On the basis that backroomers get everywhere, does anyone have experience of driving in Slovakia and the Czech Republic?
I've been offered a free trip but on the condition that I help with the driving. I'm quite embarrassed to admit that I've never driven outside of the UK and I'm not sure if this would be the best of places to start.
Any suggestions/advice?
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Yes, both. Loads of it. What would you like to know?
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Okay, having asked you for any specifics you are interested in here are some starters for ten.
Use of motorways requires a carnet. These vary from a week to a year in length and are very cheap by our standards. (you will also need one if you drive on Austrian motorways to get to Slovakia or the Czech Republic) In all these cases carnets can be purchased at fuel stations.
Czech and Slovak roads can switch from superb to "cart track" in standard of maintenance very quickly.
Both countries are devoid of traffic by the standard of the South of England and I find the driving stress-free.
The Czech Republic has a daft law about indicating in the direction of a tight corner to warn motorists behind about the corner! Thankfully, whilst old duffers still tend to do this the younger generation ignore it, as do I; if the corner has a junction on it things otherwise get mighty confusing!
Driving standards tend to be quite lax and vary from laid back on the minor roads to highly agressive and extremely fast on roads like the Rozvadov(a main border point) - Prague - Brno motorway as well as in Prague itself.
Winter tyres MUST be used as MUST dipped headlights 24x7 during the months of winter. I think this is defined by the clock going "backwards" and "forwards". Both of these laws are quite strongly enforced.
If you need new tyres, consider timing the journey to have them fitted in Sk or CZ. I did in the latter and was very impressed as you can read here: groups.msn.com/honestjohn/vehicles.msnw?action=Sho...5 Oddly, I only posted this photo last night!
To summarize though, I have had a lot of fun driving my own car on Czech and Slovak roads. I've driven my own car over from the UK to CZ four times now and also rent cars locally for a few days whenever I fly.
I'm sure I'll think of some more, but feel free to ask away anyway...
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Never driven in the Slovak Republic but have driven in most of the rest of Europe, I understand your worries but I would say dont worry. If you can drive in the UK you can drive anywhere in Europe ! All I would say is be methodical with your navigation, and everything else will fall into place.
The UK is the intolerace/road rage capital of Europe so you should find Slovakia quite sleepy by comparison !
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Can't comment on CR but Slovakia is mainly rural and has a population about half that of London IIRC and many people don't own cars so you won't find too many traffic jams. As SJB says, standards vary wildly so far as roads are concerned but I'd say the standard of driving is often pretty poor and you see some truly crazy things on the roads. Having said that you see some pretty terrifying things on the M25, so if you can drive on that (or anything like it) you ought to be OK in Slovakia. Nobody indicates, EVER, and people often remove items like wheel trims, wiper blades etc. overnight to prevent them being stolen.
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Its winter time now and it is compulsory to have your lights on at all times ,The police are very keen on outsiders it helps supplement their meagre wages
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>>It's winter time now and it is compulsory to have your lights on at all times
Yes, I put that in my post.
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I drove quite a bit in the CR this summer and the only thing I found noticeable is that the villages seem to merge together and you have to be on your guard a bit for speed restrictions changing a lot, a bit frustrating if you're trying to press on.
Prague drivers seem keener than some on tailgating, but in comparison to some cities I've driven in, it's fairly civilised.
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Yes, Nsar, that's a very good point;
Villages are restricted to 40kph (25mph), the start of this limit being implied by the village name sign and the end of it being implied by the "cancelled" village name sign; i.e similar to what we do with 30 limits and lamp posts in terms of being implied. Many villages are totally deserted of traffic and with wide verges, so it can take a huge amount of self discipline to plod along at 25 miles an hour. Do not be surprised if you are overtaken.
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Ignore the bit about international driving licences (because of EU membership) but there is some more useful info here: goeasteurope.about.com/cs/czechplanner/a/czdrive.h...m
Seems FIL (who is with me at the moment so I can have a debate!) was wrong to teach me 40kph in villages if the 50kph mentioned in the link is correct.
As the link says, stastnou cestu! ("stastnow tsestu" = enjoy your trip)
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Ok thanks for all that (SjB in particular), I'm now excited as opposed to scared! I think my biggest concern was that the roads and drivers would be closer to the Poland of BBDave's descriptions than anything I'm familiar with.
I'll let you know how it goes!
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