Germany is covered by an excellent and extensive system of major roads (prefixed 'B') and motorways (prefixed 'A' for Autobahn). 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) on major and minor roads outside the cities and 50kph (30mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right. Seat belts must be worn at all times and children under 12 are forbidden to travel in the front seat without a child restraint.

The minimum age for driving is 18 years. Foreign drivers require proof of insurance and their national driving licence. A Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker is compulsory. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05%, while that for drivers aged below 21 or drivers who have held their licence for less than 2 years is 0%. Leaded petrol is unavailable; unleaded petrol with a lead additive can be found at some petrol stations.

The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil Club - ADAC (tel: 0180 510 1112; website: www.adac.de) provides breakdown services throughout the country. In the Berlin area, Auto Club Europa - ACE (tel: 0180 233 6677; website: www.ace-online.de) can also offer assistance.

Emergency breakdown services: ADAC (tel: 0180 222 2222) or ACE (tel: 0180 234 3536).

Routes to the city: The A10 is an orbital motorway that encircles the city. The A111 and A115 connect this to the A100 - which wraps part way around the Western centre - from the north and south, respectively. The main roads leading to Berlin from outside the orbital are the A24 (from Hamburg), A9 (from Leipzig and Munich), the A113 (from Dresden), A12 (from the Polish border) and A2 (from Hanover, from where the A7 connects to the A5 toward Frankfurt am Main in the south).

Approximate driving times to Berlin: From Hamburg - 3 hours 15 minutes; Dresden - 2 hours 25 minutes; Frankfurt am Main - 5 hours 50 minutes.

Coach services: Eurolines (tel: 0870 580 8080, in the UK only; website: www.eurolines.com) international coach services cover 500 destinations including Paris, Strasbourg, Vienna and London, and more locally, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Hanover. Berlin Linien Bus (tel: (030) 861 9331; website; www.berlinlinienbus.de) also runs these national and international services. Buses on both international and domestic routes arrive at the Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB) Messedamm in Charlottenburg, near the International Congress Centre (ICC). The station has a restaurant and snack bar; information and tickets are available from the DTG Ticket Center, Kaiserdamm 30 (tel: (030) 306 7210) and at the ZOB Reiseburo (tel: (030) 301 0380; website: www.zob-reisebuero.de). Taxis are available and the U-Bahn Kaiserdamm and S-Bahn Witzleben stations are located nearby.