driving to europe

I know I have the advantage of living in Germany already, but book ahead and use the trains, it's cheap, stress-free and one can get a wee bit tipsy on the way!!!

Got to Flachau/Filzmoos and back last week for 65 € each on the fast trains.

I used to live in Newcastle, and if I was doing it from there I'd probably make a trip of it and get the overnight ferry to Amsterdan (have a wee drinky), hop on the train down towards Frankfurt/Karlsruhe (have a wee drinky) and then head for Salzburg or Geneva depending on if I wanted to go to Austria or France whilst having a wee drinky.

I'd prefer to have a few stops and a wee drinky myself.

You know it makes sense!!

Hi Tony,

You're right, not a great deal cheaper for the travel but you do save a fortune on the food, drink and clothing shopping on the way/ way back and you can drive to another resort during the week-we stayed in Les Arcs but drove to Courchevel-this really was cheaper than staying in the 3 Valleys.

I've driven, flown and trained from S.England to the French and Swiss Alps. It's difficult to generalise and each option has had very good and very bad journeys.

Last trip was train, then 'plane then rail, then télépherique then bus to the Quatre Valées and vice-versa, and it all went v.smoothly. Although we skied for 13 days in a row in the same area, I didn't miss having a car and obviously it was a lot cheaper than car-hiring for 14 days then leaving it in the garage. However, the shorter the visit the more attractive the 'plane+hire car option looks.

My only advice is that, as someone else said, if you're driving down be realistic and stay overnight, somewhere near to the Autoroute. We stay at Le Val Moret Motel in the Champagne area, 5 mins off the A5 at Jct.22 just past Troyes, and make an evening of it in their excellent but reasonably-priced restaurant. See 'www.le-val-moret.com/uk'.

On the way back we do a big shop at the Auchan just off the Autoroute E17/A26 Jct.17 St.Quentin Nord, rather than at the Channel port, but if there are 3+ drivers, we don't stay over on the return journey as the hour time saving helps a lot, and once you're less than 4 hours from Calais you tend to want to press on anyway (but then we only have a 2 hour journey home on the UK side - if it was longer, we'd probably stay overnight on the return leg.

I have done it down in one go, overnight, with drivers changing every 2 hours. Sometimes this worked OK but other times it has been foggy or snowing and I'd really, really wished that we'd broklen the journey.

Also bear in mind the whole winter tyre issue (look in the thread archives). I understand that you now need winter tyres on your car in Germany (and/or Austria). Driving in the Alps in the winter on English summer tyres can be a nightmare, and don't think that having chains necessarily solves the problem.

All in all, it has to be said that flying is a whole lot easier, and car hire (in Switzerland anyway) is very competitive so for winter trips, this remains the preferred option, especially for shorter breaks.

Thruout France there are budget motels called 'Formula 1', at most motel locations. They are a no-frills, creditcard only (debits may be accepted). They minimise their costs by having no staff (cleaners are magical fairies) - the creditcard will activate a door to a room, which is basic but comfortable. A bed and a bathroom is typical. Expect to pay around 18 Euros. I believe you can book ahead, using the web.

Places to stay in rough order of cost are

Premier Classe
Formule-1
Campanile
Logis de France

Also take a look at the hotel websites for your target overnight stop: we did this for Besancon and came up with a very reasonable place in the middle of the town.

Drive on Sunday through Germany and Austria, no lorries. They have to move by train on Sunday.

Don't forget your vignette for Austrian & Swiss motorway driving. 120 Euro fine in Austria. If only doing a short run within the countries, weigh up travel by main road, as apart from motorway.

Was radar-ed in Fieberbrunn in summer. Proudly paid my 40 Euro fine, good bragging rights in the Bichlwirt.

Drove back 2 years ago, 22 hours Niederau to Scotland, 2 drivers.

Scotland to Austrian alps ~ Easyjet to Munich, £20.00 each way.
Train, return, Munich airport to Worgl, around 65 Euros. Taxi to Niederau 15 Euros. Alternative alpine train destinations.