 Poster: A snowHead
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We're looking at driving to Obergurgl next Easter hols. We cant get away from Cambridge till 15.00 ish on Friday April 1st, so we were planning along the lines of last Easters trip to LA - 19.somthing tunnel, stop just beyond Reims, early start on the Sat morning and into resort early afternoon. This time we're thinking same time tunnel and stop just this side of Luxembourg, then early start again and into resort for early pm, allowing for the extra 90 mins or so in distance.
That's worked for us for the last 2 trips but the journey down thru France has been pretty much traffic free so we don't know how this compares to Belgian and German roads around this time ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@mikeh, The whole of Germany seems to head south at Easter (skis, bikes, kayaks, caravans etc) and don't even think about the Dutch, Holland is empty, I'd be bashing on through the night rather than stopping in order to beat the traffic if it was me. You'll also likely get held up at Fernpass where they close the road with 1/2 hour interval lights so avoid this and go via Munich or better via Bregenz is my advice. Also if going via Luxembourg, presumably you'll be going via Karlsruhe, that stretch of road can be VERY busy at peak times, we tend to go Brussels, Bonn, down the Rhine and Ulm, sometimes Frankfurt and Wutzburg but always into Austria at Bregenz (Pfandertunnel now open) to avoid worst of the traffic, and do most of the journey overnight.
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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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Easter is the weekend before and I was contemplating a similar trip departing Good Friday, it'll be our go at driving down so good to know about the Dutch and German migration!
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@Markymark29, he does not need to go down via the Füssen - Imst route. The A7 will be horrendous.
@mikeh, I'm just about to leave for Munich for the evening but I can give you a variety of routes that will avoid most of the big headaches. You will actually be moving against the biggest trend - good Friday will be a bad day, as will the day before. Easter weekend may or may not be bad depending on how the snow is. Early Easters usually mean fewer sun worshippers heading for the beaches or the Italian lakes, so the factor that really counts is how good is the snow! 
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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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Coming from here, I'd be getting to Ulm, then A7-A96 to Bregenz. Jams are going to be at Karlsruhe and Ulm, and then in Austria where the autobahn ironically becomes a Schnellstrasse. IME. Ignore the Satnav when it tries to divert you thru the Ulm shortcut - it's not worth the faff. Munich seems like a bit of a detour.
Need to see where the roadworks are going to be.
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Thanks guys, we are travelling the Friday after Easter, so I was hoping that the traffic might reflect that. Bregenz sounds like a good idea. Maybe best to avoid Karlsruhe by going via France ?
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@mikeh, You'll pay tolls in France, I'd stick to Belgium via Brussels (good roads) not Mons/ Liege (appalling roads), then as my route above. There are some major roadworks going on currently in southern Germany but they may be clear by next Easter, best to take a view nearer the time, but Germany not France is my take on it.....we go 3x a year and never have any major problems, but I do suggest driving through the night to avoid crowds.
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@mikeh, You can take the usual route through to Luxembourg as you will miss the rush hour at Lille by the time you get there. I think using the A16 to Dunkirk then the A25 to Lille means no tolls have to be paid. From Lille cross into Belgium and take the southern route across to Namur (via Charleroi and Mons) where you will then turn south to Luxembourg. There is an Ibis hotel near the motorway that some snowHeads have used.
From Luxembourg you have a choice of routes - either south back into France to Strasbourg before crossing into Germany (tolls about 20/30 Euro) or east into Germany and along the A8 via Karlsruhe as far as Ulm. At Ulm follow the A7 as far as Memmingen where you pick up the A96 to Bregenz.
Another option on this route is to go down the A81 from Stuttgart to Lake Constance then east towards Lindau to pick up the A96 shortly before the Austrian border. The Pfänder Tunnel at Bregenz is now fully open so the old hold up does not occur. then Follow the A14 through to Tirol using the Arlberg Schnellstrasse until it meets the A12. Then come off the A12 at Ötztal Bahnhof where you start up the valley to the Gurgls!
By avoiding France, you avoid the extra tolls but they are not that high in that area. You also definitely avoid the Füssen-Reutte-Imst bottleneck at the end of the A7. There are some massive long term roadworks along the A7 as well but I'm not sure where to be honest, I just keep hearing the traffic reports on the radio talking about numerous hold ups and tailbacks. If the A8 is Germany's main west to east artery, the A7 is definitely its aorta. It starts in Hamburg and carries ALL the main north-south holiday traffic, hence the bottle neck where it ends between Füssen and Reutte and the Fern Pass.
Take a look and decide which way you want to drive! I don't know if the work on the Arlberg Tunnel will be completed by next Easter, but clarkey999 will as he travels that road regularly on his trips back and forth between Montafon and Innsbruck. Currently it is closed and you have to go over the Arlberg Pass, and HGVs are banned I think so they have to go the long way round via Munich.
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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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Probably worth keeping options open for now. Quite a long way in the future, still, and all the listed long-term roadworks etc. only go up to september or november.
Up to the last time I went that way, A7-A96 from Wurzburg-Ulm-Memmingen-Bregenz has been fine, but now I see junction closures and contraflow (but not on the bit you'd need to take). And A81 south of the A8 near Stuttgart used to have roadworks (or at least all the traffic jam sites listed it), but now it doesn't. Nice scenic route along Lake Constance though. A8 between Stuttgart and Ulm can have anything from 0 roadworks to 30km in one stretch, turning what looked like an A road in to an autobahn. For me it's always been flowing, but 80kmh single lane contraflow for 30km becomes depressing.
Karlsruhe issues are more of rush hour thing.
Need to check the roadworks sites again in winter.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Samerberg Sue, I just don't like the southern motorway through Belgium (generic term but hardly applicable here, I'd suggest high-speed cart-track is more applicable) between Namur and Liege, potholes galore and no white lines, and standing water/ drains blocked is no fun in heavy rain and sleet/ snow, we now go via Brussels because in the early hours all the crazies are thankfully off the roads (I do know what you mean though!)
I understand that the Arlbergtunnel will be open again in winter (closed for 2015 and 2016 summer periods).
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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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@Markymark29, I (and most others) turn south-east at Namur and use the N/A4 to hit Luxembourg for the cheap petrol. If I were heading towards the NRW area, I'd go the northern route and try to plan to get round Brussels in a quiet time (if such a thing exists). But the route from Namur to Liege is really the pits and always has been, I've had to use it periodically for over 40 years and it has never improved!
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Brussels ring is rarely an issue for me (typically 14:00 ish on a working day heading west, or 18:00 heading east). One of these days I know I will get a speeding ticket on the 90km/h section. The bad bit is the bit between Gent and Brussels. Distance between cars is measured in microns (Belgians are the world champions at tailgating), and I've stopped at the services for 1.5hours before and not seen the cars move at all in that time.
Brussels-Liege section is a horrible road surface. And the bit that's good is littered with speed cameras (actually that might be between Liege and Aachen).
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