Finding your bearings in Germany

Driving in Germany is a pure nightmare for me. I take the train unless there is a very compelling reason not to (which there seldom is). There are serious accidents every few days on the Autobahn near us, and fatal accidents several times a month. The Bundesstrasse between our village and the next one is a hotspot for unwise overtaking maneuvers and accidents seem common even in the middle of the day in perfect weather.

However, when I have to drive somewhere, I use the GPS mainly to show how many more hours or minutes I have left to endure. Before I drive to a place I haven't been before, I study the Google maps route so I have an idea in my head where I have to go and where to turn. When I'm only driving locally to some place new I write the directions on a piece of paper - in doing so I generally memorize where I'm going and don't need to glance often at the paper. (I'm nearly 50 and old-fashioned; I still prefer a pen and paper to gadgets and machines.)

When my German husband and I go somewhere, he drives. Then (if it's a new place) I sit quietly with our road atlas for southern Germany and follow our route. For me, maps are so much better than a GPS! I want to see where we're going and where we've been, not only the tiny point where we currently are!

It is definitely not enough to only follow road signs if the driver is US-American with no experience driving in Germany. The signs work completely differently. In the US you need the name/number of the road and the direction you're traveling, and that's about it: "Turn north onto Hwy 24". In Germany you need to know which town you need to head toward, even if it's not your final destination.

Asking locals for directions...I only needed to do this once and the woman was helpful and friendly. I know people, however, who get annoyed when they're outside for a smoke break to clear their heads at the office, and someone stops to ask for directions. I've had the car in front of me on a narrow town road stop to ask a pedestrian for directions, and I had no chance to get around him because of oncoming traffic. Just...no. Get out of people's way and then ask for help!

Taking the train/bus takes care of any getting lost. Get out at the Hauptbahnhof, find the Stadtinfo, and get yourself a map.