Europe road trip July '24

[Alfa GTV]

Mrs Alfa and I are taking on our first Europe road trip together, we tend to holiday 3 times yearly and this year are looking to do a trip through Europe -

Ferries are booked, departing Dover to Calais, heading over to Austria

Travelling through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, with only a few routes we have discovered and things too see, any recommendations on must see/do areas?

Also a slight minefield of what to take, so far the list is:

V5C
Insurance docs
Driving licence
Passport
First aid kit
Breakdown cover
GB sticker
light deflectors
high viz jacket
mini breathalyser
warning triangle
bulb kit
vignette - for tolls in Austria - can this be bought in advance online?

Any other items to add to the list or suggestions on routes?

Edited by Alfa GTV on Tuesday 25th June 10:14

[Truckosaurus]

Alfa GTV said:

...GB sticker...

UK Sticker

[M11rph]

Austrian Vignette.

The digital version is much more convenient. Buy online, and there's a 10 day version for EUR 11.50 which might suit you? That has immediate validity if you want, whilst the 2 month version requires you to wait 18 days (that's to stop people using it and then applying for a refund).

https://shop.asfinag.at/en/

If you have a Revolut account then pay from your Euro Balance and you should avoid any currency fees. It's worth getting a Revolut or similar account if you don't already have one.

Looks like you have all the paperwork sorted. I also have a couple of dedicated e-mail folders. One for car document related and another for all the booking receipts/Hotels.
Rarely needed, but it makes it easy finding an important e-mail amongst the thousands of others lurking in your In Box ... unless that is just me?!

UK Oval sticker not required if you have the UK identifier on your number plates. Either the small stickers, or plates made with them on the left hand side are fine.

[superpp]

Emissions sticker for German cities?
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-in-euro...

[omniflow]

Breathalyser is not needed. Some websites that are selling them will tell you that it is, but it 100% definitely isn't needed.
I've never been asked to show my bulb kit - ever
Headlamp deflectors may not be needed - check in the handbook for your car. If it is a relatively modern car then they probably won't be needed.

Vignette for Austria - the on-line one requires some advance planning, due to cancelation rights. If you're too late to do this then you can buy them pretty much anywhere as you get close to the border. Stop at a services in Germany and buy what you need. There's no premium pricing, so no reason not to do it this way.

[Ussrcossack]

spare pair of spectacles if you wear them for driving

[Truckosaurus]

Ussrcossack said:

spare pair of spectacles if you wear them for driving

What happens if you lose/break your first pair and have to use your spare pair, do you need a spare spare pair?

Is it like driving to an MoT station with no MoT, do you have to use your spare specs to drive to the nearest optician?

[Metric Max]

superpp said:

Emissions sticker for German cities?
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-in-euro...

And emissions sticker for French ones.
Does your car actually have bulbs that you can replace? And most cars now have headlamps that cen be set for RHS driving either under the bonnet or from a menu system in which case you don't need beam deflectors

[Truckosaurus]

Metric Max said:

....And most cars now have headlamps that cen be set for RHS driving either under the bonnet or from a menu system in which case you don't need beam deflectors

Indeed. Or might not need adjusting at all in some cases.

[paralla]

Electronic Toll tag linked to your bank account.

https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/

[DeuceDeuce]

I went to Austria as part of trip earlier this year and got a e-vignette and registered for toll roads here:

https://www.asfinag.at/en/toll/vignette/

I got stopped by the Austrian police at a checkpoint and was asked for my driving license and ‘documents’. I handed over my DL and a plastic envelope containing my V5, proof of insurance and recent MOT. After doing whatever checks they do, they let me on my way.

I’m not sure if these ‘checkpoints’ where they flag down random cars are particular to Austria but I’ve not witnessed one before.

[mikef]

My standard list for France:
- [ ] Insurance certificate
- [ ] V5 registration
- [ ] UK plates
- [ ] Dashcam
- [ ] Emovis tag
- [ ] AA Europe cover
- [ ] Tunnel/Ferry Ticket
- [ ] Passports
- [ ] Euros
- [ ] Full tank of gas
- [ ] Crit’air sticker
- [ ] GHIC cards
- [ ] iPad
- [ ] Euro plug chargers
- [ ] Airpods
- [ ] French phone

and remove the radar detector as it’s illegal to possess in France (Waze OK though)

Edited to add - depending on which countries you are visiting, a dashcam may also be illegal to use or even to possess - link

Edited by mikef on Tuesday 25th June 15:54

[WY86]

An emergency fund of maybe £1000 incase you get a puncture that is not repairable. I hear tyres are not cheap in Europe.

[J77wck]

I am tagging on to this thread, I go for my first euro trip in september.

[Baldchap]

Your list is missing Swiss alpine passes.

Just done Levigno to Thun via five passes. Absolutely stunning and brilliant driving fun!

[Rob 131 Sport]

mikef said:

My standard list for France:
- [ ] Insurance certificate
- [ ] V5 registration
- [ ] UK plates
- [ ] Dashcam
- [ ] Emovis tag
- [ ] AA Europe cover
- [ ] Tunnel/Ferry Ticket
- [ ] Passports
- [ ] Euros
- [ ] Full tank of gas
- [ ] Crit’air sticker
- [ ] GHIC cards
- [ ] iPad
- [ ] Euro plug chargers
- [ ] Airpods
- [ ] French phone

and remove the radar detector as it’s illegal to possess in France (Waze OK though)

Edited to add - depending on which countries you are visiting, a dashcam may also be illegal to use or even to possess - link

Edited by mikef on Tuesday 25th June 15:54

You’ve failed to mention having a protection system to put around the car when parked. Unless of course you don’t mind having your car whacked by deliberately flung open doors of people parking next to you.

[mikef]

Rob 131 Sport said:

You’ve failed to mention having a protection system to put around the car when parked. Unless of course you don’t mind having your car whacked by deliberately flung open doors of people parking next to you.

Never happened to me in France, and I’ve lived and worked there for many years. Station car parks in the UK are a different story

[Rob 131 Sport]

mikef said:

Rob 131 Sport said:

You’ve failed to mention having a protection system to put around the car when parked. Unless of course you don’t mind having your car whacked by deliberately flung open doors of people parking next to you.

Never happened to me in France, and I’ve lived and worked there for many years. Station car parks in the UK are a different story

Trust me it’s terrible, especially when a decent UK plated car is involved. It’s got continuously worse to the point where we would always have at least one holiday per year in France to I’ll go elsewhere.

[acer12]

Rob 131 Sport said:

Trust me it’s terrible, especially when a decent UK plated car is involved. It’s got continuously worse to the point where we would always have at least one holiday per year in France to I’ll go elsewhere.

That’s a strange one, never happened us in all the years going in various nice cars to all corners of France, lots of friends also travel frequently and have never heard of uk cars being targeted in this way before.

By any chance any obnoxious driving / parking from yourself?

[mikef]

Rob 131 Sport said:

Trust me it’s terrible, especially when a decent UK plated car is involved. It’s got continuously worse to the point where we would always have at least one holiday per year in France to I’ll go elsewhere.

I had my UK-reg Porsche out there several times last year for work, no issues. Maybe there was another factor?