 Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks Andy. Not done the trip a huge amount but you are right, the roadworks in Germany normally haven't had a massive effect, but those temporary ones in April certainly did.
The worst part of the whole journey for us, coming from NE Scotland, is usually the bit between the English Midlands and Dover. Due to a late decision, taking the ferry from Hull or Newcastle wasn't an option this time due to limited availability and stupid prices. Eurotunnel instead, and completely free too thanks to Tesco.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
| I do the Luxembourg route annually on the way to Austria, and prefer it to the Brussels/Aachen route or anything through France. Lille-Mons-Namur-Luxembourg is really pretty simple, and the only part which seems slow is Pirmasens-Landau on the minor road through the hills, but even that has been improved now. |
This is our preferred route too, although if money was no object we’d probably do the normally very quiet Reims, Strasbourg route. We often do a stopover at the Hotel & Restaurant Zur Moselterrasse in Palzem, which I’d thoroughly recommend.
Depending upon the time of day, we tend to circumnavigate Munich using the middle ring road to the west and south of the city centre, rather than follow the orbital autobahn around the east side. It saves a few miles, gets us off the autobahn for a while and is a bit more interesting.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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We tend to orbit Munich around 5pm on Friday, having left Calais before 8am, so it's not the ideal time to be getting there. Again flexibility is key - Google Maps or Waze are pretty good at picking up on traffic and suggesting alternatives, and as a result we've skirted around the west and south to get back to the A8 ( https://goo.gl/maps/mpqghdQcYK2zWvqg9 ), gone straight through the middle, and more often than not used the A99 around the north and east because it was clear. Occasionally we've cut cross-country from Haar to Grafing to get to Rosenheim ( https://goo.gl/maps/FcaXFDeJqcv2hxfdA ), and while that is slower than a free-flowing autobahn it is a major improvement on one which is jammed.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Drove down from Rotterdam to Austria a couple of days ago (with overnight near Ulm). Yes I passed through roadworks, but none held me up TBH, the worst traffic I saw was heading in the opposite direction and was due to an accident blocking the outside lanes. I have the radio on in the car for traffic news, so if needs be I'll adjust my route slightly based on what I'm hearing.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've done the Lille-Mons-Namur-Luxembourg one quoted a couple of times on recommendation here and will probably be doing it again three weeks. I think the worst bit was the stretch of smaller road (Is that the cross country bit mentioned ?) and I did the trip with a stopover at Gunzberg near Ulm. I'm nearby this time in one of those unattended places as the hotel was full.
I've done the last few hours in the dark (and rain) before so given that I have four hours before I even get to the channel, my cunning plan this time is an evening tunnel, a Calais hotel and an early start the next day, *hopefully* getting to the stop at a reasonable time.
Oh, and don't get done for speeding in Karlsrue  It was only 10 Euros though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Tarquin, There are plenty of the chain hotels in Lille if you want to get a bit further the first day.
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I do the Belgium/Lux/Munich route quite a bit down to Austria. I've also done it in one push on a motorbike in pissing rain which I can wholeheartedly not recommend unless you are particularly masochistic. Tarquin, A Calais or Dunkirk stop over works much better.
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@rjs, Yeah I thought about that but I'll just leave home at lunchtime & get to Calais about 8pm I reckon.
@Scarpa, Cheers, I hoped so. By the time you've lost an hour with a morning crossing it can be mid-morning already. See ya soon! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I also travel the Lux route whenever we go to Austria. Can just make Lux on a single tank from Yorkshire and fill at Bercham, Luxembourg for pretty cheap compared to Uk prices. Always do it as a straight through with two of us tag-teaming and never had much of a problem. From leaving Yorkshire at midday’ish, can make Kitzbuhel by 6:30am or so with no real traffic issues or speeding. We regularly stop at that service station near Rosenheim for a kip or else we would be even earlier. From what other posters have said, the cross-country bit is the worst part but, even when done in fairly heavy fog and rain, it is still a decent road. Have not done since last January though so could be roadwork issues or not at the moment. Hope not since doing it 28 December.
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The last couple of times I've taken the eastern route via Aachen, Frankfurt and Nuremberg.
Its all Autobahn and I find it more relaxing for some reason. The downside is German rather than Lux petrol prices, but does have the advantage of hitting the Munich ring road further round, which can be very slow.
We overnight at the Holiday Inn Express in Ghent as this is as far as we can get on Friday night, usually getting there about midnight. An early breakfast followed by an 11 hour drive (including one or two stops).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Any advice on best route to Serfaus (or Landeck) from Stuttgart airport? Managed to get cheap flights to Stuttgart at the start of Feb half term and picking up a hire car there. Looks to be a choice between the Fernpass or the longer route via Bregenz and the Arlberg tunnel.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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either - or
via Bregenz is easier, especially if snowing, but obviously there's the extra toll for the tunnel. (edit: and for Serfaus, it's possible to avoid the Austrian vignette too, via the Fernpass, so long as you remain on the B road).
In terms of time, I'd say there's probably no difference, normally, however I have been stuck in a jam at a crawl along the single lane bit of "Schnellstrasse". Depends on time of day.
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@MontyP, go via Bregenz, the Fernpass is slow especially at weekends. The Fernpass gets closed occasionally and is not a good place to get stuck as it will involve long delays. There used to be long queues for the Pfändertunnel at Bregenz but there was a second bore opened a few years back which solved that. The can be queues at Bludenz as the two lane autobahn goes down to one lane on the run up to the Arlberg tunnel but generally not as bad on the queues after the end of the A7 autobahn at Füssen as a single carriage road winds through the valleys and over the pass.
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You know it makes sense.
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@MontyP, Stuttgart/ Ulm/ Bregenz and over Arlbergpass (or if weather bad use the tunnel but anticipate queues). Avoid Saturday mornings (especially if start of half term holiday weekend), or drive up early.... heading up from Bregenz, it can get very busy with heavy jams, 2 lanes into one near Dalaas etc. Also don't forget to buy Vignette at the D/AUT border.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| @MontyP, Stuttgart/ Ulm/ Bregenz and over Arlbergpass (or if weather bad use the tunnel but anticipate queues). Avoid Saturday mornings (especially if start of half term holiday weekend), or drive up early.... heading up from Bregenz, it can get very busy with heavy jams, 2 lanes into one near Dalaas etc. Also don't forget to buy Vignette at the D/AUT border. |
Cheers - we don't have much of a choice on timing as we get into Stuttgart around 10am. So I guess we'll be at the Arlberg tunnel 2-3pm on Sat afternoon.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@MontyP, I'd say could be a bit later, you're travelling the same route as the vast majority and as you land you'll be catching up with the Dutch and Belgians who left home early.....the Autobahn between SG and MUC is generally very busy at peak times, and also Bregenz to Arlberg Expressway likewise.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I came back from Kronplatz last season and my sat nav sent me via Garmisch and N Munich ...I did wonder why but some friends that left at exactly the same time as me caught me up after Ulm so the Fernpass was obviously slower ..and I never got on the Austrian autobahn ..no vignette needed!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I recently (early July) did Karlsruhe - Ulm City (watch out for cameras in the city) - Fernpass - Italy. The climb out of Karlsruhe was foul - as Andy says they are upgrading the motorway. There's also the hill where the motorway splits - eastbound one side of the hill, westbound the other side – two lanes with no hard shoulder (but you get used to that in Germany!) Ulm itself wasn't a problem.
Last week I used the Kaiserslautern/Heilbronn option which misses Pforzheim and all the other hassles. A bit longer but less stressful.
As I've said elsewhere, if the southbound traffic towards Fussen is bad, consider diverting through Nesselwang, Pfronten (to avoid the border tunnel) and Reutte (to avoid the flow control at the start of the pass). No need to buy a vignette if you set the GPS to avoid vignettes. If you route via Stams on the valley floor that is a bit easier than taking the twisty road from Obermeiming down to Telfs.
Yes, there are many options – you pay your money and maybe take your time!
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FAQ
