Road trip to Germany - considerations?
Discussion
AB said:
I was on the A5 last year in aforementioned S65 and got plenty of opportunity to do more than 250kmh for quite extended periods.
I was just talking about my own personal daily experience. There are still bits of unrestricted autobahn that are good for high speed runs, unfortunately none seem to be near medcb said:
Be warned that driving standards across Europe - with the possible exception of Belgium -
are far higher than in the UK.
Utter nonsense IMO. Roads are generally emptier, which makes it seem like everyone's driving better, but get stuck into a rush hour and it's worse than the uk for barging and aggressive driving. The Germans have their share of the 40mph everywhere brigade, the overtake blockers, same as we do. And as for the Italians and French...are far higher than in the UK.
Interesting to see lots of common experiences here. Mine:
Belgian drivers, like Belgian road surfaces, generally poor. In fact the whole country feels a bit poor IME.
French autoroutes: sparsely populated with vehicles. Cruise control on 145kmh won't get you noticed.
German derestricted autobahns: you need your wits about you, and suddenly what looked like a sweeping curve from a distance can feel like a twisty country lane when you get to it at >200kmh (eg the A1 north from the French border has plenty of derestricted sections but Christ it needed a few more straight lines when it was designed).
The Netherlands: quite disciplined, almost uptight drivers. Good surfaces.
The big overhead gantries in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are ANPR for tax purposes, AIUI.
It's quite a shock coming back to speed camera central good old England. Esp as the M20 right now is about 90% 50mph from the coast to the M26. The only saving grace seems to be that there's a long section of 50mph with no Specs average speed cams, but the lanes are so narrow that most people stick to 50 anyway. Then there's the gatsos and the hadecs 3 on the M25, the digital gatsos on every arterial route into London ... lovely.
Belgian drivers, like Belgian road surfaces, generally poor. In fact the whole country feels a bit poor IME.
French autoroutes: sparsely populated with vehicles. Cruise control on 145kmh won't get you noticed.
German derestricted autobahns: you need your wits about you, and suddenly what looked like a sweeping curve from a distance can feel like a twisty country lane when you get to it at >200kmh (eg the A1 north from the French border has plenty of derestricted sections but Christ it needed a few more straight lines when it was designed).
The Netherlands: quite disciplined, almost uptight drivers. Good surfaces.
The big overhead gantries in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are ANPR for tax purposes, AIUI.
It's quite a shock coming back to speed camera central good old England. Esp as the M20 right now is about 90% 50mph from the coast to the M26. The only saving grace seems to be that there's a long section of 50mph with no Specs average speed cams, but the lanes are so narrow that most people stick to 50 anyway. Then there's the gatsos and the hadecs 3 on the M25, the digital gatsos on every arterial route into London ... lovely.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 2nd October 11:47
AB said:
RedWhiteMonkey said:
Chance would be a fine thing. On the section of Autobahn I have to drive everyday I'm lucky to get to 100kmh.
I was on the A5 last year in aforementioned S65 and got plenty of opportunity to do more than 250kmh for quite extended periods.dcb said:
Be warned that driving standards across Europe - with the possible exception of Belgium -
are far higher than in the UK.
Drivers are far more situationally aware of what is going on around them.
So no clogging up lanes in a UK style light doze , please.
Folks on the German autobahn *will* be doing 200-250 kmh and more and expecting
you to cope. Looking at least twice before a lane change is a good idea.
France and Belgium aren't as speed obsessed as the Brits. 20-30 kmh over the motorway
limit won't even get you noticed, never mind ticketed.
Add 'some' into every sentence and you get nearer the truth however the final one is just baloney.are far higher than in the UK.
Drivers are far more situationally aware of what is going on around them.
So no clogging up lanes in a UK style light doze , please.
Folks on the German autobahn *will* be doing 200-250 kmh and more and expecting
you to cope. Looking at least twice before a lane change is a good idea.
France and Belgium aren't as speed obsessed as the Brits. 20-30 kmh over the motorway
limit won't even get you noticed, never mind ticketed.
Greg66 said:
I
The big overhead gantries in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are ANPR for tax purposes,
They are for trucks only, so you can ignore them. You also don't need a 'SANEF' toll tag as there aren't any tolls on the road from Calais into Belgium. The only thing to be aware of whilst in France is speed limits and HiViz vests in the cab with the occupants (1 for each person).The big overhead gantries in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are ANPR for tax purposes,
Edited by Greg66 on Tuesday 2nd October 11:47
Germany seems to be quite pro-active in pursuing speeding offences - I got one at home after a trip - was only 20 euros so paid it straight away.
Greg66 said:
Get a sanef toll blipper for the tolls in France. V useful. And the stuff you need to carry (hi viz vests etc). If you have a digital speedo set it to read in km. and adjust your headlights if you can.
Although given his route I don't think he'll encounter any French toll roads.One bit of advice I'd give is to avoid the Brussels ring road if you were thinking of taking that route - head a little further north on the E17
(Use N47,N17, N16, N15 roads instead to cut between the congestion spots as the Antwerp ring road can also get clogged)
dcb said:
France and Belgium aren't as speed obsessed as the Brits. 20-30 kmh over the motorway
limit won't even get you noticed, never mind ticketed.
I think this is particularly bad advice, especially for France.limit won't even get you noticed, never mind ticketed.
Use Waze if you're so inclined and it will tell you where the speed cameras are.
Riley Blue said:
Add 'some' into every sentence and you get nearer the truth however the final one is just baloney.
I am grateful for your advice. The original poster sought opinions and I gave mine.After more than 30 years driving across continental Europe I still haven't got my first speeding ticket.
Interestingly, the Germans concentrate on what matters, distance to the car in front, rather than any
easy-to-police absolute speed.
Far higher speeds and better lane discipline make for a most pleasant experience
across Europe.
Hence my opinion, back up by hundreds of thousands of km and decades.
Adenauer said:
If you get caught doing 30 km/h over the limit in France these days you'll be walking to the ring, which is quite a long way 
France is up near the top of the list for places not to speed. Very rare to see people exceeding the speed limit to any meaningful extent these days, and they’ve become poorer drivers for it. TroubledSoul said:
It's great though, enjoy it
Thanks, really looking forward to it, seems a shame to have to break up this road trip with meetings 
Thanks everyone who has helped, hopefully I have all bases covered in terms of what I need to be carrying with me and what I need to be aware of.
I'll have some fairly expensive gear in the boot which if broken by taking an unexpected corner too fast would result in the entire trip being a complete waste of time. It's likely the only time I'll want to put the foot down is on an autobahn on the way back.
Biggest thing I've taken from this is that I should probably check the weather forecast before I leave so I don't get stuck anywhere in Germany without winter tyres!
AB said:
Thanks, really looking forward to it, seems a shame to have to break up this road trip with meetings
Thanks everyone who has helped, hopefully I have all bases covered in terms of what I need to be carrying with me and what I need to be aware of.
I'll have some fairly expensive gear in the boot which if broken by taking an unexpected corner too fast would result in the entire trip being a complete waste of time. It's likely the only time I'll want to put the foot down is on an autobahn on the way back.
Biggest thing I've taken from this is that I should probably check the weather forecast before I leave so I don't get stuck anywhere in Germany without winter tyres!
NoThanks everyone who has helped, hopefully I have all bases covered in terms of what I need to be carrying with me and what I need to be aware of.
I'll have some fairly expensive gear in the boot which if broken by taking an unexpected corner too fast would result in the entire trip being a complete waste of time. It's likely the only time I'll want to put the foot down is on an autobahn on the way back.
Biggest thing I've taken from this is that I should probably check the weather forecast before I leave so I don't get stuck anywhere in Germany without winter tyres!
BUY WINTER TYRES
i also found that the old french rule of giving way to traffic joining is still apparent with may drivers. apparently they revoked the rule for the more sensible priority to vehicles already on the road, but not everyone got the memo. be careful!
also on autoroutes in NL and B, flashing your headlights "to let someone pull out" actually means the opposite. it means keep out my way I'm going fast.
if you havent got a passenger, take one of those halloween hand toy things - useful for payign tolls/drive through without having to get out the car
apart from that, just watch which side of the road you drive on!
also on autoroutes in NL and B, flashing your headlights "to let someone pull out" actually means the opposite. it means keep out my way I'm going fast.
if you havent got a passenger, take one of those halloween hand toy things - useful for payign tolls/drive through without having to get out the car
apart from that, just watch which side of the road you drive on!
Dog Star said:
France is up near the top of the list for places not to speed. Very rare to see people exceeding the speed limit to any meaningful extent these days, and they’ve become poorer drivers for it.
Fair comment, but not comparable to my experience over the last few years.CH is the place to really not speed. They are punitive.
Recent adventures include some bloke in some sort of Smart Car (packing crate
with casters on) doing 180 kmh in the wrong lane near Steenvorde, and an Opel Corsa
doing 170 kmh - with learner plates on - near Dunquerke.
I'll draw a discreet veil over various Germans and Dutch wandering about the
province at 160 -180 kph.
Only EUR 90 fine until 180 kph. Makes sense to me. Excellent French authorities. Most civilised,
unlike the Brits.
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