[Jim727]

Driving in Europe is really interesting. Germany has fantastic roads well-maintained, as has been said. They tend to stay that way, too since they are about twice as thick as the roads here - built to be quality, not built to be cheap and fall apart. German drivers also know what they are doing and expect everyone else to be equally competent. When I lived there it cost over US$3,000 to get a first-time driver's license so the process was taken seriously. Cars have to be maintained and passed by the TUV for safety every couple of years. No crappy junkers on the road to contend with. Passing on the right is a ticket (a big one). Fuel is expensive, but efficient cars are available - the A4 1.9 turbo diesel we had for two weeks averaged 55mpg and cruised at 200kph with no problem.

All in all, driving in Europe is fun with beautiful scenery. About the only place I wouldn't want to drive again is inside the large cities of Italy, but there you just park the car and take public transport.