the same way - it also means that you have to give way to the cars, but the STOP sign requires you to stop at the marked place (even if only for a second), and then you are allowed to drive. 3. Taking a roundabout is easy - before you enter one you have to make sure that you're safe to enter it, so no one comes from your left, crossing your way of driving. Because the rule is when you're about to enter the roundabout, you have to give way to everybody that are already on the circle. If you have any more questions on that, don't hesitate to ask.

That is actually quite useful. Thank you.

One last thing that I am slightly confused about, I have seen roundabouts with two lanes. How does one merge into and out of the inner most lane of the circle? I mean, are cars on the inside with the right of way?

Puffenstein It doesn't matter if there's a two or one-lane roundabout, you always have to wait till it's clear. If there's a two-lane roundabout, you only use inner lane of it when turning left or around. You exit the inner lane just after the exit that you don't want to use. If you're turning right or going ahead, you are forbidden to use inner lane, instead you have to stay on outer lane. Also there's a bunch of roundabouts when you have to take the right lane even before you enter the roundabout (often applies to the three-lane roundabouts), because changing lanes on roundabout is forbidden. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Turbo_Roundabout.svg/1024px-Turbo_Roundabout.svg.png Under this link you can find the simplest explanation of that.

very imortant is that you have to stop at a red light in Europe even when you want to turn right.

Pugs Rock! You’ve had unusual experiences

Skoda, pretty popular in Europe. Originated in Czech Republic, but some time ago bought out by VW.

@@justynawisniewska1213 why is popular dont loks interesting its becose price?

@@honza45699 It's been quite an affordable yet reliable car up until now-cheaper than volkswagen although the starting prices have gone up recently as basic models are equipped with more features nowadays, the difference is not that great anymore. The design is nothing original but it's quite clean most of the time. This video is quite old so you can look up newer models if you're interested how their design is like nowadays. Interestingly enough Octavia or Superb are quite frequently chosen by diplomats as they can have quite comfortable and luxurious equipment but they're more low key non-flashy cars.

@@justynawisniewska1213 and People buying new skoda cars or Just ride with old models?

@@honza45699 Honestly both, however they used to be popular for company fleets for taxis or sales representatives but not anymore due to that price increase. I see plenty of new privately owned ones driving about though.

I see the shadow of the seat belt. It's the same color as his shirt. - Laura

MegaName13 I thought you had to be twenty something for most rentals regardless...

no you don't have to :) It is just more expensive under 21 ^^

17*

no 18

Btw, check if you are allowed to drive a car in any EU city centre, it can be prohibited and if you hired a Diesel it might not be allowed into a city centrum were the car in front of you (a gasoline or hybrid/electric one) is.

That's not how an American license works... Unlike Europe, are you able to drive any transmission on the same license in the USA. This is because they don't know a practical exam, just a theoretic one. As soon as you pass your theory test, you get a permitted license. After 5 or 6 years driving under supervision, you'll automatically get a full license. So if you get caught in the meanwhile you'll get punishing points, just like the beginner's license in the Netherlands. We in Europe have the rule that when you drive your practical exam in an automatic transmission, you'll just get a limited license (a full license B with side notes. that is).. Americans don't have rules regarding that, and because their license is also valid in Europe (when they are traveling on a tourist visa = temporarily stay), they're perfectly fine to drive in a manual too although I wouldn't advice it without experience (which is obvious)..

ThatDutchguy but...my one and only car is a manual.

Never visited the Eifel district..? A historic setting always has a certain romance surrounding it, for sure..

aero rk Germany is romantic

There is parking. Only not those big spots you see in the US.

MaroonBugUK it doesn’t

The average income of Americans and Germans are quite comparable. But it is a lot more expensive to live in Europe than it is to live in most places in America (higher taxes and living expenses). Plus more people drive BMWs, Audiis, and Mercedes because those are German cars. Only the high end models are really considered luxury cars.

flyingfisbeefilms but in Germany, I rented a car for 10 weeks, no problem

Except Vietnam isn't in Europe.

He didn't say that it was.

Except Russia or Ukraine isn't quite Europe either.

I rented a car in Ukraine with an international company (Avis) and everything was alright. Well, roads were in quite a bad state of disrepair, but I didn't have any legal issues with the authorities whatsoever.

Lucas Fernandez: In the derestricted sections its not unusual to have automobiles cruising flat out at 250kph. As such no need for the mega lane numbers as seen in the USA where they cruise at 89kph to have the same road capacity

TRPG pilot same with the UK. While we have slower roads then In Germany they are still faster then in the US and lane discipline is incredibly important to us. If your in the right hand lane for anything other then passing expect serious road rage from the car behind you.

Lucas Fernandez don’t kid yourself, Germany’s Autobahn has the best technology available today, making it safe to travel 200 miles per hour. No American Interstate can handle that speed safely

Of course you can drive fast if it's no traffic. But only when you are a billionaire. Do you know what we pay in Germany for gas? 😜

Lucas has never left home. LOL.

Always.