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!

Petrol stations - many of them are pre-pay and some are unmanned.

You have to put your card in and it gets pre-authorised for a large amount. Can be a pain if you use a pre-paid money card.

Some also have a way where you pay first and then go and fill up your car afterwards.

Wow thank you all so much! That's really helpful, there's a lot to look into there.

We have a sort of route planned out but still in the early stages. There's a couple of things I definitely want to see, I say Prague because I'd like to see the Sedlec Ossuary. We definitely want to go to Lake Bled in Slovenia and the Hungerberg Funicular in Austria. There are also a couple of nice castles and hikes etc .. we like the look of in various countries. As I say, still in the very early stages!

We are in a van yes, we were thinking of going down to Dover and across to Calais however, now wondering whether Hull to Rotterdam might be easier as we are 5 hours away from Dover and only an hour from Hull! So it would be (if I remember correctly) Rotterdam to Belgium, then onto Germany, Czechia, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, France and then back.

Hull to Rotterdam in great - but expensive.

How long are you planning to be away for?

There's a couple of things I definitely want to see, I say Prague because I'd like to see the Sedlec Ossuary

Absolutely worth it, it's by Kutna Hora rather than Prague (though just about 40 miles from Prague). As I said, Kutna Hora is great place to visit. And I can highly recommend going down the silver mine if you are fit enough. And slim-ish. It can get really tight.
Don't forget to carry cash with you.

Your road trip sounds awesome!

How long are you planning to be away for?

Not entirely sure yet but it can't be more than 20 days really.

We'd save quite a lot in fuel not having to go down to Dover which may help with the expense of Hull-Rotterdam? Not worked out all the logistics yet but I'm keen to miss out the Dover drive if possible!

You can swop Tesco clubcard vouchers for all or part Eurotunnel tickets. Only takes half an hour to get across the channel.

Holland is lovely. Amsterdam is well worth a visit. Also, it has some lovely sandy beaches.

There's also Harwich to Hook of Holland. That's cheaper than Hull (Hook is opposite side of estuary to Rotterdam).

Another driving tip for Germany. At junctions (mainly doing right turns but also lefts) you may get a green light, but with a flashing orange light nearby. Orange light is showing that the pedestrian/bike light is also green and they have priority on crossing and it's your responsibility to make sure road is clear.

I would stump up the extra cost and do Hull to Rotterdam, the driving is so much quicker and easier once you’re on the continent imo! Plus you arrive about 5pm so you could get a few hours of quiet evening driving under your belt to start off with and get used to roads.

is the newcastle - ijmunden ferry still running? that's a pleasant crossing.

All advice above is great. Mine are

1. Check all the rules of driving for every country.
2. Check your travel times, and try to spend a couple of days in each country. We drove to Italy via France, Germany and Switzerland. Spent too long in Italy IMO and would like to have spent another day in Switzerland rather than an overnight. Came back via Austria,Liechenstein, Switzerland, Germany, France,Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands.
3. Definitely get extra food especially for Sundays, camping stove/cool box is great idea. We arrived in Black Forest, shops were shut and luckily found a petrol station open were we rustled a meal together. Nightmare.

You can swop Tesco clubcard vouchers for all or part Eurotunnel tickets.

How did I not know this??? Thank you LoveIslandAddict. Will bear this in mind for next year - just spent £200 on ET tickets for next week, doh.

Amsterdam is well worth a visit

Love the idea of Amsterdam but I've heard it's terrible in a car?

Go to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland - it's the valley of the waterfalls and is spectacularly beautiful. It's expensive but 100% worth it.

Amsterdam - it's ok if you have parking (hotel?)
but it's better to take public transport/hire a bike to explore the city.

Me and the DH did a road trip to Austria/Slovenia last month and had such a great time we are going again on Tuesday with DD.
Same as the others, small change for toilets, vignette for Austria, and just admire the scenery because it is beautiful. The Austria and Slovenian border is stunning.
Enjoy!

Amsterdam is amazing and not to be missed if you haven’t been. You could stay outside of the city at a hotel with free parking and get the train in. Public transport is brilliant.

Avoid Paris by car but if you must, order a crit’air sticker now. It’s only a few euros.

Don’t forget a bottle opener and maybe a basic dry picnic in the car (nuts, apples, crackers, cereal bars plenty of water) just in case you get caught peckish but want to stay on the road. I like to bring some kitchen roll, cutlery and Tupperware so I can assemble basic stuff (cheese and tomato baguettes/couscous and French carrot salad, croissants and jam...etc) from supermarkets rather than everything ready made or in cafes/restaurants.

We bought a French toll tag as the yearly cost is minimal, the outlay is refunded when you return it and it was just much easier, but if you don’t want to then do make sure you have a card which is 0% in foreign currency.

Or you could use Amsterdam park and ride:

www.iamsterdam.com/en/plan-your-trip/getting-around/parking/park-and-ride

I really want another European road trip holiday after reading this thread - only been back 2 weeks but am researching next year already!!

Lauterbrunnen

Yes this is one of the places we are planning 😁

I’d recommend Amsterdam park and ride. We parked near the Ajax stadium last time(obviously avoid on match days) and caught a train in.

Priorite a droite in France.
I second avoiding swiss motorways as you can only get a year vignette.
The virsic pass in Slovenia is stunning.

Priorite a droite in France

Is that still really a big thing?

If you're going after 31st October, get some international driving licences.

Priorité à droite is still very much a thing in France, especially in rural areas. Guaranteed to catch you out when you least expected.

One of my uncles had a magic (and probably criminal) skill of being able to remove a Swiss motorway vignette intact from a windscreen, and it was happily passed about our family one summer.

Don't sleep in French Aires. PIL have had many scary incidents there.