World City Guide

Getting There By Road

Motorways (‘autoroutes’) bear the prefix ‘A’ and national roads ‘N’. Minor roads are classed as ‘D’ (for ‘departementales’) roads. Traffic is on the right and drivers must give way to the right, unless the route is marked with ‘passage protégé’ signs (a broad arrow, a yellow diamond or an ‘X’ on a triangular background), or if the driver is at a roundabout indicating 'Vous n’avez pas la priorité'. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on motorways, 110kph (68mph) on dual carriageways separated by a central reservation, 90kph (46mph) outside built-up areas and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. Visitors who have held a driving licence for less than two years face tighter speed restrictions. The minimum age for driving is 18 years. All front and rear-seat passengers must wear seatbelts and children under 10 years may not travel in the front seat. The French police fine motorists on the spot for driving offences, such as speeding. Random breath tests for drinking and driving are common – the legal alcohol to blood ratio is 0.05%.

A national driving licence, the car’s registration document and a red warning triangle must be carried at all times. EU nationals taking their own cars to France are strongly advised to obtain a Green Card, without which insurance cover is limited to the minimum legal cover. The Green Card tops this up to the level of cover provided by the car owner’s domestic policy.

Useful contacts for drivers in Strasbourg include the Automobile Club Action+, 5 avenue de la Paix (tel: (03) 8836 0434; fax: (03) 8836 0063; e-mail: info@automobileclub.org; website: www.automobileclub.org ), the Hôtel de Police, 34 route de l’Hôpital (tel: (03) 9023 1717), and Zurich Assurances (Zurich Insurance), 7 rue de Verdon (tel: (03) 9040 4210).

Emergency breakdown service:
Automobile Club (0800) 080 001.

Routes to the city: Strasbourg is on the central European motorway network, directly connected to Paris by the A4 motorway to the west, linked to Munich via Stuttgart on the A8 Autobahn to the east and the A5 north to Frankfurt. The recently developed Strasbourg-Mulhouse route is linked to the national motorway network, facilitating access to Lyons and Marseilles, as well as to destinations in Spain and Italy.

Approximate driving times to Strasbourg: From Stuttgart – 1 hour 30 minutes; Frankfurt – 2 hours; Paris – 4 hours 15 minutes.

Coach services: The coach station is located at place des Halles and served by two companies. Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois – CTS (tel: (03) 8823 4323; website: www.strasbourg.com/cts ) serves the immediate surroundings of Strasbourg, including Wasselonne, Obernai and Erstein. Mugler (tel: (03) 8889 4053) serves the north of Strasbourg and more distant locations, including major towns of Haguenau and Niederbronn-Les-Bains. Eurolines, 6D place d’Austerlitz (tel: (03) 9022 1460; fax: (03) 9022 1469; e-mail: strasbourg@eurolines.fr; website: www.eurolines.fr ), operates international coach services to major destinations throughout Europe.