I’m thinking it might be France.

Trying to plan a trip home from Munich as quickly as possible.

In that case, you’re probably restricted to those in Germany, France and England, and other adjoining countries.

I don’t suppose you would fancy a detour over the Millau viaduct, or that lovely new stretch between Algeciras and La Linea just to enjoy the view.

I’m a big fan of the O-4 between Bolu and Gerede:
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Munich&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Munich,+Bavaria,+Germany&gl=au&ll=40.742542,31.85371&spn=0.002252,0.004823&t=h&z=18

But it’s probably not handy to Munich.

Well ok but I can include France, varying amounts of Germany and/or Belgium…

As above (and ignoring your actual requirements) the Viaduct de Millau on the A75 in France!

The M40 at 4am. You can scream down it like a mad man.

Don’t forget the M69. It’s always nose to tail there. 8)

Going via France will be some what longer assuming you are coming back via calais?

Which is the best motorway? Isn’t that a bit like asking “Which STI is the best?”

Recently I’ve grown quite fond of the A1 in Holland between Amersfoort and Apeldoorn

There’s not much in it between Germany and France, and more Germany, some Luxembourg and quite a bit of Belgium

The condition (and planning) of Motorways in France and Holland are much better than Germany, the condition of motorways in Belgium is really shocking, I’d avoid if at all possible. (This is a trip I have to make every time I want to go back to the UK and it really sucks).

There are tolls on most french motorways though, whereas Germany and Begium are free, so you’ll save a bit of cash if you drive back through Germany, google maps says it’s 1/2 hour more, but you’ll pass a lot more major cities than if you go through France, so the congestion might be worse.

In my experience the E40 through Belgium is particularly bad, and if you wanted to do the German/Belgium route, I’d go up to Venlo/Eindhoven and across, that way you get to go through less of Belgium.

I hate Belgium.

I don’t find the French motorways any better than Britains- bit quieter sometimes but that’s about it. When you factor in that the Payage will cost you more than fuel its no contest.

Surely the unrestricted sections of autobahns are the best motorways 😉

When you factor in that the Payage will cost you more than fuel its no contest

Will it? Seemed fairly cheap from using their online calculator.

I’ve found the German Motorways to be mostly rubbish – at least on the ones I’ve been on. The unrestricted bits are often poor road surface and only two lane, and it’s only unrestricted for a few miles between 120 or even 100km/h limits. So you’ve got lorries at 90km/h and nutters at 200km/h all trying to force their way through two bumpy cracked lanes with rubbish sliproads and fair old traffic volumes.

The only bit I could make any headway at speed on was the bit between Stuttgart and Munich.

Useful info Dave ta.

I hate Belgium.

I’m very fond of Belgium but that’s despite the motorways.

Back from Munich the last motorways you want to use are French ones. It costs a mint but the run through Germany, Luxemburg (fill the tank) and Belgium is free, and parts of the German leg unrestricted. I usually did it at night to avoid the jams having got sick of hearing “20km Stau” on German radio.

My favourite autoroute was the Pyrénéenne back in the days when the Gendarmes never policed things with payages – until a downhill section resulted in a bent connecting rod proving that the red hatched section on the tacho was best avoided.

The M74 when it goes through the Southern Uplands is pretty cool for scenery.

It’s the 20km staus I’m worried about. Going to get up at 4am and try and do the whole thing in one day.. So I suppose the priority is avoiding urban areas at rush hours…

Right, viamichelin.com takes us all the way up through Germany to Aachen then through Belgium. Hardly any tolls.

It also says that if we went through France tolls would be 50 euros… That could be worth it for convenience – but I dunno how convenient it would actually be.

Bloody hell. Looks like there’s a ton of red tape you have to go through in Germany to tow a caravan 🙁

Munchen to FF, then up – just above Koln, hang a left and then flat-out to Liege – to last bit was my fav.

Just be careful as Liege has different names depending on which direction you come from, probably not such a problem now with satnavs, but in the past…

Liège, Luik, Lidje and Lüttich

Driven to Stuttgart twice, first time was Dunkirque-Brugge-Brussels-Luxembourg-Germany and second was Rotterdam-Venlo and into Germany. Would avoid Belgium and France every time. Too many flipping speed cameras for one and the quality of the surfacing in Belgium wasn’t good. The second trip was 6 hours driving time plus a couple of stops for the whole journey.

Drove from Hampton to Poland 2 years ago. The best were the bits between Koln and Poland, but on the way back the new bit in Poland from Wroclaw to the border and then to Brussels was fine. E40 was great all the way.

I wonder if it’s worth getting a ferry to somewhere further east like Dunkirk.. takes a lot longer than the Eurotunnel tho.

That’s what I did, Norfolk Ferries both ways. You save 45 mins on a motorway but add time on the ferry.

In my experience the E40 through Belgium is particularly bad, and if you wanted to do the German/Belgium route, I’d go up to Venlo/Eindhoven and across, that way you get to go through less of Belgium.

I must disagree with Dave here. The E40 was fine 2 Summers ago, traffic wasn’t too heavy, no hassle. The return to UK was a different story as we hit the rush hour traffic around Brussels, had the sun low so blinding me and people driving with brains switched off (not too dissimilar to the M4 in the afternoon then). Bare in mind it gets nicely hilly near Jena, basically past Koeln going East. Next time I’m driving to Poland it’ll be the E40 again, no doubts.

Munich to the UK: I would recommend;

Munchen > Frankfurt > Koln > Aachen > Antwerp > Gent > Brugge > Calais

(Use the Eurotunnel unless you want to use the ferry as your R&R)

I drive around Europe a lot & find this a reliable route. Avoid Belgium at rush hour like the plague though – it’s lots better going via Antwerp than Brussels but will still be a wasted hour if you hit it at the wrong time.

“The E40 was fine 2 Summers ago”

I moved to Köln 2 summers ago, and have since done this route about 10 times, so maybe summer 2009 was a particularly heavy traffic year 😉 The road is concrete, very old, and full of cracks and pot-holes. There are even signs most of the way between Köln and Brussels telling you that that road surface is damaged.

To be fair I drive a lowered , 20 year old van, which doesn’t have the best shocks. However it only does 60 at a push, and still feels like it’s being ripped apart even at such pedestrian speeds.

Hmm the Koln route is looking like a good option so far.

Unless our predicted timings clash with rush hours in all those cities, in which case France looks like a quieter option.

Also may be worth coming back through France to take advantage of the higher caravan speed limit. Could cost 80 euro tho 🙁