Europe Road trip

Vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,518
Hi all,

Looking for tips and advice around things needed for a European road trip. I know quite a few of you have driven on the mainland or done similar trips.

I’m hoping to go this summer - I plan on taking two weeks off work which should give me 16 days once weekends are factored in.

This will be for general sightseeing and catching up with friends along the way. I like to take photographs :)

I will be using my own car.

I’m reading all the road trip threads on Pistonheads also….but so far I’m thinking of the following route:

*** MAP HAS BEEN EDITED DUE TO INPUT ***

W6QnNwT.jpg


I may hit up Vienna for a day or two if time permits but I don’t want to overstretch

How does such a route look given the time? I recall a thread on here about someone who wanted to do a slightly shorter trip in only 7 days.

I know I need things like triangles, first aid kits, breathalyzer in France (I think) but does anyone know of a website that lists what each country requires?
 
Last edited:
I did this route about 18 months ago:

euroroute_zpsae39f26e.jpg


(No idea what is going on with H, just ignore that bit)

The first thing I'd notice about your route is you appear to almost totally avoid Austria. Big mistake IMHO, it was probably the best bit. From Munich the drive down to Innsbruck away from the autoroute is really, really great. And Innsbruck itself is good, too.

Austria seemed much like Switzerland only not quite so crazily priced.
 
Vanilla said:
I know I need things like triangles, first aid kits, breathalyzer in France (I think) but does anyone know of a website that lists what each country requires?
Click to expand...

Check out the AA site, it has a PDF list of which equipment is compulsory in each country.

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/touring_tips/compulsory_equipment.pdf

I can't be of much more help, but I just wanted to say, have fun and enjoy it - I'd love to do something like this, just to experience the roads in the Alps myself :)
 
[TW]Fox;25603094 said:
I did this route about 18 months ago:

euroroute_zpsae39f26e.jpg


(No idea what is going on with H, just ignore that bit)

The first thing I'd notice about your route is you appear to almost totally avoid Austria. Big mistake IMHO, it was probably the best bit. From Munich the drive down to Innsbruck away from the autoroute is really, really great. And Innsbruck itself is good, too.

Austria seemed much like Switzerland only not quite so crazily priced.
Click to expand...

Good input, I will include Austria then!
 
I'd personally go from Amsterdam to Cologne to Nurburgring, then down via Strasbourg to Zurich.
Or just 'Ring-> Zurich if you're tight on time. What's the reason for E- friends? Where is that anyway?
 
To give you an idea, I did this with 3 other chaps in 16 days. INCREDIBLE trip. Route was about right, but still fairly tight in places. If we had time we would have done the west coast of France, and returned via more of Germany and Belgium, but seeing as I've done Belgium 5/6 times and timings were tight we skipped it.

sqy0.jpg


Have a read of this thread and also my GoPro video of some places on there for you to visit along the way!

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18539487&highlight=eurotrip

Wack this in 1080p and enjoy!


We used about 7-8 tanks of fuel and about £130 on tolls. MPG was hammered due to roofbox + autobahn, hills, weight etc. Did about 35-42mpg on most tanks of fuel. £50 on breakdown, 2 x crossings at £80 each on ferry (singles for flexibility).

Camping was great and cheap, plus booking guesthouses and apartments worked well. The odd hotel was a bit pricey at last minute. Having milestone places to reach worked really well and booking a night or so in advance.

With regards to gear, Halfords do a pack which contains pretty much everything you need for driving abroad which is a good start and you need to allow time to stop and see things, so be careful not to be too ambitious with the route. We wanted to do the route you have suggested, but I would have wanted at least 3 weeks to do that.

Shout if you have any questions!
 
Looking at your latest map I'd recommend taking the Route 500 through the Black Forest into Switzerland, or if you want to go to Austria then you can drive around Lake Constance into Austria to Bregenz. I did this 6 weeks ago and it was great, even if though the weather was crap. Is it really worth going to Vienna? That's a bit of de-tour.

I'd also suggest stopping at Lake Maggiore before driving into Milan - the Northern Italian lakes are awesome. I did those a couple of years ago and stayed in a hotel right on Lake Maggiore in a town called Baveno (stayed in Grand Hotel Dino which I can recommend).

From there you can drive further east to Verona or Modena and visit the Ferrari factory if you want before driving back along the coast towards Monaco.

I think you'll need a Vignette (tax sticker thingy) if you plan on driving on the highways in Switzerland. It's 33 euros. http://www.tolltickets.com/country/swiss/vignette.aspx?lang=en-GB

EDIT:

This is the kind of route I'll probably be doing this year. I try and do one every year, they are amazing. If you want to do more of Austria then I'd suggest driving further east into Germany then down into Munich, otherwise you'll just be driving back on yourself.

280oymc.jpg
 
Last edited:
If you're going into Prague, Czech Republic you might as well check out Dresden, Germany. Dresden is beautiful, cheap and plenty to see. The reconstruction work is amazing. Prague is also very beautiful, and enjoyable. Although I enjoyed Dresden more than Prague.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom