ok we are after some advice here folks

When travelling across Europe to Hungary from UK best time of day for ferry? is it best to break journey in Germany and where?

for purchasing Hungarian vignette where is the best place and by that I mean one that doesnt rip you off with charges.

any other DIY type stores besides praktiker and baumax

Hi, if you use the search box, you should find several threads on routes and stop offs as well as vignettes and places to buy them online before you actually leave.

Thanks rural did try search but alas my laptop keeps giving up on webpages

https://www.virpay.hu/en/autopalya-matrica-vasarlas.htm

No best time of ferry, depends if you want to drive day or night.
Germany for stop off as long haul through Germany.
OBI is a major DIY store here.

The very early morning sailings are half the price of day time (P&O =£25)
The 04:20 departure arrives at 06:50 and is usually very quiet so easy to get a short sleep, this gives you a good start while the roads are still quiet.

Take a breakfast break in the last services before Brussels to let the rush hour pass before you continue.

Total journey time will be in the region of 20 hours depending on various factors, so unless you are used to long haul drives then a break is a must.
German motorways have plenty of hotels clearly signposted.

You will need vignette for Austria as well as Hungary, Virpay or Tollticket are both online and easy to use.

Remember you need to have a lot of things in the car that us English just don't! spare bulbs, first aid kit, warning triangle and don't forget it is a legal requirement to have a Hi-vis jacket for every occupant!

And have all your documents organised and ready, if you do get a roadside check the quicker you can produce everything gives less time for the second officer to be looking around your vehicle.

Finally if you are towing a trailer, unless it has been uprated to German specification then it is limited to just 50 mph even on motorways, so slower than the trucks!

There are so many variables that it is difficult to advise you. It depends on where in UK you are when you set off for the ferry; whether there is one or two drivers; how well you cope with long distance driving; what sort of vehicle you are using etc etc.
When I do that trip I usually stay with family who live in the Midlands so the drive to Dover is 200 miles instead of 700 miles from my cottage in northern Scotland. 200 miles is still quite a drive though, so I could not safely carry on to Germany, I would be too tired. I would therefore look for somewhere to stay in Belgium, sometimes I've used the F1 Hotel in Namur but there is also the Etap chain of low cost hotels. I have done the trip once with only the overnight stop in Belgium but usually I also stop for a night in Bavaria somewhere, the last couple of times at Passau. If there was someone to share the driving I would certainly manage with only one overnight.
You can get cheap fuel for the car at the Auchan supermarkets at Calais or Dunkirk then again in Luxembourg. Fuel is expensive in Germany and Austria.
If you go through Austria you will need a vignette there as well as the Hungary one. If left to its own devices, my satnav. also takes me through Slovenia where you could also need a vignette if you go on the motorway. For this reason I set up the route in stages and head toward Vienna before turning south to Hungary. It also avoids the tolls on the tunnels on the more mountainous route south through Austria.
I think with the Hungary vignette you are covered retrospectively for the whole day when you buy it so it is not essential to have it before you enter the Hungarian motorway. You can stop at the first motorway service station and buy one. They will need to know your car registration number and the country of registration.

Thanks rural and duztee daft as it may sound to some it means a lot to hear try this! or your best bet is.
This is supposed to be the fun part but think we have had planning overload things like we thought stay over in Frankfurt only to find yesterday that there is an emissions zone where the hotel is so thats another sticker we dont have time to get.
still our planning has been a source of fun for our Polish friends over here with "why you plan" "get in car tea time drive! 24hr arrive" "Autobahn" everybody nods and takes another shot of vodka.

thanks for the tips fidobsa

its the midlands we are setting off from its been some years since hubby did long distance driving but seems to think 8 to 10 hour driving days should be do-able

We find Bauhaus the best but they are only around the outskirts of Budapest. This is only a hour and half drive from Veszprem but not sure where you will be based.
If you can hit Calais early morning after a good rest then you might make it to bottom of Germany/border of Austria by evening. This is where we have stayed.
As said avoid Brussels at rush hour times.
It all depends on luck with traffic and amount of lorries. Weekends might be better.
We also use P&O ferries as it is cheaper and you get more of a break.
Good luck.

I avoid Brussels completely. If you go Lille > Mons it is still a good road and is actually slightly shorter than the Brussels route.

thanks cathy we are doing up and down the country start off in tiszafured 4 weeks later we are in lower balaton area we need to do a recce of DIY shops and timber yards and also skate parks

I will check out that route Fidobsa

Having just returned last month from Hungary to Warrington via Calais, we had motorway works between Gent and Brussels, so going to divert off that route on our next drive over in August. We stopped at Schlusselfeld in Germany, hotel was ok.
Were back over July 4th, but flying from Birmingham to Bratislava, then hire a car for the week.

Michael/Julie

Great minds ... etc

Even if I don't overnight, whenever I am on that route I typically come off the Autobahn at Geislwind and take the parallel local "B road" (not that the Germans call it that, but it's about 1-2 km east of the motorway) through Schlusselfeld, which is a beautiful, small, old town. If I remember correctly, there are carp ponds around here too, where one can pull up for a 15 min break next the water.

It's just so relaxing to avoid the motorway, and the motorway cafes, for 10-15km.

You only have to look at a map and choose to come off on any parallel route - sometimes the "A" roads are quite empty too.

HlFL

Afraid I can't help you with the route but if you need the lowdown on the Tiszafured area ask away, we live about 20km south of Fured and have been here for 5 years

We recently completed a run in May leaving from East Midlands, 9am on the Saturday morning and arriving at our destination between Komaron and Esztegom around 9pm Sunday night, so 36 hours including ferry crossing and a couple of long kips in the vehicle.

I would agree with others to avoid Brussels where possible. I've never had a good run around Brussels and will try the Lille-Mons approach when we go this month.

We have stayed in Nuremberg in the A&O hostel/hotel which was reasonable and Etaps are good value, although I think they have been bought by Ibis and can't vouch for them.

I bought our vignettes for both Austria and Hungary through Tolltickets, as I don't like breaking up the journey - even for fuel. Allow plenty of time for them to arrive by post. Speaking of fuel I always try to get off the motorway for fuel using the nearest petrol station on the satnav. Can make a quite a saving over a return run over using the motorway service stations.