Planning a road trip around Europe - loads of questions!

[Phaser]

Looking to do a road trip next summer, i've not got a clue about driving abroad and i've got loads of questions so bare with me

Was thinking of going over to France, driving up through Belguim to Amsterdam then back down through Germany, the Alps, back into France to Barcelona then up along the south of France working our way back to Calais via Paris - stopping in hostels/B&Bs and camping for a night or 2 at each place along the way. I'm up for ideas in terms of the route but ideally would like to stop in Amsterdam a good few days and also drive through the Alps so thought that'd be the most cost effective route?

Edit: Something like this although obviously the distances between each place wouldn't be as varied with stop offs.

How long would I need for the above journey? From a quick play around on Google Maps it's about 3000 miles. Was hoping to fit it in over 15 days but if that means spending days constantly driving then i'll knock some places off the list.

I currently drive a mk1 1.6 Focus which would be no good for 4-5 people and all the camping gear/luggage lol - don't think i'd be able to rent a car due to my age (i'll be 23) or at least without paying a large young drivers charge? The idea was to spend 1-2k on an estate and sell it when I get back. Maybe lose a few hundred quid on it?

That goes onto my next question, what car? I guess with it being 3-4000 miles it's not worth looking especially for a diesel? Thought of a Mondeo estate, seem to be a few around for 1.5k. Is the 2.0l noticeably better than the 1.8, bearing in mind there'll be 4-5 adults and all the gear in the boot?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../radius/1501/postcode/dn24aa/page/2?logcode=p

Apart from the initial sum for the car, i'm gonna have to buy insurance (some sort of temp cover?), european breakdown and put some money aside for tolls. How much am I looking at for those and is there anything else I should be thinking of? I guessed a grand should be enough for petrol/tolls/various types of cover etc?

Lastly if anyones done anything similar and wants to share their routes/costs etc it'd be appreciated

 

[Pyscho_Si]

Firstly, where are you based? If possible get yourself a few weekends in Belgium or France to get use to driving abroad (and buy some cheap beer!). Many years ago I bought a Haynes guide to driving abroad which was very good and explained some of the more interesting points of French traffic law.

Your route.... AVOID PARIS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS.

3000 Miles isn't too bad over 15 days, I did this myself last year touring France and spending a little time in Spain but make sure you have none driving days. Also you want to plan getting to your locations mid afternoon so you can enjoy the places. If you plan to keep off the motorways (so you can see a bit of the country), you want to plan about 250 miles a day max.

You don't want 5 people in your Focus...4 Max. You have to be comfortable and so do your passengers. Can you really fit all your camping gear and luggage for 4 in your boot? If you buy a larger car you need to check and age restrictions on your roadside recovery. I'm no expert on this as mine comes with 25 years included.

Look at the Michelin route site... it gives you tolls and estimated fuel costs.

How is your French, Flemish, German and Spanish? The French especially don't speak any English when you get out in the sticks.

If you have any more questions... just ask.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Buying a £2k car for this with a view to selling on your return seems very extreme for what is basically just a 2 week holiday?

 

[paradigm]

I currently drive a mk1 1.6 Focus which would be no good for 4-5 people and all the camping gear/luggage

Of course it would. Buy a roof box.

 

[Maccapacca]

I'd want something bigger for that journey, a 1.6 focus with a roof box and 5 people and a bootfull of stuff will not make for a plesant journey, all i'd be worried about is risk, is your focus reliable, would you be buying something that'll give up the ghost within 200 miles when your in the middle of France, are you spanner handy?

Tolls are expensive in France but you can with planning avoid them, they only seem to be on the tourist routes as well, once you get inland they dissapear, theres loads out of Calais and any north France driving route Dieppe Caen etc

 

[Janesy B]

Rent something?

 

[Phaser]

3000 Miles isn't too bad over 15 days, I did this myself last year touring France and spending a little time in Spain but make sure you have none driving days. Also you want to plan getting to your locations mid afternoon so you can enjoy the places. If you plan to keep off the motorways (so you can see a bit of the country), you want to plan about 250 miles a day max.

Yeah that's the plan - try and work it so we get there in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day and maybe the next day there. Might have to adjust the route slightly but like you said it should be possible. Will be 2 of us driving so that'll take some of the strain off.

You don't want 5 people in your Focus...4 Max. You have to be comfortable and so do your passengers. Can you really fit all your camping gear and luggage for 4 in your boot?

Of course it would. Buy a roof box.

I'd want something bigger for that journey, a 1.6 focus with a roof box and 5 people and a bootfull of stuff will not make for a plesant journey, all i'd be worried about is risk, is your focus reliable, would you be buying something that'll give up the ghost within 200 miles when your in the middle of France, are you spanner handy?

Exactly this really, it's bad enough driving with 3-4 people in the car locally, let alone loaded up with all the gear through the Alps. No air-con either lol. I'm not too spanner handy to be honest - I thought if I took a little time/effort in picking up a car (especially a Mondeo, plenty to choose from) then i'd be less likely to end up with a nail. Admittedly it's a low budget but still. Along with the European breakdown cover it should be ok, if we do have a breakdown then it'll be a couple of days off the road and we'll just have to adjust the route - like I said we've got a good 2 weeks.

Buying a £2k car for this with a view to selling on your return seems very extreme for what is basically just a 2 week holiday?

Rent something?

I'd have thought it'd be at least £500-600 if not more, I doubt i'd lose that much on selling a car if I bought one. Could I even get a rental at 23? Also would I go with a UK company, don't want the hassle of getting over to say France with all the gear...Not got a clue how it works, sorry.

 

[TS7]

None of my business really but why are you buying the car? If the sole purpose of the car is for the holiday then surely all five of the people going should contribute? I wouldn't feel comfortable having one my friends spend all the money and then me just hitch along.

 

[mjt]

Buy an old Volvo estate together, then sell it when you get back.

 

[Arsey]

Buy an old Volvo estate together, then sell it when you get back.

This is what we were going to do, <£1000, but we didn't have time to plan it this summer. Maybe next summer!

Car insurance was looking at around £300 - £400 per month from these www.ecarinsurance.co.uk for 3-4 drivers, and you can pay monthly and cancel after 1 month.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I'd have thought it'd be at least £500-600 if not more, I doubt i'd lose that much on selling a car if I bought one

Then you've got to insure it, you've got to repair it if it goes wrong, you've got to be confident enough about buying cars that you get one that you can sell for what you've paid for it, why bother to save a few hundred quid split between 5 people anyway?!

 

[paradigm]

Buy an old Volvo estate together, then sell it when you get back.

Been there, done that, except I got given the Volvo as means of repaying some debt owed to me.

Will never EVER do it again in a complete unknown entity of a vehicle. I even had the thing a good month before I took it to France, but even then, after a good servicing, a fresh MOT, and a look over by some mechanic friends of mine, it STILL managed to break down, and we'd only covered 50 miles (literally got from Manchester to just outside Derby).

From that point, the whole trip was plagued with doubts and uncertainties. We stopped far more often than needed just so we could check the coolant levels (the breakdown was a split rad, the RAC "fixed" it with radweld, and gave us a few to take with us), and to check for more leaks. Every noise was playing on your mind, and even little things such as the passenger side wing mirror mechanism breaking (very important given that is your MAIN mirror for manoeuvres on motorways on the continent, it's not like I could just look behind me, as the boot was crammed completely full).

The journey back was even worse, after starting the car with it being sat for a week in -10ºc temperatures, it took ages to sound "right", and of course the ice had expanded the cracks in the radiator. What a fun journey home that was.

As I said, never again. I took the 330d the year after, and OH MY GOD, what a pleasure it was to drive a car I knew, trusted, and had owned for a decent period of time prior to the trip.

 

[DM]

I would be renting, even if its 800 quid that's only 200 quid each and it wont break down.

You also have the option of booking it here to pick up at the ferry terminal of you're choice in France then it will of course be left hand drive, another bonus.

By the time you pay for insurance, AA Euro cover (which you would be an idiot not to have) and depreciation, a rental is cheap.

 

[Phaser]

So a rental will cover all of that? Any recommended places? Europcar quoted me around 800 for a Mondeo Estate.

 

[snowdog]

snip

Where's your sense of adventure ?

 

[Dogbreath]

How long would I need for the above journey? From a quick play around on Google Maps it's about 3000 miles. Was hoping to fit it in over 15 days but if that means spending days constantly driving then i'll knock some places off the list.

That is too far IMO - you won't have much in the way of slack time to stop and relax for a few days if you find somewhere nice or you fancy making a detour. Driving large distances every single day gets quite wearing for both driver and passengers.

When I did this last summer we made a map and mostly stuck to the route with just a few changes, but we we made a few unscheduled stops simply because we saw signposts to interesting places (e.g. Zolder and Hockenheim circuits) - this made the whole trip more interesting and we had enough time to stop for ~1/2 day or so each time without jeopardising the visits to the places we had planned.

We didn't plan camp sites much in advance - we just checked our intended route each day and then found a suitable place from one of the Alan Rogers books (highly recommended by the way - all the campsites we stayed at were very nice).