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European driving holiday


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Thinking of going to Europe for 8 weeks and touring around, looking at landing in Scotland and buying a car, then driving down through UK, drive on to the train, through the tunnel to France, going to many places along the way, Brussels, Germany, Austria, Zagreb, Croatia, down to Split, then ferry across back to Italy.

 

Any tips places we must see, stay, drive straight through, Im going to have a go at Nuremberg, missus likes seeing old infrastructure, castles etc, so I would say we will be seeing a lot of them and maybe staying in some.

 

Any tips that you have or experiences would be great, even the odd pinball places would be good :)

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Some incredible roads and scenery over there to enjoy. Puts Australia to shame. I spent six months driving around the UK and Europe back in 2016 and will be going back next year and doing the same. Drove in small groups, large groups, Rally events and on my own.

 

Highlights included Scotlands North Coast 500, Swiss / Italian / French alps and mountain passes, Nurburgring,Black Forest and Autobahns in Germany. Lake and Peak District in England. The Evo triangle and Brecon Beacons in Wales.

 

Just too many amazing twisty fun roads to enjoy, with stunning scenery as your back drop. I can't wait to get back and do it all again.

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The whole trip in driving hours ( going by google ) will take 27 hours, so just over a day driving, roughly 1600 miles, only going to buy a cheap car $1000AU, seems to be thousands on Gumtree UK within that price range, only going to give it to a scrappy at the end.

 

Looking forward to it myself, as I need a holiday away from the dramas that have been happening for the last year.

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You best look into insurance costs...

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Aussie Arcade mobile app

 

Yeah have done that already, I only need 3rd party, as the car we will be using is not worth fully insuring, They also said if I can get a letter from my insurer here stating my no claim bonus and the record I have, they will give me the same discount there :)

 

Going for top cover travel insurance, just going to pay the extra for peace of mind.

 

I just have to get my head around toll roads and vignettes for the various countries, then the requirements for things you have to have in your car when you drive through a country.

Soon as you leave the UK you have to have a sticker on the back of the car that displays what country the car is registered to, you have to have yellow vests at hands reach in the car, a fire extinguisher, spare bulbs, a reflective triangle, breathalyzer, First aid kit, and headlamp converters fitted to the headlights :huh:, all of which carry hefty fines if you dont have them, which is paid to the officer on the spot.

 

France they have some weird rules like you cant use a bluetooth ear piece, your gps has to have speed camera and red light camera warning disabled, and there is a triangle sign that means that a car coming into your straight road from a side road to your right has the right of way:unsure being a left hand drive country you give way to your left usually.

 

Going to be interesting

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Sounds like an excellent adventure as we've done a taste of Europe on the ol' farts coach tour (we were close to the youngest:)) and after very recently done a roadtrip around the North island of NZ, we just freewheeled it from day to day where we would stay the next night to sleep.

 

While it sounds great, it also was expensive not planning at least a tad in front.

 

If you are planning on just wherever the wind blows my advice is have a little plan ahead for overnight.

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Sounds like an excellent adventure as we've done a taste of Europe on the ol' farts coach tour (we were close to the youngest:)) and after very recently done a roadtrip around the North island of NZ, we just freewheeled it from day to day where we would stay the next night to sleep.

 

While it sounds great, it also was expensive not planning at least a tad in front.

 

If you are planning on just wherever the wind blows my advice is have a little plan ahead for overnight.

 

Yeah the wife will be the chief hotel booker, we are just going to wing it though with no plans to be anywhere for a set time, if we like a place we will stay for a while, if we dont we will keep going to the next place, we have even allowed a extra month if we want to continue.

 

Cant wait, just have to settle some legal stuff, and im booking the flights the day its settled :D, turning the phones off and just enjoy the journey.

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  • 9 months later...
Good stuff ! I'm off again too. Flights booked. Six months this year, May to November. Bring on the best Alps, mountain passes and Autobahns Europe has to offer.

 

Somehow I think you might be doing it in a better car than we are :lol

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Not actual car :)

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  • 2 months later...

Leaving on the 15th of next month, have tweaked it a little, now we have booked 18th August for coming home, so 9 weeks of touring around Europe in a 1000 pound banger :D

 

Cant wait to leave the bullshit that has been the last few years behind and not have to worry about what were doing or where we are going, We have a beginning point and a end point, we will make the rest up as we go along :)

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

How's the planning going ? Still going ahead with your adventure ??

 

Are you there yet?

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You’ll have a great time no doubt. I’m already in the UK. Doing my first European road trip mid June with a large group.

 

Im sure we will have a hoot, meeting up with a old neighbor in England, so we will experience a good old English pub meal and he will show us some sights.

 

I will have to contact a Car yard in Scotland over the weekend and arrange our wheels, we need to have all paperwork done by the time we get there so we can start our road trip, plus I have to book some ferry's and they want a make of car and rego.

i have been checking out a few yards over there on Gumtree, and 1 stands out as being pretty good with his advertising and reviews, so Ill call them and buy a car over the phone sight unseen, I know thats a bit risky but ill just have to trust that they wont do the wrong thing by us, plus being a mechanic im sure I can fix most stuff if need be.

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Well I bought a car, this is the actual car I will be driving around Europe, £795 so about $1400 AUD

The dealer was great I told him I was from Australia and I wanted to buy the advertised car and he told me everything I needed to do, tax, insurance the lot, he is putting the car away until we get there and will have all paperwork done so we can just drive off in it, as rego takes 2 weeks to come through from licencing there.

1 owner with 2 keys, all service history from new with all receipts, cam belt done 2000 miles ago, new tyres, long MOT.

 

Bonus is I know these cars inside and out as I have owned 20 of them in the last 3 years, and have wrecked at least another 20 of them for parts.

 

715114159_ScotlandGetz1.thumb.jpg.f2b5ccd6850547d7e49ca85d05efc849.jpg

Nothing fancy but it will do the same job as anything else.

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Well I bought a car, this is the actual car I will be driving around Europe, £795 so about $1400 AUD

The dealer was great I told him I was from Australia and I wanted to buy the advertised car and he told me everything I needed to do, tax, insurance the lot, he is putting the car away until we get there and will have all paperwork done so we can just drive off in it, as rego takes 2 weeks to come through from licencing there.

1 owner with 2 keys, all service history from new with all receipts, cam belt done 2000 miles ago, new tyres, long MOT.

 

Bonus is I know these cars inside and out as I have owned 20 of them in the last 3 years, and have wrecked at least another 20 of them for parts.

 

https://www.aussiearcade.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148835

Nothing fancy but it will do the same job as anything else.

 

She'll do the job.

 

I've hit a snag with my plans. Insurance is a bigger drama for me compared to 2016. Seems the rules have toughened up for non residents and my choice of car hasn't helped either. Not looking good for my fully paid first rally that starts this month.

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She'll do the job.

 

I've hit a snag with my plans. Insurance is a bigger drama for me compared to 2016. Seems the rules have toughened up for non residents and my choice of car hasn't helped either. Not looking good for my fully paid first rally that starts this month.

 

Yes I noticed that insurance is quite expensive, to insure the Getz for comprehensive for £1000 it is £300, so $600 AU for 2 months, so I can see that for a more expensive vehicle for a longer period it would be even more expensive.

I used a company called Down Under insurance, they were the cheapest and pretty much the only one willing to insure us for 2 months, excess is £250 if we screw up, but it fully covers us for all of Europe.

 

Hope you find a company for the right price.

 

What car are you driving?

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Yes I noticed that insurance is quite expensive, to insure the Getz for comprehensive for £1000 it is £300, so $600 AU for 2 months, so I can see that for a more expensive vehicle for a longer period it would be even more expensive.

I used a company called Down Under insurance, they were the cheapest and pretty much the only one willing to insure us for 2 months, excess is £250 if we screw up, but it fully covers us for all of Europe.

 

Hope you find a company for the right price.

 

What car are you driving?

 

I've got an Audi RS3 waiting. All depends on the insurance now, but I think we can get a deal done.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well 3 days and im off, found some good apps to use while away.

One that has taxi drivers bidding for your transfers to and from the airports around the world, more than likely saved a few bucks called gettransfer,com

You can pick from Economy, Comfort and Luxury, we have one picking us up from airport in Dubai, taking us 31 ks for $27 in a new Lexus under comfort, then 1 taking us to the airport 2 days later for the same amount.

 

If anyone has any good apps to use, I would be glad to hear of them, when you search for travel apps you get the same trip adviser, airbnb ect...

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Im in Glasgow, drove from Edinburgh after we picked up the car from Balerno, seems ok, have not come across any arcades yet, off to Penrith tommorow, doubt if ill find one there either, fish and chips are a little different :) thick wedge chips.
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Got back yesterday from my first road trip of the year. Covered 3800 kms over six days. Uk-France-Italy-Austria-Switzerland-Germany-Belgium.

 

Incredible road trip again with some amazing people.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Off on another one in just over a week.

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