Betz:
TheBear:
JB:
Or the train from Germany… Lmfao. Where is brit Pete these days?Jesus, the rows I had with that bloke!!! He reckoned the best way to Spain was thro Lux!!!
and also he said must bring snow chains for Spain!
Ah, now I’ve almost needed snow chains in Spain once 
.
Going over the Somosierra in January. It was blowing a blizzard, not what I’d expected in Spain 
Somosiera is a high altitude climb up that would cook the radiator in the summer.
The Nothern area of Spain such as the Galicia or Vigo are tricky in winter too.
Granada has Sierra Nevada.Ski in winter.Half an hour drive to Motril for a dip in the sea even in winter.
The ex drummer from Genesis,Chris Stewart has a remote small holding in the mountains near Olviga…His book Driving over lemons portrays life there.
If your going on the ferry and your a smoker or know someone who is 
on the new boats get 40 ■■■■ in the drivers restaurant then go in both bars and buy 40 in each one they only cost about 3:50 a pack,bargain!! 
Then do it on the return leg,easy money if you sell them! Not that I condone that sort of behaviour!!
On the new p+o boats I may add.
Is the OP going to be on fridges/Adr/Flat beds or Tautliners.?
The Autopark at Aosta in Italy is a big pit stop in Italy.
The town has a Roman wall and remains but is a long walk from the truckstop.
If walk to the coach park and see the base of the cable car,you can go up the mountain.There is road up there too for the buses.Watch the skiing or a snack/drink in the wooden chalets with a roaring fire.But not cheap up there.Stunning views on a clear day.
At all exits off the toll road you can access the sports centre and parking there is no problem.You can see it from the toll road.A plastic dome with indoor/outside pool.Sauna and jacuzi for a small price.
The locals walk along a cycle path along the river.
It goes to a prison heading away from town.Dog walkers and families aling the path.The truck parking will be full of EE drivers,a few Russians,Ukrainians and some Iranians on TIR Plates.Arabic number plates.
aswell as all the above, do you wear glasses?
if so, always carry 2 pairs with you.
Some drivers were getting fined for going off the transit route to buy ■■■■/booze at a depot/shop.
The owner refunded the fine if got caught by the police in Luxemborg.
As per normal no truck bans
on the corridor road to and from Calais and Belgium.
On the Belgium Msa’s they have Pizza Hut.Restaurant or take away.Delicious.
If loading Onions,you can run on sunday in France as are perishable.
jessicas dad:
look im quite new to this lark as well compared to some of these old hands, ive been at it 2 years.my experience is as said on other threads get on the autoroutes up to speed and cruise control on and that’s it till you get where you going.
1st, take what toby says with a massive pinch off salt. I think the last time he was abroad was 20 years ago.
les rouiters, now don’t get me wrong there is some blinders but beware there is just as many crap ones as well. it will cost you roughly 13 euros for lunch/dinner some places you get a five course meal some you get 3.
ive done hardly any Germany so the autohofs ive only been to one and it was good and they have an excellent reputation.
swiss, get your showers and food before you go in, showers at the services in swiss costs you 10 euros in Europe they are 2 euros. on the subject of showers , I find the European services showers in decline, contrary to what people say they are not cleaned everytime someone uses them like they used to be and some off the msa’s showers are downright grotty, but they are hot.
the supermarkets normally have some sort of hgv parking but even if they haven’t there is normally somewhere to squeeze in and you wont be bothered.
msa’s are the same as here … they attract crime and I don’t park in them unless I really have to. they are free but there is stuff being pilfered in them nowadays.
the ferries are a eye opener, full of eastern Europeans especially the dfds boats, there maybe 60 lorries on them and don’t be surprised that you are the only English driver, the food is free but dire so don’t get to excited about that.
the main thing to try and remember is " the glory days are over " bumping into English driver is few and far between ( which is a good thing for me ) helping each other out drivers will just as happily drive past than stop and help.
the dutch are very friendly and speak better English than us and will go out of their way to help.
the French everytime you go somewhere shake hands with everyone, it is quite comical stood in an office watching them, they can spend 5-10mins saying hello and shaking hands with everyone.
all in all its better than uk, but forget about beaches, riding your bike and having dinner with the mayor.
Well said. I recognise much of that Toby says from my childhood spent running around Europe with my dad in old Iveco Turbostars in the 1990s but when I did the job myself between 2005-09 that was all a distant memory. When I did the Swiss run which was most of the time, I’d see the odd British truck, but very few and when I did Germany I was almost always the only British truck anywhere, especially in the eastern parts. I certainly did not find German shippers/receivers to be more laid back than in the UK as Toby suggests, I found many of them to be incredibly obnoxious as they always took me to be an eastern European and as such talked to me like ■■■, despite the fact that I’m actually half English and half German myself. Parking in Germany is often an absolute nightmare, especially after 5 or 6pm…I’ve spent many an evening trying Autohof after Autohof, with all of them being full, and ended up parking in hap hazard fashion on an industrial estate with dozens of Poles, Lithuanians, Russians and Kazakhs.
Its true that generally speaking, French motorways are less congested that British ones, but German motorways certainly are not and as for Switzerland, congestion isn’t usually too much of an issue but parking can be very hard to come by if you’re on the motorway looking for somewhere to stop. Belgium can be a nightmare for parking, due to it being a transit country for every man and his dog heading to the UK or France and their truck overtaking bans are enough to drive you to insanity, ditto with Germany.
To sum up, driving in Europe is certainly an adventure and I did prefer it to the boredom of driving in the UK but its certainly not what it used to be and I doubt it ever will be again. If it were I would not be in Canada now.
If you go on the German toll collect website there is a link on there you can ask them to send you the atlas it takes about a week to arrive and no charge for it.
TheBear:
JB:
Or the train from Germany… Lmfao. Where is brit Pete these days?Jesus, the rows I had with that bloke!!! He reckoned the best way to Spain was thro Lux!!!
I think it used to be the cheapest way to Spain regarding tolls etc… Used to see loads of Spanish running through Lux many years ago…
or just maybe the spanish trucks driving through lux are not en route from spain to the uk 
milodon:
or just maybe the spanish trucks driving through lux are not en route from spain to the uk
yes maybe…
My ex boss told me to run Calais to Barcelona via Kuxembourg to fuel up.A dam long way round.The money saved is lost in a days driving lost diverting via Lux.
And still expected delivery to be on time.
I went to Barcelona with my dad back in 93 and we went from Calais down to Reims, Dijon, Lyon and down to Spain that way, which according to google maps is about 1400km, going via Lux is 1563 so its only 163km more.
robinhood_1984:
I went to Barcelona with my dad back in 93 and we went from Calais down to Reims, Dijon, Lyon and down to Spain that way, which according to google maps is about 1400km, going via Lux is 1563 so its only 163km more.
And a couple of hours driving, but a big fill up would have saved quite a bit in cash.
the difference in the price of fuel between france and lux is about €.10/l, you get 5% less vat back from lux so the €130-140 you theoretically win (if you have big tanks) isn’t really that much considering you lose at least 2h of driving, another hour just waiting for the pumps while every tom ■■■■ and harry does their weekly shopping while their lorry is sat at the pumps as is the rule in lux. if you have loads of time and a light load you might be ahead a few euros, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
milodon:
the difference in the price of fuel between france and lux is about €.10/l, you get 5% less vat back from lux so the €130-140 you theoretically win (if you have big tanks) isn’t really that much considering you lose at least 2h of driving, another hour just waiting for the pumps while every tom ■■■■ and harry does their weekly shopping while their lorry is sat at the pumps as is the rule in lux. if you have loads of time and a light load you might be ahead a few euros, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
Thats recently. A few years ago it was different. Much greater savings and much quicker passing through.
