What Shocked Me About Driving in Europe for the First Time

My first European drive started in Austria, in the Alps near Salzburg, on the way back to Vienna. I had spent time in Salzburg, enjoyed it, and then took the motorway route through a part of the world that makes even a Vancouver driver stop comparing scenery. The car was a Suzuki Swift with 87 horsepower, and the experience quickly became a clear comparison between North American road habits and Austrian roads.

Starting With The Car

The Swift was a manual. For this car, the alternative was a CVT, which would not have been nearly as interesting. Before driving, I had already been paying attention to the cars around me, mostly out of curiosity, to see whether manuals really were more common in Europe. To my surprise, every car I noticed had a manual transmission. That is not something I see very often in North America anymore, and it immediately made the road culture feel different.

The car itself was an entry-level, economical Suzuki Swift with only 87 horsepower. On paper, that sounds like very little, especially if you are used to the North American mindset that a car needs a lot of power to feel usable. In Austria, it still worked as a good commuter, even on Autobahns with a 130 km/h speed limit. It was not fast in the usual straight-line sense, but it was light, simple, and easy to enjoy.

Austrian Road Quality

I had not driven in any European country other than Austria, so this is not a claim about every road on the continent. With that caveat, the roads I experienced in Austria were extremely good. The Swift has a short wheelbase, so it should not hide rough pavement particularly well. On these roads, though, the ride still felt smooth because there simply were not many imperfections to notice.

That road quality changed the way the car felt. A small, low-powered car can be enjoyable when the surface is good and the road is flowing. Even a highway ramp became fun, because the chassis was light and the manual transmission made the car engaging. You do not need a lot of horsepower to enjoy driving when the road and the car are working together.

The Autobahn Experience

Once on the Austrian Autobahn, the road quality stood out even more. A cool 911 nearby was a reminder that these roads attract much faster machinery too, but the Swift still felt at home. The trip from Vienna to Salzburg earlier in the day had been easy, and the return toward Vienna felt the same way. The motorway ran through Alpine scenery, surrounded by mountains that looked almost unreal. Coming from Vancouver, I am used to beautiful nature, but this part of Austria still felt like a different level.

The Autobahn was also where the driving habits impressed me most. The basic rule I always try to promote is simple: stay to the right if you are not passing, and pass on the left. In Austria, most drivers around me were actually doing that. People used the left lane to pass, completed the pass, and moved back to the right.

That makes highway driving calmer and safer. In North America, left-lane and middle-lane campers can make the road frustrating and exhausting. You end up waiting behind people who are not passing anyone, or traffic starts weaving around slower vehicles spread across multiple lanes. On the Austrian Autobahn, I did not have a single situation where I had to wait for someone camping in the left lane to move over. Passing on the left and merging back right felt natural because the surrounding traffic expected the same pattern.

A Small Car With Useful Features

The Swift also made me think about what North American buyers are missing. This was an economical entry-level car, yet it had adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, a nine-inch screen, and wireless Apple CarPlay. It also had physical controls, a clear tachometer, and a clear speedometer. It was not overloaded with unnecessary complexity; it had the things I actually wanted.

For a car that costs around 19,000 euros, that is a strong package. The engine was small, a 1.5-liter three-cylinder, and the car was efficient because of its low weight and overall simple design. The 0-to-60 time was around 12 seconds, but I never felt that it was inadequate or unsafe on the Austrian Autobahn. Driving at 120 km/h was comfortable, and staying close to the 130 km/h limit felt fine.

That comparison matters because the average new-car price in North America has become so high, around $45,000. When people are dealing with tariffs, recession concerns, and expensive vehicles, a small, efficient, affordable car with the right features makes a lot of sense. Instead, Canada and the United States often feel like markets where the simple useful car has disappeared.

Speed Limits And Enforcement

The next major difference was enforcement. Austria seemed strict about rules, especially speed limits. Because of that, I did not want to go over the limit in the city or on the Autobahn. On the motorway, the limit was 130 km/h, so I stayed around 130.

Other drivers sometimes went much faster. Maybe they knew exactly where the speed cameras were. Maybe they lived there and understood the enforcement patterns better than I did. Either way, I was not interested in testing my luck. When you are driving in a country for the first time, it is smarter to respect the posted limit than to assume that local speeders are showing you what is acceptable.

Expectations Versus Real Drivers

Before the trip, I had grown up hearing that Germans and Austrians were very strict with rules and liked to follow them. Because of that, I expected perfect driving behavior. I thought everyone would use turn signals every time, leave enough space behind me, and leave enough space in front of them.

The reality was more ordinary. People are people everywhere. Austria had excellent roads and a lot of good highway discipline, but it was not a miracle version of traffic where every driver did everything perfectly. I did not see a massive difference in every part of driving quality. Some things were much better than what I am used to, especially lane discipline, but the drivers themselves were still human.

Driving In Vienna

City driving was the next surprise. In a city like Vienna, I expected to see a lot of cars. That was not really the case. My impression was that Vienna gives people a real choice between commuting by car and using public transport, and many people choose public transport. I have friends in Vienna who do not have a car because, for them, it simply does not make sense.

That choice changes the feel of the city. There were not as many cars as I expected, and the streets did not feel as car-dominated as many North American cities do. The infrastructure seemed to make it possible to live without driving everywhere, which reduces the pressure on the roads for the people who are driving.

Road-Tripping Through Austria

For a road trip, Austria was excellent. If you are going to Salzburg, it almost does not matter which direction you arrive from, because you are likely to spend time driving through the Alps. I took the Autobahn route, but there are also back roads and alternative highways that would probably be more scenic and more twisty.

The stops along the way were good as well. The gas stations I used were not just fuel pumps and a convenience counter. Each one had a separate cafe, which made the road-trip experience more pleasant. It felt set up for actual travel, not just for getting fuel as quickly as possible and leaving.

Fewer SUVs And More Small Cars

One of the most interesting things I noticed was how few SUVs there were compared with North America. There were many smaller city cars like the Swift: compact, efficient cars with enough power for city driving and highway driving, plus good amenities even in entry-level trims.

That made the environmental conversation feel different. In North America, we often talk about being environmentally friendly while building huge electric trucks and electric SUVs. Those vehicles may be electric, but they are still huge. A small, efficient car like the Swift is not electric, but it is still economical, light, and efficient in a way that makes practical sense.

Europe also seems to have a much more interesting selection of these small cars. In manual form, they can be fun at normal speeds. The Swift did not have a lot of power, but winding out the engine was enjoyable, and because the speed limit was 130 km/h, it was possible to enjoy the car without speeding. That is an underrated kind of fun: using the engine, shifting gears, and staying within the law.

Vienna At Night

By the time I was back in Vienna, it was around 11:30 in the evening, and the city was still active. People were walking, riding scooters, and moving around the streets. That also made city driving harder, especially in a manual car. There were pedestrians and cyclists at all times, so I had to stay alert constantly.

Even with that added workload, the roads were good and the city felt well laid out. It was still Austria, so the basic road environment remained very organized. An empty junction with no cars and no people still gave the manual car a chance to feel fun, even in the city.

The Takeaway

The trip ended with a very strong impression: driving in Europe, and specifically in Austria, can be an excellent experience. The roads were smooth, the Alpine scenery was incredible, the Autobahn lane discipline was refreshing, and the small manual Swift made sense in a way that many North American cars no longer do. Beyond the driving itself, traveling in Europe was simply a lot of fun.

It was not perfect, and it was not proof that every driver in Austria is flawless. The useful lesson is more practical than that. Good roads, compact cars, real public-transport options, strict speed enforcement, and disciplined passing behavior all change the driving experience. If you want to drive in Europe, renting a car in a city like Vienna can be genuinely enjoyable. Stay within the rules, stay alert around pedestrians and cyclists, keep right when you are not passing, and enjoy the drive.

One final small detail: I liked the Swift’s light green color, too.