planning a road trip in europe advice needed

dlt123

hi there myself and hubby are planning a roadtrip in nov travelling to holland, germany, switzerland and france we have relitives in munich and will be staying with them for three day our of our ten day road trip.

Just after some advice on things i need to organsise and how best is to do this.

This will be my first time abroad and want to make sure i do everything right

dug123

Hi, I would start with a good sat nav that covers Europe, they are fairly cheap these days. I have an old Garmin one which is invaluable.
Secondly, I would look at the requirements of the countries you are visiting ie Must have (from memory):- warning triangle, First aid kit, Reflective jackets (1 per passenger on hand in the car, £1 from the poundshop), headlight deflectors, Spare bulb kit (£1 from the poundshop), A fire extinguisher??? I am not sure.
I would familiarise myself with petrol stations abroad ie you want to be sure you are filling up with either petrol or diesel whichever you desire.
I would check prices of petrol/diesel and fill up the car accordingly, I believe it is cheap in Luxembourg so it may be worth a short detour to fill up! (you will also pass through Belgium so check prices there as well!)
I would get the best breakdown cover I could afford, just for peace of mind.
As you will be covering a large chunk of Europe you can probably plan to miss a lot of toll roads and save some money (which can quickly add up!) Michelin have an excellnt website for route planning which gives you all toll prices and options.
I could go on but do not want to bore you, the main thing is that after a few days of your trip you will realise that driving abroad is a lot more fun and easier (in my opinion) than driving round the M25 or down the M1 in the UK.
So just relax and enjoy.

knightstyle

Go here and use the drop down menue to select the countries you are going to. http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/countrybycountry.html
Get a Halifax Clarity card or similar for all your spending and set up well in advance to pay off in full each month. Get EHIC card and insurance, check you car insurance co. are OK about the time you will be out of the UK. Make sure you have car documents in the car and a European accident form. Make sure your mobiles will not run up a big bill for internet access whilst you are abroad.
Oh and make sure whilst in France your reflective jacket can be reached from the drivers seat.
Don't worry, if you prepare all will go fine and have fun!!!!

dlt123

hey thanks for the advice guys defiantly some handy stuff there esp about the fuel!!! thanks will look at the michlin website for toll prices aswell.

martindow

Advice here for each European country might be helpful

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/countrybycountry.html

joerugby

Luxembourg is a big detour if you are going from Holland to Germany.

What sort of itinerary do you have in mind?

dug123

joerugby wrote: »

Luxembourg is a big detour if you are going from Holland to Germany.

What sort of itinerary do you have in mind?

Draw a straight line from the capital of Holland to Berne the capital of Switzerland and I am fairly sure it passes through Luxembourg, but I left school 30+ years ago and memories have faded, borders have moved, countries been invaded, names changed.
It all obviously depends on wether you have an approximate route you want to follow.
(PS avoid Luxembourg on a Monday morning for shopping, the shops do not open until lunch time!)

joerugby

dug123 wrote: »

Draw a straight line from the capital of Holland to Berne the capital of Switzerland and I am fairly sure it passes through Luxembourg, but I left school 30+ years ago and memories have faded, borders have moved, countries been invaded, names changed.
It all obviously depends on wether you have an approximate route you want to follow.
(PS avoid Luxembourg on a Monday morning for shopping, the shops do not open until lunch time!)

Thought they were going from Holland to Switzerland via Germany?

dug123

joerugby wrote: »

Thought they were going from Holland to Switzerland via Germany?

"planning a roadtrip in nov travelling to holland, germany, switzerland and france"

I never assumed that was the route, most people arrive and leave from the same port so it could be start and finish in Holland or France or Belgium, although in February this year I booked a P&O return from Hull to Rotterdam and never used the return part of the booking, I stayed in Amsterdam for a few days and then drove down to Calais and returned to Dover.
It was a lot cheaper buying a one way ticket (Hull-Rotterdam) and I did put money aside just in case they charged me for just using one way, but they never did!