 Poster: A snowHead
|
Hi All,
The girlfriend and I will be driving to Bad Hofgastein in Austria at the end of March and was wondering if any one has driven there before, has any tips or recommendations on where/how often to stop, or the best route to take etc.
I know were going at the end of March but I've invested in all the required car accessories (Winter tyres, chains, triangle, etc ) which have now cost me more than it would have cost to fly a family of 8 but I've heard police can get a bit funny if you dont have "appropriate tyres". Hopefully in the long run it will pay off.
If anyone has any recommendations on what to do in resort and where the runs are best. I'm keen to fit in as much as possible but the girlfriend prefers very long cruising runs so comments/recommendations welcome.
K
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
kjcooler,
We have done 90% of this journey a few times now...
Get your sat nav....
programme the journey stating no toll roads to Munich via Luxemburg (to fill up with cheap fuel).
You may have to do this to Munich as some sat navs count all austrian motorways (A10) as a toll road as you have to buy a vignette).
Once in/near Munich re-programme to Bad Hofgastein.... stop just over the Austrian border near Salzburg to get a vignette (€15 ish) and then continue your journey...
Good luck!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
kjcooler, I would leave Dunkirk and head for Ostend and then Brussels (Ok, fuel might be cheaper in Lux. but more fiddling around required). I use a Brussell's Airport hotel for an overnight (the Etap, Ibis etc are all on an industrial park near the motorway, have secure parking and are cheap and clean). Then hit the road early and go via Liege, Aachen, Koln, Koblenz, Frankfurt, Nurnburg, Munchen and, for you, onwards to Salzburg, Bishofshofen, Bad Gastein. There are slighly shorter ways but this one is pretty foolproof and I have stuck to it for decades.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Fantastic guys, really appreciate it. Via Lux was the way we were going to go but might consider missing it out.
Our ferry is at 4:00 AM Saturday morning and we were hoping to get into resort around 20:00-22:00 on Saturday evening. Can anyone tell me how realistic this sounds? Girlfriend will probably be ok on motorways and long stints of 2-3 hours.
She'll be doing the run down to Dover but I'll need to work out where is going to be best for her to drive once were over there. She's Slovak so used to driving on the wrong side of the road but she'll be driving my car 
Does anyone know how good TomTom is in Europe. Anyone had any TomTom adventures ?
K
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Go via lux. We just did that trip to soll. We got ferry at midnight and was in resort for 4 pm with a few stops. Brim your tank in Luxembourg and try not to refill till you get to Austria. If you can't make it that far then only puta small bit in in germany to get you across the border. Fuel was about 1.08 eur in lux 1.35 eur in Germany and 1.14 in Austria.
Tom tom worked well for the trip and was fairly accuarate with speed limits. The live traffic didn't work in Austria and most of Germany
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
daveqpr, Fuel prices depend on whether you use petrol or diesel. Diesel is about 1.04 in Belgium (on motorway), Germany about 1.12, Austria is only 1.02 in town, but 1.14 on the motorway. Luxembourg is cheaper (about 0.95) but we dont find the price difference worth the extra hassle going that way any more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Check the AA website for reasonably up to date fuel prices. Petrol (98octane) in Germany is closer to €1.46/litre at the moment, plus a bonus for buying on the Autobahn. Austria is probably more like €1.16?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
kjcooler, I always go via Luxembourg and that is quite often per year. My relatives and friends who come out here also travel via Luxembourg.
From Dunkirk the route is: Lille, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, Namur Luxembourg. All motorway or motorway standard dual carriageways. No faffing around and these roads were all upgraded about 5 years ago so no major roadworks.
From Luxembourg there is a choice of routes although my preferred one is signposted to Germany from Luxembourg now. There is a very short section of non-motorway but you quickly pick up the A8 heading for Saarbrücken. I then let my sat-nav direct me according to the traffic problems. If the roads are clear then I head for Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Munich. The route from Luxmebourg to Karlsruhe looks a bit fiddlely but it isn't in reality.
The Brussels, Liege, Aachen, Koln, Koblenz, Frankfurt, Nurnburg, Munich route is no longer the best due to the overloadiing of the roads and many long-term roadworks which can produce nightmarish bottlenecks at the drop of a hat. It always was the route of choice aeons ago when it provided the only dual carriageway/motorway route down to Munich. I remember being driven along that route as a small child before all the motorways in the UK had been completed. Nowadays you avoid it like the plague if you can!
From Munich the choices are not so many and the usual route is the A8 to Salzburg - picking up your Vignette (10 days=7.90 Euros, 2 months=22 Euros) at one of the service areas on the German side of the border or at the border itself (Walserberg). Do not try and get away with not paying for it as the fines are quite horrendous. From Salzburg the A10 Tauernautobahn to Bischofshofen and then the B311 to the entrance of the Gastein valley at Lend where you turn on to the B167. Bad Hofgastein is the first real "town" you come to on that road.This route is all motorway or dual carriageway until the B311. So about 30kms max on non-fast roads.
Good tip fromdaveqpr about the fuel. I'm finding a phenomenal difference in the price per litre between Germany and Austria and also within Austria itself. I have found a Jet petrol station just on the outskirts of Salzburg which is consistently about 10 cents a litre cheaper for diesel than the petrol stations on the main roads leading to the resorts! The price of fuel in Luxembourg is acknowledge to be the cheapest in western Europe, no idea why though.
Do you know which day you are travelling as the German and Austrian school holidays begin at the end of March (some states start on the 26th March)? The worst one is North-Rhine-Westphalia which is the area around Aachen Cologne - so another reason for not using that more northerly route! Traffic in that neck of the woods as well as further south could be a nightmare. They are usually not going skiing though, they all head for Italy and the Adriatic!
I only use the Dunkirk crossings now as they are cheaper by far than any of the others. I also like the break it gives me from the car as I generally need it. I am normally the only driver or driving on my own so a nice meal on the ferry with plenty of coffee sets me up well for the rest of the journey.
Enjoy your trip!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I'm afraid its going to be smack at the start of Easter, 27th March. Just pumped that Samerberg's route into google maps and it looks straight forward enough. The route I had went via Brussels but I don't like traffic jams.
My car uses diesel and is good for 700 miles a tank driving at the appropriate speed limits.
Are there any toll charges in France and do the boothes take credit cards. Just need to know how much "change" I'm likely to need.
K
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Think that bit is toll free (light orange = toll free, dark orange = toll road in Googlemaps i think).
Won't need any change, except 50¢ coins in the Autobahn services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
kjcooler, no tolls whatsoever on that route apart from the vignette for Austria and there is no avoiding that. You can buy it using a credit card though it hardly seems worthwhile if you are only buying the 10 day one. The road from Dunkirk down to Lille does reflect that lack of investment though - a real bone shaker in places, although they were working on resurfacing sections the last time I came through in the Autumn.
I paid 0.91 cents per litre for diesel last week at the Jet station I mentioned above! The Shell petrol station at Walserberg was offering 1.19 and the others ranged between 1.01 and 1.05 a litre. Walserberg was even more expensive than the German petrol stations, they are seriously taking the p1ss out of drivers heading back into Germany there!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samerberg Sue, Check out the new Hoffer petrol station just as you leave the A1 towards the airport (by burger king)... that is very, very cheap!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
flangesax, Ta muchly for the tip as I'm picking someone up at the airport on Saturday and taking them back on the 6th and will need to top up on both occasions..
Is that between the A1 and the airport or airport and town? There's another Jet station going into town that is also very cheap! I'll fill in on my way in so we lose less time getting down to St Jo after I've loaded them into the car.
Anything to beat the bloody rip-offs here in Germany! Prices shot up again here this week for no real reason and way over the increase in the raw material!
Sue 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
The price differences seem as great within countries as between them, sometimes. I like to fill up in supermarkets but I wouldn't spend as much as 30 minutes driving off a motorway to find one, let alone taking a different route. The price difference between a cheap fill and and expensive fill is about the cost of a couple of very basic pizzas (or one if you are in the 3 Valleys). Why make a long drive harder? If it means you have an extra "coffee and bun" stop most of your savings will be gone - and the way you drive will make more difference. I'm constantly surprised that driving quite quickly but smoothly on motorways - especially empty French ones where you don't need to touch the brake for hours on end and never need to use much acceleration - takes less fuel than fiddling around at less than half the speed. Depends on your vehicle, I suppose.
I once had a friend who would drive well out of her way to get triple Green Shield stamps. We could never persuade her that even if she ever did get round to swapping half a million of them for 6 rather nasty wine glasses, it wasn't worth the bother.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Samerberg Sue, It is between the A! and the airport...
As soon as you come off there is the BP garage, a burger king (and of course the Erotik Markt).
It is within this little shopping estate.
I know the Jet (ahh ah ah ahhh ah ah...) you mean; i think the fuel is cheaper at Hoffer but make sure you have your bank card - no cash!
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=franz+brotzner+str+salzburg&sll=47.793359,12.986355&sspn=0.003993,0.008669&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Franz+Br%C3%B6tzner+Stra%C3%9Fe,+5071+Wals-Siezenheim,+Salzburg-Umgebung,+Salzburg,+Austria&ll=47.792573,12.984488&spn=0.008347,0.017338&z=16
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
flangesax, Thanks for that I'll be topping up there on Saturday morning all being well. I take it that there is no cashier if it is EC Card only.
The Jet Station I use is just before the Park & Ride Salzburg Süd as you come in from Anif. About 4 kms in total to and from the A10. Takes less than 15 minutes including filling and paying to pop off the route to fill up here for me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Kersh, not really it is about 2 kms in towards town, literally just before the entrance to the Park & Ride. I use the P&R junction to turn round to drive back to the autobahn as there is a barrier stopping you from driving out of the petrol station directly back on to the road out of Salzburg. You have to drive past a couple of other ones first, so you would only use this one if you knew about its cheapness I suppose.
I've also used the Hallein one as well but not for a while now!  Not while there is such cheap stuff nearby!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Sounds like i'll have to find these places in Salzburg!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Thanks guys really helpful stuff, counting down the days now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samerberg Sue
This is the route were looking at taking, do you mind taking a look and see if its roughly the way you'd recommend http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=franz+brotzner+str+salzburg&sll=47.793359,12.986355&sspn=0.003993,0.008669&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Franz+Br%C3%B6tzner+Stra%C3%9Fe,+5071+Wals-Siezenheim,+Salzburg-Umgebung,+Salzburg,+Austria&ll=47.792573,12.984488&spn=0.008347,0.017338&z=16
The bit I'm not so sure of is the bit from north of Saarbrücken across to Karlsruhe. Is this the fiddly bit you were talking about ?
Petrol station near Salzburg airport noted, shopping centre looks like it might be good for loading up the car with extra goodies to bring back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sorry, make that http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Dunkerque+-+Ferry+Terminal,+Zone+industrielle+du+Port+Ouest,+59279+Loon-Plage,+59279,+France+(Dunkerque+-+Ferry+Terminal)&daddr=A25+to:A8+to:A15+to:A15+to:E25+to:A8+to:48.989004,8.395271+to:Bad+Hofgastein,+Austria&geocode=Fb9-CgMdL2EhACF6cZz17aCzYg%3BFZBYBAMdvLIuAA%3BFbWfBAMdk9czAA%3BFcJCAgMdAh5EAA%3BFXS6AgMdpQlKAA%3BFfKT9AIdxPJcAA%3BFQII8QId7FFqAA%3B%3BFSrFzwIds_PHACkbsbR6SyV3RzGO-2v_Wk13sg&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=6,7&mrsp=7&sz=12&doflg=ptm&sll=48.995087,8.390808&sspn=0.129976,0.409584&ie=UTF8&ll=49.195167,7.877197&spn=0.51781,1.638336&t=h&z=10
not the link above
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
I did the route recommended by Samerberg Sue at Feburary half term and it went very well.
Though we did drive overnight and only hit some traffic jams coming around Munich.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
kjcooler, I can't see your route from those links.
The section that is sometimes a bit fiddly is between Luxembourg and getting back on to the German autobahns. It is well signposted south of Lux City - go via Mondorf les Bains following the A13 in Luxembourg. If you follow the signs to Metz, you will end up on the French toll roads. After Mondorf, the next way point to aim for is Merzig in Germany which is on the A8. You do not actually go near Saabrücken itself but swing on the A8 north of it heading towards Zweibrücken. Depending on how tired you are you can then choose to stay on the autobahn and swing north via Kaiserslautern on to Mannheim (A6).
OR drop off the autobahn and take to cross country but shorter route via Zweibrücken itself and then B10 to Landau in der Pfalz where you join the autobahn system again (A65) to Karlsruhe.
If you take a look at that section on Google Earth maps you can judge for yourself. If there is a fair amount of traffic, stay on the A6 until you see Karlsruhe signposted at Mannheim. The B10 is fine when it is empty but a bitch to overtake HGVs on if they have decided to save on the tolls they have to pay for using the autobahns.[/b]
I hope that helps.
Nothing can stop accidents happening - earlier this week the A8 was closed near Augsburg for most of the day in both directions because of a massive multi vehicle pile up. Luckily mostly shunts of one kind or another with no deaths as far as I remember. However this morning a coach went off the A8 near Ulm and the motorway was closed in both directions while 10 emergency helicopters were used to ferry the injured and sadly dead to the hospitals in the local area. I believe the road was closed for over 2 hours. The Germans prefer to close the roads to allow the accident services to work unimpeded with the rescue and removal work. Too many accidents result from people rubber-necking while crawling by, unfortunately that just makes the snarl-up worse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
(when it's not half term 
) Non-stop does need two drivers.
Maybe it's the one you descibe 