Well largely so anyway.
Calais - Lille - Belgian border: Autoroutes, well surfaced, not too much traffic.
Belgium Mons - Charlerois - Namur - Ardennes: Auoroutes, well surfaced, very little traffic
Belgian main roads: some rubbish surfaces but generally very smooth, very little traffic
Belgian minor roads: mixed bag, very little traffic
Luxembourg: didn't travel extensively but what I did experience was very good surfaces and very little traffic.
Everywhere: no over-regulation of traffic, no over-signing, no cameras; motorists treated like responsible adults.
Iffy surfaces vs BMW M Sport suspension aside, the driving was a joy. I think I'll be back for a second helping come half-term.
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I too like driving in Europe. The main advantage that they have is lower traffic density. We have a high population density in the UK, in large part because we want cheap labour and so have bought/allowed large numbers of people to settle here, in what is a small crowded island. Most of our services and infrastructure therefore operates at or above its full capacity.
I would take issue with the comment that there are no cameras. In Holland and Germany they have more cameras than we do and they are well hidden. I also think that in some countries the police are very strict in comparison with the UK.
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I too have just returned from a drive down to the south of France.
I would agree with the comments above, the lower traffic density (on the toll roads), except around Paris, made driving a very pleasant and relaxing experience.
The biggest shock is when you arrive back in the UK, and join the Motorway away from Folkstone / Dover - its like the start of a motor race - with everyone jostling for position, doing 80mph with a top box and 4 bikes strapped to the back of the car!!
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I too like driving in Europe - probably because I am holiday when there. :-)
Driving at home is also fine. The roads here are pleasant, and not too busy, and drivers are generally polite.
But driving down in England - now that is a different story. Grim.
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The biggest shock is when you arrive back in the UK
I had the same feeling when returning to Portsmouth a year or two ago. Like a motor race is exactly true.
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What rose tinted spectacles you all wear when on holiday.
The autobahn is more like a race than anything in the UK.
Belgian roads are as crowded as ours, and far less well designed.
The Peripherique makes the M25 look like a teddy bears' picnic.
Italian driving is a joke.
On the other hand, French rural roads/autoroutes are superb. But remember the French have seven times our land area and a similar population (smaller if you believe the UK population is 80m) Half our land area is mountainous, much less of theirs is. So each French driver has, say 10 times the amount of road we have. No wonder it is more pleasant.
Remember, also, you're on holiday during August, when the continent shuts down.
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I drive right across Europe about three times a year, Poland, Germany, Holland, sometimes France. It's always when I land in the UK that the misery starts. The last time I landed in Hull and the first twenty metres down the ferry ramp was the fastest I went for 15 miles.
The UK is embarassing.
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So you've never been scared witless by a stream of Porches doing 150mph up the autobahn? In the rain...
And never been stuck on an autoroute queueing to pay your péage because it's the busiest saturday of the year and they only have two pay booths?
And never been baffled by the Dutch cycle lanes?
IME some of the aspects of UK driving/roads are among the best in Europe. And some are ghastly.
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So you've never been scared witless by a stream of Porches doing 150mph up the autobahn? In the rain...
It's not so much the speed, it's the fact that they often drive about 2 car lengths apart at 100mph that worries me more...and personally, I've found the BMW drivers the most aggressive.
Most of the germans do seem to know what they are doing on the motorway, but they just don't seem to be able to get the hang of safe following distances.
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Brilliant piece of planning.
Overnight ferry from Rotterdam guaranteed to launch you into the Hull rush hour at 8am Monday to Friday...Pure Genius !
I notice the MLOC so loved in the UK is now spreading to Germany. More and more drivers are sitting in the middle lane of three lane sections. Probably expats... :)
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Brilliant piece of planning. Overnight ferry ......
Maybe it has something to do with those tide thingies?
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I`ve been driving in europe for the last 14 years now and it beats the uk on most points.
I regularly used to spend two days travelling up from northern italy (in a hgv). Absolute bliss- very little traffic apart from lyon maybe, but it still flows very well..
Then i`d get off the train in folkestone and spend ALL DAY trying to get back to nottingham.
Northern italy can be very busy along the a4 and around the tangenziale`s in turin and milan but get off the autostrade and its generally good.
I could earn FAR more driving in england but i just cant face uk hold-ups, msa prices, lack of hgv parking, etc etc etc.
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Well my observations were intentionally a tad rose-tinted - :-) - but even when I take my specs off the motoring experience there is better than the one over here. And, sure, problems ocur, and I didn't get any.
Over here England is indecently crowded - and is getting more crowded by the day. Where there's low population density the place is full of tourist mimsers. Wales is OK but there's the tourist problem again. Scotland gets a thumbs-up from me, but still there are some notorious tourist corridors. In many respects this is a horrid, over-crowded island.
Ireland? That's several hundred miles and a boat ride away. From here in Bucks northern Europe is conveniently close and has plenty to commend it.
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Maybe it has something to do with those tide thingies?
I always thought those tide thingies moved but you can pretty much guarantee* being off the ferry at 8am into rush hour whether it be January or June.
Shame you can't fix the tides then the tourists wouldn't keep getting caught out on the Holy Island causeway. It must be so difficlut to read the tide postings at either side.
* Unless it's a particularly rough crossing like Dec. 7th last year when storm force winds were passing through.
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Last week drove to Köln and back via the tunnel. Coming home was a Saturday so no lorries to speak of. Traffic was moving all the time even through Liege and Lille. Lane discipline from everyone was excellent all the way to back to Calais with no one hogging the overtaking lane ever. Had an excellent progressive journey, all the way to the Tunnel. Then came the M20/M25. Inside lane mostly empty, middle lane doing 67mph, outside lane quite full doing between 10 and 95 (estimated). Hopeless frustrating ?stop/start? journey from the Tunnel exit, all the way to the M3 and home.
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Yes, forgot to mention lane discipline - generally very good. I had only one problem, an old-ish Espace sitting doggedly in the LH lane of the 2-lane autoroute between Dunquerque and Calais doing 120 in a 130 area. Eventiually I decided i had to nip past at 150 on the inside. After that it speeded up, funnily enough.
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"the French have seven times our land area "
France area 547,030 square km Pop 62,752,000
UK 244,820 square km Pop 60,000,000
Of course much of the problem is that of our 60 mill, 50 mill live in England at a density of 383 per sq km. (Scotland by comparison is 64) In France it's about 110 per sq km.
Perhaps that explains why being " stuck on an autoroute queueing to pay your péage because it's the busiest saturday of the year and they only have two pay booths?" only happens on that one Saturday per year whereas one can guarantee to be held up on the M25/M1/M6 etc every day of the year.
Even with a caravan on the back I can virtually guarantee to do 200 miles in 3 hours (with coffee stop) in France. I allowed 5 hours to get to Chunnel this year and missed our time - took 6 hours to do 200 miles.
Not mentioned so far re France at least, are the "Aires" - so much better and more reasonably priced than our services, with picnic areas, tables, kids play areas etc. - but I guess that is another price we have to pay for living in such a crowded country
--
Phil
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