To ask if you've ever been on a European road trip, what are your tips?!

[FunnyReally]

Me and H are trying to arrange this as our (long awaited) honeymoon.

We have a rough route planned out avoiding the larger cities and sticking to the smaller towns/villages as much as possible. We are doing France, Belgium, Germany, Prague, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and the back to France.

Any tips from anyone who's done this before? We are newbies and trying to research as much as possible!

Have a stack of small change to pay for toilets (Germany).

Austria you will need to buy a Vignette at the border... Sort of road tax sticker. Petrol stations sell them.
Sundays in Germany nearly everything is closed.

Take some snacks that don't need refrigerating in case you get stuck in traffic jams.

Do turn off your route if you spot something interesting you'd like to visit.

always keep on the right on motorways.
middle lane hogging can be very expensive.

Be aware of lunchtime closing - even supermarkets- in the smaller towns, and don't rely on things (eg small petrol stations) being open on Sundays.

Follow non toll routes or you will spend a fortune and miss the scenery

My dad use to drive from ooop north to Malta every year.
He enjoyed it, took each day as it came and did as he fancied.
Enjoy your trip

Austria (and some other countries in your list possibly) - you need cash to pay for things. Lots of restaurants etc don’t take credit cards

Money for tolls!

You need a vignette for Switzerland as well as one for Austria. The one for Switzerland is valid per calendar year, I think, whereas Austria offers 10-day and 2-month options. Also, in France have your credit card ready to pay for motorway tolls (it's the fastest way unless you register for 'telepeage').

• Pack snacks
• pack core first aid kit (immodium/paracetamol/rehydrate solution)
• locate the supermarkets nearest to where you're staying.
• look at potential national holidays for the countries you're going to in case you run into conflicts /massive traffic
• try to have rough plans for routes and have a few contingency plans if one route doesn't work/is boring.
• have some time apart each day or work out how many hours you want to be driving each day so that you're not just driving but actually enjoying the place you're going to.

Where are you going to stay?
If you are camping, you need to look from about 3.40 - 4pm. And not at 7pm like we did once.

It's big. Journeys can take a long long time.
Fuel varies surprisingly between countries. Looking at you, France.

But it's a great experience.

You also need a vignette for Slovenia - we didn’t realise and nearly got fined a lot! Only after much weeping did they repent (although there was also a bit of old school eastern bloc style bullying ‘we’ve had reports of you driving around here before, our colleagues reported you last week..’) we had a 5 month baby in the back and said do you really think we spend all our time deliberately flouting traffic rules in Slovenia! We only ended up there by accident really after we got to the top of a pass in Austria and realised how close it was!! (You should do that road - it’s fab - glossgockner pass!)

I would google to check whether there are vignette requirements whichever country you go into so you are prepared. You can usually buy them at the first petrol station you come to if there is nothing at the border.

Trying to think of any tips... we’ve done some big Euro road trips back in the day, less adventurous now ironically as our older children aren’t quite so patient with days of driving and sadly neither of us have jobs anymore which allow us extended breaks to travel - we used to take off between contracts when we could but are both permanent now.

Some places in Switzerland and Germany include free public transport in their nightly accommodation rate which is a great bonus. We had adventures to Strasbourg and Constanz from the Black Forest for buttons when we stayed there as we only had to pay the train fare from the border. Saas fee in Switzerland was the same - camping included lift passes. This is about 10 years ago but hopefully still the same.

The German autobahns are fast and free and a great way of getting a long way quick.

The Ardennes area of Belgium is surprisingly lovely. We loved the Dolomites in Italy, then found it quite quick to drop down to Venice. Lake Bled is gorgeous. In Czech Republic we eschewed Prague for Czecsky Krumlov instead which was a mini version and gorgeous! Drivers in Czech Rep were crazy btw!

We love the Black Forest (Freudenstadt is a lovely town and there are some beautiful villages nearby on a little train line) and the Moselle Valley in Germany. Both have great cycling.

I’m very envious! Have a fabulous time!

Have a small stash of actual money, food & water/drinks.
Get a Tag for the Tolls
Ensure your car is parked securely & safely, with nothing on show. (Certain places are targeted eg Dijon/Macon as Northern Europeans stop there as it's halfway to Spain/ Southern France /Switzerland )
Mix 'interesting' places to stay with bog standard International hotels.
Don't book B&Bs in pretty out of the way French Villages in August (looking at you DH) because all the shop / bar / restaurant owners are on holiday.

Some big cities require that you register your car because of pollution issues. You need stickers in the window.

Lots of advice online about that.

There are a whole range of different speed limits and some countries are very strict about them.

Same for what you are supposed to carry in the car - eg. first aid kit, red triangle

You might also need headlight converters depending on your headlights.

You need to park on the correct side of the road i.e facing the direction of the traffic (in Germany).
Parking disc may also be needed if you park somewhere that has time limited parking.

The kit for France- hi vis vests, warning triangles etc

When will you go and for how long?

Toilets at Swiss service stations cost money. Use the stop before the border.

Get a credit card that doesn't have an overseas use charge (e.g. Virgin travel).

Pack a cool box to keep drinks cool - book some stops at apartments with a freezer and freeze bottles of water whilst you're there.

Don't forget your sun glasses.

Agree with the advice to use the credit card option for French motorways, unless you can be bothered to register for telepeage. It leads to some interesting entries on your statement though (we once had a 60 Cent bill when we just had to go one junction).

In Germany, lots of big cities have a registration system for cars to exclude older and less environmentally friendly cars from city centers. We have one here in Berlin so our car has a round green disc and the number 4 in its windscreen. Afraid I can't remember how we applied for it but could look it up if required. If you don't have thisdisc your car can't enter the inner city.

Slovenia: stunningly beautiful, but avoid Lake Bled as it's crawling with tourists and reminds me a bit of Windermere. Lake Bohinj in the Triglav National Park is just as pretty but a bit wilder. The Vrsic Pass is meant to be stunning to drive though, if a bit scary.

Oh, just remembered about German service stations. A lot of the loos are run by the same company, so they cost 70 cents to get in, but that includes a 50 Cent discount on your next purchase from the cafe. So it's worth going to the loo the moment you get out of the car and use the token if you then buy a coffee.

@CatToddlerUprising The hi-vis and first-aid Kürbis required in Germany too - but doesn't France also have a requirement to carry a breath test? We have one in our glove compartment from our last French trip.

When going through France. Don’t stop st the loos unless they are at a proper petrol station. They have lots of picnic areas or signs for a loo. If ur a women. And don’t want to have to take off ur trousers and stand while going I would wait

Does Luxembourg still have cheap petrol?

We always used to fill up there