Driving manual vehicle in europe
Jul 3rd, 2007, 05:40 AM
#81
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Greetings posters trip 2006 here,
I am back from my MH trip of the UK and Europe.
As promised I said that if I made it back alive and still married, that I would return to the forum and post a trip report!
Well we made it alive, and still married, and had the time of our lives.
I would recomend to anyone interested that motorhoming in Europe was absolutely magnificent!
We saw everything we expected to and had no difficulty at all driving european roads in traffic, on country roads, motorways, finding parking, fuel groceries and camsites. We even got as far as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
I will post a brief report here for now and will detail it over the follwing weeks.
Just roughly here is what we did.
Flew from Sydney to London long haul 23 hrs with refuel in Singapore.
5 days in London
Train to Basingstoke and Picked up Motorhome.
Then over the next 21 days we travelled to Basingstoke,Salsbury, Stonehenge,Bath, Hereford, Dollgelau Wales, Lanwrsyt Wales, Chester, Liverpool, Keswick, Loch Lommond, Edinburgh, Jedburgh, York, Moreton in Marsh, then flew to Frankfurt to pick up left hand drive MH.
Frankfurt to Amsterdam to Ypres to Brugge to Albert WW1 battlefiels to Neufchatel en bray to Bayeaux to Normadny coast to Mont St Michel to Paris to Dijon to Lucerne to Florence to Rome across italy to Adriatic coast then up to Venice to Bled in Slovenia to Vienna to Budapest through Slovakia to Krakow to Wroclaw to Legnickie Pole to Berlin to Dresden to Prague to Cesky Kumlov to Berchtesgarten to Fussin to Wurzburg and back to Frankfurt.
Just a little over 12000 kms in 3mths.
Our itinerary in the UK was much tighter than europe as we didnt have as much time, but we saw everything we planned except the highlands of scotland, however we felt it would do it no justice for a one day trip so we have saved it for next time.
In europe we saw everything we had planned and when we realised how easy it was to travel around in the MH we ended up seeing much more.
Personally i experienced none of the problems listed in the posts and found the european drivers and roads exceptional compared to australia.
We met many people who had thought about doing what we have done and were frightened off by horror stories of driving in europe and motorhomes. We told them that they are not true and you dont have to be some kind of superman to do it.
I gave us incredible freedom and allowed us to travel europe for 3 mths instead of 6 weeks for the same cost. Budgeted on a rental car, meals, and hotels.
We blew our budget by $4,000 Aud which I didnt think was too bad for a 3 mth trip.
Total cost was $32,000 AUD.
Thanks again for all of your posts both negative and positive, but I would have to say to the people who doubted the idea of such a trip to maybe reconsider it as an option as i am definately noone special and am convinced that if I could do it, then just about anyone could.
We met many people much older than us well into their 60s and 70s who live their lives travelling europe and the UK by motorhome and they have no major problem with it.
The only other thing I would recomend is a GPS which we found invaluable as an aid for getting around and finding parking, fuel, groceries and campsites.
Cheers
Mark
Oh yes and please dont forget I wasnt even a stick shift driver before I went!!!
I am back from my MH trip of the UK and Europe.
As promised I said that if I made it back alive and still married, that I would return to the forum and post a trip report!
Well we made it alive, and still married, and had the time of our lives.
I would recomend to anyone interested that motorhoming in Europe was absolutely magnificent!
We saw everything we expected to and had no difficulty at all driving european roads in traffic, on country roads, motorways, finding parking, fuel groceries and camsites. We even got as far as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
I will post a brief report here for now and will detail it over the follwing weeks.
Just roughly here is what we did.
Flew from Sydney to London long haul 23 hrs with refuel in Singapore.
5 days in London
Train to Basingstoke and Picked up Motorhome.
Then over the next 21 days we travelled to Basingstoke,Salsbury, Stonehenge,Bath, Hereford, Dollgelau Wales, Lanwrsyt Wales, Chester, Liverpool, Keswick, Loch Lommond, Edinburgh, Jedburgh, York, Moreton in Marsh, then flew to Frankfurt to pick up left hand drive MH.
Frankfurt to Amsterdam to Ypres to Brugge to Albert WW1 battlefiels to Neufchatel en bray to Bayeaux to Normadny coast to Mont St Michel to Paris to Dijon to Lucerne to Florence to Rome across italy to Adriatic coast then up to Venice to Bled in Slovenia to Vienna to Budapest through Slovakia to Krakow to Wroclaw to Legnickie Pole to Berlin to Dresden to Prague to Cesky Kumlov to Berchtesgarten to Fussin to Wurzburg and back to Frankfurt.
Just a little over 12000 kms in 3mths.
Our itinerary in the UK was much tighter than europe as we didnt have as much time, but we saw everything we planned except the highlands of scotland, however we felt it would do it no justice for a one day trip so we have saved it for next time.
In europe we saw everything we had planned and when we realised how easy it was to travel around in the MH we ended up seeing much more.
Personally i experienced none of the problems listed in the posts and found the european drivers and roads exceptional compared to australia.
We met many people who had thought about doing what we have done and were frightened off by horror stories of driving in europe and motorhomes. We told them that they are not true and you dont have to be some kind of superman to do it.
I gave us incredible freedom and allowed us to travel europe for 3 mths instead of 6 weeks for the same cost. Budgeted on a rental car, meals, and hotels.
We blew our budget by $4,000 Aud which I didnt think was too bad for a 3 mth trip.
Total cost was $32,000 AUD.
Thanks again for all of your posts both negative and positive, but I would have to say to the people who doubted the idea of such a trip to maybe reconsider it as an option as i am definately noone special and am convinced that if I could do it, then just about anyone could.
We met many people much older than us well into their 60s and 70s who live their lives travelling europe and the UK by motorhome and they have no major problem with it.
The only other thing I would recomend is a GPS which we found invaluable as an aid for getting around and finding parking, fuel, groceries and campsites.
Cheers
Mark
Oh yes and please dont forget I wasnt even a stick shift driver before I went!!!
Jul 3rd, 2007, 06:43 AM
#82
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Your trip sounds great! Also nice of you to report back here! Good te here thath you didn't encounter the problems predicted here.
It was very fun to read this post from start to the finish and then realise that it was your trip-report to end with! This shows that if you want something and carefully plan it, it can also happen.
It was very fun to read this post from start to the finish and then realise that it was your trip-report to end with! This shows that if you want something and carefully plan it, it can also happen.
Jul 3rd, 2007, 06:53 AM
#83
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Glad you had a great time and you certainly covered a lot of ground! I was short of breath just reading the list of places that you saw. What were the highlights of the trip?
Also glad the motorhome let you stay 3 months, but FWIW, I think many Fodorites would be able to plan a stay of more than 6 weeks with a budget of 20,000 euro ($32,000 AUD = 20,100 euro).
Also glad the motorhome let you stay 3 months, but FWIW, I think many Fodorites would be able to plan a stay of more than 6 weeks with a budget of 20,000 euro ($32,000 AUD = 20,100 euro).
Jul 3rd, 2007, 06:56 PM
#86
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Thanks for your replies.
Please dont misunderstand me BT, I wasn't implying that MH is the cheapest way to do what we did, just that for us it was cheaper than budget acommodation, buying meals, and hiring a car.
It allowed us complete freedom and mobility to take advantage of where we were, when we were there, if you know what I mean.
Some days we would meander country roads to get from A to B and others we would hop on the motorway and get some distance. For example we spent a few days in Lucerne Switzerland, and on the last day we stayed looking around the town until 1 or 2 pm then we drove 600kms to Florence on the motorway through the italian and swiss alps.
Because the sun didnt set until well after 8 or 9pm it was not a difficult or dangerous drive at all.
We made a quick meal in the MH at a rest stop and arrived in Florence at the campsite around 10pm had a shower then bed. Awoke in the morning and set off the for the 2km bus ride to the centre of town.
We also ate out several times and enjoyed all the local cuisine but also got down and dirty with the locals in the streetmarkets and supermarkets. (love those tesco smoked chickens)
We also had a great time using the public transport systems and feeling like we were a little bit more connected to the way of life in the places we stayed.
I am sure that this kind of trip would not suit a lot of people and thats fine because everyone has their likes and dislikes, however for us it was certainly a great decision and we will most definately be doing it again in another 2 years or so, this time tackling more of eastern europe, turkey, southern italy, and greece.
Suchler I had no problem with the fuel prices as I figured it into my budget and was pretty close to the mark.
The MH was a turbo diesel that was quite fuel efficient considering it's weight and size. I also had no problem paying the tolls in western europe as the roads are of such excellent quality, and again I factored them into the total trip cost so it wasn't anything we didnt expect.
I guess what most of the posters here are not aware of is that we have pretty bad roads in Australia compared to the States and Europe. We think they are ok because it is all that we know, but after driving on the extensive motorway system of both the US and Europe we are still pretty much in the stone age. We only have a few sections of decent dual carriage way and they are only between major centres and are only 2 lanes in each direction not 3 or even sometimes 4 lane like we encountered in europe. The only place where we encountered roads similiar to australia were in Poland Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech republic and even then the roads were not really the problem but the crazy drivers overtaking on bends etc. We countered that by just driving much slower so that if we encountered one we had plenty of time to slow down and stop. Again it wasn't easy driving but certainly not that much more difficult than australia.
The only thing i would have done differently is not have hired a MH in the UK with such a short time frame as was suggested to me by several posters here Janisj in particular as it is not the quickest way to get around the more scenic parts of the UK. Gotta love those B roads and stone walls Ha!
If we would have had another week in the UK it would have been great.
However, having said that though, I was glad that i "learnt" how to drive the MH in the UK on the "right" side of the road as it certainly made it easier when I got to the continent on the "wrong" side of the road! So it worked for me on this trip having a MH in the UK.
Thanks again for all of your interest and replies.
Mark.
Please dont misunderstand me BT, I wasn't implying that MH is the cheapest way to do what we did, just that for us it was cheaper than budget acommodation, buying meals, and hiring a car.
It allowed us complete freedom and mobility to take advantage of where we were, when we were there, if you know what I mean.
Some days we would meander country roads to get from A to B and others we would hop on the motorway and get some distance. For example we spent a few days in Lucerne Switzerland, and on the last day we stayed looking around the town until 1 or 2 pm then we drove 600kms to Florence on the motorway through the italian and swiss alps.
Because the sun didnt set until well after 8 or 9pm it was not a difficult or dangerous drive at all.
We made a quick meal in the MH at a rest stop and arrived in Florence at the campsite around 10pm had a shower then bed. Awoke in the morning and set off the for the 2km bus ride to the centre of town.
We also ate out several times and enjoyed all the local cuisine but also got down and dirty with the locals in the streetmarkets and supermarkets. (love those tesco smoked chickens)
We also had a great time using the public transport systems and feeling like we were a little bit more connected to the way of life in the places we stayed.
I am sure that this kind of trip would not suit a lot of people and thats fine because everyone has their likes and dislikes, however for us it was certainly a great decision and we will most definately be doing it again in another 2 years or so, this time tackling more of eastern europe, turkey, southern italy, and greece.
Suchler I had no problem with the fuel prices as I figured it into my budget and was pretty close to the mark.
The MH was a turbo diesel that was quite fuel efficient considering it's weight and size. I also had no problem paying the tolls in western europe as the roads are of such excellent quality, and again I factored them into the total trip cost so it wasn't anything we didnt expect.
I guess what most of the posters here are not aware of is that we have pretty bad roads in Australia compared to the States and Europe. We think they are ok because it is all that we know, but after driving on the extensive motorway system of both the US and Europe we are still pretty much in the stone age. We only have a few sections of decent dual carriage way and they are only between major centres and are only 2 lanes in each direction not 3 or even sometimes 4 lane like we encountered in europe. The only place where we encountered roads similiar to australia were in Poland Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech republic and even then the roads were not really the problem but the crazy drivers overtaking on bends etc. We countered that by just driving much slower so that if we encountered one we had plenty of time to slow down and stop. Again it wasn't easy driving but certainly not that much more difficult than australia.
The only thing i would have done differently is not have hired a MH in the UK with such a short time frame as was suggested to me by several posters here Janisj in particular as it is not the quickest way to get around the more scenic parts of the UK. Gotta love those B roads and stone walls Ha!
If we would have had another week in the UK it would have been great.
However, having said that though, I was glad that i "learnt" how to drive the MH in the UK on the "right" side of the road as it certainly made it easier when I got to the continent on the "wrong" side of the road! So it worked for me on this trip having a MH in the UK.
Thanks again for all of your interest and replies.
Mark.
Jul 4th, 2007, 12:02 AM
#87
>Suchler I had no problem with the fuel prices as I figured it into my budget and was pretty close to the mark<
Excellent planning!
MHs are great as long as I don't have to drive behind one going down to or up from Schwyz (my place of work). Then they are soooo frustrating!
Excellent planning!
MHs are great as long as I don't have to drive behind one going down to or up from Schwyz (my place of work). Then they are soooo frustrating!
Jul 6th, 2007, 03:34 PM
#88
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Yes suchler, i undertsand your frustration.
I tried my best to keep to the right and made sure to get straight back into my lane on the motorways and made sure i would stop at every opportunity to allow the tailbacks on smaller roads to pass.
It was good to be on the other side of the coin after cursing MH drivers driving slowly in front, to see that MH drivers dont just drive slower because they are admiring the scenery and oblivious to the other drivers on the road, it really is a matter of steady as she goes as they do not handle situations as quickly as a normal car, nor do they stop as quickly.
Having said that though, as I stated earlier IMHO western european and and british drivers are of a much higher calibre than your average aussie driver. Eastern european drivers on the other hand are quite another story.
Dont get me wrong, they were all great people, very friendly and helpful, just very, very scary drivers!
Mark
I tried my best to keep to the right and made sure to get straight back into my lane on the motorways and made sure i would stop at every opportunity to allow the tailbacks on smaller roads to pass.
It was good to be on the other side of the coin after cursing MH drivers driving slowly in front, to see that MH drivers dont just drive slower because they are admiring the scenery and oblivious to the other drivers on the road, it really is a matter of steady as she goes as they do not handle situations as quickly as a normal car, nor do they stop as quickly.
Having said that though, as I stated earlier IMHO western european and and british drivers are of a much higher calibre than your average aussie driver. Eastern european drivers on the other hand are quite another story.
Dont get me wrong, they were all great people, very friendly and helpful, just very, very scary drivers!
Mark
Jul 7th, 2007, 03:06 PM
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Hi, I hope it's okay for me to jump in with our motorhome trip in Europe. We just got back on the 4th of July. My husband and I lived in a Westphalia in Europe for 5 months 21 years ago. We loved it. We knew that trying to find accomodations for ourselves and our 2 teenage kids this time around would be difficult and expensive each night. Cost analysis told us it would be a good way to go even for the 11 days we did it. Driving in Europe was not a problem. My husband (he's fabulous) even negotiated the Furka Pass in Switzerland in the MH. (I would not recommend this for everyone, however.) Travelling with a 16 year old growing boy was much easier with a MH also as far as food is concerned. It was fun shopping at the grocery stores and far cheaper than eating out every meal. We even spent the night at an Italian rest stop. It only cost 2 euros to take a hot shower. It was safe and we had lots of company. We visited France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland in the MH. Surprises? Tolls weren't as expensive as we thought they would be. Campgrounds prices are all over the place. From $US21.00 in Auxerre, France to $US45.00 on Lake Maggiore, Italy. Any questions? Let me know.
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