The best driving roads
in Bavaria.
Alpine panorama roads, forest passes, empty granite-country sweepers — and the world's only no-speed-limit Autobahn to connect them all. This is our local guide to the best driving roads in Bavaria, written by the people who rent out the cars built for them: a 600-hp Audi RS6, a V10 Audi R8 Spyder, a 400-hp RS3 and a drop-top BMW. From €229/day, full insurance always included, rent from age 18, US license welcome.
Bavaria is a driver's state. Here's the map.
Bavaria has everything a driving road needs: real mountains in the south, two big forested ranges in the east and north, thin traffic once you leave the tourist corridors, and German asphalt that's maintained like a national treasure. The Alps get all the Instagram attention, but some of the best tarmac in the state is in the quiet corners — the Fichtelgebirge, the Bavarian Forest and the Oberpfalz backroads right around our garage in Weiden.
One honest note before the fun starts, because we live here: these are public roads with normal German traffic law. Country roads are generally limited to 100 km/h, villages to 50 or less, some passes have their own limits, and there is no such thing as legal racing on a public road. The magic of these routes is rhythm, corners and scenery — save the flat-out stuff for the derestricted Autobahn sections, where it actually is legal (more on that below).
What you do need is the right car. That's us. Performance Rentals is an independent shop in Weiden in der Oberpfalz, northern Bavaria — we own the whole fleet, full insurance (Vollkasko) is always included, you can rent from age 18, we take US licenses, and you book online in about 60 seconds. Every road below gets a "best car for it" pick from our own garage. Let's go.
Rossfeld Panorama Road.
If Bavaria has one road that belongs on every driver's bucket list, it's this one. The Rossfeldpanoramastraße is a private toll road looping above Berchtesgaden in the far southeastern corner of the state, climbing to roughly 1,600 meters right on the Austrian border. Because it's a toll road there's no through traffic — just a ribbon of smooth hairpins and ridgeline straights with the Watzmann massif on one side and Salzburg spread out below on the other. Pair it with the drive up to Lake Königssee or the Obersalzberg and you've got a full day of the best alpine scenery Germany owns.
It's about four hours from our Weiden pickup, so treat it as the crown jewel of a weekend loop rather than a day trip — Autobahn down, panorama road at sunrise before the tour buses wake up, scenic B-roads home.
German Alpine Road (B308).
The Deutsche Alpenstraße is Germany's original scenic touring route — a signposted ribbon of roughly 450 kilometers running the entire length of the Bavarian Alps from Lake Constance at Lindau to Berchtesgaden, much of it on the B308 and its connecting roads. It strings together basically every postcard in Bavaria: the Allgäu meadows, Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen, Garmisch under the Zugspitze, the Sylvenstein reservoir, Tegernsee, Chiemsee, and finally the Berchtesgaden Alps. Highlights for drivers include the Oberjoch section near Bad Hindelang — a famous stack of wide, well-surfaced hairpins — and the sweeping lakeside stretches further east.
You don't have to do all of it. Pick a two-day slice — Füssen to Berchtesgaden is the classic — and take it as a tour, not a time attack: it's busy in summer and passes through plenty of villages with low limits. Done right, it's the best road trip in Germany, full stop.
Kesselberg (B11) — Kochelsee to Walchensee.
Short, steep and legendary. The Kesselberg section of the B11 climbs about 5 kilometers of tight, cambered switchbacks from Kochelsee up to Walchensee — one of Bavaria's most beautiful mountain lakes, sitting a few hundred meters higher. In the 1900s this was an actual hillclimb race course, and drivers and riders have made pilgrimages here ever since. At the top you get turquoise water, a lakeside café stop, and the option to continue south toward Mittenwald and the Karwendel mountains on more fine road.
Honesty corner: precisely because it's famous, the Kesselberg is heavily policed, has posted limits, and parts are periodically restricted for motorcycles at busy times. Go early on a weekday morning, ride the rhythm of the corners at legal pace, and it's still one of the most satisfying five kilometers in the country.
The Fichtelgebirge loop (B303).
This is the locals' secret — and it's practically in our backyard. The Fichtelgebirge is a horseshoe of granite mountains in northeastern Bavaria, topping out around 1,000 meters at the Schneeberg and Ochsenkopf, and the B303 carves straight through it between Bad Berneck and Marktredwitz on fast, flowing, beautifully surfaced sweepers. Around it, a web of smaller roads links spa towns like Fichtelberg and Bischofsgrün through deep spruce forest, with a fraction of the traffic the Alps see. Roughly an hour from our Weiden pickup, you can be into the good stuff before your coffee's cold.
Make a loop of it: up the A93 toward Marktredwitz, west on the B303 over the range, drop into Bayreuth for lunch, and come home over the backroads. It's the best half-day drive in northern Bavaria and almost nobody outside the region knows it.
The Bavarian Forest — B85 & the Arber road.
Along the Czech border stretches the largest continuous forest region in Central Europe, and it's laced with driving roads. Head southeast from Weiden on the B85 through Cham toward Viechtach and Regen, then climb toward the Großer Arber — at roughly 1,456 meters the "King of the Bavarian Forest" — past the Arbersee lakes on a proper mountain road with long sightlines and forest on all sides. Nearby, the routes around Bodenmais, Zwiesel and the Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald add endless variations: crests, valleys, and villages where the biggest traffic jam is a tractor.
This is big-country touring rather than hairpin hunting — third and fourth gear, huge views, and roads that stay quiet even in August. Bonus: you're right on the border, so a lunch run into Czechia is easy to bolt on (tell us when you book so the cross-border paperwork is squared away).
Oberpfalz backroads — straight from pickup.
You don't actually have to drive anywhere to start driving. Weiden sits on the edge of the Oberpfälzer Wald, the quiet hill country running north along the Czech border, and the backroads here are genuinely good: rolling routes toward Flossenbürg's granite castle ruin, the twisting climb up past Leuchtenberg's hilltop fortress, the lanes through the Waldnaab valley toward Falkenberg and Tirschenreuth's pond country, and the border hills around Vohenstrauß and Eslarn. Little traffic, honest corners, and scenery that looks like a model railway.
This is our home turf — literally the roads we use ourselves — so if you want a route, just ask at handover and we'll mark you a loop that fits the car and the time you've got. It's also the perfect shakedown hour to learn the car before you point it at the Alps.
The connector: no-limit Autobahn.
Every route above is linked by the one road network on Earth where driving fast is actually legal: the German Autobahn, with its derestricted sections and their recommended-but-not-mandatory 130 km/h. Weiden sits right in Autobahn country — the A93 runs past the door toward Bayreuth and Hof, the A6 heads for Nuremberg, and both feed the famous A9 Munich–Berlin corridor. So the transit legs between mountain roads aren't dead time; they're the part of the trip where a 600-hp RS6 gets to stretch fully, legally, on open asphalt. Always by the posted signs — limits apply near cities, roadworks and interchanges — but where it's free, it's free.
We wrote a full guide to doing it right — which stretches open up near us, how the etiquette works, and why the right car makes high speed feel calm instead of scary: The Autobahn Experience — no speed limit, done right →
Stationed at Grafenwöhr or Vilseck? Perfect.
Here's the part most soldiers figure out too late: Tower Barracks and Rose Barracks sit closer to great driving roads than almost any base in Europe. The Oberpfalz backroads start at the gate, the Fichtelgebirge is an hour out, the Bavarian Forest about the same, and the Alps make a clean weekend. Our pickup in Weiden is minutes from both posts — we accept US licenses (bring an IDP), SOFA status is welcome, you can rent from age 18 with no 25+ minimum, and full insurance is always included. Knock these roads out before the PCS orders come down.
Everything US-military-specific — licenses, SOFA, deposits, how pickup works near post — is on our dedicated page: US Military car rental near Grafenwöhr & Vilseck →. And for destination ideas beyond the driving itself, see road trips from Grafenwöhr.
Match the car to the road.
All cars automatic and easy to drive. Full insurance (Vollkasko) always included, rent from age 18, book online in about 60 seconds. Only one of each in the fleet — book early.
Before you roll out.
For pure drama, the Rossfeld Panorama Road above Berchtesgaden — a toll road climbing to roughly 1,600 meters with views over the Alps and Salzburg. For a longer trip, the German Alpine Road (B308) strings together lakes, passes and villages along the whole Bavarian Alps. Closer to our base in Weiden, the Fichtelgebirge (B303) and the Bavarian Forest deliver fantastic, far quieter roads.
Public roads have posted limits — typically 100 km/h on country roads, less through villages and on some passes — and there's no legal closed-road racing on public roads in Germany. Enjoy these routes for flow, corners and scenery. If you want to legally run flat out, that's what derestricted Autobahn sections are for — see our Autobahn Experience page.
For tight switchbacks like the Kesselberg, the compact Audi RS3 (400 hp, quattro). For long alpine touring, the BMW M440d Convertible top-down. The Audi RS6 (600 hp) does everything, and the R8 Spyder V10 turns the Rossfeld Panorama Road into a bucket-list day. All automatic, all with full insurance included.
Yes. We accept US driver's licenses, and we recommend carrying an International Driving Permit (IDP) alongside it. SOFA status holders are welcome and you can rent from age 18 — no 25+ minimum. Details on our US Military Rental page.
From €229/day for the RS3 or AMG E53, €249 for the M440d Convertible, €299 for the RS6, and from €449 for the R8 Spyder — full insurance (Vollkasko) always included, no surprise add-ons. Book online in about 60 seconds; pickup is in Weiden in der Oberpfalz, minutes from Grafenwöhr and Vilseck.
Late spring through early autumn is prime — high alpine roads like the Rossfeld and the Arber road can see snow and closures in winter, and mountain routes are at their emptiest early on weekday mornings. The Fichtelgebirge and Oberpfalz backroads near Weiden stay drivable most of the year. Ask us at handover and we'll tell you what's in good shape that week.
The roads are waiting.
Grab the keys.
Six of the best driving roads in Bavaria, one garage full of the right cars for them — minutes from Grafenwöhr in Weiden. Book online in 60 seconds or message us on WhatsApp in English. Full insurance included, rent from age 18.