Driving through Europe - current status?

[kiethton]

Hi all,

Looking to get away on the last 2 weeks of July. Looking at the mess which is current travel I'm finding it hard to piece all of the bits together.

Our aim is to drive to Croatia again, however although Croatia is open I'm not sure how easily we will be able to get there?

Does anybody know what driving is like at the moment - we would need to pass through:

Channel Tunnel - France
France - Belgium
Belgium - Germany
Germany - Austria
Austria - Slovenia
Slovenia - Croatia

Although I know that hotels in Croatia are ok now, the other concern is overnight stops on each leg - Germany is the most logical but I'm still not 100% if this is possible?

Hoping to leave the UK on 18th July....

[kiethton]

Tha'ts very helpful thanks, gives some confidence that we'll get into france at least.

From what I can currently gather:

France - Belgium - Germany seems to be no issue/no controls (provided I can get to France). From watching Misha Charoudin's youtube channel he was able to get from Germany - Croatia, although this was in a Croatian registered car, unsure whether a UK car would have any issues there

[kiethton]

NAS said:

omniflow said:

The only bit I'm uncertain about is Austria - I think they're asking for a certificate of non-infection that is less than 4 days old. Not sure if this applies to road crossings, and also not sure if whether or not you are staying overnight in Austria makes a difference.

We were on holiday in Austria 2 weeks ago. No checks & nothing was requested.

Thats useful as I'd heard a few conflicting things re. Austria - think the only major impediment is Croatia/Slovenia from what I can gather.

50% on just slacking it off and flying to Faro instead...

[kiethton]

elise2000 said:

Afternoon

I’m currently in Croatia, having driven down a week ago. Very easy and no issues.

Eurotunnel- British checked passports, French didn’t bother.

Drove straight to Nuremberg and stayed in a hotel. Masks required else fine. No passports were needed in Belgium or Netherlands.

Then drove straight to Zagreb. No passports needed until Slovenia. They wanted to check we were transiting through only.

Passports checked on entering Croatia. I suggest filling out the form on the https://entercroatia.mup.hr/ site to make the border crossing quicker.

All is good here. Masks “required” on public transport but few wearing.

Hope that helps

Legend!

Very helpful, thankyou!

[kiethton]

elise2000 said:

kiethton said:

Legend!

Very helpful, thankyou!

No worries. What part of Croatia are you going to?

Current thoughts are a return to Brac/Bol, but potentially even somewhere like Pag. Was considering Dubrovnik but don't think I could face that extension....

[kiethton]

elise2000 said:

kiethton said:

Current thoughts are a return to Brac/Bol, but potentially even somewhere like Pag. Was considering Dubrovnik but don't think I could face that extension....

Nice. I would suggest going anywhere that is usually touristy as this year everywhere is much quieter then normal!

We’re on hvar and last week there were only 65 tourists on the whole island. Normally this time of year there are around 5000!

Ah wicked, things have changed slightly, now looking like 6 nights in Pula, 6 nights in Hvar and a stopover in Stuttgart/Munich on each leg over

[kiethton]

Thanks - much appreciated, will add all on the list - always good to have recommendations, know Brac well having been a few times but never made it to Hvar. Trying to get a meeting cancelled so I can leave in a week’s time...else we’ll hopefully be off Thursday week!

[kiethton]

Thanks for all the assistance, tunnel and accommodation booked last night, we leave on Tuesday.

Intention is to do a few laps of the Nurburgring in the evening open session before heading onto somewhere around stuttgart overnight, likely the Porsche museum the next morning before pressing on to Pula, Croatia. The second half will be spent in Hvar before we come back via Munich.



Now the big question is which car to take...fear the head (and comfort) will win over the heart however...

[kiethton]

Thanks all, as promised an update

Took the M135i as the Mrs’ luggage/comfort requirements won out, performed far better on the wet Nürburgring in any event.

Got to Croatia last night, only a few issues:

Triggered a few speed camera’s across Germany, 2 of which were where I thought I was going the speed limit +/- 3kph, the other where I only twigged the second roadwork reduction when I saw the sign after and breezes through a 60 at 100ish...let’s hope January rolls around before any letters arrive....

We had the addition of an Italian border, after 4 hours of Austrian passes which was good fun also (took the turning immediately after the border) - went through Lentz etc.

Only other important points for those travelling:

Masks in all “public” places (shops, not bars/restaurants) in Germany/Croatia.
Hotel in Stuttgart (Ibis) we had to confirm that we were a married couple before they would let us share a room.
All borders not an issue, except for Croatia. We hadn’t filled in a new online form before our arrival. They saw I had internet on the phone so scanned our passports and let us in on the provision we did so when at the hotel.

We’re now here and chilling on the Beach in Pula, with a beer, and 1,160 miles down so far. Life is good.

Onto Hvar early next week so we’ll check out all of the places recommended, thanks

[kiethton]

xjay1337 said:

kiethton said:

Thanks all, as promised an update

Took the M135i as the Mrs’ luggage/comfort requirements won out, performed far better on the wet Nürburgring in any event.

Got to Croatia last night, only a few issues:

Triggered a few speed camera’s across Germany, 2 of which were where I thought I was going the speed limit +/- 3kph, the other where I only twigged the second roadwork reduction when I saw the sign after and breezes through a 60 at 100ish...let’s hope January rolls around before any letters arrive....

We had the addition of an Italian border, after 4 hours of Austrian passes which was good fun also (took the turning immediately after the border) - went through Lentz etc.

Only other important points for those travelling:

Masks in all “public” places (shops, not bars/restaurants) in Germany/Croatia.
Hotel in Stuttgart (Ibis) we had to confirm that we were a married couple before they would let us share a room.
All borders not an issue, except for Croatia. We hadn’t filled in a new online form before our arrival. They saw I had internet on the phone so scanned our passports and let us in on the provision we did so when at the hotel.

We’re now here and chilling on the Beach in Pula, with a beer, and 1,160 miles down so far. Life is good.

Onto Hvar early next week so we’ll check out all of the places recommended, thanks

You must be the chap from Facebook.

I still find it almost impossible that they'd ask to prove you're married.

What if you're married but living apart? Or what if you're both married but to different people? Or if you're not married but living together... How can you prove you're married
And what's to stop them, if they put you in different rooms, then just going into the same room anyway?

Enjoy your holibobs.

Yep, that’d be me

That’s the question I was asked, may just be a poor translation from German however. Who knows...

Thanks tho