Panda

Hi,

My wife and I (aged in our mid 20's) are planning to do a quick tour of
Europe in May/June next year for about a month (as well as probably a week
in the UK and Ireland).
This will be both of our first times overseas.

We were initially planning on doing about a 25 day bus tour such as Contiki
or Cosmos as we want to see as much of Europe as possible in the time we
have available. But the thought of being on a bus with about 50 others
herded from sight to sight did not appeal too much. We also wanted to stay
a bit longer in some places where an organised tour would just keep moving.
We considered a hop-on hop-off type service such as Bus-about but their
route and schedule were fairly inflexible meaning we would have to possibly
stay longer in some places than we would really want to.
We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we are
intending to do.

We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
reasonable and offers the most flexibility.

Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc to
the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe without
seeing the major sights..

An outline of our itinerary is as follows:

Day 1 London to Paris
Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
Day 7 Munich to Vienna
Day 10 Vienna to Venice
Day 12 Venice to Rome
Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
some day trips around the Italian countryside)
Day 16 Naples to Florence
Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
to Madrid)
Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
Day 27 Paris to London

I know this is going to be a bit of a whirl wind tour but we want to see as
much of the sights as possible as we probably won't be getting back to
Europe for quite a while.
I don't mind long distance driving, but we are aiming to only do about 4-5
hours driving per day so we can still see some sights along the way and take
the trip at a
more leisurely pace than the bus tours would.

I have a few questions though:

I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is everything
basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts anti-clockwise, give way to
the left at intersections etc?

Where is the best place to find out about country specific road rules?

How does traffic/driver courtesy differ from typical Brisbane/Sydney style
driving?

How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe? (I know
here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)

Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have mentioned above
(we both had a sheltered Australian education where you only study German
for 2 years in high school (and I can't seem to remember much of that
-) )?

I would appreciate any suggestions of interesting points to see between the
cities we are intending to visit, and also any comments on the pace of our
itinerary (i.e. time in each location, travel time).
I know it will be fairly fast paced and we will be no means be able to
savour the European way of life, but what we really want is a taste of the
best that Europe has to offer.

Thanks.

Andrew.

Freeda

    > Day 1 London to Paris
    > Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
    > Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
    > Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
    > Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
    > Day 7 Munich to Vienna
    > Day 10 Vienna to Venice
    > Day 12 Venice to Rome
    > Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
    > some day trips around the Italian countryside)
    > Day 16 Naples to Florence
    > Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
    > Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    > Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
    > to Madrid)
    > Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
    > Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
    > Day 27 Paris to London

Jesus Christ on a bike, slow down a bit.

    > I know this is going to be a bit of a whirl wind tour but we want to see
as
    > much of the sights as possible as we probably won't be getting back to
    > Europe for quite a while.
    > I don't mind long distance driving, but we are aiming to only do about 4-5
    > hours driving per day so we can still see some sights along the way and
take
    > the trip at a
    > more leisurely pace than the bus tours would.

Chance to see sights... lol, you need to trim your itinery a little

    > I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is everything
    > basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts anti-clockwise, give way to
    > the left at intersections etc?

Basically yes.

    > Where is the best place to find out about country specific road rules?

Try a google search for specific countries driving liscencing agencies.

    > How does traffic/driver courtesy differ from typical Brisbane/Sydney style
    > driving?

You will have a lot of fun in Italy hahahahahaha..

    > How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe? (I
know
    > here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)

Outside of peak times, and keeping the journey leasuly, bank on about 400km
per day max.

    > Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have mentioned
above
    > (we both had a sheltered Australian education where you only study German
    > for 2 years in high school (and I can't seem to remember much of that

As long as you dont seem arrogant, you will find most folks will speak a few
words of English. A tip is to get a phrase book, learn a few words of the
local language (doesn't matter how bad your pronounciation) and you will
find a lot more help.

    > I would appreciate any suggestions of interesting points to see between
the
    > cities we are intending to visit, and also any comments on the pace of our
    > itinerary (i.e. time in each location, travel time).
    > I know it will be fairly fast paced and we will be no means be able to
    > savour the European way of life, but what we really want is a taste of the
    > best that Europe has to offer.
    > Thanks.
    > Andrew.

Peter L

I am from the US and have driven in your country. I can tell you that the
change from left to right side driving (or the other way) is not nearly as
simple as switch to "the other side". A lot of your driving habits are very
difficult to break. I have also driven in Europe and find that it's
relatively easy, except in Rome. Learn the word for unleaded gasoline in
French, German, and Italian.

Your itenary looks very imposing. Cut in down please. You are trying to do
way too much.


"PandA" <Don'[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi,
    > My wife and I (aged in our mid 20's) are planning to do a quick tour of
    > Europe in May/June next year for about a month (as well as probably a week
    > in the UK and Ireland).
    > This will be both of our first times overseas.
    > We were initially planning on doing about a 25 day bus tour such as
Contiki
    > or Cosmos as we want to see as much of Europe as possible in the time we
    > have available. But the thought of being on a bus with about 50 others
    > herded from sight to sight did not appeal too much. We also wanted to
stay
    > a bit longer in some places where an organised tour would just keep
moving.
    > We considered a hop-on hop-off type service such as Bus-about but their
    > route and schedule were fairly inflexible meaning we would have to
possibly
    > stay longer in some places than we would really want to.
    > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we
are
    > intending to do.
    > We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
    > reasonable and offers the most flexibility.
    > Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc
to
    > the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe
without
    > seeing the major sights..
    > An outline of our itinerary is as follows:
    > Day 1 London to Paris
    > Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
    > Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
    > Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
    > Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
    > Day 7 Munich to Vienna
    > Day 10 Vienna to Venice
    > Day 12 Venice to Rome
    > Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
    > some day trips around the Italian countryside)
    > Day 16 Naples to Florence
    > Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
    > Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    > Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
    > to Madrid)
    > Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
    > Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
    > Day 27 Paris to London
    > I know this is going to be a bit of a whirl wind tour but we want to see
as
    > much of the sights as possible as we probably won't be getting back to
    > Europe for quite a while.
    > I don't mind long distance driving, but we are aiming to only do about 4-5
    > hours driving per day so we can still see some sights along the way and
take
    > the trip at a
    > more leisurely pace than the bus tours would.
    > I have a few questions though:
    > I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is everything
    > basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts anti-clockwise, give way to
    > the left at intersections etc?
    > Where is the best place to find out about country specific road rules?
    > How does traffic/driver courtesy differ from typical Brisbane/Sydney style
    > driving?
    > How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe? (I
know
    > here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)
    > Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have mentioned
above
    > (we both had a sheltered Australian education where you only study German
    > for 2 years in high school (and I can't seem to remember much of that
    > -) )?
    > I would appreciate any suggestions of interesting points to see between
the
    > cities we are intending to visit, and also any comments on the pace of our
    > itinerary (i.e. time in each location, travel time).
    > I know it will be fairly fast paced and we will be no means be able to
    > savour the European way of life, but what we really want is a taste of the
    > best that Europe has to offer.
    > Thanks.
    > Andrew.

David Horne

Peter L <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I am from the US and have driven in your country.

Oh. I'm getting déja-vu all over again...

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Panda

Thanks for the tips!

I know it is going to be very hectic as I have noted. How would you guys
suggest making it better? Spend longer at some places? Cut down on the
stops?

I was thinking we may cut out Amsterdam, Naples, possibly cut out San
Sebastian and get back to Paris more directly from Barcelona, Madrid was
only a pie in the sky idea if we managed to get that far.

I suppose as this is our first trip (and also the last big trip we'll
probably have before having kids) we want to see as much as possible, as we
don't know when we will be getting back to Europe again.

I have heard lots of comments about driving in Italy... Is there an easy
way of getting into (close to) Rome and then just leaving the car at the
hotel/motel for the duration of our stay?

Andrew.

"Peter L" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I am from the US and have driven in your country. I can tell you that the
    > change from left to right side driving (or the other way) is not nearly as
    > simple as switch to "the other side". A lot of your driving habits are
very
    > difficult to break. I have also driven in Europe and find that it's
    > relatively easy, except in Rome. Learn the word for unleaded gasoline in
    > French, German, and Italian.
    > Your itenary looks very imposing. Cut in down please. You are trying to
do
    > way too much.
    > "PandA" <Don'[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > My wife and I (aged in our mid 20's) are planning to do a quick tour of
    > > Europe in May/June next year for about a month (as well as probably a
week
    > > in the UK and Ireland).
    > > This will be both of our first times overseas.
    > >
    > > We were initially planning on doing about a 25 day bus tour such as
    > Contiki
    > > or Cosmos as we want to see as much of Europe as possible in the time we
    > > have available. But the thought of being on a bus with about 50 others
    > > herded from sight to sight did not appeal too much. We also wanted to
    > stay
    > > a bit longer in some places where an organised tour would just keep
    > moving.
    > > We considered a hop-on hop-off type service such as Bus-about but their
    > > route and schedule were fairly inflexible meaning we would have to
    > possibly
    > > stay longer in some places than we would really want to.
    > > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we
    > are
    > > intending to do.
    > >
    > > We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
    > > reasonable and offers the most flexibility.
    > >
    > > Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc
    > to
    > > the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe
    > without
    > > seeing the major sights..
    > >
    > > An outline of our itinerary is as follows:
    > >
    > > Day 1 London to Paris
    > > Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
    > > Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
    > > Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
    > > Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
    > > Day 7 Munich to Vienna
    > > Day 10 Vienna to Venice
    > > Day 12 Venice to Rome
    > > Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
    > > some day trips around the Italian countryside)
    > > Day 16 Naples to Florence
    > > Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
    > > Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    > > Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to
go
    > > to Madrid)
    > > Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
    > > Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
    > > Day 27 Paris to London
    > >
    > > I know this is going to be a bit of a whirl wind tour but we want to see
    > as
    > > much of the sights as possible as we probably won't be getting back to
    > > Europe for quite a while.
    > > I don't mind long distance driving, but we are aiming to only do about
4-5
    > > hours driving per day so we can still see some sights along the way and
    > take
    > > the trip at a
    > > more leisurely pace than the bus tours would.
    > >
    > > I have a few questions though:
    > >
    > > I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is everything
    > > basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts anti-clockwise, give way
to
    > > the left at intersections etc?
    > >
    > > Where is the best place to find out about country specific road rules?
    > >
    > > How does traffic/driver courtesy differ from typical Brisbane/Sydney
style
    > > driving?
    > >
    > > How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe? (I
    > know
    > > here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)
    > >
    > > Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have mentioned
    > above
    > > (we both had a sheltered Australian education where you only study
German
    > > for 2 years in high school (and I can't seem to remember much of that
    > > -) )?
    > >
    > > I would appreciate any suggestions of interesting points to see between
    > the
    > > cities we are intending to visit, and also any comments on the pace of
our
    > > itinerary (i.e. time in each location, travel time).
    > > I know it will be fairly fast paced and we will be no means be able to
    > > savour the European way of life, but what we really want is a taste of
the
    > > best that Europe has to offer.
    > >
    > > Thanks.
    > >
    > > Andrew.
    > >
    > >

Miguel Cruz

PandA <Don'[email protected]> wrote:
    > I know it is going to be very hectic as I have noted. How would you guys
    > suggest making it better? Spend longer at some places? Cut down on the
    > stops?

Both - cut some places out in order to spend a little longer in the
more interesting spots.

Imagine packing and unpacking everything every single day for two weeks.
You'll go crazy. After 8 or 10 days You'll wake up in the morning not
wanting to face the day. Doesn't sound like much of a holiday to me.

    > I suppose as this is our first trip (and also the last big trip we'll
    > probably have before having kids) we want to see as much as possible, as
    > we don't know when we will be getting back to Europe again.

I question whether this plan gets you what you think it does. Rather than
greater diversity of experience, you get an endless repetition of the
unpleasant experience of last-mile auto navigation in search of a hotel,
dragging your bags in and out of cars, and so on.

As a rule, I'd say the second and third days in a place are a whole lot
better than the first. That's when you know your way around well enough to
start finding the interesting stuff.

miguel
--
See the world from your web browser: http://travel.u.nu/

Sjoerd

"PandA" <Don'[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi,
    > My wife and I (aged in our mid 20's) are planning to do a quick tour of
    > Europe in May/June next year for about a month (as well as probably a week
    > in the UK and Ireland).
    > This will be both of our first times overseas.
    > We were initially planning on doing about a 25 day bus tour such as
Contiki
    > or Cosmos as we want to see as much of Europe as possible in the time we
    > have available. But the thought of being on a bus with about 50 others
    > herded from sight to sight did not appeal too much. We also wanted to
stay
    > a bit longer in some places where an organised tour would just keep
moving.
    > We considered a hop-on hop-off type service such as Bus-about but their
    > route and schedule were fairly inflexible meaning we would have to
possibly
    > stay longer in some places than we would really want to.
    > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we
are
    > intending to do.
    > We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
    > reasonable and offers the most flexibility.
    > Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc
to
    > the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe
without
    > seeing the major sights..
    > An outline of our itinerary is as follows:
    > Day 1 London to Paris
    > Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
    > Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
    > Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
    > Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
    > Day 7 Munich to Vienna
    > Day 10 Vienna to Venice
    > Day 12 Venice to Rome
    > Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
    > some day trips around the Italian countryside)
    > Day 16 Naples to Florence
    > Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
    > Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    > Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
    > to Madrid)
    > Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
    > Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
    > Day 27 Paris to London


You seem to be interested in big cities mainly. Expect traffic jams going in
and out of these cities, problems finding your hotel and finding a place to
park. I once spent 4 hours driving from Amsterdam to Paris, and another 3
hours driving around Paris first to find the address I needed to be, and
secondly to find a place to park. All very stressful and not my idea of a
holiday. Honestly, I'd be surprised if after this trip you are still married
to your wife!

You are trying to do *way* too much. In 27 days, you can see three large
cities (say: London, Paris and Rome) for 5 days each, and a couple of
smaller ones. Also, don't "do' too many cities, instead take more time to
discover the countryside. (for instance spend a week in Tuscany or Dordogne
area or Loire area)
So fly or train between the big cities and rent a car only to do the
countryside bit.

Sjoerd

Panda

Thanks for the tips Sjoerd,

Hadn't really thought of getting the train to the major places then hiring a
car from them.

Just wanted to let the group know, we're not planning on including London in
the itinerary below, we will be doing UK for about 8-9 days and the Republic
of Ireland for 4-5 days either before or after the Europe trip.
Unfortunately we only have 6 weeks holidays :-(

But I will certainly look at upping the duration in Paris and Rome.

Andrew.

"Sjoerd" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "PandA" <Don'[email protected]> schreef in bericht
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > My wife and I (aged in our mid 20's) are planning to do a quick tour of
    > > Europe in May/June next year for about a month (as well as probably a
week
    > > in the UK and Ireland).
    > > This will be both of our first times overseas.
    > >
    > > We were initially planning on doing about a 25 day bus tour such as
    > Contiki
    > > or Cosmos as we want to see as much of Europe as possible in the time we
    > > have available. But the thought of being on a bus with about 50 others
    > > herded from sight to sight did not appeal too much. We also wanted to
    > stay
    > > a bit longer in some places where an organised tour would just keep
    > moving.
    > > We considered a hop-on hop-off type service such as Bus-about but their
    > > route and schedule were fairly inflexible meaning we would have to
    > possibly
    > > stay longer in some places than we would really want to.
    > > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we
    > are
    > > intending to do.
    > >
    > > We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
    > > reasonable and offers the most flexibility.
    > >
    > > Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc
    > to
    > > the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe
    > without
    > > seeing the major sights..
    > >
    > > An outline of our itinerary is as follows:
    > >
    > > Day 1 London to Paris
    > > Day 2 Rent a car in Paris and go to Bruges, Belgium
    > > Day 3 Bruges to Amsterdam
    > > Day 4 Amsterdam to Frankfurt
    > > Day 5 Frankfurt to Munich via Würzburg and Romantic Road
    > > Day 7 Munich to Vienna
    > > Day 10 Vienna to Venice
    > > Day 12 Venice to Rome
    > > Day 15 Rome to Naples (Not sure about the Naples leg, we may opt for
    > > some day trips around the Italian countryside)
    > > Day 16 Naples to Florence
    > > Day 18 Florence to Nice via Pisa
    > > Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    > > Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to
go
    > > to Madrid)
    > > Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux
    > > Day 24 Bordeaux to Paris
    > > Day 27 Paris to London
    > You seem to be interested in big cities mainly. Expect traffic jams going
in
    > and out of these cities, problems finding your hotel and finding a place
to
    > park. I once spent 4 hours driving from Amsterdam to Paris, and another 3
    > hours driving around Paris first to find the address I needed to be, and
    > secondly to find a place to park. All very stressful and not my idea of a
    > holiday. Honestly, I'd be surprised if after this trip you are still
married
    > to your wife!
    > You are trying to do *way* too much. In 27 days, you can see three large
    > cities (say: London, Paris and Rome) for 5 days each, and a couple of
    > smaller ones. Also, don't "do' too many cities, instead take more time to
    > discover the countryside. (for instance spend a week in Tuscany or
Dordogne
    > area or Loire area)
    > So fly or train between the big cities and rent a car only to do the
    > countryside bit.
    > Sjoerd

Yves Bellefeuille

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003, "PandA" <Don'[email protected]> wrote:

    > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling we are
    > intending to do.

As everybody else said, cut down your list. And reconsider your decision
not to use the train; consider a Eurail pass.

--
Yves Bellefeuille <[email protected]>, Ottawa, Canada
Francais / English / Esperanto
Esperanto FAQ: http://www.esperanto.net/veb/faq.html
Rec.travel.europe FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/travel/europe/faq

Millie

Andrew,

I was going to suggest for you to rethink the train idea like Sjoerd wrote.
Gasoline is very expensive in Europe. As I recall 1 litre is about US$2.00
that was two years ago. Plus, all the chaos of driving and navigating.

I feel that the only way to travel in Europe, if it's available, is by
train. I'm biased. I like planning my new adventure, jornaling my old
adventures, taking in the scenery, chatting with new friends, etc and not
having to worry; I'll just get there. Also, most train stations are the
center of the town which makes an advantage for sightseeing or other
transportation.

Lastly, I would spend a least three days in the cities of your choice
because it give you the time to settle into the room, become familiar with
your surroundings, and to do 3-4 things on the must do list.

Just my $.02

Millie

Andiii

Andrew,

In some cities, particularly the cities with some distance between them, you might prefer to fly.

A few obvious benefits of flight:

- Flying is relatively cheap within Europe. The most you'd be looking at would be $150 Aus dollars for a 2 hour flight.

- Less time spent wasted on the road.

- Less stress; Not having to worry about running out of fuel, directions in a foreign country and possible night crimes; What if you blow a tyre in the middle of nowhere?

Craig Wilkes

I'll back up the advice from the others and add this - would you drive all
the way around Australia in 27 days? What you are planning is the
equivalent of that. France and Germany are roughly the same size as New
South Wales and you're planning to drive across them in two days. You'll
spend all your days driving and only get a good view of autobahns,
autoroutes and autostradas.

I can give you some information about agencies in Australia that provide
independent travel deals, just email me and remove the OBVIOUS.

Craig

Gernot Egger

Millie wrote:
    > I was going to suggest for you to rethink the train idea like Sjoerd
    > wrote. Gasoline is very expensive in Europe. As I recall 1 litre is
    > about US$2.00 that was two years ago. Plus, all the chaos of driving
    > and navigating.

Nonsense!
Petrol is appr. 0,85 - 1,05 EUR per litre in Europe. (depending on the
country you're in!)

Driving and navigating: If you can't drive, leave it. Otherwise driving is
driving!

lg Gernot

Gernot Egger

PandA wrote:

I don't like answering people without a valid email address!

As usually in this ng you get the advice to spend 2 weeks in each city. But
IMO it depends on you what you want. For me 2-3 days in a capital city are
enough.

    > We have looked at the rail system but it seems that it will be a quite
    > expensive option for the number of days and the amount of travelling
    > we are intending to do.

Sure? A railpass should provide a good price-value-ratio!

    > We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire
    > seems reasonable and offers the most flexibility.

I think there are very good offers for Austrialians if they rent the car
with the airline ticket. I don't know about this but I remember an
Australian couple in the UK that got the car nearly for free.

Most flexibility would be the main reason for me.

    > I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is
    > everything basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts
    > anti-clockwise, give way to the left at intersections etc?

Give way to the right at intersections!!!!!! (That's not logical but the way
it is!)

    > How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe?
    > (I know here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)

No problem! There are a lot of motorways in Europe. Speed limits vary from
appr. 100 km/h to 130 km/h (150 km/h in Itlay on certain motorways and
unlimited in Germany if nothing else indicated.) In some countries you have
to pay for the motorways.

    > Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have
    > mentioned above

Sure but try to avoid your Aussie-accent that might be a little bit
difficult to understand for many people here. For France try to learn a few
phrases in French!

For more questions do mail me! My email should work as it is!

lg Gernot

Reid

Following up to PandA

    >We now are planning to hire a car and go it alone as the car hire seems
    >reasonable and offers the most flexibility.
    >Both of us tend to prefer interesting scenery, history, architecture etc to
    >the hustle and bustle of the big cities, however we can go to Europe without
    >seeing the major sights..

Hang on, i'm a bit confused, you don't like cities but like
architecture? Castles/cathederals in small towns would be your
thing?

    >I don't mind long distance driving, but we are aiming to only do about 4-5
    >hours driving per day so we can still see some sights along the way and take
    >the trip at a more leisurely pace than the bus tours would.

I agree on your sentiments re coaches, a car is much more fun and
flexible. IMO coach tours stink! Trains only go to cities.

    >I have a few questions though:
    >I have never driven on the right side of the road before, is everything
    >basically reversed e.g. go around roundabouts anti-clockwise, give way to
    >the left at intersections etc?

give way to the right, including on roundabouts, and in drive on
the left UK. Because you are sitting on the left, its easier than
you think its going to be, it had better be, the drives you are
going to do.

    >Where is the best place to find out about country specific road rules?

google "highway code" for UK.

    >How does traffic/driver courtesy differ from typical Brisbane/Sydney style
    >driving?

Cant comment on OZ but:-
Italian drivers are discourteous and roads busy, Spanish easy
going and roads quiet, UK roads are busy

    >How easy is it to cover long distances quickly generally in Europe? (I know
    >here I can cover 7-800km per day fairly comfortably)

My longest run is London- Skye (Scotland, top left) in UK about
650 miles, takes up to 12 hours, (i'm a very fast, very
determined and experienced driver with a fast car, a radar
detector and a boot full of Red Bull).
I have done Madrid to south coast of Spain in a 4x4 in a
comfortable and enjoyable day. When planning watch out for
mountain areas, progress will be often hugely slower, as near big
cities.

    >Is English spoken along the main tourist routes where I have mentioned above
    >(we both had a sheltered Australian education where you only study German
    >for 2 years in high school (and I can't seem to remember much of that
    >-) )?

Petrol station staff etc will probably not. People with good
educations probably will. People at tourist sights probably
understand enough for the job in hand.

    >I would appreciate any suggestions of interesting points to see between the
    >cities we are intending to visit, and also any comments on the pace of our
    >itinerary (i.e. time in each location, travel time).
    >I know it will be fairly fast paced and we will be no means be able to
    >savour the European way of life, but what we really want is a taste of the
    >best that Europe has to offer.

Do you intend to hire one car with permission to drive it all
over? That may cost more. Some places a car is a liability, like
Venice. It might be best to drop the car off at the city depot
and hire again when moving on. When I travel like this I carry a
suitcase and a suit carrier, my current stuff is in the suit
carrier, the suitcase only gets opened when I need to replenish
current clothes.

Google for a program called "autoroute europe", there are other
similar programs, (anyone, is there something free?) these will
give you timings.

    >Day 10 Vienna to Venice
sounds scarey to me, but I have never tried it (being european I
generally visit one country at a time). Your longer runs look to
me the sort of thing I could do *in my own car* *once-off* I
couldn't keep it up for weeks......but then you're young.......
but then i'm experienced......

    >Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
    >to Madrid)

this took me ten hours solid driving, it might be quicker to go
on motorways via Madrid.

Spain/UK are what I know best

    >Day 20 Nice to Barcelona
    >Day 22 Barcelona to San Sebastian (Possibly add a couple of days to go
    >to Madrid)
    >Day 23 San Sebastian to Bordeaux

The road through to France tends to be winding mountain stuff
with heavy lorries everywhere, although it is improving. St
Sebastian is a great place for food and is beautiful
"http://www.fell-walker.co.uk/basque.htm"
(you don't want a car in it, it will just stay parked, when you
find a space!) (don't leave stuff in unattended car in Spain).
The top places in Spain are for me are St Sebastian/Santiago,
Toledo/ Segovia, then Seville/Cadiz/Cordoba/Granada, the thing to
do being wandering round the old quarters. Those three groups
give you the three Spains (green Spain - Galicia/Basque, Castile
and Andalucia - most peoples idea of what Spain is). Driving
between the cities you will find interesting things, just turn of
and see a signposted roman ruin or a castle or three.

This is what I might do (don't hire smallest car sizes)
London
Amsterdam
Paris
Vienna
Venice
Rome (something like that, I don't make these kind of
journeys)
then hire a car and drive up Italy, stopping at nice little
places and Pisa and then round the French Riviera (Monaco, Nice,
Marseilles * and down to Barcelona. so far you will have been on
busy slow roads (The east coast roads of Spain are equally the
busy ones) Strike inland to Toledo and Segovia ** then south
across the meseta to Granada/Sevilla/Cordoba ***. Then back north
to Madrid and fly back to London or home.

* you could include Bordeaux here and then down to St Sebastian,
missing out Barcelona.
** you could include the trek north to San Sebastian here.
*** you could do a day trip to Africa here! Look at the map!
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
UK walking & photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Spain,cuisines and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap