driving on the right hand side of the road in a right hand drive car

[JJ]

Good idea? Bad idea?

Looking at our options for an upcoming holiday, I've realized that it'll be about the same amount of time (within an hour or two) travelling door to door via car or plane. But we'd be driving on the continent and I'm slightly nervous of driving on the right with my UK car.

Any thoughts?

It's really not a problem, I live in Austria and drive a right hand car.

You get used to it quite quickly I find. If you are going over on a ferry you'll probably hit the motorways quite quickly and you can get your confidence on them before you start the roundabouts / minor roads. Just remember that the driver has to be at the kerb!

Zubb, I will take 'driver at the kerb' as my mantra.. it's so easy to remember. Thanks!

lapsedrunner, where are you in Austria? That's where we're headed. We leave on Saturday. Any tips for getting there? We're coming from London and driving to Lermoos (about 70 km west-ish of Innsbruck). We drove last year from Zurich, but I know there's a better approach though from the German side. Is there a best way of getting there from here? Thanks.

For route planning use www.viamichelin.com. If you are driving from UK I suggest you might need an overnight stop, unless your children are really good in the car! Can recommend www.etaphotel.com, or for slightly more comfort www.ibishotel.com they are all over the continent, located close to autobahns.

JJ, you need to think Very hard the first few times you turn left across a junction, otherwise you end up on the wrong side of the road. After a short while tho' you stop needing to think about it.

Assuming you're going to France, remember that they treat roundabouts differently too. If I remember rightly, you give way to traffic coming onto the roundabout.

At least with GB plates the natives know they're dealing with a mad foreigner.

Wrong way round roundabouts too of course (but driver still next to kerb so should be OK).

Hope you have a good trip, JJ!

Oh, and for the first couple of days there's a tendency to go the wrong way every time you set off again after a stop - try a post-it note with "DRIVE ON THE RIGHT!!!" in the middle of the steering wheel.

hey JJ, are you headed for the hotel in Lermoos. If so you'll probably run into some fellow expats from here !! Have a great time !

Ooh, I never knew that about French roundabouts -- good to know, if a bit scary as I've driven there quite a bit (in a lhs drive car). And I'll put a post it note on the dash - excellent idea!

LIZS, it is that hotel! We went last year, too, but a bit off season, and ran into someone I knew (forget who now, though). Hausfrau, I might need the name of the store you got your ski trousers from... we're driving by Stuttgart and I've, erm, outgrown my old ski trousers. But off to hit Oxford St today to see if there's anything that'll do -- any suggestions?

Thanks all. I'm looking forward to the trip. I love driving.

A few more questions ---
do I need to prebook the Eurotunnel crossing? Any tips on that?

I'll think of more as the night wears on... thanks in advance!