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!

driving advice

Please don't do as DH and I did in France. Driving around rural France, stopped at dinner time in a small town and went into a restaurant. Strangely quiet but there was one other extended family eating dinner. So we sat down at a table and waited. Someone came over and in French I asked for the menu. It arrived, they came back, we ordered. The food was amazing. We had the a la carte and chose different dishes each, all 3 courses. We paid and left a tip, but the cost was really cheap for the quality of the food.

It was only later when we went to our accommodation that we found out that it was a public holiday and everything was closed, including that restaurant. We had interrupted the owners eating their family meal on their day off. They couldn't have been nicer or more gracious. Perhaps they thought it was just easier to feed these demanding tourists who barely understood French than to ask us to leave!

Ooo and i strongly recommend fussen in Germany for the castles - I booked a package with half board, private tour, carriage ride and more, my kids still talk about it 10 years later I can still remember the taste of the lobster. It was called the romance package for families (which as we had a family room is somewhat of a contradiction!) but it was a lot of couples to be fair

Be careful when pulling out of car parks on to the road that you turn in the correct direction if you can't currently see any cars! So easy to forget you're driving on the opposite side of the road!
Be vigilant for speed limit signs in France, some roads seem to have multiple changes, and quite annoying ones like a sudden 60 to 30 and I found the signs weren't always obvious.

Camping or not, make room for a couple of comfy folding chairs, a little camping gaz ring and a whistling kettle.
I have brewed up and sat in my chair in some amazing places looking at some amazing things.

I live in Switzerland and have never had to pay for a toilet? Misses point of thread

Don’t plan to do stuff on Sundays- nothing will be open!

and don't plan visiting museums on mondays

But Tuesdays are good for doing stuff.

We spend the school summer holidays each year on a European road trip. It's like National Lampoon everytime.

We have a peage toll tag which saves time and faff.

One thing we found out the hard way is that there is no equivalent of the RAC/AA in France. If you break down in a town/village you call your assistance company and they will arrange for a local garage to send a tow truck with a mechanic. If your break down on the motorway you have to call the Police who arrange removal. There are some garages who operate 24/7 in the cities and towns but in rural areas you could be stuck. Parts can take a while to arrive - we broke down on a Saturday and the garage couldn't even order the part until the Monday (they were closed Sunday like most places in France) leading to an expensive stay in a hotel. The ACSI guide I had also recommends that you don't drive at night in rural areas.

Italian motorways are narrow and fast. I love the tunnels though!

Take an electric tyre pump, the sort you run off your own car battery. We had a terrible time trying to find an air pump at any garages when we were in France and suddenly lost a lot of pressure in one of our car tyres. They all had car washes but no air machines.

For all countries that you might be travelling through: check the AA or similar for a country-by-country breakdown of rules and regs, especially if you need stickers for something-or-other.

(I love that some are contradictory: Country A demands you carry spare fuel at all times; in adjacent Country B it's forbidden to carry spare fuel. I digress.)

Check if the cities or towns you will be visiting have Low Emission Zones (often called, helpfully, LEZs, regardless of the local language). Details vary. Some countries send a sticker out by post, and it's valid for the whole country (France and Germany). For other countries, such as Belgium, you need to apply to each town or city individually, but Belgium doesn't issue stickers, your car is registered and they use number plate recognition - and fine you if you go into one but didn't register.

France will issue speeding tickets to UK drivers. One arrived for me 6 months after my offence - I was about 5 mph over the limit, on a country road. French speed cameras are not a consistent style, may be as small as a bird box on a pole, while one looked like an abandoned skip in lay-by (the one that caught me!). Black and yellow tape can be an indicator.

Do try to stay away from the bigger places, you get a much more authentic experience that way! Enjoy.

I always take my pillows for the car.... Always have a bag of fruit/non-fridge snacks handy (after driving for HOURS thru small French towns where everything was closed for the afternoon)

Toll tag!

And French motorway tolls are expensive. Last year we drove to Nancy, using a route through Belgium, and Luxemburg - no tolls!

I assume you are in a van? Most French towns have free or very cheap aires tor camperbans. Don't be temped to use the motorway aires - can be dangerous. If you can't find an Aire, if you are near the sea/an estuary head for & park at a marina.
Lidl is cheap everywhere - superU /inter marches not so much. Take extra phone charger cables & those battery pack cases are great. Take ear plugs. MacDonalds have free Wi-fi but make sure you have loads of data. Have fun!

GERMANY

• No speed limit on most of the highways, however where there's a limit it's extremely strict.
• In the Bavarian area (Munich) there are virtually no highway gas stations as it's much more expensive then nearby Austria. So be sure to fill up before crossing the border.
• Same as Austria, if you visit the loos first you can usually get a 50 cent voucher in exchange for the entry.

AUSTRIA

• Look for Landzeit or Rosenberger rest stations. Extremely clean with absurdly fresh & tasty food for roadside dining (albeit slightly expensive).
• Highway vignette needed on car. Very few toll booths, usually only in mountainous regions for tunnels.
• Aggressive drivers, probably the most from all European countries. Aside from the far right lane, most cars will tailgate you unless you're driving at least 10km/h above the speed limit

ITALY

• Have lots of spare change for toll booths. Be sure to go to the booths for cash and don't accidentally drive through the Telepass lane which doesn't give you a ticket.
• At Autogrill rest stops you need to order and pay at the till first, then bring your receipt to the sandwich/coffee station to get your food.
• Non-aggressive but unpredictable drivers. Italians tend to be very relaxed on the road but be wary of sudden lane changes without indication and narrow streets or bizarre parking situations.

GENERAL TIPS

• Google Maps does not require mobile data to work so use that where possible.
• The German-Austrian borders are susceptible to random car checks or traffic delays as a result of the migrant crisis from 2015.
• Italy is absolutely gorgeous, would avoid the highway and take the longer scenic routes. Especially the magical marshlands around Venice and everywhere in Tuscany.

I second Cesky Krumlov! Are you actually going to Prague or have you used it instead of country name?(since you said avoiding large cities) Because if you are, visit Karlstejn nearby.
Mind me there is actually also another Prague-Praha in Czech which is a TINY village😁
Kutna Hora is also nice place to visit with wonderful cathedral, bone church AND medieval silver mine!

Slovenia - postojna caves. Very impressive

I would just head to central Europe/balkan countries. Amazing cities countryside and coast and scenic routes. Also a very low cost of living. We love hungary, bulgaria and romania. Serbia is fab too from the few places we have visited. I also had one of the best holidays of my life in Albania. It is a bit of a trek to get there but really worth it!

In Czech, keep cash on you if you go to local pubs. I am not sure how it is for foreign cars, but motorways are paid.
And keep an eye on your speed. Police with speed gun in there is not always visible...

I second Karlstejn in the Czech Rep.

Um, there are no borders in Schengen zone There are where Schengen has been suspended.

Belgium - watch yourself on the Ring. Every motorway in Belgium eventually feeds onto the Ring, and it is manic if you hit it at the wrong time. The Belgians don't believe in indicating; think a safe stopping distance is right up your tail, and the space you left from the car in front is ideal for them. They also like to try to share your lane at the same time as you. I have lived in Belgium for 13 years and think the M25 is a bastion of civilisation and courteous driving in comparison with the Ring.

There is not supposed to be priority from right on the motorways, but you wouldn't believe it. Belgian driving is crap and dangerous at times.

When paying for petrol in Belgium, there will be a little machine near the pumps for your bank card or your fuel card (if you live in Belgium and get a concession from your employer). Instructions can be had in English if you press the Union flag on the display. Many petrol stations now have Starbucks or Burger King (or Lunch Garden), so there should be something edible there.

If you have a family member susceptible to frequent headaches, tummy upsets, the shits or similar minor ailments, carry the necessary medication in the car.

We got got caught out in Central eastern Europe. Medication such as Paracetamol, immodium etc is only sold at pharmacies, not at supermarkets or petrol stations. And the pharmacies have really odd opening hours, mon—fri only and closed for a hr lunch break.

If you're driving a diesel vehicle you can't go into a growing number of town centres in Germany.

Take your time - there is no need to be driving all of the time. Stop if you see something you fancy. Our best times were when we stopped more than one night and took the time to look about - even in the little villages.

Stand outs were Christmas in a car park in Chamonix, New Year in a camp site across the lagoon in Venice, 3 weeks in a campsite somewhere in Spain, The Polish boarder on the day they joined the EU, hooking up with friends in various towns, riding bikes, eating food and making new friends.