Smart Times 2013

[RCR10]

Who here is firstly going and secondly who is going by either Ferry or Shuttle?

[Spud]

Re: Smart Times 2013

I've been looking up ferry xings to Ostend, and heading to Lucerne via Luxembourg. Jimmy Google tells me that's around 470 miles, an 8 hour drive and does avoid dreaded French tolls.

[davros7760]

Re: Smart Times 2013

We are having a mid holiday break from our holiday in Normandy and will tube across from France with Miami,
and possibly some french roadie owners - though we need to test the waters on SmartAvenir.

You might want a plan B which does involve the 'dreaded' peages.

Why? The autoroutes around Thionville/Metz/Luxembourg are usually very good but like all 'free'
french motorways during the Grande Vacances they can suffer from unpreditable gridlock.
Doesn't happen often, but when it does it makes the M25 look like a picnic...

They aren't that expensive and IMHO are worth the cost for a stress free, quick journey down.

[putzie]

Re: Smart Times 2013

i did the run from calais to saarbrucken last year and got left behind by the others going via toll roads reims so i went via metz/luxembourg non tolls and ended up getting there 2 hours earlier as well ! just my two pence worth but what would i know ?

[OrangeDave]

Last year, we took the toll roads from Miami's place in Normandy to Antwerp. What we found was having to deal with tolls very frequently (every few miles or so). Each toll was Managed by a different operator. some took cards, others only took cash. We found it to be expensive and a bit of a pain to be honest. We now avoid toll roads in France,

[davros7760]

Re: Smart Times 2013

Travelling midweek towards the end of the french holidays should be pretty safe, certainly in Northern france.

The other way of avoiding french tolls would be to get into Germany as soon as possible and travel down
that way, or get a Sanef-T card from the UK subsidary and drive through automatically - though that involves
a 5e monthly charge...

Autobahn driving is even less stressful than autoroute driving and looks a comparable distance.

Luckily our west-east crossing will involve very little toll motorway, some free autoroutes and a nice drive
through the swiss mountains

[jedi0310]

Re: Smart Times 2013

Just as a heads up, for tolls from Calais to Saarbrücken, you're looking at the best part of €50 each way. That's going via Reims and Metz. We're definitely avoiding the tolls to Germany for this smart times - Swissland's going to be pricey enough...

[putzie]

Re: Smart Times 2013

well i made really good time last year and only chugged along at 65-70 mph ,was quite a enjoyable drive too!

[french_ghost]

Re: Smart Times 2013

Hello,

I'm back to invit you to spend some days with french smart owners before smarttimes if you want to join us, leave me a message

Our planning :
- Sunday 18/08 AM : Montélimar (France) > Chambéry (France)
- Sunday 18/08 PM : Chambéry (France) > Annecy (France)
- Monday 19/08 AM : Annecy (France) > Genève (Switzerland)
- Monday 19/08 PM : Genève (Switzerland) > Charmey (Switzerland)
- 20/08 and 21/08 : Charmey (Switzerland) > trip > Charmey (Switzerland)
- Thursday 22/08 : Charmey (Switzerland) > Luzern-Buochs (Switzerland)

Have a nice day

[madDan]

Re: Smart Times 2013

I have always found Auto Routes vastly superior to A-Bahns in quality of road surface and volume of traffic, as all the tightwads avoid them

[putzie]

Re: Smart Times 2013

thats really constructive ! obviously someone who doesnt drive in groups in france then !

[madDan]

Re: Smart Times 2013

I have found Auto Routes a more pleasant experience than over crowded A-Bahns - even when we travelled in groups.

Yes they are more expensive but can avoid some of the regular choke points in Belgium/Holland/Germany if travelling in that general direction especially if landing in Cherbourg

I guess because you last year had a lucky break over the Auto Route option, you must be an expert on all things travelling across Europe?

[putzie]

Re: Smart Times 2013

no expert but have done more than a little driving round europe alone and in groups in the last few years but what would i know ?

[JORDIG1]

Re: Smart Times 2013

Does anyone know if there will be some activity to Sunday 25th?

[zigzag]

Re: Smart Times 2013

Does anyone know if there will be some activity to Sunday 25th?

If its anything like last year at Antwerp, then probably not, most of the traders are packing up ready to leave in the afternoon, so a good time to try and grab a bargain