Driving in Europe

[Tykeinoz]

I agree with the majority re Train travel (1st class) having been reccomended some years back. You can rely on the times, the position you wait on the platform for your particular carriage, as many trains split and go in various directions. Many use the train as a hotel by travelling/sleeping overnight, and enjoying the daytime at the destination. I also found that having arrived in say Zurich, I could us my pass to go to a smaller town in the allocated time frame.
Good luck and enjoy.

 

[medhead]

I have to agree with everyone that for point to point travel in general the train is the best option in europe. And definitely get a first class eurail pass. Not on the german rail system, but definitely in other countries (france, spain, belgium) and some select trains (TGV THALYS) you will have to pay a booking fee.

last October, me and family (5) flew to FRA and did a round europe train trip, Paris, bordeaux, madrid, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Salzburg - FRA.

Booking fee ranged from about $15 to $45. The $45 was only on the Spanish trains and that included a full meal service with drinks cart. (much better than QF Y service)

I fully researched this trip for 12+ months before hand using www.db.de the swiss (CFF) train website was also very useful along with the french (SNCF) and spanish (RENFE).

This time however with family in tow and knowing exactly which days we were travelling, I am questioning the Eurorail pass value, and I believe I may have been able to save money doing advance bookings (with the Terms & Conditions risks). Definitely check before hand.

I could not beat the value of the eurail pass at all. Even with the extra booking fees the price was still significantly less, than getting individual fares.

We also got a eurail pass for our 3 year old, who could technically travel for free but only sitting on a lap. This was a great saver, in particular, on one overcrowded 2nd class regional french train as we put all our luggage into the kids seat, instead it being out of sight.

Going over the dolomites is a great trip on the train.

FRA to PARIS was good. went via Karlsruhe, had a great afternoon there. The other way is via belgium, which is quicker but adds another country to the rail pass.

Night Trains are a good idea. Pros: you save on a hotel room for a night, light breakfast included.
Cons: The booking fee is quite high, don't see the scenery, trips can take a lot longer than in the day, No shower for over 24 hours

 

[bravoecho1]

I agree with both sides of the argument for different reasons.

If you want to get from Point A to Point B and see some scenery along the way then the train is the way to go.

However if you want to experience the country and the countryside more then go for the car.

A couple of years ago we did Paris-Dijon-Interlarken-Bellagio-Innsbruck-Mersburg-Strasbourg-Reims-Paris. We had a ball, saw many places and experienced lots of things that wouldn't have occured if we took the train or a plane. And if you have a heavy right foot like I do then you can also have some fun.

When driving between Bellagio and Innsbruck the following conversation occurred:

Mrs Bravoecho1 : "I'm going to have a nap now. The next town is Trento which is about 100km's away"

About an hour later:

Mrs Bravoecho1(just waking up) : "you should be coming up to Trento shortly"

Bravoecho1 : "we passed that 25 minutes ago"

 

[tgh]

a bit off topic ..
A few years back , I thought I had lived a bit until a big black benz with lights flashing appeared in my rear view mirror in an instant .. ( me being very brave at a tad over 160k in the fast lane) .. and nearly blew me out into the woods as I hastily moved back into the middle where I belonged...
A few years later , I drove daily in the UAE on the Abu Dahbi> Dubai motorway..... that made the Eurppean motorways seem like go kart tracks..

 

[medhead]

a bit off topic ..
big black benz with lights flashing appeared in my rear view mirror in an instant .. ( me being very brave at a tad over 160k in the fast lane) .. and nearly blew me out into the woods

And that benz driver would have bearly known he was moving. My trip last october included a big benz in spain (not black sorry) 160 was like doing 80 in my normal car, at 180 I got the feeling to look at the speedo.
(Certainly there was none of the instability my falcon gets at 160 to 180. )

But the locals were still flying past me on the spanish motorway. No way I was brave enough to try keeping up for more than about 5 minutes.

 

[Prof Henry]

I think tgh is generally right about the need to distinguish between driving in cities and in the countryside in most parts of Europe (incl. British Isles). I did once drive across Paris on a Saturday night in a RHD transit van - but that was with the ex-Prof Henrietta. More recently, navigating Florence on a Saturday evening trying to return luggage AND find a parking place almost produced a second ex-Prof Henrietta.

However, it's not only in one-way city systems but in the coutryside as well that one needs a satnav; I can live with Italian driving but not with their approach to signposting!

In those cities where the rail-station is right downtown, the airport is in the next county, check-in times blow out to over 2 hrs, parking scarce and expensive, and the streets congested ... even 2-3 hr intercity trips by train look extremely attractive.

 

[medhead]

FRA is also great because you don't even have to leave the building to be getting onto a train.

 

[bravoecho1]

a bit off topic ..
A few years back , I thought I had lived a bit until a big black benz with lights flashing appeared in my rear view mirror in an instant .. ( me being very brave at a tad over 160k in the fast lane) .. and nearly blew me out into the woods as I hastily moved back into the middle where I belonged...
A few years later , I drove daily in the UAE on the Abu Dahbi> Dubai motorway..... that made the Eurppean motorways seem like go kart tracks..

Our trip was done in a black Benz - where were you in October 2004 ?

I have made the trip between Dubai and Abu Dhabi a number of times now and it still scares the bejesus out of me. Highlights including 10% driving with their feet (we have actually counted it), the black S Class Merc flashing his lights at the cop car who was holding up the fast lane and the Mini Cooper overtaking me (I was doing @ 150km/h) on the inside between my lane (I was in the slowest) and the Armco.

Drving in Europe is a walk in the park compared to driving in the UAE.

 

[simongr]

On my first trip back to Germany we were picked up by our local IT Director in his M5 estate - casually driving one handed at 250KMHwhilst smoking polish cigarettes - barely looking at the road.

After I almost killed the entire audit team driving through the country lanes of Northern Ireland the team wouldnt let me drive over 190kmh

 

[tgh]

Our trip was done in a black Benz - where were you in October 2004 ?

I have made the trip between Dubai and Abu Dhabi a number of times now and it still scares the bejesus out of me. Highlights including 10% driving with their feet (we have actually counted it), the black S Class Merc flashing his lights at the cop car who was holding up the fast lane and the Mini Cooper overtaking me (I was doing @ 150km/h) on the inside between my lane (I was in the slowest) and the Armco.

Drving in Europe is a walk in the park compared to driving in the UAE.

Thats because the fuzz only have to keep the "guest workers" in line...
'twould be a brave ( and very temporary) policeman indeed who pulled up a sheik.
Actually it wan't really the main drag (primary operative word) .. that worried me .. it was the bloody roundabouts.

 

[bravoecho1]

Thats because the fuzz only have to keep the "guest workers" in line...
'twould be a brave ( and very temporary) policeman indeed who pulled up a sheik.
Actually it wan't really the main drag (primary operative word) .. that worried me .. it was the bloody roundabouts.

I agree with your quote about a cop booking a local. Most police in the UAE are Moroccan and they know their place in the pecking order.

At least now they have fences along the highway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to keep the camels out.

I remember many years ago when that wasn't the case and it was a fight to see who would sit in the back to avoid a dreaded camel strike!!