10 Things I Learned On A 2000-Mile European Road Trip

Earlier this month my brother and I packed our things and set off on a trip around Europe. Over seven days we visited seven countries, travelled 2134 miles, and experienced some of the very best scenery our wonderful continent has to offer.

Jumping in a car knowing your destination is many hours away - often in a different country across roads you’ve never driven before - is a liberating experience for anyone. But for us petrolheads, road trips have an extra special element to them. Getting to know your car inside out and aimlessly heading off in search of the finest tarmac you can find is probably even more fun than actually reaching your destination.

Now I’m back in the UK with my mind constantly wandering back to the beautiful Lake Mondsee in Austria - as well as the winding roads around it, naturally - I’ve decided to sum up my trip in the hope of encouraging more people to spend their hard-earned holidays experiencing the world from the driver’s seat.

1. The Skoda Octavia vRS estate's boot can fit a great many things

If you’re spending this long on the road, think about the sort of car you’re taking - practicality is pretty important. We were only going for a week, so I packed some clothes into a holdall, placed a few other bits and bobs in my backpack, and slung both into a lonely, distant corner of the Octavia’s massive boot. Then my brother arrived with half his wardrobe crammed into the biggest suitcase he could find, plus a backpack and a carrier bag to carry some unnecessary extras.

Until the Honda Civic Tourer came along, the Octavia had class leading boot space, with 610 litres to fit all the things - that stretches to 1740 litres when the rear seats are folded down. That was more than enough space to swallow our bags, and as you can see, provides ample room for a full-sized human to stow away inside.

Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why the very attractive (in a terrifying sort of way) border guard with a submachine gun ordered me to open the boot as we boarded the ferry at Calais - she rummaged through our stuff, and actually had to climb inside the boot because she couldn’t reach a bag at the back!

2. The autobahn is great fun, so long as you're switched on

Petrolheads the world over know about the derestricted speed limits you can find on some stretches of the autobahn, and making the pilgrimage to these hallowed stretches of tarmac should be on the bucket list of anyone with even a passing interest in cars. This was my second autobahn adventure, however the first was on the Mongol Rally, when I was driving an over-laden heap of turd that could barely get above 80mph…

This time, thanks to the Octavia vRS, I was able to live out my legal triple digit dreams properly. I managed to hit an indicated 140mph and, perhaps more importantly, scared my brother in the process. Hitting these sorts of speeds isn’t a given, however, as traffic inevitably gets in the way. At these speeds, even the lairy green Ford Mustang cruising along at 100mph felt like a stationary object as I homed in on his rear bumper. Don’t think you can just hit the outside lane and blast along to your heart’s content; at these speeds you really need to concentrate.

3. Germans are the best drivers in Europe

As a resident of England, where the average person’s driving ability is akin to that of a blindfolded 12-year-old, I always find myself impressed with the standard of driving when I travel abroad (except in Italy, of course). I spent about 24 hours in Germany, but travelled many hundreds of miles and witnessed some highly impressive driving.

First of all, on the autobahn, people going slowly always keep out of faster drivers’ way. Perhaps it’s because the lack of speed limit stops stupid people feeling like they have some divine right to slow others down? Whatever the reason, it made the motorways travel much more freely.

Another time, we happened upon a traffic jam - we spotted it a long way off as drivers flash their hazards once they see stationary traffic, and the message is passed backwards warning you well in advance. Then, once we quickly approached the crash site, all three lanes were utilised until just before the coned off area, maximising use of the road. Then, to make it all perfect, a strict and sensible merging policy allowed everyone to zip through the gap quickly. In England that would’ve been single file for about a mile up to the crash site, with the occasional late merger getting blocked out and given the middle finger.

Aside from those specific points, there was just a generally courteous manner on the roads that made driving a joy.

4. Week-long road trips can be expensive

A road trip is not a budget holiday. It’s obvious if you think about it; unless you have a camper you can sleep in, you’re still paying for a hotel room every night, and paying for fuel on top of that. I’m not the kind of person who’s particularly fussy about staying somewhere nice - so long as it’s clean, I’m happy - so we averaged about £20 ($31) each for a night’s accomodation. It also depends where you go, as Czech Republic was delightfully cheap at around £10 ($16) each, while Switzerland was ridiculously expensive at around £40 ($62) each (including parking) for a budget Ibis…

We also averaged about £40 per day on fuel, though naturally if you’re driving something a bit more economical than a 217bhp estate-ified hot hatch you’ll save cash. Then there’s the usual food and drink on top of that, as well as ‘vignettes’ that allow you to drive on motorways in Czech Republic (£8 for 10 days), Austria (£6 for 10 days) and £32 in Switzerland, which annoyingly only allows you to buy a yearly vignette.

5. Avoid toll roads to properly experience a country

A great way to save cash and take in a country’s culture is to avoid toll routes. It’ll likely add many miles to your journey - toll roads are typically the fast, soulless main routes that bypass anything interesting - but at least you’ll get to take in the real culture of the country you’re in.

6. Don't be afraid to get lost while exploring

We left ourselves a pretty tight schedule, which meant our opportunities for exploring were a little more limited. It’s my biggest regret about the trip. Probably my favourite part of the whole week was when we spotted a beautiful lake in the distance and decided to pull off the main road to find it.

Once we found the lake, we went for a stroll and spotted a sign for another lake. We jumped in the car and decided to investigate on the way to the next town, and discovered it was even more spectacular than the one before. It even a had a road that wound its way around the perimeter, carving tunnels through a cliff face as it went.

7. Austria is a beautiful country

Of all the places I went, Austria is the one place I truly fell in love with. The scenery is simply spectacular. We stopped for lunch in Linz in the north of the country, and the small town centre was lovely, its ancient buildings and cobblestones transporting you back in time. Then, travelling to the west of the country, we encountered the Alps, which dominate the horizon as they spear into the clouds.

It’s here we found the lakes I mentioned above - Lake Mondsee and Lake Attersee - which are picture postcard perfect. The air is clear and fresh up here, too. And where there are mountains, there are twisting mountain roads. Every ribbon of tarmac around here is equal measures fun and terrifying, with awesome switchbacks perched alongside massive drops. Yeah, Austria is awesome.

8. Mainland Europe's speed limits seem to change constantly

In the UK, speed limits are fairly consistent. Sometimes on rural roads you’ll get suggested lower limits at sharp corners, but typically even if you haven’t seen any signs indicating how fast you can go, it’s pretty easy to guess. On mainland Europe, particularly on German motorways, I found myself adjusting my speed constantly.

If I put my sensible hat on, it’s not great for economy, as you’re constantly slowing down and speeding up. Otherwise it was just frustrating having to constantly adjust your speed. In Germany, these changes in speed usually occured at junctions where you could enter/exit the autobahn, and the problem is, in my opinion, that they’re really badly designed.

In the UK - and most places I’ve driven - you have a slip road exiting the motorway, then a few hundred yards down the road another slip road for cars joining. It keeps the two processes separate and keeps traffic flowing nicely. In Germany, the entrance and exit are often in the same hundred-yard stretch of road, so cars are trying to filter in and out together, which obviously causes a bit of a kerfuffle. It’s a weird downside to an otherwise immaculate motorway system.

9. Roadworks suck everywhere

British people love to complain. Usually it’s about the weather, but we’re just as likely to be whinging about the endless roadworks we’re subjected to. "I was driving at 40mph for 10 minutes and didn’t see a single worker!" Anyone who’s driven up the M1 recently will know the abject misery caused by roadworks over here.

Turns out we’re not the only ones with stupid roadwork systems. I’m sure there’s a reason, but in every country we drove through we saw roadworks, and in every country the majority of the coned off area was completely unmanned. The only exception was the Czech Republic, which would have small closures around the section they were currently working on, leaving you free to cruise at decent speeds the rest of the time.

10. The Alps are a petrolhead's paradise

I’m a scenery geek, so obviously the Alps is a pretty special place to me, however it’s not just the incredible views that made me feel at home here.

The roads are just fantastic. With such steep inclines to traverse, it’s necessary for most routes to twist and turn and switch back on themselves, providing endless enjoyment for those of us who believe fun is not a straight line.

One of my favourite roads in the whole trip was the D1005 in France (pictured above), just north of Geneva. It’s on the eastern edge of the mountain range, where the inclines aren’t quite so fierce, but you’re still kissing the clouds, meaning you get awesome views and sublime, fast flowing roads. Many of the hairpins were daubed in rear wheel graffiti, so I think it’s safe to say I’m not the first petrolhead to make the most of this stretch of tarmac…