Driving Across Europe – Tips for a first timer

If you are going through Austria, you’ll need a Vignette. they can be bought at the first services you pass.

As others have said keep your eye on the speed limits. You’ll be fined on the spot if it’s a speed trap for being just over the limit, even if you are just keeping up with local traffic. Then there’s the fixed cameras. My Father in Law has been caught many time is his home town for just being slightly over the limit.

Edit: Enjoy the trip, it sound fantastic!

Probably doesn’t apply in this instance but seem to remember somewhere in Europe there was a company that placed kiosks selling carnets at inflated prices just a short walk down from the ‘official’ vending machine.

Just back from 2 weeks in the motorhome around france, switzerland and italy. Absolute piece of piss driving. Driving standards are much higher over there and the roads are generally in much better condition. Dont bother with Toll tags. just use a contactless card. I used Starling as there were not fee’s.

Really good site camp site on North Garda here :-

https://www.campingmaroadi.it/en

Right on the lake shore with good pitches and cycle links. Only 20 mins walk into Riva and Torbole less than 5 mins. Good shop and restaurant on site.

Take your V5 with you, and stop at the first TÜV place you see in Germany. They’ll do you an Umweltplakette there and then. Typically 5-8€, depending on stuff. Dekra do them as well, but they’re 14€ there for some reason. Do your Critair thing now, and print out your receipt. Leave it on the dash if you have to park in a French city.

You can buy a toll tag in some service areas – sometimes from a vending machine, sometimes from the APPR/ARREA kiosk. They are absolutely worth getting, especially the ones that do Italy and Spain as well, as Italian toll areas can be a proper clusterfornication.

You’ll need a vignette for Austria and Switzerland if you plan to go through them. You can do that online these days, which sucks because I like stickers! I avoid Switzerland in its entirety – their vignette is 40€ and even 1kmh over the limit is a fine of about a quarter million francs and it’s easier for me mentally to just not go there.

Priority from the right has been covered, but it’s common in Belgium and NL as well. Less so in Germany.

Use Waze or Flitsmeister – they’re not just for warning you of speed traps, they’re great for hazard notifications as well.

You’ve got a ‘free’ threshold in France as well – 5 or 10% above the autoroute limit is ignored, then 10 to 20% above is 90€, or 45€ if you pay quickly. This is useful because France is huge. I’m on NL plates, though. So I do actually get fined by post. With ‘rosbief’ plates YMMV…

French drivers are in my experience friendlier and very predictable.

You may need to leave some more space on hills when stopping as hill-starts don’t appear to be taught in French Driving Schools (or forgotten after getting a licence). The car in front will roll back.

Not all those in French registered cars are French.

Avoid French tolls….

Calais to Belgium, dip into Luxembourg for cheap tank of fuel, then into Germany for Tariff-free motoring.

Which of the Dolomites you planning on visiting?

If you’ve got the time and want to avoid Austrian Vignette and the Brennero charges then you can go from Munich via Garmisch, Imst, Landeck up to Nauders/ Reschensee, down to Meran and as far as Bozen without having to pay any tolls.

Learn about priorite a droit in case you end up going through any villages.  People will roll out from completely unsighted junctions at 5mph onto fast roads.

To be fair they do that here too: priorite a twit  [not the first word I typed, thanks swear filter. A word lost in the middle of wastwater.]

(I’ve been aware of this rule since forever but it feels pretty random to me in practice. Whilst you might very occasionally get waved out by someone wanting to give you priority I’d never personally risk claiming it. In practice just try to drive considerately and let folks go who want to, same as anywhere. Apart from in Italy, obv. Driving in Palermo particularly is a right hoot.)

You need a German emissions sticker to drive into Munich – 80 euro fine if not!

Yeah and no….. You need Euro 4 or later. Only applies to inside of the Mittlerring (Middle Ring Road). If you’re in the suburbs it’s not a problem.

Lived in Munich for 14 years.

Done the same journey you’re doing many a time in both directions. If you can drive at night it makes it much easier, especially now that all the schools in Germany have broken up for summer holidays and all the Autobahns will be chocka.

Do most of the French petrol stations offer pay by card, I know they used to do this but only with French banks cards. I haven’t been for a while so just wondered if this had now changed.

I’ve always used premiere class motels, one up from F1 but super cheap. There’s always a restaurant on site which has been good value

If it’s a new route I’ve not done before I scribble a note of the destinations along the route, and the route numbers. Easy to just grab and read as necessary. It’s easy in the UK as we tend to know where all the big cities are so we have a built in sense check of whether we are headed the wrong way

Peage routes are great. It’s tempting to try A roads, but it’s a frustrating experience and way way slower.

I’ve regularly done channel to Italy, Austria etc. it’s all great, take your time and have plenty of breaks in the excellent services. France in particular has lots, some with shops, some without

When you get back to the UK it is always more stressful driving

Yeah. Pay at pump’s increasingly common as well. Only once have I had my card held hostage before I could fuel up, heading north through Lille.

Agree with Alpin about the route, btw.

RE: emission stickers

You can do it online, we’ve recently changed vans and we got them in 5-7 working days.

France

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

If the air quality is bad the authorities can stop the more polluting vehicles across entire departements/regions, so it’s worth having.

Germany

https://www.berlin.de/labo/mobilitaet/kfz-zulassung/feinstaubplakette/shop.86595.en.php

This is for Berlin but it is regarded as the easiest and most painfree way of getting one. The sticker is okay across all of DEU.

Pick up a disque de stationnement (parking disc) to park in the zone bleue. 

Pretty common in small town france – parking is free but limited to an hour or 3.   You need the disc to display your arrival time.   Pick on up at a tabac or maison du presse for a couple of euros.

You can buy a toll tag in some service areas – sometimes from a vending machine, sometimes from the APPR/ARREA kiosk.

I’m not sure that’s true – the tag has to be linked to your bank account so it can charge you – whilst that may be possible in a french vending machine, I suspect it doesnt happen.

I think all the machines are contactless now, so you can just tape a credit card to the end of a litter picker/similar and reach the toll that way. If you go through germany on the way down there won’t be any tolls anyway, saving you hassle and cost

Can you attach a contactless card to a stick and use it to pay at toll booths ? :-). It was always fun driving a RHD car with my daughter in the passenger seat – other drivers doing double takes when they saw a small child apparently driving. Another good joke is to crouch down at the wheel of a 2CV and pilot it looking through the ventilation flap so it looks like there is no driver. Sorry. Not very practical advice.

Did France, Switzerland & Italy last month.

As has been said, the driving standards are generally considerably better than over here, especially on the motorways – Basel being an exception, it was like being on the A2 in London during the rush just before rush hour.  Echoing & adding to comments above:

Don’t speed.

You’ll need a Vignette for either Switzerland or Austria – you can do these electronically in advance rather than rely on getting one at a services/fuel station.

The French Crit’air is also accepted in Switzerland.

About half the Peages didn’t have any machines available to RHD vehicles so a tag is advisable if travelling alone.

As one of the friends we met up with found out, some Peages have average speed technology built in & he was automatically fined in addition to the toll.

Fuel in Switzerland is mind bogglingly expensive if you’re anywhere near a main road or motorway.

The Gotthard tunnel is boring as hell & generally has queues to enter it from either direction so if you’re going that way be prepared.

The Italians aren’t as bad as their reputation other than in the middle of major cities IME

Did I say don’t speed? In case not, don’t speed.

Make sure you have all the usual paraphernalia (hi-viz, breathalyser, 1st aid kit etc) inside the vehicle with you & not in the boot/roof box etc.

Edit: Should also say it’s illegal to use speed camera warnings on any satnav/mapping app in France.  The feds can and will check if they feel the need to pull you over.

Oh yeah forgot to mention – take any right hand drive specific parts your vehicle might have with you. For instance older Berlingo’s have a cable clutch – the RHD/UK version is longer than the LHD cable and not as easily available in France/Europe.

It might be the difference between a local garage fitting the part or repatriation.

Where roads are joining a national or autoroute try and be in the outside lane as they seem to relentlessly assert priorite a droit. Just back from 3 weeks in France, I don’t think I heard a horn being blown once. Civilised driving indeed.

Oh try not to leave visible stuff in the car. I had a passenger window smashed but the alarm saved our 2 passports, 2 bikes and 45 bottles.

@5lab – definitely true about the peage bipper vending machines. I almost bought one from one back in the corona times, then decided against it as the world was still in so much flux.

Re:RNP we lost a wing mirror in the Auvergne due to some French bloke daydreaming whilst driving. Couldn’t get the correct mirror as RHD passenger side mirror magnification is different. I had to drive home with a knackered mirror, overtaking was a nightmare

I’d take the french route over the Belgium route every time now. The roads through France are in a much, much better condition. Belgium’s motorways make ours look in perfect condition!

Still time to get a tag. I got a new one this week and it was delivered next day (emojis).

Thank your v5. It’s a requirement in some countries (Austria for one) and if stopped you’ll be asked for it. Also take proof of insurance. If you have a lease car (or company) you need a letter (from the owner) saying you have permission to have the vehicle.

Austrian vignette can be purchased online but they have a weird way of dealing with the 2 week cancellation period so you’ve missed that boat. Plenty of the services both sides of the border now have automated machines or you can buy from the cashier even quite a long way before getting to Austria.

Don’t forget it’s a UK sticker now not GB (or on number plate). Use the tunnel time to fit headlight diverters.

An alternative route goes into Belgium

I found Belgium to be very busy and the driving very fast and aggressive. The contrast when going over the borders with France and Netherlands was stark.

Buy a little blind spot mirror to stick on your left wing mirror to save you having to look over your left shoulder ‘just in case’ 8 million times

I found Belgium to be very busy and the driving very fast and aggressive. The contrast when going over the borders with France and Netherlands was stark.

Much better food and much worse toilets than NL 🙂

For Germany, you only need the green emissions sticker if you drive in to a city or conurbation, but in general the autobahn is fine without the sticker.  So only needed for driving in to Munich (or Stuttgart, Ulm etc,)

For Austria, when popping over to the Dolomites, buy the vignette and also the special toll for Brenner etc. from the official website (asfinag.at) as an e-vignette / e-toll. Then you just drive right thru. Keep the receipt handy on the phone just in case.

In Germany, if you need to tank up and are busting for a slash, then you’ll have to cross your legs while you tank up in an autobahn services, cos the petrol station bit almost always comes first. Oh and it’ll be €1 to get thru the turnstile unless you clamber under the but where kiddies can go. You’ll get a €0.50 voucher though, so you can buy a coffee afterwards for a discount, to make sure you’ll need to spend another €1 further down the road 😉 Contactless works, but I always have a stash of euro coins handy in the car for that.

Dunno why people complain so much about Brussels traffic.  For me 95% of the time it’s about 10 min or so to get round the ring, even if it’s busy. Just need to get in to the right lane once at each end. The sat nag will probably give late instructions though.

I’m driving to Morzine and back on my own soon. Family are flying. I’ll have 2 bikes on a towbar rack and I’m starting to get nervous about needing a poo on the way and coming back to an empty rack.

Got my Emovis tag and hi-viz vests though.

The tunnels in spain have speed cameras on entry, exit and average speed.  Loads of people get caught speeding exiting, 80kmh does seem slow.

Ditto above post re STOP sign, you really do have to stop for a few seconds, or you get a fine if caught.

Good luck, don’t get hassled at service areas you ll stand out a mile in a uk car solo.

Not sure about the comments of driving standards being better in France?

My experience is, yes lane discipline is far better on a duel, throw 3 lanes in and it’s like any UK Motorway.
Tail gating and lunging through gaps, undertaking, speeding up whilst being overtaken and being unable to stay in lane are just as common.

There’s just fewer cars per Km

I’m driving to Morzine and back on my own soon. Family are flying. I’ll have 2 bikes on a towbar rack and I’m starting to get nervous about needing a poo on the way and coming back to an empty rack.

Carry them in the boot! Save a load of MPG too

Yep, if you take the forks and pedals off, it’s surprising how little room a bike takes up.

Currently sat at the Tunnel return with two bikes in the boot, seats up, with one wheel in the roof box. Wouldn’t know there was a bike in the car. Got a dog guard so luggage that isn’t in the roof box can go on the parcel shelf. Mk 4 Astra estate, so not a massive car.

Tail gating

While the majority of French drivers seem to drive to a good standard, this one is particularly horrendous – sitting <1m off the back bumper at 130 kmh.

Slight hijack, but still on theme – any suggestions for a one off SIM to use use for data while in EU?

Thanks.

Could you pick up a PAYG sim at the first supermarket you come to in the EU? I assume with the digital single market roaming isn’t an issue (or have I got that wrong)?

If driving at night, actually regardless as you would use headlights in heavy rain, either adjust your headlights or get the stickers to stop you blinding car drivers coming towards you, especially if you have sodding LED nuclear lights

Quick update from me on this;

Jumped on the Chunnel 30 mins earlier than booked on Saturday evening after a pretty crap drive from Swindon to Folkestone, largely thanks to junction 10 to 11 on the m25 being shut and all other routes totally jammed up as a result. But even around that, the number of 50mph average speed check ares on the rest of motorways was infuriating. That temporary lorry park built on the inner 2 lanes of the m20 is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. Cheers Brexit! Mercifully it was dead and the euro tunnel check in an absolute breeze at that time. What a service!

I’ve been a passenger on many road journeys in France, so know the roads are superb….but driving on them was an absolute dream. Went from Calais, to lille, through Belgium and Luxembourg, entering Germany through the road to Saarbrucken. That was probably about 5 hours diving that I absolutely loved. Sundown to the early hours, it was superb. Belgian roads a bit scrappy in places but still way better than anything in the UK. The motorway heading towards Brussels was pretty busy even approaching midnight, but all flowed fine still. Driving standards likewise not perfect but still far better than the UK.

After discovering that roadside hotels aren’t really a thing in Belgium and Luxembourg as far as I could tell, I pressed on as was still feeling relatively fresh and made peace with the idea of sleeping in the car for a few hours. The first rest stop I found inside the German boarder turned out to be perfect. Quiet and out the way, with decent loos too, managed to get a few hours of decent sleep.

the first section through Germany, the a8 and a10 from saarbrucken to Landau first thing in the morning was one of my favourite bits of driving ever. Incredible road surfaces and the journey through the forest and hills was superb. Things got a bit busier heading towards the big cities like Stuttgart and one or two big road works sections slowed things up a bit. Similarly approaching Munich. Did get a good chance to open up on quieter sections of the autobahn though. Remarkable how normal doing 160-170kph feels on those roads. Superb.

Door to door Swindon to south Munich was within 24 hours. Can’t complain about that at all. My Mazda 6 estate didn’t miss a beat. It’s a great mile muncher.

Cheers all for the input, as some have said, it really is a breeze! Still all ears for any recommendations for places to see and stay (tent camping) around north Lake Garda.

Slight hijack, but still on theme – any suggestions for a one off SIM to use use for data while in EU?

My giffgaff sim works fine in Europe, so I can imagine just getting a giffgaff with a decent amount of data would do you?

@thegingerone From n=2 cars with LED lights, one had a setting to switch from left to right hand traffic, the other has adaptive lights and the manual says it switches automatically.

If you like wine, get Vivino on your phone and do a bit of snapping and scoring in the supermarkets, there are some real bargains to be had. Wine growers in the Bordeaux area have dropped their prices this year by 20% (overproduction, US election, changing tastes amongst the young).  I was just clearing out the car and found another 6 bottles bringing the total to 51 bottles of Medoc, and that’s alongside 2 bikes, tent, mattress, two suitcases all inside the car. It can be done.

Still all ears for any recommendations for places to see and stay (tent camping) around north Lake Garda.

Really good site camp site on North Garda here :-

https://www.campingmaroadi.it/en

Right on the lake shore with good pitches and cycle links. Only 20 mins walk into Riva and Torbole less than 5 mins. Good shop and restaurant on site.

Just got back from a very similar trip. Being solo the van bench seat made a huge difference as I could slide over to the passenger side to pay tolls, when I’ve done it solo in a car before I had to get out and walk round each time which was a pain, I’d probably get a Telepass if I was doing it solo in a car again

But driving over there is much easier than here, better roads, less traffic, a bit more tailgaiting but just move out the way and they can go tailgate the next car. The Italians get a bad rap and they drive faster but they are much more aware and better at actually driving than Brits so don’t overthink that

For Lake Garda I usually stay at one of the smaller lakes (Lamar, Tenno, Ledro, Molveno etc) as they are so much more scenic, quiet and buried in the mountains. Garda itself is mega overrated IMO

For the route home I thoroughly recommend Passo Spluga and through Switzerland, a bit slower and windier but mostly free roads and the most stunning scenery of any route back by miles. You also pretty much drive through Lenzerheide that way, so can get a few runs in if you have time, I got a few in last Tuesday on the way back

Also, lost of snow still on the Dolomites due to cold and wet summer so far, we ended up having to cross a load of near-vertical snow that wasn’t usually there on an approach to a climb so if you’re going up above 2,200m check your route and get some local advice before heading up