jackbauer24 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 On the 1st of August I leave Britain for a 23 day trip around Europe in my car. I'll be travelling through Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Rep, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. Approximately 2500mile round journey. Camp sites (and about 6 hotels) all booked/ reserved. Car stuff sorted and route planned (Sat Nav with print out route for backup). Any advice on driving/ keeping safe/ being aware of... in Europe and particularly the more Eastern countries? Reading up on the internet, I'm getting a little concerned I'm going to be pick-pocketed, overcharged, robbed, car-jacked, targeted for being foreign and treated badly by the authorities! And that doesn't include me breaking a million different road rules in each country. Any reassuring words?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 They drive on the right and overtake on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Did this myself a couple of years ago in an old van with friends, 5000 mile trip. Didn't have any major problems. Need to make sure you have the hi-vis jackets, first aid kits etc etc that some countries require. Also, quite a few eastern european countries require you to have your headlights on whether it's dark or not. Apart from that, we had a laptop taken from the van at a festival in the Czech Rep (someone actually took the keys out of my pocket in my tent while I was passed out drunk) and someone attempted to pickpocket a friend in Prague but we saw them. I'd advise you avoid motorway as the tolls are expensive and more to the point, you don't see anything! Better to take the alternative routes and stop off at any village on route that grabs your fancy. Try not to stick to the plan to rigidly, better to be flexible and enjoy yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Spend as little on fuel in this country as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 A tip my brother passed on having found out to his cost. Don't buy booze on the street in Eastern Europe. He bought a bottle of "Vodka" as a present for me . Not Vodka - more like meths/aviation fuel. :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Spend as little on fuel in this country as possible The difference between here and France isn't that much to be honest, but obviously worth filling the tank as much as possible in the cheaper countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno_2004 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Accelerator on the right, brake on the left. Go big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Driven through most of those myself Slovakia will be your most likely problem ... we broke some law out there but never did establish what law , only that if we were Slovakian we would go to to prison but as we were foreign they would let us off with a fine (how kind) .. they then said they would take us to our hotel and proceeded to drive us into the middle of nowhere before driving off .... as you enter from Austria the roads are littered with hookers , it may be the crime there is to drive past them as they are probably on the police pay roll ... Croatia has a lot of toll Motorways but you can pay with Euros if i recall so if you are only passing through don't worry about getting local currency Slovenia I think I kept my speedo over 160 K/ph the whole time I was there apart from the tunnels which have radar traps in them so slow down on those. Hungary you have to have your lights on when driving at all times outside the villages , it's actually a good idea because you get a lot of heat haze , slow down in the villages as the rozzers are quite often hiding in the lay-bys .. on he motorway the law seems to be that if you are in heavy motorway traffic that you have to tailgate the car in front of you by mm's and flash your lights repeatedly and if that doesn't work you undertake at the first availability pull in front of the car that was in front of you causing them to have to jump on the breaks to avoid hitting you ... and then repeat the process Ad infinitum .... it really is a sight to behold :-) ... but having done 1000's of miles in Hungary I've sort of got used to it now Italy a lot of the city centres are restricted zones for cars .. if you are a tourist then you are allowed to drive in but you have to register your car registration number with the hotel when you check in .. if you don't you will receive a letter a few months later .. saying that I registered my car in Florence and still got the letter anyway .. duly binned it but some people have been hounded and had bailiffs turn up , there is some form of European Union tie up !! but 3 years on and I've heard nothing ... Avoid Naples city centre you will most likely get beaten up , raped and mugged if you drive around there with a foreign number plate .. you'll be OK going to Pompeii just don't stray to far off the motorway ... the hire company gave us a car with a French number plate ( ..it's almost as if they knew) driving along the motorway near Naples minding our own business when a car overtook us , swerved across in front slowed down whilst the passengers started giving us the rocket polisher sign ) said to my mate do you think we should shout out We're not French we are English , but figured that would make matters worse :-) Keep your main stash of money in your bag and have a token amount of "bribe" money in your wallet as you will almost certainly get pulled over at some point your crime will be having a foreign number plate .. they tend to prefer Euros or yankee $'s for their bribe money , Slovakian money is only good for toilet paper the fine will vary on how much money you've got so make out you are poor and staying at hostels when they ask where are you staying ..though they will factor in the type of car you are driving as well ... I'd also suggest that you don't use your credit card to buy petrol in the former Eastern Bloc bits , it will almost certainly get cloned at some point ( probably Slovakia ) but on the whole you will have fun :-) ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Well that's all very reassuring :s ! We're only stopping in each place one night (bar Budapest where we have a two night stay) and primarily campsites. We're trying to have as little cash on us as possible anyway. I drive a fairly new Honda Civic too that I was hoping to remain intact for the journey... We only touch the very top of Italy (Udine) before beginning back north through the Alps (which I'm looking forward to the most). Got a Caxton card which is free withdrawals abroad so planning on just getting out what we need when we need it and paying for practically everything in cash - the campsites require cash anyway. Only the hotels are paid for, so I can be fairly flexible - best bet is to drive on if I don't trust it I suppose; although I've reserved only campsites I've found on the net so bit more trustworthy you would hope. Not overly bothered about tolls/ costs - factored in and alternatives when appropriate are sorted. Got all car legal requirements other than the vignettes which we can get at the border. Should remember to drive on the right quickly enough too! Just general safety/ dealing with dodgy police worries me slightly - especially considering it's just me and the gf. Not done loads of travelling abroad, especially driving but fancied a proper road trip and thought why not go the whole hog! I certainly don't have a ton of money to throw away on bribes!! Getting all paranoid now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I didn't venture into the Eastern block much when I did it (Czech Rep only really) but in my experience we didn't have to pay a single bribe or have any problems with police etc. Did get stopped a couple of times and had a nervous wait for a breathalyser test coming out of Pamplona the morning after a night of heavy drinking, but that's all. Certainly wouldn't worry unduly, I think your pretty safe so long as you remain sensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Austria and Luxembourg - just have a high vis jacket with you and don't drink at all if you're not sure of their drink/drive limits. Czech Rep, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia - Although you might be concerned more about these countries, there is no need to be. They can't really be considered 'Eastern Europe' and all the negative connotations that comes with that. Your main problem will be that the roads are kind of shit so you want to stay on the main roads as much as problem. Just secure your belongings, just as you do in dodgy parts of the UK. Dodgy police wont be an issue because you're not going far East enough. Just make sure your tires, tax, insurance and little things like that are all legal and you'll be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Sorry , I probably made it sound far worse than it is ... seriously just enjoy it you'll be fine In all my travels , Slovakia is the only place where I've actually been properly fleeced ( it was also where they cloned my credit card when I purchased petrol (first and only time ,lesson learnt) but lots of Germans have told me they always get pulled on the way to Lake Balaton by the Hungarian police purely because they have a German plate ..... Slovakia it was actually quite amusing as they wanted more money out of us before they would return our passports so I told him I didn't have any with me but I had an arrangement with the British Embassy and if they wanted to come with us we could get more cash , surprisingly they didn't shoot us and we got off lightly :-) .. then told the policeman as I had to hand over my 30 Euro "fine" that it was a condition that he let his colleagues know we'd paid our "foreigner tax " and that we'd be left alone .. we were but that may have juts been coincidence ... just do the obvious stuff like don't be the fastest car on the road ...some of the counties have a slower speed limit for wet conditions (Hungary , Slovenia and Germany if i recall) so make sure you keep an eye out for that ... sadly if they want to pull you over they will do so but at least you are not giving them an obvious excuse General safety , as I've said in previous travel threads , behave as you would back home , assuming you don't leave your phone and wallet on the table in your local pub , don't leave a sat nav in full view when you park the car ... don't buy something and pull out a huge wad of cash showing the whole world you have your life savings in your wallet ... The favourite pick pocket tip is people that put there jacket over the back of their chair , someone will sit on the chair behind and then have a rummage through your pockets at the opportune time ... Trams are the other place to look out for as tourists often have their bags over their shoulder with an easy to open zip ... you can never guarantee you wont have a bad experience but you can at least do your bit to increase your chances of it not happening PS Just a thought but if you are taking your car you need to make suer you have a warning triangle and a first aid kit as it's the law in some countries ..you also need to put some sticky label thingy on your headlamps ( you can buy these on the ferry I think) something to do with the headlamp positioning on UK cars ( though that may have since been resolved it was the 90's the last time I took my own car abroad ) Maybe let your insurance company know as well , you'll be covered for Europe , but the level of cover could be a factor ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 you also need to put some sticky label thingy on your headlamps ( you can buy these on the ferry I think) something to do with the headlamp positioning on UK cars ( though that may have since been resolved it was the 90's the last time I took my own car abroad ) You can buy them on the ferry, but a bit of electrical or gaffer tape is far cheaper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Cheers for all the advice. Have all the car stuff and have it all stored in the correct places. It's only when travelling you suddenly realise that perhaps we don't live in the nanny state we thought we did - why the hell do I really need a complete set of spare bulbs in the car?! I'm sure we'll be relatively fine, have done a fair bit of research as to the local driving laws etc. Have got insurance sorted and they have sent Green Card for all the appropriate countries. Just found out that Croatia are being a bit of a pain over UK licences and it's now recommended that we get International Driving Permits. I'm always pretty aware of what's going on around me so know how to avoid the likes of pickpocketers etc etc, it's just the advice about being careful of people slashing your tyres at borders so they can rob you down the road that has me concerned!! Was fine about it all til I started just doing a little bit of due diligence and researching on the internet - but I suppose that's the nature of the net; only the bad stuff gets highlighted! Once again, thanks for the help - if I survive I'll give an update on my return and tell any future people what to be aware of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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