Route through Belgium

[Enzed]

Planning to drive across to Stuttgart - any suggestions for best(fastest) route through Belgium from Calais? thxs

[DrJNA]

Depends how much time you have. If it has to be all motorway you have three options.

Via Brussels - avoid at all costs. Traffic is always atrocious.

Via Lille, Mons, Charleroi, Luxembourg isn't usually too bad - traffic around the city ring roads can always be dodgy though.

through France Via Reims, Metz and cross into Germany at Baden Baden would be my top choice.

Alternatively with more time on your hands routing through Parc regional l'avesnois and Ardennes is great. Follow the roads along the Meuse and Semois rivers. Stop at the Point de Vue Frahan for the famous Ardennes panorama before driving on through Luxembourg into Germany.

[dcb]

DrJNA said:

Via Brussels - avoid at all costs. Traffic is always atrocious.

Interestingly, I've rarely had trouble with the Brussels ring road.
Ok it is the capital city and worth avoiding at busy times, but I
can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've been stuck
in a jam.

After hundreds of trips, Brussels, Aachen, Koln, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe is my preferred route.

There is a lovely bit of three lanes no limits autobahn from Aachen to Koln.
Koln to Frankfurt is always busy and getting over 200 kmh is a challenge.
Frankfurt to Darmstadt an absolute racetrack. The world and his wife is
flat out in whatever they have here.

DrJNA said:

Via Lille, Mons, Charleroi, Luxembourg isn't usually too bad - traffic around the city ring roads can always be dodgy though.

Indeed. I've done this route a few times and always found Lille a challenge.
Lux is good for cheap petrol, but it's a long boring road from Namur to Lux.
Lux to Karlsruhe IIRC a pretty run with lots of hills.

DrJNA said:

through France Via Reims, Metz and cross into Germany at Baden Baden would be my top choice.

I have never done it this way. I wonder what the cost of the French tolls would be.

Liege, Bitburg, Karlsruhe is another option I've tried. You could get keen and
try the A61 on the west bank of the Rhine, but I don't have much patience with
such a long speed limited road when the east bank A3 is mostly unlimited.

[DrJNA]

With Plenty of trips to Spa and Zolder I’ve learnt to avoid Brussels. Belgian drivers are also some of the worst I’ve come across. I think tailgating must be part of the driving lessons over there.

If you’re going from Calais to Stuttgart and you’ve ended up near Aachen and Köln you’ve gone the wrong way. Fair comment though, the Autobahnen are great. My partner is from nearby Aachen so I know the area well, in fact we’re moving there in a few months for good.

Tolls in France I don’t notice really, just use the Auto toll tag. If money is an issue might be worth looking into for sure.

[dcb]

dcb said:

I have never done it this way. I wonder what the cost of the French tolls would be.

viamichelin.com seems to think about 55 Euros.

[plenty]

Not the fastest but I can recommend this stretch through the Ardennes and Luxembourg. In particularly the N10 which follows the Moselle river basin along the Lux/Germany border is a spectacular (and long) driving road.

shorturl.at/byDQS

[Chris944]

plenty said:

Not the fastest but I can recommend this stretch through the Ardennes and Luxembourg. In particularly the N10 which follows the Moselle river basin along the Lux/Germany border is a spectacular (and long) driving road.

shorturl.at/byDQS

That looks interesting. Cheers