How long would it take to travel between Cologne and Berlin by car?

Question

Driving as fast as you want, with little traffic? Could it be done in a couple of hours?

(I'm writing a story where a character does this, that's why I'm asking.)

Answer 1

umm...yeah with the right kind of car....what we talking a porsche?  Try www.mapquest.de...this will tell you and at what speed you plan on going.....with the speed limits that ARE enforced around cities....A guess for me....umm.....in my mercedes (SL Kompressor) at full force except around cities....4-6 hours....should get me to where I am going (without having to drive 150 miles an hour...I do value my safety a little..)  I can push my gas to go to 380 Kph which is the max but i have driven from nurnberg to schweinfurt in one hour or so...so about 360 kph equals to about.....190 mph......so with that in mind, times two hours that equals 380 miles in two hours and 570 miles in three hours....its boogying along with no traffic....so i say with ''minimal sunday traffic....yes 3 hours will get you there...with time to spare...IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CAR YOUR DRIVING::::IN A NORMAL CAR NO::::6-7 HOURS..

Answer 2

Ummm. No . There is always trffic on the Autobahn... so you can usually only go about 200 kmh at the most and only for short periods. It would tae at least 7 hours I would say.. but that would be great time.. koln is in the west and berlin is in the east... Sooo. I drove to münchen in 8 hours.. so ta.. i dunoo.. say your character has a race car.. haha .. I wish i could be of more assistance.. but i usually ride the train to other citites and I was only one in koln and I flew because the airpot is pretty big.. anyways....

Answer 3

I'm doing this route quite often (several times a month), with different cars and drivers. My best time was about 4,5 hours with little traffic and just one break; the worst was about 7,5 hours with three breaks and sometimes heavy traffic - but I heard also of people driving for about 9 hours. Normally it's about 6 hours.

Answer 4

Falk, Germany's most-known manufacturer of road maps and provider of routing services online, gives the following data:

duration: 05:22 h

distance: 573 km (356 miles)

gas consumption (average car): 45.9 litres (12.1 US gallons),

average cost of it being 61.97 euros (85.95 US dollars), as of Sep 20th 2007

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I'd like to add something:

My experience tells me that it should be possible, for a hero in a hurry, to make it from Berlin to Cologne in 5 hours at night, when there's low traffic. I know the A(utobahn) 9 from Berlin half the way to Cologne from my own experience (I have to head south then), and it's hardly possible to even make half the way in less than four hours, considering that there may be building sites and heavy traffic.

But there's one thing that came to my mind which might be useful to your story: In Germany, trucks aren't allowed to drive on Sundays, until 10 p.m. -- Maybe that's where you could start off: Your Berlin hero heads for Cologne on a Sunday afternoon, knowing that there will be no trucks on the autobahn, gives full speed, almost hits a family car whose driver doesn't pay attention, escapes the accident and a heart attack, gets into a heavy rain shower and almost drifts off the road at 230 km/h, but can regain his steering, and finally reaches his destination just in time.

For your story, it might also be important that the left lane(s) on German autobahns are only meant for passing. Passing on the right lane is strictly frobidden, and will be heavily punished, except when there's a traffic jam ("Stau") and traffic is moving real slow.

It might also interest you that the German police usually charge the fine "on the spot", that means, you give them cash, they give you a receipt. And, unlike in the U.S., the don't lettheir siren howl while driving behind you, but usually overtake you, and the one on the passenger seat waves a round, usually lighted sign out of the right window with the inscription "HALT! POLIZEI!". In more modern police cars, a digital display in its rear window will show up with the Text "POLIZEI - BITTE FOLGEN" ("police, please follow"). In any way, you will have to stop BEHIND the police car, not in front of it. Overtaking it is a serious offense.

Maybe this information might add some "salt" to your story, and I would be glad to have an occasion to read it.

(used www.falk.de for route, Google for conversions)

Answer 5

As fast as you can with little traffic?  I haven't seen that in Germany for many years.  Although there is no speed limit on the autobahn (really, there is in many areas, but most people like to believe there is not), if the car in front of you is going 100 KMH and the car beside you is going 100 KMH, the speed limit is?  100 KMH.  Mapquest claims Cologne to Berlin is five hours.  My experience says its more like seven.  

If your character drives (averages) 240 KMH, he/she could make it in 2.5 hours.  I hope you are writing a fantasy.

Answer 6

Just to warn you... I didn't that trip Cologne - Berlin every year around Christmas. To almost reach Berlin in snow and rain will take 8-9 hours - going in to Berlin during rush hour in ice rain can take 2-5 hours extra!!! Worst case . If you are not familiar with the Autobahn and the way Germans drive....

Do not drive at night! Do not drive in heavy weather!!

Good luck!

Answer 7

It's about 6 hours if you drive very fast and there aren't any roadworks. But you'd better have your character driving at night if that's the figure you want to gie, during the day, the durations given by mapquest or fals or whatever are hypotheticl because there are usually some traffic jams.