 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all. we are going to the dolimites in italy (selva gardena) on feb9th to 16th. the nearest airport we can fly to from our local airport is munich. my question is are we off our heads getting hire cars and driving all the ways from munich thru austria and down to italy at that time of year?? we have checked out on line route planners and they estimate 3-4 hours travel time about 300km's and its 90% motorway. we have driven in austria before but usually shorter distances and not at peak season and did miss our flights once when 1t took us 4hrs to drive 50miles to salzburg but never before or since have had any problems.
we could get the train for less of the cost but it takes 4hrs to get to the nearest train station (bressanone) and the bus from there takes another 1 1/2hrs!!.
I imagine there are a lot of snowheads out there that are well experienced at driving thru the alps at peak times and would appreciate advice. is it bedlam at that time of year coming from and returning to germany and are the roads backed up with constant traffic jams? i'm organising for a group so am a bit woried. we touch down in munich at 10:45 sat morning and our return flight is at 11:30am a week later so we will prob have to drive to munich on the fri night before, depending on what advice I get here!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Munich is the worst place to pick if you don't want traffic jam. I think the city will be like that for the next 3 years at least. Never attempt to get through the city unless you are insane. Stick to the ring road when you come off the airport. Don't leave the motorway.
The stretch from Munich to the German border can be also busy and slowed down to snail pace if the snow is heavy.
Once near the Austria the road branches off at Rosenheim. The traffic is then divided up between Salzburg and Innsbruck. The Innsbruck section is only bad at the Brenner Pass but the traffic usually flow quite well and fast. Didn't experience much jam after the Brenner Pass possibly the road is tolled all the way to Dolomites.
Your arrival and departure times look OK. The main consideration is the departure time at 11:30. Say 2 hours check in and 0.5 hour for sorting out car, topping up the fuel etc you need to be in the airport by 09:00. This mean you should set off Dolomites at about 05:00.
My Autoroute also comes up with 200miles requiring 3h 15min non-stop traveling thus a 4-hour journey is realistic.
I did the same journey end of Feb/beginning of March this year to take my brother family flew from Norway and then seeing them off after a week in St Anton before I had another week in Dolomites (Staying at Santa Cristina) In our case we went to stay in a hotel near the Munich Airport after finishing skiing in the last day, to save waking up at 04:00 to travel the long distance. My brother highly recommends this as he nearly missed the flight the year before when skiing himself in Ski Welt and drove the long distance in the early morning.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 9-12-07 22:11; edited 1 time in total
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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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Thanks a mill for the reply Saikee, it is exactly the information I needed, I persume by your reply you would be for driving instead of train?, If you can remember can you please tell me the approx cost of tolls you had to pay on that journey as I thought I read somewhere the Brenner pass alone is Eur74.00. Thanks again
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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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You need a vignette to travel on any Austrian motorway, i think it's about 7-8 euro for a 10 day pass. Don't try and avoid this as the fines are large. The Austrian side of the Brenner has additional toll of about 8 euros each way also. Then it's a toll motorway on the Italian side down to Chiusa/Klausen (make sure you get off here, otherwise you're stuck on the motorway to Bolzano North), costs 3.30 euro each way.
We experienced jams on the motorway between Munich and Salzburg one Friday evening at end of Jan, were quite glad to take the Innsbruck turn near Rosenheim as the traffic cleared after that.
Your journey sounds perfectly doable, barring awful weather conditions, just allow yourself extra time on the return if the weather looks bad. The Brenner is the lowest main pass over the main Alpine ridge at 1370m and is kept clear most of the time.
By the way, Selva receives top recommendation from me.
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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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Yeah, just stick to the motorways and swallow the tolls, they're worth every penny on a journey like yours.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I could remember the toll charge but it could not be anything worth to remember. The toll of driving Austria motorway is quite reasonable because you select the number of days and that is far less than paying the annual toll for the Swiss motorway. I got fined once for not having the vignette and I was on a motorbike. I agree with creedgearoid that you should get it from any of the services or filling station.
Dolomites is a top resort and not crowded too.
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