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Calais to Munich driving- best route

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Dear all, posed a similar question back in October - a little premature. Need to make a few plans now and I'm on the 6am ish shuttle to Calais on Friday prior to half term, and need to make Munich for my overnight stop, before getting to Obertauern early on Saturday for what I hope is a full first days skiing.
Michelin gives two routes, both same time and distance (within 15mins) It recommends the Belgium, Holland, German route on cost grounds I would have thought, but the France route via Rheims, then clinging to the German border Metz et al as marginally quicker.

Given its a Friday, and my experience is pretty much all French and Dutch driving, any pointers as to blackspots, and reasons to avoid the Belgian-German route as I fancy a change. Tolls are not particularly an issue, but of course a Jam free journey is.

I would appreciate advice from people who have done both. Smile
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I did this route on my way to Lake Garda in the summer, the French roads although they have tolls are excellent, you should have no trouble making it to Munich for your overnight stay, we made all the way to Garmisch towing a boat>
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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?
Calais-Brussels-Koblenz-Stuttgart-Munich.

Avoids the french tolls and is virtually the same distance.

TomTom helps with theroutefinding. Don't believe the hype that German motorways are all unlimited, the speeds are up and down all the time. I did it in 9 hours last weekend (daytime) with a few very short stops.
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Thanks to Fogliettaz and Stevev. Any issues with a weekday drive in particular Stevev?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I avoid Brussels like the plague - if there are not endless roadworks, then the sign posting is abysmal and the standard of driving guaranteed to hack you off even if you get away with no bumps! Going via Koblenz BTW is totally unnecessary and you can end up in some nightmare jams around Frankfurt if your navi sends you that way. I've been doing this trip for the past 30 years in all seasons and have found the following route the least problematic

I have found over the years that the southern Belgium route is hard to beat - Lille, Charleroi, Mons Namur and fill up in Luxembourg. I now use the link across the Saarland towards Karlsruhe and then make up my mind on the link to Munich according to the traffic reports. Motorway or dual carriageway all the way, except for a short stretch near the Luxembourg-Germany border, that should be filled soon as they were working pretty feverishly on it when I drove that way in September. I have free traffic updates for Austria Belgium, France the Netherlands and Germany on my Garmin - that is the main reason I use it to be honest, just to get around the hold ups.

Your biggest problem is going to be avoiding the traffic jams as everyone and their great-grandparents will be moving towards the Alps in that period. If you want to get a full day's skiing in on the Saturday, stay on the Salzburg side of Munich (for example Rosenheim - way cheaper than Munich) and get going by 06:30 to keep ahead of the people travelling down overnight from northern Germany, etc. At least by being beyond the Irschenberg and the Inntal interchange you will have two of the major bottlenecks behind you. Just the A10 in Austria to worry about and that can jam up quite nicely once all the weekenders start rolling! And pick up your vignette at one of the German service areas as it beats the queues at the Walserberg border crossing at Salzburg. The price is the same wherever you buy it. A good quick place to pick it up is Rastsätte Samerberg - about 9 kms east of the Inntal interchange.

wink

PS just seen your response to twoodwar your main problem will be the lorries on the 2-lane sections and the car drivers hogging the left-hand lane! rolling eyes
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Brussels is not usually too bad, typically about 10 minutes to get round the R0 ring. Only time it was longer for me was when the police had coned off the E40 to R0 down to 1 lane to recover a rolled car from the wrong side of the barriers. Note that going eastbound, your SatNav *may* not warn you early enough about the lane to be in to turn off R0 back to E40. When you get the 1 mile warning, get in lane there.

Karlsruhe and Pforzheim I avoid. Karlsruhe can have jams for no reason, but often there's nothing. Pforzheim has daft 2 lane section with hills - ie a a truck jam in one section and cars with 6 microns braking distance in the other, and when it opens up to 3 lanes, trucks pull out at half your speed Shocked Evil or Very Mad
Going via Heilbronn (instead of Pforzheim) is now completely clear of roadworks Smile
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
twoodwar, I last went via Lille, Namur, Luxembourg, Kaiserslauten, then off piste to N of Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Munich.
Minimum tolls and cheap petrol in Luxembourg
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Brussels is ok unless you arrive at rush hour. You don't go anywhere near Frankfurt unless you want to, go koblenz, then south to Karlsruhe, Stuttgart.

The stuttgart motorway does have numerous roadworks, but even the Belguim and French routes use that autobahn. Tolls in France will cost 50eu each way, but you do have a good motorway at 130kph most of the way.

I have also done Brussels, Lucemburg route, but south of Luxemburg is a bit awkward to get to Stuttgart, a few routes, none of which seemed great.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
stevev, don't go south of Luxembourg, go east towards Saarbrucken and you pick up the A8. There is a very short section of ordinary Landstrasse (B4 or something similar towards Metzig) but I've never needed more than 20 minutes max to rejoin the autobahn. It avoids all the toll sections completely. At Saarlouis keep on the A8 following signs to Zweibrücken and link across to the A65 or carry on to the A6 and swing a bit to the north. Most of it is open autobahn and rarely used by the big trucks as it pays them to switch to the French roads. Lots of long sections where you can legally floor it if you want to!

To be honest I do not use my navi for planning my routes as I've been doing it for so long (including 2 years where I commuted once a month between Bristol and Munich). Depending on weather, traffic and day of the week I have about 6 or 7 options in my head and follow the traffic reports. For example, given the problems around Augsburg at the moment, I often turn off at Ulm on to the A7 to link to the A96. That way I avoid the hell that the roadworks and the HGVs on the section between Augsburg and Munich can create. I have to say I'm dreading the day they start on widening the A8 from the Inntal junction towards Salzburg. I've already had to change my daily commute because of the Luise-Kisselbach roadworks on the Mittlerring and they have managed to maintain a two lane section. When they start work on the "Aufbau" it will be hell for years Mad

Sue wink
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
twoodwar, I drove down to schladming last week. Followed tomtom via brussels, karlshrue, stuttgart, munich route. Was fresh snow on most of the autobahns from france through to stuttgart, traffic kept moving, saw a few accidents but no major hold ups. May try the Luxembourg route next time to grab some cheap diesel.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Thanks to all, one final question, is Petrol cheap in Luxembourtg, as that is what I'm on?

Very Happy
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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.
not sure about Luxemburg, but france, belgium and Germany are well expensive. Germany is around 1:36eu per litre. Austria is a lot cheaper for petrol
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Download the most recent pan-European prices here... (won't be 100% accurate, cos prices vary a lot anyway, but it gives an idea)

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuel/index.html
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
stevev, you were paying motorway prices and using Super then!

A good tip I was given early on when I was commuting was to drop off the autobahns in Germany and fill up at the "Autohofs" - good prices and extensively used by the HGV and tour buses. Good food outlets as well and always fairly close to the autobahns but not having to pay for the privilege of being actually on them. They are always signposted from the autobahns.

twoodwar, I fill up in Austria on my way out (diesel currently 0.94 to 1:00 Euro) and top up at the Bettembourg services in Luxembourg, ensuring I really fill up to the maximum. Last time in the UK I found diesel to be about the same price or a little cheaper than in Germany. France is no longer as cheap as it used to be that's for sure and I make it a rule never to fill up in Belgium having had dirty fuel on three separate occasions and having heard of similar events (first hand, not via the grapevine!). Again in France we found dropping off the motorways and away from the main tourist routes prices were a lot better. Usually we filled up at a Centre Commercial, finding LeClerc and Cora were the cheapest.

Fuel prices go up and down like yo-yos here cheaper in the middle of the week and more expensive at the weekends.

Sue wink
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I'm doing a similar same journey at half-term though Dunkerque – Obertauern except I have to get the 8.00pm ferry arriving France 11.00pm unfortunately due to work commitments.

I’m planning to drive through the night to avoid congestion (as much as possible) and get there the next morning – good or bad idea?. Suggested routes for driving through the night would be helpful.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Sue petrol at 1:36 is standard around Munich. The local one to me is 1:37 today.
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