No tickets!

Woohoo! I take that to mean you didn't speed.
Yay!

Thank you for driving carefully (at least at the speed checks) in Europe.

For visitors: especially avoid speeding tickets in Finland with being more than 20 km/h too fast. The penalty switches then from a fixed fee to an income-based fee. Penalties from very high-income people ended up in 5-6 digit fines. More details and a calculator on this website from police of Finland.

Example: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-businessman-hit-with-121000-speeding-fine

10 months after returning home from 9,000 km driving around Europe past countless cameras, we have received no citations

I'd keep the champagne on ice until June.

Hope the trip was all you hoped for.

I remember your post. Congrats for beating the odds! Reading this type of follow up is always fun. Where to next?

I'd keep the champagne on ice until June.

Party pooper! Ha!

I remember your post. Congrats for beating the odds! Reading this type of follow up is always fun. Where to next?

Back to Paris! We enjoyed Paris and Roland Garros so much, we decided to return for a few weeks this year if we were lucky enough to get picked in the ticket draw (which was new this year) for Roland Garros. Flying into and staying in just one city with just a carry-on and a Navigo transit pass instead of a car and two big duffel bags will be a very different (and more casual) experience! We managed to secure the same apartment in Fontenay-sous-Bois that we stayed in the second time we visited Paris last year, and are super happy to dig a little deeper into the city, including a Paris by Mouth tour in North Marais and seeing Rigoletto at the Paris Opera.

Mostly, though, i think we're looking forward to getting off the RER at the end of some random weekday, following the queue of folks to the boulangerie for a couple of baguettes, then to the Petite Marche for wine, cheese, and a beautiful tomato or two to enjoy for dinner at our apartment. Ha!

Good job driving Chris.
But riddle me this: how did you handle construction zones? I'm especially thinking of Greece. As some of you may know, freeways in Greece are constantly undergoing construction (as they should be given the exhorbitant tolls they charge), and a construction zone can go on for 10 or more kilometers with only a single lane for traffic. Construction zone speed limit signage is usually 50 or 35 KPH. Yet when I drive that posted speed loooong backups, and thus unhappy drivers, stack up behind my vehicle. When I follow Greek drivers through constuction zones they travel at least 80-90 KPH, minimum, and seemingly with no issues. So how did you handle posted speed limits in construction zones??

Thank you for posting this follow-up, although it may be just a bit premature.
For years, there has been a bit of an anti-driving tone on this forum, and yet, done carefully, it has been my experience that driving in Europe is without question, the best way to visit its farthest corners. I've had one parking ticket in over 40 years of driving in Europe. That's it. That includes Autobahn, Autostrada, Autosnelweg, you name it. That includes summer and winter driving.

If you pay attention, follow the speed limits and directional signs, avoid making foolish choices within cities, you can most definitely enjoy a great travel experience, with a car.
I advocate using both public transportation and a rental. They both serve a purpose.

Greek drivers travel at least 80-90 kph through construction zones,
seemingly with no exits. So how did you handle posted speed limits in
construction zones?

The best behavior is to follow the locals' behavior. Don't block traffic by staying in front of all other vehicles; that will annoy everyone, including you.

Get behind a local driver and do as he/she do.

how did you handle posted speed limits in construction zones?

I can't recall dealing with construction zones, but throughout most of the countries we visited (the Netherlands was the big exception, where we encountered rampant speeding on the freeways) people seemed to follow the speed limits almost religiously, even when there was no upcoming speed camera (the cameras seem to always have a sign in advance, warning you of an upcoming camera). I found it pretty remarkable, and a welcome break from the daily Mad Max scenes on the local roads and freeways here in southern California. Ha! I never did drive in Greece. We encountered a bit of "chaotic" driving...Andalucía and Rome come to mind...but it was a thoughtful and generally reasonably-paced chaos, if that makes sense.

If you pay attention, follow the speed limits and directional signs, avoid making foolish choices within cities, you can most definitely enjoy a great travel experience, with a car. I advocate using both public transportation and a rental. They both serve a purpose.

Thank you for articulating this so well. This concisely summarizes our experience. It also reminds me of the one time we mistakenly (briefly and comically) drove onto a primarily-pedestrian way in Friedrichshafen, Germany before realizing our mistake. They have places in Europe where you can drive a car if you're in a specific group of people (handicapped, pregnant women, etc.). These can be hard to figure out if you don't know the language, because the signs at their entrances are often long-winded. The ZTLs and LEZs, on the other hand, are generally easy to spot and are almost always obvious in Google Maps. Although we found it completely indispensable, don't count on Google Maps 100%. It directed us down the pedestrian way in Friedrichshafen toward a parking garage with no warning. You have to keep your wits about you.

I'd say if you find yourself feeling pretty comfortable and confident, check yourself. That's when you're going to get in a bind.

Also, don't try to avoid toll roads just for the sake of avoid the tolls. Do so if your goal is to see some little towns in the countryside, but it will double your drive time (or more) in most places, especially in France, and will expose you to many, many more speed cameras.

Middle of May, and still no tickets! :)

So the Dutch are speeders!?!

Are we talking cars, or bicycles?!?

So the Dutch are speeders!?! Are we talking cars, or bicycles?!?

Well, the cars...but your comment reminds me that in the Netherlands and Belgium, bicycles make your job as a non-native driver considerably harder than in other countries. Bicycles, of course, use the same roundabouts as cars, only they're in their own lane, which is outside of the roundabout lane(s) for cars, often separated by a parkway, and they have priority. So you have to be on high alert, as a driver from the US, because you never see this back home. You don't see it in France, Spain, or Italy either.

Also, absolutely, the Dutch speed. A lot. Especially on the interstate south of Amsterdam. If you don't believe it, you haven't driven on it. In our three months of driving all over western Europe, nobody came close to the Dutch when it came to scofflaw speeding on freeways.