Hi - Question says it all. Plan to drive through France and Germany late summer with my college grad son (his gift).
In plotting route, I have used maps for drive times but how reliable are they? Obviously, stops, speeds, etc will play a factor.
Also - any driving tips?
Thanks
CJ
Which maps are you using and what method have you used to estimate the times?
The website Via Michelin is usually pretty accurate in estimating drive times if you plug in your details.
In my experience, it usually takes longer than you think, especially during school vacation times and long weekends. In Germany, the dreaded "Stau" - backed up highways and Autobahns - can add hours to a trip. The school vacation times vary from state to state in Germany; you can get the dates from a web site.
www.ferienkalender.de
(Ferien - vacations)
For Germany, the only driving tip I can give you: stay right except to pass and on the Autobahn, there is no passing on the right (as there is on US interstates).
Oh, Anna, how well I remember being caught in an autobahn German Holiday traffic mess. We were on our way from Innsbruck to Venice and were stuck for 8 hours, moving just a few feet at a time, on the highway. People were getting out of their cars and walking their dogs to pass the time. Eventually, after 8 hours of that we made a totally illegal U-turn to the other side of the highway (most of the turning places had been chained off and were for police only but we spotted an open one) and went back to Innsbruck for the night. Going back took us 25 minutes, that's how much progress we had made in 8 hours.
I'll second what others have said about the traffic on the Autobahn in August. It's horrible. Our 5 hour drive took us 11 to do. If you're heading to major cities (like Frankfurt to Munich), you may do better taking the train and renting a car once you get to Munich, if you even need one at all.
One area where Via Michelin doesn't work well for estimating driving times- mountains.
And if you plan driving the Romantic Road in late summer... expect very slow traffic.
thank you everybody for your responses...It is good to know in advance that while, say, the Romantic Road would be great to see, if the roads are crowded (and then the towns, also), that is downtime that could be spent elsewhere.
Great help.
Weekend traffic can be very bad going in/out of the cities anytime. I recall leaving paris on a Sunday afternoon some years back and the roads going back into Paris were gridlocked. I have lived in Stuttgart since Oct 09 and find heavy traffic every Friday afternoon/evening. I now take the back roads to avoid the autobahn Friday afternoons.
All the responses show why you should seriously consider train travel.
CJ, bring a GPS from home and bring your maps. Trust me, the GPS will make your trip so much easier, and is an immense help if you drive somewhere that was not on your initial route.
At the same time always carry a good Michelin map of each country. We found these at AAA, good bookstores, and at service stations in much of Europe.
