 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
We are planning to drive to Austria in January. We have booked a tunnel crossing and are now debating our route. Any advice would be very welcome re route, we are planning a hotel stop along the way to break the journey so any recommendations would be very welcome. We are traveling in a large 4x4, unfortunately winter tyres are not an option as it's a company vehicle but will have chains, the other option is taking my little polo which would be a bit of a squeeze with luggage and skis but has got a set of new winter tyres on. Mr Blue is not keen on this option. Any thoughts? Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Calais, Lille, Namur, Luxemburg, Karlsrhue, Stuttgart, then depends which resort you are going to.
Avoid France, re the tolls. Get a top up of fuel in Luxemburg, cheap as chips.
As for stopover, all depends how far you've travelled to get to the tunnel in the first place.
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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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Between Nov and April you are required by law to have have winter tyres.
I imagine if you are in any way involved in an accident (your fault or not) when using summer tyres it will get rather expensive and your insurance will be void.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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We will be crossing at 9am, hoping to drive until around 7pm with several stops. We want to arrive in resort near Schladming when it's still light on the following day so we can do the mountain bit of the journey whilst it's still day light.
Re winter tyres, I had discussed with chalet owner and had been led to believe that laws were enforced with locals re winter tyres and tourists not expected to 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Confusing as one link states that chains are accepted as an alternative to tyres but the other link states not acceptable if slushy rather than full snow cover.
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blue, Inow see you are travelling to Schladming
Better vehicle is probably the best option as it is a long journey, however. there may be local rules that will cause issues with accidents in Germany or Austria if you do not have winters tyres.
We get the earliest possible tunnel and travel via Luxembourg (Berchem service area) and have stopped over in Munich on2 occasions . This year, due to school issues, we are driving all the way to Flachau in one hit, so we are on a very early tunnel.
We have experienced both reasonable weather and extreme weather. At the worst, it was below -20 deg C. in Germany approaching Munich. Character building, changing a headlamp bulb in those conditions! Girl friend did sterling work! 
We stayed at the Ibis budget in Putzbrunn (was an Etap) it was adequate and close enough to get to Austria the following morning. If you have any particular questions, please ask.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sun 8-12-13 15:41; edited 1 time in total
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blue, winter or all weathet with m&s symbol tyres are obligatory to all intents and purposes if you dont have them and are in an accident you will get done.
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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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blue, the route jafa describes us the one I use.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FYI I was pulled over on autobahn last year (Dec) in germany, just past Munich. A random "Can we check your papers", had summer tyres on at the time as winters were in Austria. They looked around the van but didn't say anything about tyres.
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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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Thanks guys, looks like the new vw amarok will not be visiting austria, a long way for my little polo  !
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| waynos wrote: |
Why not buy a set of steel wheels complete with winter tyres, I just happen to have a set available. Though of course may not be suitable for your vehicle.
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2395747&highlight=transporter#2395747
Where you headed near Schladming? Very few mountain roads to worry about to most accommodation. Come off A10 head east on B320 - runs along valley, not a tricky road. |
No sadly they are the wrong size!
We are going to Ramsau am Dachstein. Pension Hoffelner, very excited but for the tyre issue!
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You know it makes sense.
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From my years of travelling to Austria to ski I believe all season tyres with a set of snow chains should be acceptable. The all season tyre will need to have M&S (mud and snow) marking as for offroaders one can have tyres specifically for rock, mud, sand, snow and paved road. Thus an 4x4 on a set of wrong tyres can be lethal on snow.
I say this because for the 8 years I owned two Mitsubishi Shogun I could not get winter tyres from tyre manufacturers for them because nobody did such wheel size then. One can get all season tyres nowadays close to about 75% performance of the true winter tyre.
Snow chains can be substituted for snow tyre "only" on a mountain pass where it is patrolled by the police because once put on the speed is limited to about 30mph. On motorway the police expect to see snow tyres on 2WD or all season tyres on 4WD. Unlike Switzerland one can go skiing in Austria without getting into a mountain pass and Ski Amade is one of them.
On accommodation I recommend Germany as you can be sure of a clean, good services, consistent price and high standard. Just make sure you reserve a parking space with the booking. German cities are well populated with affordable hotels and you can get fantastic deals from many hotel chains like Accor.
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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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| blue wrote: |
No sadly they are the wrong size!
We are going to Ramsau am Dachstein. Pension Hoffelner, very excited but for the tyre issue! |
You'll have a great time at Pension Hoffelner, lovely place, just been speaking with Joanna. The roads up and down to Ramsau best suited to winter tyres, up from the valley and Schladming. I'm not 100% sure of the rules for tourist but I thought winter tyres were not actually mandatory as long as you had chains on when they are best suited, which could get pretty tricky in on off conditions.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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blue, please use a car with winter tyres, the road to Ramsau can be interesting in the snow and summer tyres just wont hold. Have fun, its a fab place. Ange.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I drove out there last year. I stopped around Stuttgart to break up the journey but just slept in the car. I didn't bother with chains, but have all season winter rated tyres with all wheel drive and found that this was fine for 7 weeks of driving around various resorts. The roads are managed well regarding snow ploughing, but there is no way I would have driven back down some of the steeper resort roads without winter tyres when fresh slush was building up. I'm also heading out again in Jan.
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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 just broken the news to Mr Blue that winter tyres are a must, even with a 4x4 so we will be traveling all the way to Austria in my little polo instead. On the plus side we have just halved our fuel bill!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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my advice having travelled through Germany to Austria, is to pay the French tolls, and go as far down through France as you can. Relatively little traffic, and queue free motorways are worth paying for on holiday for me. Avoid hitting Munich on Friday evening, nightmare! Having said that Munich is a great place to stay, and do able in a day from Calais. Recommend the holiday inn in the city centre, then hit the Hofbrauhaus, - original and best!
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blue, are you sure the amarok didn't come with all-seasons? I just got a new vw transporter and that does as standard.
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blue,
Someone staying in the same apartment as us last season had a 4x4 on summer tyres, he found out the hard way that they are not suitable. He was ok going up a hill with his 4 wheel drive but ended up having to reverse down a hill. As soon as he touched the brakes the car started to spin due to the front brakes locking as they are the better brakes but in this situation the wheels have no load so lock straight away. He ended up sliding into a wall and pushed the back axle about 18 inches into the vehicle cab. He was lucky it didn't slide the other way as he would have been rolling over down a steep bank.
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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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Chris_n,  The weight, and sometimes rather top-heavy nature of 4 x 4s seems to make them particularly dodgy without the right tyres.
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pam w,
I always think 4x4's just get you deeper into the sh*t, yes they can get up hills a lot better than 2wd but they don't stop much if any better. A lot of 4x4's also come with monstrously wide tyres that are exactly the opposite of what you need in the winter. I have memories of a rusty old 2wd Mercedes van with winter tyres pulling a Range Rover Vogue from the side of the road up a hill at Weardale, everyone walking past to their cars was having a good laugh.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
I have memories of a rusty old 2wd Mercedes van with winter tyres pulling a Range Rover Vogue from the side of the road up a hill at Weardale, everyone walking past to their cars was having a good laugh.
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Yes, well, cue my hoary old (but true....) story of pulling a Porsche Cayenne out of a pile of snow with my Fiat Multipla. 
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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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Re: Route. I have never considered that route from Jafa. Looks ok. We have always gone Calais, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, Wurzburg, Nurnberg, Munich, Austria. The route planners say that it is around 5-10miles longer but say that it is around half an hour quicker. I suppose with those distances and the variations on accuracy of each route planners, it is neither here nor there. Just another option.
When I travelled down with my family one Easter, we stayed in a really nice hotel in Nurnberg. Beautiful city.
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| waynos wrote: |
| blue, are you sure the amarok didn't come with all-seasons? I just got a new vw transporter and that does as standard. |
No, I checked this afternoon. They have continentals, which I googled and they are definitely summer tyres. Mr blue and I have been having a lively debate about which car to take
Thanks for all the posts folks, I will be sure to write a trip report when we return!
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You know it makes sense.
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Dougie, Lots and lots of roadwork bottlenecks on your route which the route planners conveniently forget about. Especially the sections from Köln to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Würzburg are a real nightmare these days. I hear the traffic news on Bavarian radio every day and I can almost guarantee that the sections around Marktheidenfeld and Würzburg-Kitzingen feature in just about every one. A friend is a commuter from Munich to Frankfurt and he has now taken a room in Frankfurt because he could never be sure to make it to the office or home on time. His job is such that the fuel prices did not bother him at all by the way!
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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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| Quote: |
my advice having travelled through Germany to Austria, is to pay the French tolls, and go as far down through France as you can. Relatively little traffic, and queue free motorways
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and France doesn't demand winter tyres. 
blue, the big saving on fuel taking your neat Polo instead of a gurt big 4 x 4 will buy you some very nice meals!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Samerberg Sue, would you suggest Jafa's route? Or Twoodwar's advice of travelling as far through France as possible?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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blue, out of interest, other than his car is bigger than yours, what are the 'fors' for using Mr Blues car?
I live not far from Ramsau and know the road from Schladming to Ramsau well. Its uphill with tight corners, with crash barriers. I wouldnt do it with no winters. Yes if the road is bone dry, no worries, but if there is wet slush, which there could be, summers wont grip, but there are crash barriers so they should hold you from falling down the hill. And you cant drive with chains in wet slush, that doesnt work well either. My inlaws drive their Polo to Austria with winter tyres every year, comfort/size/performace no worries.
Hth. Ange
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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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| flangesax wrote: |
blue, out of interest, other than his car is bigger than yours, what are the 'fors' for using Mr Blues car?
I live not far from Ramsau and know the road from Schladming to Ramsau well. Its uphill with tight corners, with crash barriers. I wouldnt do it with no winters. Yes if the road is bone dry, no worries, but if there is wet slush, which there could be, summers wont grip, but there are crash barriers so they should hold you from falling down the hill. And you cant drive with chains in wet slush, that doesnt work well either. My inlaws drive their Polo to Austria with winter tyres every year, comfort/size/performace no worries.
Hth. Ange |
Just comfort really, and space in the back of the cab to put all the luggage and skis. Mine is just a car that I use to get to work etc and we always use the bigger vehicle for longer journeys. I put a set of winters on mine as I needed a new set of tyres and figured it made sense given the fact I have to get to work regardless of the weather, it was definitely not with the plan of driving to Austria!! The downside of taking the big 4x4 seems to be sliding/falling down a mountain so I suspect we will take my trusty little polo, with its skinny winter tyres and the fact it does about 80mpg compared to 38 is another tick for the polo! It's a diesel bluemotion so not exactly a high performance car it does 0-60 in about an hour and a half!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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blue, I have a friend with a Polo - I have found it very comfortable, in the front passenger seat.
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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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blue, Bloody hell, think of me getting 25mpg
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Dougie, France down to Lille, then across the south of Belgium (Mons, Charleroi, Namur) at Namur turn south east to Luxembourg and fill your tank to the gills at either Bercham (big service area just south of Luxie City). Then head towards Saarbrücken but do not actually go into it. You go by on the A8. Then, depending on the time of day, day of the week and weather, either change to the A6 and stay on the autobahns all the way around Kaiserslauten and Mannheim before heading down to Karlsruhe to pick up the A8 again. If the weather is good and there are not many trucks on the road (for example on a Sunday) then you can stay on the A8 as far as Pirmaesens. Here you switch to ordinary road, but it is a good fast one (B10 to Landau in der Pfalz). Here you pick up the A5 to Karlsruhe and then the A8 all the way to Munich. After Munich it depends on where you are heading as to how it then goes on! If you are heading to Vorarlberg or anywhere in the west of Tirol, turn off the A8 at Ulm on to the A7 and follow it to the A96 Munich to Lindau motorway.
Let me know if you want any more info - I always drive this route when I am going and froing from the UK. I nearly always drive alone and do it in one hop (unless I start in the evening after I finish work). Best time I ever did was about 8 hours driving time (about 11.5 hours in total) from Munich to Dunkerque.
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I have driven twice now to Flachau, from Dunkirk although we are going to stay in Radstadt this year (Feb half term) for a change. Both times I followed the route suggested by Samberg Sue, easy and no problem apart from a traffic jam around Munich (just their version of of the M25). The cheap Lux petrol is a bonus! Get the -60C screenwash though (Lidl) - a godsend, and glad to hear that you are using the winter tyres. Anyone driving that route over half term - do hoot the horn - a red Vovlo V70 is me, Y reg - leaving Dunkirk around 9pm on Friday 14th 
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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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Samerberg Sue. Thanks for that. I am someone who likes to know where I am going and I know the other way like the back of my hand. I like the look of your route so will give it a go. Leaving Up North Saturday afternoon so will be in Europe overnight. It's like a new adventure!
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Dougie, One extra detail of the suggested route is to first go north from the tunnel to Dunkerque and take the A25 from there to Lille, it is toll free.
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FAQ
