A very long car ride through Europe

username2373 · 2023-07-26T13:32:53+00:00

We've decided to travel by car through Europe to get from U.K. to south-eastern Europe. Crazy, I know! We are thinking to stop as many times as needed to stay at hotels/ Airbnb-s a few nights etc. We are two grown ups and one primary school child. Has anyone done anything like that? Any suggestions where to stop, must-see/ avoid places on the way? TIA

cherryassam · 26/07/2023 14:34

How exciting! I love a road trip.

Are you planning on ferry or Chunnel?

Where roughly in the UK are you starting and where are you heading to?

Original poster

username2373 · 26/07/2023 14:37

cherryassam · 26/07/2023 14:34

How exciting! I love a road trip.

Are you planning on ferry or Chunnel?

Where roughly in the UK are you starting and where are you heading to?

Kent to Northern Greece. Eurotunnel.
A bit nervous! Lol

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KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2023 14:49

If you tell us your route it'll be easier to suggest stop offs.

cherryassam · 26/07/2023 14:51

we found this old Forum thread was full of helpful advice: https://forums.ybw.com/threads/driving-from-uk-to-greece.448473/

Although it was pre-Brexit so YMMV and check anything for how up to date it is.

I would highly recommend getting the ferry from Italy across to Igoumenitsa or Patras, depending on where in Northern Greece you’re going. The driving south and east of Dubrovnik can be tough going, we much prefer relaxing on a ferry ride!

Driving from UK to Greece

I'm driving from UK to Greece this April, ideally I only want to do 4hrs ish driving per day (250-300miles) from Calais, then I'm looking to get a ferry from Italy to igoumenitsa. Has anyone got any suggestions of routes, scenic would be good but not...

https://forums.ybw.com/threads/driving-from-uk-to-greece.448473/

Original poster

username2373 · 26/07/2023 18:13

@cherryassam thank you so much - having a look through that.

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 14:10

KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2023 14:49

If you tell us your route it'll be easier to suggest stop offs.

Not quite secure yet. Could possibly stop in France, Germany, Austria...

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 14:10

Not quite decided yet*

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Chewbecca · 27/07/2023 14:13

https://www.playmobil-funpark.de/en/

If you're going near Nuremberg (which could well be on your route) I would spend a couple of nights & a day time here.

Home - Playmobil FunPark

Welcome to the homepage of the Playmobil FunPark!

https://www.playmobil-funpark.de/en

cherryassam · 27/07/2023 14:21

I think it also depends a bit whether you want to get there as quick as possible and thus want the most direct route (motorways/equivalent) with minimal stops or if you want to meander a bit more and spend a lot longer. How many days of travel are you planning for?

Caspianberg · 27/07/2023 14:26

Also consider using the car night trains for a section. You put car on in evening, sleep in cabin and arrive about 7-8hrs later in the morning. It saves a lot of driving

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 27/07/2023 14:27

I love Croatia so I'd want to go via there, then Montenegro, maybe via Ljubljana and Lake Bled. But only if sightseeing was on the menu. If you just want to be there asap I'd just follow Google Maps route.

Iwouldlikesomecake · 27/07/2023 14:30

So we do this sort of thing all the time. Fuelled by google maps, trip advisor and booking.com hotel reviews 😁 my advice would be get an early crossing to hit France early, you can get quite far in a day (we often do south London to Germany in 10 hours, with a stop for lunch and not particularly smashing it down the motorway). Last time we went to Bodensee via Luxembourg for lunch! What I often do is look for things to do in the rough area of the route we are taking and then plan around that, I’ve also found that if you choose your hotel based on the breakfast reviews you rarely go wrong.

Dogsandbabies · 27/07/2023 16:21

We did this last year. London to Athens and back. We mostly used airbnbs. Found nice places to stop over for the children. It was a fantastic holiday. We used two different routes. On the way down we went through France and Italy and took the overnight ferry. On the way back we went through Croatia and the balkans. Then Germany and the Netherlands. The only tip is to take it slowly and be flexible. Build in some breaks from driving.

Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:42

Chewbecca · 27/07/2023 14:13

https://www.playmobil-funpark.de/en/

If you're going near Nuremberg (which could well be on your route) I would spend a couple of nights & a day time here.

Definitely checking this out. Thanks!

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:43

Dogsandbabies · 27/07/2023 16:21

We did this last year. London to Athens and back. We mostly used airbnbs. Found nice places to stop over for the children. It was a fantastic holiday. We used two different routes. On the way down we went through France and Italy and took the overnight ferry. On the way back we went through Croatia and the balkans. Then Germany and the Netherlands. The only tip is to take it slowly and be flexible. Build in some breaks from driving.

Great advice - thank you.

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:45

Iwouldlikesomecake · 27/07/2023 14:30

So we do this sort of thing all the time. Fuelled by google maps, trip advisor and booking.com hotel reviews 😁 my advice would be get an early crossing to hit France early, you can get quite far in a day (we often do south London to Germany in 10 hours, with a stop for lunch and not particularly smashing it down the motorway). Last time we went to Bodensee via Luxembourg for lunch! What I often do is look for things to do in the rough area of the route we are taking and then plan around that, I’ve also found that if you choose your hotel based on the breakfast reviews you rarely go wrong.

We booked to cross the channel in the afternoon as it was cheaper. I regret that now! Thank you for the great advice.

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:46

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 27/07/2023 14:27

I love Croatia so I'd want to go via there, then Montenegro, maybe via Ljubljana and Lake Bled. But only if sightseeing was on the menu. If you just want to be there asap I'd just follow Google Maps route.

Was definitely thinking of lake bled although not sure how busy it gets at this time of year...?
Thank you for replying.

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:47

Caspianberg · 27/07/2023 14:26

Also consider using the car night trains for a section. You put car on in evening, sleep in cabin and arrive about 7-8hrs later in the morning. It saves a lot of driving

That's sounds brilliant - will have a look. Thanks!

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Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:50

cherryassam · 27/07/2023 14:21

I think it also depends a bit whether you want to get there as quick as possible and thus want the most direct route (motorways/equivalent) with minimal stops or if you want to meander a bit more and spend a lot longer. How many days of travel are you planning for?

Prob 4 days in each direction, using two different routes/ stopping at different places.

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HarveyDanger · 27/07/2023 20:56

Do you have breakdown cover?… This was our poor car in the Alps last year 🙈

due to having RAC it cost us a total of £160 to have it towed, diagnosed and repatriated.

Original poster

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:59

@HarveyDanger oh dear! I bet that was super stressful.

I'll double-check although I'm sure we've got something in place. Good shout!

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HarveyDanger · 27/07/2023 21:05

username2373 · 27/07/2023 20:59

@HarveyDanger oh dear! I bet that was super stressful.

I'll double-check although I'm sure we've got something in place. Good shout!

It wasn’t too bad tbf! We still had a week at the campsite and the car had broken down right outside. So we could chill out and sort logistics by the pool!

Was annoying not having a car for 6 months!!

Would do a road trip again, in the same car 👍… Was the clutch that went on the alpine roads!

Caspianberg · 28/07/2023 05:44

That’s a really long journey btw. It’s around a 30hr drive from Calais, plus the journey time to Calais from home and tunnel and extra to actual destination in Greece. So 35+ hr journey. It doesn’t actually allow for much time to stop and explore in 4 day journey as you will need to be on the road driving for 10 hrs every day.

Do you have to go to all the way to Greece? I think a road trip is a great idea, but I wouldnt go much further than Croatia and just enjoy trip more but having more time in each country as you travel down.

Realistically it is a 3-4 day drive just to Croatia from uk with child if you want to stop off on route to see areas

Caspianberg · 28/07/2023 05:45

Also, you definitely need to allow for traffic. Our 5hr drive from south Austria to Croatia alone took 8hrs recently

Frenchfancy · 28/07/2023 05:59

Don't forget to allow for tolls in your budget. We just got back from a road trip through northern Italy. The Mont Blanc tunnel alone is 52€ and some of the stretches in France and Italy were also €€. We spent more in tolls than on diesel.