driving holiday europe - crossing borders??

[A993LAD]

A quick question from me because I have never done this before.

Setting off on Monday for a short jaunt in the car through France and hopefully into northern Italy or the Swiss Alps before heading back.

What happens at the country border crossings?

Looking at the map there seem to be plenty of roads that cross in and out of France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany etc. I'm assuming that there can't be formal border crossings with checkpoints at all of these roads so do you just drive in and out like crossing county boundaries in the UK?

[marshalla]

Within the Schengen zone, there are no border controls at all, but you may see some of the old buildings as you whizz past.

From the sound of your plans, you'll only have to queue to enter/leave France.

Check your route in advance, btw - you may require a vignette (equivalent of road tax) for some countries.

Edited by marshalla on Friday 26th June 07:47

[RicksAlfas]

[so called]

Britain to or from France, Passport controls and maybe car inspection.
France to Holland, Belgium, Spain, no controls. Not sure France to Italy as not made that crossing.
France, Germany, Italy to or from Switzerland, last time I did it and sure still the same, Passport controls and Vignette for driving in Switzerland (can purchase one at the border).

Have fun.

[//j17]

Yep, only border you're likely to see on mainland Europe is the Swiss one and even then most of the buildings are there for you to stop and buy the Vignette sticker you need to drive on Swiss motorways - http://www.myswissalps.com/motorwayvignette

[anonymous-user]

There are border controls into out of Switzerland, I was stopped in November, it is random

[GreatGranny]

Remember me and a mate driving 2000 miles around Europe in his Mini 1000 when we were 18.

Must have gone in and out of France/Switzerland/Germany maybe 15 times during the 2 week holiday.

Sometimes it wasn't obvious which country you were in and hardly any were manned.

This was in 1983 :-)

[A993LAD]

Thanks for all the tips - very helpful indeed.

With regards to the Swiss vignette - I looked at the link and it says for motorways. Does that mean I don't need anything if I'm staying on non-motorway roads?

Must knows about the Swiss motorway vignette
It is required to have a vignette if you intend to use the Swiss motorways;

[Roo]

Wasn't there talk recently about the French/Italian border being a bit more policed currently due to the immigrants?

[Rude-boy]

A993LAD said:

Thanks for all the tips - very helpful indeed.

With regards to the Swiss vignette - I looked at the link and it says for motorways. Does that mean I don't need anything if I'm staying on non-motorway roads?

Must knows about the Swiss motorway vignette
It is required to have a vignette if you intend to use the Swiss motorways;

No idea is the honest answer from me but given the Swiss sense of humour and how flexible they are I'd just buy one in any case, just in case. From memory of seeing the cost on here it isn't much.

[//j17]

A993LAD said:

Thanks for all the tips - very helpful indeed.

With regards to the Swiss vignette - I looked at the link and it says for motorways. Does that mean I don't need anything if I'm staying on non-motorway roads?

Must knows about the Swiss motorway vignette
It is required to have a vignette if you intend to use the Swiss motorways;

From the page I linked to:
Do I need a vignette?
You do not need a vignette if you avoid using the motorways.

[boxst]

I drove all the way to Eastern Poland and back without showing my passport until I arrived back in Calais to go through the Eurotunnel.

Very good but of course causes all the problems in Calais as once you are in Europe through whatever leaky border you really are in Europe with no restriction on movement.

[rcspeirs]

You do not need a Swiss vignette if you don't drive on Swiss motorways. Which sounds fine - but it is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Example, If you're trying to get along Lake Geneva, around Lausanne, and into the Rhone valley, the non motorway route is desperately slow, though every city, town and village. Low speed limits (enforced) and endless traffic lights.
Furthermore some vital connector roads (which would hardly count as an "A" road to us) are designated motorway, and you have to have a vignette to use them.
The Swiss traffic police are extremely vigilant in spotting anyone driving on a 'motorway' without a vignette. I've crossed Switzerland on a motorbike a few times, avoiding the motorway. It needs careful planning. I've been followed by a traffic cop on more than one occasion, who was waiting to pounce if I'd strayed onto a motorway section - which was extremely easy as that was the "straight ahead" option, I had to positively turn off to avoid the motorway...

[Puggit]

Some good advice - especially the longish post above. Some connecting roads and tunnels require the vignette.

Also someone else was corect that there are currently some border controls between Italy and France, due to all the asylum seekers that don't want to stop in their first safe country.

[Puggit]

Some good advice - especially the longish post above. Some connecting roads and tunnels require the vignette.

Also someone else was corect that there are currently some border controls between Italy and France, due to all the asylum seekers that don't want to stop in their first safe country.