Thanks.c2R wrote:The B1 is a very interesting drive with lots of variety - a bit like the A6 in some ways. The old route from the Dutch border to Dortmund is intermittently replaced by new housing development and motorway upgrades, meaning some of it is quite difficult to follow. The Ruhrschnellweg section mixes motorway (A40) upgrades with sections of expressway and urban traffic signals (giant signalised concrete junctions, anyone!). There's also trams and guided busways in the mix and lots of tunneling. After Dortmund it escapes into a rural area (lots of farming but also prime commuter territory), and bypasses many of the villages en-route. It then reaches Paderborn where it bypasses the city on a high quality route to the north. Between there and Berlin is prettier, with more countryside, forests, and some hills...Andy P wrote: I'm not familiar with the B1, but most B-roads (Bundesstraße = Federal road) are S2 outside urban areas, and pass through many towns and villages, with lots of traffic lights. Although they tend to have good alignments, progress is generally slow.
I'm a bit biased because for many years as a child I used to live within less than a kilometre of the B1 - most of the British forces presence in Germany is/was spread broadly along the A2/B1 corridor - and it has always fascinated me.
I've always wanted to drive its entire length but never got around to it - soon perhaps. I'm familiar with much of the western end, but I don't really know the eastern bit at all.
fras' post has really whetted my appetite again.
