>>> Hi SJB - my other half is from the Slovak Republic and I've often wondered about driving there for a holiday with her and the kids but it seems a bit daunting. Which part of the CR do you travel to, how long does it take and what do you think about
the journey overall ? <<<
Right over the far side, nearest main city being Ostrava.
As you know from the thread you responded to, for the last three years we have used our Vectra GSi 2.5 Estate. Well, from the last trip we did, I just found the voice memo on my mobile phone from when I dictated the trip computer final figures on arriving back home. Sad I know, but here they are: 29.9 MPG, 88.6 gallons of petrol, 50.1 MPH average speed, 2648.9 miles. These figures include two days pottering around Salzburg and surrounding mountains on the outbound leg.
We leave home in Bucks at 04:00am?ish for a 07:00am?ish Eurotunnel departure, and normally make the Austrian border by dusk. This is driving at the speed limit where this is a speed limit, less in heavy traffic, and between 90 and 120 MPH where there is neither and traffic conditions allow. Although I had the car flat out several times in each of the journeys done so far, I don?t tend to cruise above 120MPH because (a) more frequent fuel stops negate any time saved, (b) the concentration to do it safely is immense, and very tiring, (c) cruising in this speed range is easy to go with the flow. As a lesson to me during the first trip, with 140+ MPH on the clock, I had an old boy in a diesel Passat doing all of about 60 pull out from the inside lane, across the otherwise empty middle lane, in to the outside lane, and back again, whilst he scrabbled for something in his glove box. Boy were those brakes impressive! Lesson learned. Drive at warp speed on totally empty roads, not nearly empty roads. It must also be said that some Autobahns are now in an appalling (okay, 70 years old?!) state, so there are plenty of road works at the moment. Round cities like Munich you also have M25 equivalent stretches of crawling in heavy traffic. So, it is not all free flowing, though this is more often the case than in the UK.
The last time we went, we actually went to the Czech Republic via the Slovak Republic, crossing the border from Austria near Vienna, I recall. For variety, we tend to come back by driving away from the UK in to Poland, up into what was East Germany, past Dresden, then straight across Germany to Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and home. Difference is about 90 minutes driving time (quicker via Poland for us, but not for you I suspect from Slovak Republic). Either drive is great fun, with a sense of adventure. We tend to pit stop a good five times to relax and unwind, which probably adds well over an hour on top of what you would do if only stopping for fuel, but what?s an hour? Much better to relax and enjoy. Doing this, coming back we get to Brussels in one leg, which takes 12.5-13 hours each time, and during which we cover about 850 miles. That's still a pretty impressive 65MPH AVERAGE speed, including the pit stops.
Oh yes, when crossing in to SR, CR, or Poland, you will probably see queues and queues of trucks. Don?t join the queue. Drive past. The car queue (if there is one) will be MUCH further down the road. The truckers are the victims of bureaucracy that will result in them taking several days to reach the checkpoint, let alone cross it! At the Mikulov crossing the first time we went, their queue was a good five miles (of solid parked trucks, with drivers sat at tables playing cards!) whereas ours was just one car in front of us!
Do it anyway.
It?s great fun.
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