Complete novice on European drivig getaways wants to plan a trip

[Ocean Spirit]

As per title, we bought our Cali In December and have done a few UK trips and will do more as the year goes on getting properly acquainted with battery vs Hook up, Cooking, awning or not etc etc.

However next summer I want to do a relaxed trip in Europe and frankly don't have much of a clue.
I thought France because I like it (and try using the chunnel with out it ),
Germany because I've had a brief glimpse and thought what I saw was nice and I'm curious,
Austria, Italy, Switzerland or at least one of as I have never done the Alps.

Initially I'd like to use the channel tunnel and in France, an Aire might do fine for single nights of which there will be at least a couple if I can find toilets. Is that likely to be difficult?

I want to make the pace quite leisurely. Some will be one night stop over and some will be 2 or 3 nights.
At the moment I figure an 18 day round trip with 7 or 8 locations would cater for that with an average of 2.75 hours driving per day except from the UK to the first stop in France which will be a longer drive overall.

Do those sums add up for those who have done something like this?
I don't know the best time of day to travel on the tunnel?
I know I'll have to sort a dog passport. Any tips?
Are toll roads expensive? Generally worth it?
Would I find Aires on those toll stretches?
Emissions sticker thingy?
Actual location ideas?

Thats it for now looking forward to your helpful replies.

 

[teeboy]

We did this loop in 3 weeks (and it included 5 days in one place to give the kids a break ) - we used the ferry, but took in most of the countries you want to see.

Google Map Link

Toll roads can add up - but are amazing if you want to make progress on long transfer days, but also french back roads are brilliant. Aires on the toll are good - they generally alternate between commercial ones with Petrol/Shops etc to really simply picnic and toilet stops.

We had to go in the school holidays and picked quite commercial camp sites as the kids wanted things to do, if doing it again (after kids) you can do it before the schools break up and just pootle about and not bother booking.

In a few years I plan to losely follow the Tour de France

Actually looking at the map - a few of the campsites were commercial - but some were not - check out the ones in Italy, Switzerland and Austria they were really good.

If driving through the alps this is a good way to avoid the Autoroutes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_Napoléon

 

[Sad]

Wow! Many questions there!

I love driving round France. Often more enjoyable to stay off the motorways and take the smaller roads. We've a toll tag which can make it easier to go through, but not cheaper, on the toll roads.

We stop about an hour out from the chunnel and travel early to give us a more full first day in France.

I feel the continent is better set up for campervan/motorhome travel.

 

[Hotel California]

You don't need to head to Italy to see the Alps they do stretch in to France....
Plenty of campings and free aires in France alltough not that many aires have toilets so a portable toilet is a must imo. when not using campsites.
French toll roads are pretty expensive but traveling faster than N or D roads . Plenty of toilets on the toll roads
If you don't plan to enter towns on the list that requires a vignette you don't need it on the other roads , do keep in mind that when passing say Paris or Lyon prépherique and a accident or so should accures and you leave the autoroute entering the LEZ you get a fine , the vignette is only about 5€ so your choise.
There are other threads on the French vignette.
Also find it strange you all want to use the tunnel instead a ferry , the last time i came to the UK (and back) the ferry was 3x cheaper . 120€ or 350€ my choise was a no brainer .
Austria is very nice , they have the Alps !
Swiss so they say £££££

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Thank you for your replies so far guys...it's a great help,
The vignette sounds worth it as do at least some toll roads.
@teeboy that looks like a great trip and thanks!!

You don't need to head to Italy to see the Alps they do stretch in to France....

Austria is very nice , they have the Alps !

The 2nd bit explains the first really. I want to see more than just France.

 

[sapto]

Switzerland is expensive or at least as expensive as the UK. However scenery is fantastic, you got mountains, lakes and medival cities right around the corner. Of course you find these things also in different countries and maybe cheaper . Austria is great and Bavaria, Black Forest or Allgau has lot to offer.

 

[WelshGas]

Check out the French Municipal Sites. Normally full facilities of a good standard and within walking distances of village and town centres.

 

[Amarillo]

Switzerland is expensive or at least as expensive as the UK.

Britain is cheap for food and non-alcoholic beverages compared to the EU28 average (98%). Swizzland is 172% of the EU 28 average.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statis...olic_beverages,_2016_(EU-28=100)DEC_Graph.png



Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Jason wallace]

If that starting postcode is correct.......how have i not noticed your van around........i live in the same village as you!

We did this loop in 3 weeks (and it included 5 days in one place to give the kids a break ) - we used the ferry, but took in most of the countries you want to see.

Google Map Link

 

[Cali-on-Camping]

We've just returned back from our first European Adventure in the Cali and around the time you were taking delivery of your Cali, we were asking all the same questions and trying to figure out how to make sure we got the most out of it.

I want to make the pace quite leisurely. Some will be one night stop over and some will be 2 or 3 nights.
At the moment I figure an 18 day round trip with 7 or 8 locations would cater for that with an average of 2.75 hours driving per day except from the UK to the first stop in France which will be a longer drive overall.

We were on the road for 17 nights. We had an objective of getting to Slovenia and a route that was a loop: Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France. Trying to go that far we did put some pressure on ourselves and ended up with two or three one-nighters on the way there and the way back. It was the compromise of seeing more, but it was less of more if you see what I mean as we were continually moving.

The beauty is you can make it up as you go along and wherever you are, look at what is within striking distance by how far you are prepared to travel for the next stage. You'll not be disappointed with any mountains that you find in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France, it really is stunning.

Actual location ideas?

Germany really surprised us as we overlooked the touring aspects of the country which I don't why. We followed the Romantic Road for a while then picked up the German Alpine Road with the latter being more enjoyable. Füssen and Lake Forggensee were stunning and a good hub to explore the area.

We love Austria and have skied there but this visit was to get to Slovenia and do the Großglockner pass which was amazing. We stopped in Mayrhofen then Zell am Zee to easily access the pass over to Slovenia.

We managed to visit the Italian lakes on the way back and Lake Caldonazzo and Lake Iseo were our favourite stops, as was Lake Maggiore but it was the Swiss part we stayed in.

We passed through Switzerland fairly quick and the mountain views were great. in addition to Lake Maggiore, we stayed at Villeneuve at Lake Geneva which was, well, let's say not the best choice of locations, but then again we had been spoiled.

Into France and we found an ACSI site just outside of Troyes and left us with a 3.5 hr drive to Calais for the ferry back. A great site at Lac D'orient which I found in a thread on the forum.

Having just got back last night my mind is fizzing with what where we've been. Once i get through the photos, the videos and the notes I'll update my blog with route, points of interest and campsite information.

 

[Eber123]

Hello,

I would like to advertise Germany ad a holiday destination. It feels to me that it is a wee bit overlooked.

Depending what people like (see, forests, mountains) it is all there. No tolls on the motorway, country roads are good, food is brilliant, cost of living not that high, camping sites everywhere, people generally nice, weather better (certainly better than in Ireland).

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[mrcheesbrough]

As per title, we bought our Cali In December and have done a few UK trips and will do more as the year goes on getting properly acquainted with battery vs Hook up, Cooking, awning or not etc etc.

However next summer I want to do a relaxed trip in Europe and frankly don't have much of a clue.
I thought France because I like it (and try using the chunnel with out it ),
Germany because I've had a brief glimpse and thought what I saw was nice and I'm curious,
Austria, Italy, Switzerland or at least one of as I have never done the Alps.

Initially I'd like to use the channel tunnel and in France, an Aire might do fine for single nights of which there will be at least a couple if I can find toilets. Is that likely to be difficult?

I want to make the pace quite leisurely. Some will be one night stop over and some will be 2 or 3 nights.
At the moment I figure an 18 day round trip with 7 or 8 locations would cater for that with an average of 2.75 hours driving per day except from the UK to the first stop in France which will be a longer drive overall.

Does those sums add up for those who have done something like this?
I don't know the best time of day to travel on the tunnel?
I know I'll have to sort a dog passport. Any tips?
Are toll roads expensive? Generally worth it?
Would I find Aires on those toll stretches?
Emissions sticker thingy?
Actual location ideas?

Thats it for now looking forward to your helpful replies.

Considering this is to be your first European excursion you seem to want to cram an awful lot in. France on its own has a massive range of different scenery to offer - Germanic to the east, Alpine to the South East, volcanic in the centre, beautiful beaches to the west and south… You could easily squeeze three of these dramatically different locations into your 18 days and have more time to actually absorb the atmosphere and culture. The kids would probably enjoy it more too. Doing this means you’ve the added bonus of still having many other countries to go back and visit another time. Winner.

Also I recommend the All The Aires book. Packed with listings of official free/cheap stopovers for France and surrounding countries. Don’t leave without it. And steering clear of the Toll routes adds a bit of time to your travelling but will also take you through some gems of towns and villages that you’d otherwise miss.

Happy planning.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[teeboy]

If that starting postcode is correct.......how have i not noticed your van around........i live in the same village as you!

The van is now a VW Passat. The kids got too big. We will be back

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Thank you @Maverick thats a great post and I will be sure to check in on your blog

 

[Ocean Spirit]

@mrcheesbrough thats good stuff too. I'll get the book.
Actually though I don't really want to cram a lot in hence the question about my sums. What I do want is not to be rushing from one place to another just to breeze through it due to time constraints. So I'll gladly take on board your thoughts it may be a bit too much. I think Strasbourg came up at 10hr.45min from Calais So I figured that ought to be easy enough and guessed over 3 or 4 journeys with shorter stops and see how it went for longer stops after that.

 

[sapto]

Britain is cheap for food and non-alcoholic beverages compared to the EU28 average (98%). Swizzland is 172% of the EU 28 average.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statis...olic_beverages,_2016_(EU-28=100)DEC_Graph.png



Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Thanks, didn‘t know that

 

[Cali-on-Camping]

@mrcheesbroughI think Strasbourg came up at 10hr.45min from Calais

That doesn't seem right to Strasbourg from Calais unless you are going via somewhere else. We looked at it as a first night stop towards Lake Constance and it was around 5 hr 30 mins.

If you head that direction you can pick up the German Alpine Road from Lindau (Lake Constance) and play around the Austrian border for a few days without too much travelling.

 

[Amarillo]

That doesn't seem right to Strasbourg from Calais unless you are going via somewhere else.

Maybe Salzburg? That's about 10 1/2 hours from Calais.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Cali-on-Camping]

Maybe Salzburg? That's about 10 1/2 hours from Calais.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

That would make more sense.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

That doesn't seem right to Strasbourg from Calais unless you are going via somewhere else. We looked at it as a first night stop towards Lake Constance and it was around 5 hr 30 mins.
If you head that direction you can pick up the German Alpine Road from Lindau (Lake Constance) and play around the Austrian border for a few days without too much travelling.

Maybe Salzburg? That's about 10 1/2 hours from Calais.
Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Opps! my bad there....
I got confused, it was 10.45 from a theoretical 1st stop to Lindau (funny enough @Maverick ) near Charleville-Mezlieres.

 

[Trev]

We've just returned back from our first European Adventure in the Cali and around the time you were taking delivery of your Cali, we were asking all the same questions and trying to figure out how to make sure we got the most out of it.



We were on the road for 17 nights. We had an objective of getting to Slovenia and a route that was a loop: Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France. Trying to go that far we did put some pressure on ourselves and ended up with two or three one-nighters on the way there and the way back. It was the compromise of seeing more, but it was less of more if you see what I mean as we were continually moving.

The beauty is you can make it up as you go along and wherever you are, look at what is within striking distance by how far you are prepared to travel for the next stage. You'll not be disappointed with any mountains that you find in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France, it really is stunning.



Germany really surprised us as we overlooked the touring aspects of the country which I don't why. We followed the Romantic Road for a while then picked up the German Alpine Road with the latter being more enjoyable. Füssen and Lake Forggensee were stunning and a good hub to explore the area.

We love Austria and have skied there but this visit was to get to Slovenia and do the Großglockner pass which was amazing. We stopped in Mayrhofen then Zell am Zee to easily access the pass over to Slovenia.

We managed to visit the Italian lakes on the way back and Lake Caldonazzo and Lake Iseo were our favourite stops, as was Lake Maggiore but it was the Swiss part we stayed in.

We passed through Switzerland fairly quick and the mountain views were great. in addition to Lake Maggiore, we stayed at Villeneuve at Lake Geneva which was, well, let's say not the best choice of locations, but then again we had been spoiled.

Into France and we found an ACSI site just outside of Troyes and left us with a 3.5 hr drive to Calais for the ferry back. A great site at Lac D'orient which I found in a thread on the forum.

Having just got back last night my mind is fizzing with what where we've been. Once i get through the photos, the videos and the notes I'll update my blog with route, points of interest and campsite information.

+1 for Fussen. Camping Hopfensee is a great site. Expensive but worth it. Great location and facilities.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Several threads recently with folks asking "is XXX in YYY days too much?". Almost impossible to advise on, IMO. If I had an 18 day window I'd probably be stupidly aiming for Montenegro, or Kiev or something. Someone else will say 18 days isn't enough time to do justice to, say, Brittany.

I would venture to say though that the Continent has some amazing regions separated by quite long stretches of not very much in between. That's particularly true of France, IMO (although I fully expect to get shot down for that).

You could research a wish-list of areas but then, rather than planning a route with a regular 2-point-whatever hours each day, you could make longer drives on some days to free up more time in the really pretty bits. The European motorway network is fab as a fast conveyor belt between the most beautiful localities.

But in my opinion the beauty of Cali-travel is setting off with only the vaguest idea of where you're heading, and then feel free to change plans completely en route if you feel like it.

Online weather forecasts are so reliable these days, up to a week out, that you can have a look where the sun's most likely to be shining in a couple of days, and set the compass on that. And if a rubbish weather day is forecast, make that an all-day drive to the next sunny spot. On a trip last month we were aiming for Italy when we crossed the Channel, but ended up in Czech Republic based on what the weather app was telling us.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I know I'll have to sort a dog passport. Any tips?

There's quite a lot on Cali Dogs section of the site about that. But the most important planning factor is to get the rabies jabs booked in and done early enough. The vet will then issue the pet passport, you don't need to apply for it separately. I assume your dog is microchipped but if not you'll need to get that done too.

You must get the rabies vaccination done 21 days before travel**, but note that's taken from the second vaccination if it's a two-shot vaccine. Check with your vet how long they leave between the first and second vaccine shots, and you can then calculate the latest you can leave it. But easier just to get it done ASAP, then it's done.

** Actually they don't usually check the PP when you leave the UK or enter France, only when you come back into UK, which is when the 21 day minimum really kicks in. But very strongly recommend to allow a full 21 days between second rabies jab and your holiday date.

Somewhere on your return trip you'll need to get your dog to a vet in France or wherever for a tapeworm tablet and PP stamp, between 120 hours and 24 hours of getting to the boat/tunnel. That's a slight faff, but we just phone ahead to a vet in the next town somewhere en route home.

 

[larrylamb]

Opps! my bad there....
I got confused, it was 10.45 from a theoretical 1st stop to Lindau (funny enough @Maverick ) near Charleville-Mezlieres.

I would like to advertise Germany ad a holiday destination. It feels to me that it is a wee bit overlooked.

We are going back to Germany (Lindau) this summer, love it around Lake Constance and Freiburg/Black Forest etc. Very underated destination.

 

[sapto]

Hello,

I would like to advertise Germany ad a holiday destination. It feels to me that it is a wee bit overlooked.

Depending what people like (see, forests, mountains) it is all there. No tolls on the motorway, country roads are good, food is brilliant, cost of living not that high, camping sites everywhere, people generally nice, weather better (certainly better than in Ireland).

Regards,
Eberhard

I love Germany! This country has lot to offer! Great cities, food and camping-friendly people!
+1 Germany!