Moving to Balaton
 

Help needed please, we will be travelling through Belgium/France/Germany/Austria/SW Balaton AA routemap?? I assume it will take an overnight stop on the way to sleep as my poor back will not tolerate driving continuously and I am getting old!! Could you give me an idea of where we could stop that is cheapish. Also I have researched toll road costs viginetts and if anyone knows a better route, it would be helpful. More questions to come, thank you

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

I have used the F1 hotels which are cheap and cheerful. Some allow 24 hour check in by machine:
http://www.hotelformule1.com/gb/home/index.shtml

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Will have a look fidobsa thanks

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Good route! Stopped around Frankfurt at ETAP

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

I too would recommend Etap Hotels. They're very like Formula 1 hotels, except you get your own bathroom & toilet (at Formula 1, you have to share). I've stayed in quite a few in France for work reasons totalling probabily a year. The breakfasts are a bit light, so I used to not get breakfast in the hotel. There's usually a double bed and a bunk bed above, the price is for the room no matter how many (up to 3) stay.

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

We normally stop at one of the many Etap as they tend to have secure parking at most of their hotels.

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

:thumbsup::thumbup:
And credit card check in at all hours, departure up to 1pm I think it was as well

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

We did this route in March, we stopped for 2 nights en route,in Germany and Austria, we just pulled in to a service station that had a bed sign on the board on the motorway. They were basic, but clean and modern with your own bathroom. Just somewhere to put your head really. We stopped at about 6pm both nights and had no trouble getting a room, although it was early in the year.

Take it easy driving as the motorways through Germany and Austria are a nightmare and everyone except you will be doing at least 100mph! However fast you drive you will definitely hold them up! The lorries seem to wander all over the road and much of the motorway is 2 lane. Scary stuff. The only vignette we had to buy was on entry to Austria and we didn't use the motorway in Hungary.

Good luck! Safe driving.:)

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

We have driven this route several times heading to Budapest but have taken a different approach to stopping at the side of the autobahn. We have veered off a little and stayed in Nuremburg, Bamburg, Pilzen, Cesky Krumlov and several others that escape me right now, taking the opportunity to spend a couple of days somewhere we wouldn't normally visit. Just find somewhere that takes your fancy.

You may pay a little more for a room than staying at an ETAP or Formule 1 but the costs are not prohibitive if you look around - we have used Booking.com just to find out what hotels are around and then book directly with the hotel for the same price. This way you can compare what facilities are available at a glance.

I echo what someone else has said about the speed of cars travelling through Germany. You will be the slowest. If at all possible, drive through Germany on a Sunday as most lorries are prohibited from driving on the autobahns on these days. It really takes the pressure off.

We have also found service stations expensive in Germany so if possible take a flask and a packed lunch if you want to keep down the costs. There are loads of picnic areas and if the weather is good, it can be very pleasant.

Have fun,

Dave

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

If you have a satnav it will show you cheaper filling stations just off the Autobahn, in fact they usually have signs raised up so you can see them from a distance - cheaper than those "on" the motorway, as everywhere in Europe!

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Thank you all for your input, its all a bit daunting first time.

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

I would also using extreme caution while driving in Germany in particular. I found lorries coming back onto the motorway have a habit of immediatly crossing two lanes (leaving only the fast lane available) and going relatively slowly to the speed of other motorway traffic [due to the usually unlimited speed other vehicles are allowed to go on autobahns]. I found this mostly happened on service stations exits through hills/forest.

Safe driving!

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Must admit I have never noticed any problems when driving over, perhaps it's the time we drove at or because we were usually in the slow lane;)

Driving in Italy or Morocco is quite another story......

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Driving in Greece is also very scary! Especially being overtaken on a hair pin bend with a mountain one side and a sheer drop the other!!

Makes our UK roads seem safe by comparison!

Re: Moving to Balaton
 

Greece, you have to pull over into the hard shoulder to let people past!
The police in Germany are very strict on tailgating, as long as you havern't pulled out straight in front of them, you should be fine!