Just checked various areas along my 1500 mile journey this weekend.

 

Start

Saturday 14th

Chadwell Heath ***** slight showers ******** -1

Dover ************ clear *************** 1

Calais ************ clear *************** 1

Liege ************ snowing ************* -2

 

Sunday 15th

Hasselt *********** snowing ************* -1

Bonn ************* snowing ************* -3

Frankfurt ********** snowing ************* -4

Graz ************** snowing ************ -4

Ormoz ************* clear ************** -4

 

Monday 16th

Zagreb ************ snowing ************ -3

Skopje ************ snowing ************ -3

Finish

 

DOH !!!

That's one hell of a journey :D

I wouldn't want to do that in a 300zx :D.

Glad I'm taking the beema.

what you doing a round the world trip !

what you doing a round the world trip !

 

 

Nah, chucking the wife and kid on a plane and meeting them over in Macedonia where I'll stay for 2 weeks with the family. Then driving back and picking them up from the airport this side :)

sounds like fun mate

Stu -

 

That sounds like an interesting drive. However, just a quick word of warning. I did a similar trip a number of years ago (Gothenburg to Skopje - had to collect a new Volvo for the Dutch ambassador's use). I can't remember where it was exactly but somewhere not to far past Zagreb there are a number of long tunnels. I was driving during the day (bright sun shine) and was absolutely blind when driving into the tunnels (hardly any lighting) only to find that the tunnel BENDS fairly sharply a number of times. Lets just say I was glad to have some clean underpants with me! So, moral of my post is, please drive carefully, expect the unexpected and don't take any unnecessary risks (especially in tunnels). If you need to stop for a nap/sleep then don't leave your car unattended in a motorway car park - I've heard far too many stories of burglarised & stolen cars in that part of the world.

 

Have a great time!

 

Dan

Hi Dan,

 

Thanks for the advice mate. I think I know the tunnels you are referring to, there are about 3 or 4 longish tunnels in a row with very sharp turns in them.

 

Since this is the first time I have done the full route by car I'll be more than careful. I have my wife and daughter waiting for me at the other end, so there's no way I'll be taking any risks.

 

It's 23.5 hours solid driving, so I'm giving myself 3 days to get there and if it takes more, then it takes more. Every two hours, tired or not I'll be taking a break to stretch my legs take a quick toiler break and have a drink (no, not alcahol ;) ). I plan to stop off in germany somewhere for a sleep.

 

What did you think of Skopje ?. Did you stay long ?

I didn't stay very long (I think it was only two days). Did really like it - very friendly and hospitable people. Has to be said though that this was in back in the mid '90s so things will have changed a lot in the meantime.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

All the best Stu.

 

Dan

I’m now back in England.

Got to say I had a complete blast driving across Europe and back. It was a great experience.

A brief summary of my journey as follows:

 

Saturday 14/02

16:00 – set out from my house and headed for Dover.

18:30 – On the euro star train to Calais

20:15 – Arrived in France (set watch an hour forward).

From here I drove to Belgium and then through the Netherlands down to Germany. Lots of fun driving through Germany, I was doing 125 mph for a bit and still had a number of BMW’s , Audi’s and Merc’s overtaking me. Didn’t see any other cars, no R8’s, no GTR’s etc.

Sunday 15/02

01:30 – The Main E3 which runs to Austria is closed for snow clearing. I have to take the back streets for 100 miles until I can get back on. Luckily my Tom Tom has Western Europe maps so all is good. Back on the E3 and stopped off in Munich for a sleep at a motel. Temperature was -9 so didn’t fancy sleeping in the car.

07:30 – Had a shower and continued on the road trip.

12:10 – Entered Austria, Wow what an amazing view of the mountains, so many long tunnels to interrupt the view but what a great experience.

16:45 – Entered into Slovenia and within 5 minutes I’ve been pulled off of my route by the police who decide to take 2 hours to search the car and contents before reviewing my documents.

21:00 – I’m now well and truly lost in Slovenia, what should have been a 45 minute drive through Slovenia has now turned into a nightmare. I pull over at a petrol station to buy a map to get me back on course as my tom tom no longer works and the directions I printed off are pretty useless.

20:55 – I managed to get out of Slovenia and into Croatia, it’s pretty dark now so I can’t see much at all.

00:00 – I stop at the Croatian Border to Serbia and I’m asked for my Green card for Serbia. They know full well that England insurance companies o not give Green cards for Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. So I have to buy 1 months Serbian Insurance for 110 euros before I can get my passport back.

02:00 – I’m driving through Serbia between Belgrade and Nis when I hit a server Snow Blizzard. I can’t see more than 2 meters in front of me and the swirling snow in my head lights is starting to trip me out. I pull over at a parking area next to a petrol station and decide to sleep. I have two jumpers on and a coat, a big fury hat and thermal gloves and a thermal sleeping back, I’m toasty to say the least. 2.5 hours later I awake shivering my nuts off. I decided to continue on the journey so I can get the heaters on again.

04:30 – Blizzard has calmed down a bit but the roads are full with snow and ice (it’s -14 now).

07:40 – I arrive at the board control to leave Serbia and enter Macedonia. Conversation is in Serbian now and I’m asked if I have anything on board. “Ne” I reply. I know the Serbian boarder control can be a pain in the butt, so after being asked for the third time I pass the Control officer my passport with 10 euros inside. He’s happy enough with that and lets me pass into Macedonia.

08:45 – Beautiful drive through the mountains of Macedonia and I arrive at my destination with my family waiting for me on the balcony.

 

Coming back from Macedonia 2 weeks later was pretty straight forward and apart from having to bribe Croatian police to let me off a 250 euro speeding fine, I was on my way again 100 euros lighter. My journey back was much easier as the snow had cleared and I had only thick fog in Austria to deal with. I left at 08:00am on Sunday and arrived at Calais after a 10 hour stop off in Frankfurt at 15:15 on Monday.

 

A great experience but twice the price of a plane ticket . If anyone is thinking of driving across Europe and needs some info, let me know and I’ll be happy to help out.

Sounds like a blast.....

 

wouldnt wanna try anything like that on my own... although the trip down to spain would be nice... and pretty straight forward i would think.... 1500 miles door to door to the villa in spain.... 24 hours according to tom tom....hmmmmm..... ;)

 

 

Did you get any pictures of the drive through?

Sounds like you had an epic journey!

 

Good job!

bribing police, snow storms and speeding, sounds like a spy movie

Did you get any pictures of the drive through?

 

Yeah got a few nice shots of vairous points.

 

The wind turbines in the netherlands, Mountains of Austria, serbia and macedonia etc. etc.

 

I'll post some up tonight.

a few pictures

 

Belgium

 

Germany - stopped for sleep in motel

 

Germany - the next morning when I woke up

 

Austria

 

Still Austria

 

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more pics

 

Serbia

 

Macedonia

That be some awesome views there bud :nana2::bow::dance: .... never gonna et bored on that trip.........

I always liked those beemers :)