Driving to the UK from Germany by car

A friend of mine has to travel next week from Germany (Saarbrücken=South West Germany) to UK (near Cambridge).
The Road Trip Planner suggests to go via Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Ferry at Calais.
As it's the first time he does this trip by car, he'd like to get some advice from people who have travelled to England by car. Any comments/recommendations/better alternatives?
thanks,
zee.

You could also go through the Netherlands (Hook of Holland) and take the ferry to Harwich (on the east coast). From there it should be about 1.5 hours drive to Cambridge.

Stena Line

Not sure if it's any quicker though.

EDIT: According to the ADAC route planner the journey via Hook-Harwich takes 20 mins longer, but the main advantage is that you'll avoid the M25, which is a major pain in the a**e at any time of the day. Hope this helps.

Outside big holiday weekends all roads are usually much quieter AND lorry free on Sundays (except possibly E routes). This makes a difference, especially when 'motorways' are in fact dual carriageways - it means you don't get stuck in a queue waiting to overtake. Sunday mornings are normally the best time.

Otherwise, the route looks fine (I don't think you need to pay a toll on that stretch of motorway in France, but you may want to check).

One last thing: if your friend is happy to pay a little extra, I highly recommend he takes the EuroTunnel train just to reduce the journey by a couple of hours.

he has to travel on friday 4th, I don't know how flexible he is with time. but I'll forward him your posts (thank you!).

Yep. That's the way to go. It's the way I came back from the UK at New Year and it's the shortest (mostly) motorway route from here, so the same will go for Saarbrücken.
Motorway from SB to LUX, fill up in LUX (super was 1.03 a litre last month).
Up to Namur, across to Mons, then Lille, Dunkirk, Calais. Easy peasy. Shouldn't take any more than 6 hours to Calais from SB.

Edit: the above is correct, if you take this route then the autoroutes in France are toll-free.
However the train will not in my experience reduce the travel time by any more than half an hour.

OK. Forgot to mention that I pay a little extra for the EuroTunnel FlexiPlus Fare (which means you arrive at Calais, and get to go on the next available departure, with dedicated Check-In, and priority boarding). The additional surcharge isn't that much.
So, along with not having to check in min 30mins before departure like you have to for the ferries, the Eurotunnel Calais -> Folkestone crossing takes 35 mins (otherwise min 50 for the boat, that only go as far as Dover), and the queues for Customs at Folkestone are normally smaller.

One suggestion is to try heading into France as soon as possible, then hitting the French motorways northbound. A mate of mine visited recently and drove back to Birmingham, taking the relatively quiet French toll roads. A bit more pricey, but he says it was worth it, compared to the busy and bloody awful drivers on the Autobahns in Germany.

Yeah, that's a great idea... the drivers in France are wonderful. And While your at it, wait until you get back to the UK to fill up your tank.

Mapsource suggests this route:

There's a superb route I use via Luxembourg avoiding Brussels, going via Trier. I'll look it out. I've driven it 20-30 times. Best by far.

Sin that would possibly be the route I usually use from here, heading over the back of the Eiffel from Kaiserslautern. But this bloke is starting in Saarbrücken, so he doesn't need to go via Trier.

However as I (almost) said above, don't take the route via Brussels, cut across the south of Belgium to Mons and then head north.

Nicely phrased, Tim. I've literally gone down that route too: once. The French roads are relatively quiet, but it's further and of course more expensive. And starting in Saarbrücken (I repeat) he'll hardly be using German roads anyway.

I can however confirm (and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work it out) that by far the worst bit of the journey will be the M25.

I just got back from a two day trip up to Wales to see the parents.

Our route was via Aachen to Belgium (shithole) then briefly Holland (don't get petrol there) then final dash to Calais.

we stayed in an automatic hotel called Les Villages which I can highly recommend. Similar company to Formule One but with en suite bathroom in every room. Very comfortable. I had to sleep on the bunk whilst toddler slept below with Mama. We used to use F1 hotels years ago on our runs down to our house in Dordogne.

Boat was to Dover and straightforward. Then the nightmare of no petrol for ages on the M20 Dover London. We forgot to get petrol in France.

M25 was a nightmare. How can anyone live in the SE of England and commute on that bloody thing every day?

M6 not bad but bumpy with a trailer like I was towing. Brum has a new TOLL ROAD! Fantastic empty road like a German autobahn but you stump up 7.50 quid with a trailer on the back like I had.

Then off at Szoke to A51 to Wales. Home.

Anyone else have similar experiences on this route, not necess. to Wales?

Topics merged by admin

Why would you go via Holland?

Anyhow after years of doing this I've also settled on Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen, south of Belgium (where fuel is generally cheaper), Lille, Channel. As in fact I shall be doing this afternoon

If I stop overnight then in Aachen, which I did once on spec and found out it was exactly halfway between Munich and Brum.

M25 is usually a nightmare apart from in the early hours (or all day on Jan 1st). But believe me, the journey is a whole lot better than before it was built. The number of times I got lost just trying to get out of London again. In any direction.

The M40 is a Good Thing too. It used to be a choice between M1 or M40 to Oxford and then A34 through the villages. So all in all it's easy to whinge now (and the volume of traffic has got worse) but when I were a lad we used to have to swim the Channel...

Interesting thread... It's prompted me to think about driving back in November. ( Folks live near Brighton & there are no Direct Gatwick flights anymore and the flight are outrageous at the moment )

Quick Questions

Via Calais Route...

Whats the ave Journey time ?
Whats the ave Fuel costs ( Unleaded - ) ?
Can you do it in a straight run or would you recommend a stop over. ?
Is there a 'Best Time' to start out from Munich in your opinion ?

It will take about 8-9 hours to get to Calais from Munich if you drive more or less within the law, most of the autobahn route is speed restricted. I always do it in one go, but I like driving. The earlier you can leave the better, unless you like driving through the night, which I consider too dangerous, too great a risk of dropping off to sleep whilst driving. The route through France is quieter but more expensive, because of the tolls. I used this route planner last time and it found me a really good route. Via Michelin

I tend to go one way and come back another (both outlined above). The distance to Calais is between 900 - 1000 km depending on route. I allow 10 hours including stops and that is usually very comfortable.

I always used to do it in one, but as my age advances I'm tending to take an overnight break if I'm the only driver. Makes a difference to stress and tiredness levels but of course increases the cost of the trip. This time I will also be doing this differently in different directions: stop overnight in Aachen on the way there, and drive through the night without a sleep stop on the way back. I'd say that whether you do it in a "straight run" or not depends on where you're going to in the UK. If you're going to Aberdeen then it might be wise to stop. Or take the ferry to Edinburgh in the first place.

A "best time" is hard to find, because it will usually be rush hour somewhere along the line, if not in Munich then in Frankfurt or Stuttgart or Luxembourg or Lille or, worst of all, London.

Leave early Sunday morning when everyone's still in bed. On Sundays, there's no rush-hour and no lorries on the roads.

Thanks for the feedback folks ! ... I sense a plan... Just need to convince the other half

Pike yeah that's for sure. I was thinking general time of day. As I mentioned above Jan 1st ist a very good "time" to do it!

Potbelly if the other half can do some driving and you're "only" going to Brighton then I'd bomb on through. The hour or so on the ferry makes a nice break to the driving in itself.

only advice I'd give is take the Norfolk Line ferries to Dover from Dunkirk it's a lot cheaper!
here's the link: Norfolk Line
shame your other half can't share the driving, we usually manage it in one go sharing the driving.

which advice you gave before and I am taking tomorrow for the first time. Quite looking forward to the slightly shorter drive and longer crossing!

oo good luck! my boyfriend's dad drives to Europe quite a lot he always uses them! shame they don't run so often though think it's just every 2 hours!

Nice one boots! Will look into that

There are plenty of sailings, they are just not distributed evenly throughout the day. I went for the one at 14:01 because the other one is a bit too early and if I missed it I'd have to wait hours.

Edit: I've just checked the schedule and it's changed... Boats leave pretty much every 2 hours.

oo and the fish and chips with mushy peas from the cafeteria is nice! *drool*

That's usually my first evening meal in the UK anyway!

Norfolk Line get my vote - I was booked on the midday ferry last time, got there at 9:45 and they let me on the 10am crossing. What stars!

Although if you're heading North the ferry to Rossyth is marvellous. Arrive in Edinburgh the next morning and it's but a twenty minute drive home. I suspect that the extra cost of the crossing is more than made up by the amount of fuel you save...

That's happened to me with P&O and SeaFrance too, Ben. It's to their advantage as well.

Another variation on the journey would be to stick the car (and yourselves) on an overnight train at Ostbahnhof. They seem to change these routes every year so I'm not up to date on this, but I have also slept from here to Cologne and driven off from there fresh the next morning. If you're thinking of staying the night somewhere anyway then that might be worth considering.

Edit: it looks like Munich-Cologne and Munich-Düsseldorf are still on offer

Car on train option sounds really good... If it drops me off in Cologne then I'm half way there. Not ridiculously pricey either...

It was fun too, Ben. Everyone seemed to have brought their own bottle...

Disadvantage: you have to drive to Ostbahnhof (which if you live outside of town is a pain).

good tip tho nevertheless. ta Jeeves.

When I drove to Calais I took a very simple route (so I didn't have to look at a map), A8 to Karlsruhe, cross into France and pick up the A4 to Reims, then take the A26 to Calais. It's all perfectly signposted and the total distance was about 950km, it took me just under 8 hours including a 30 mins stop for lunch. You should be able to work out the fuel costs for your car based on the mpg. Not sure about the price of fuel in France, but IIRC it was roughly the same as here.

If you go this route you really want to pick a quiet time to use the A8, you could easily add 2 or 3 hours onto your journey if you go at the wrong time. I suggest leaving Munich after 8pm or before 6am. Once you get into France there is no traffic at all if you stick to the toll roads.

If you want to do it cheaper, go via Luxembourg and plan to arrive there with an empty tank, also you avoid the tolls on the A4 and A26 which I think came to about €20.

The problem with doing it in a straight run is that you need to leave enough time incase there is a traffic problem along the way. What I did was book the EuroTunnel for the next morning and a hotel in Calais just in case. When I arrived the day before I went straight to the tunnel terminal and was able to board a train that evening, then just cancelled the hotel.

Interesting reading...us blokes love talking about roads eh?

I'm moving to Germany end of Sept so will be driving from the UK to Mainz in a few weeks. I was planning to go Eurotunnel (hate ferries), Ostend, through Belgium, Aachen then the A61 from Koeln southbound to Mainz. I was reckoning on about 7 hours from Calais - is that realistic or am i having a laugh?! I will be travelling midweek.

7 hours Calais to Mainz? A doddle.

@chickenmadras
You need to make sure that you reach Brussels well after 9am, as rush hour on the E40 is a nightmare. You should be OK after that.

Some notes from last week’s journey:
The time of the week NOT to travel is Friday afternoon. Doh. 8 hours from Munich to Aachen, not counting breaks, and it’s only 640 km. Crap traffic, crappier weather, so that figure ought to be a maximum time even if I did miss queuing behind the mega-shunt which the radio claimed happened just after I passed Allershausen.

I referred to the cheap price of fuel in Belgium. Forget it. It has become more expensive than here in Germany. 10 cents a litre more. Hard to believe but true. Doh. France is slightly cheaper than Belgium now, whilst Luxemburg remains a snip at 22 cents less than here (1.13 for 95 octane).

As usual I took the south route through Belgium with no problems whatsoever. This avoids Brussels which can be a major pain as mentioned above, or the alternative of Antwerp which is a smaller city but more of a bottleneck.

Norfolk Line: great, although I didn’t find the fish and chips. I missed the comfy chairs for a quick nap, the more so because the crossing really does take the full 2 hours. Combine that with intensified customs in Dover and I was on the road 50 minutes after the scheduled arrival time in Dover.

Speed cameras in the UK: they do seem to have shot out of the ground like rampant weeds since Christmas, both permanent and mobile units.

M25 was surprisingly fine at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday lunchtime produced the usual jam-for-no-reason around Heathrow. Par for the course.

New route back: from Luxemburg following the A8 as far as possible, first down to Pirmasens and then across to Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. I’d only recommend this route at night, when the impact of the road works (mostly between Pforzheim and Stuttgart at the moment) is at its lowest and the 50 km of motorway that are missing between Pirmasens and Landau are more of a welcome variation from motorway drone than a procession of HGV’s. It is also the shortest route I have yet clocked, 90 km shorter than the northern route and you’ve saved about an hour right there.

bummer about the fish & chips! perhaps the menu in the resaurant changes from time to time.
thanks for the tip about travelling via Suttgart.

hope you had a nice time whilst home even if the journey to get there wasn't as smooth as planned

We're driving from Birkenau (69488) to Dunkerque on Saturday without the help of sat-nav.

Previously, using sat-nav, we've done a nice route skirting Luxembourg and the Ardennes.

Many hours and much coffee hasn't helped my map-planning and I am no nearer to having an idea which way we should be going.

Any map experts out there that can give me a few hints? I looked at Mapquest/Map24/AA but they all pick a route - via Brussels - and don't want to let me choose a 'via' option.

Topics merged by admin

Mappy and Michelin have 'via' options.

If you are looking to avoid Brussels, just after you hit Namur in Belgium, take the E42 to Charleroi/Mons/Lille/Dunkerque.

I suggest you "Google" the "RAC Routeplanner" - works a treat every time!!

I am driving to the UK tomorrow from Frankfurt and take the route via Antwerp - I find it quicker than via brussels (always get in traffic on the R0) and it is a more pleasant route than the E42 Also got stuck in traffic at Lille previously and got a speeding ticket at Herstal!
I go A61/A4/A76/A2/A13/R1/A14/A10/A18/A16
Distance wise according to Google maps the routes via Antwerp, Brussels and Liege are with 5KM or each other so no real difference in Distances.

E42 is probably the easiest to follow - just stay on the E42! (E19 for a bit I seem to recall)
Directions to Aachen, Liege (Luik), Namur, Charleroi, Mons, Tournai, Lille, Dunkerque

Thank you all for your kind replies. I've found some new route finders that look good. Thanks to deatr28 for the detailed directions, I've got the wine bottle open now and will pore over the map with new enthusiasm - safe and speedy journey for you tomorrow.

This is the fastest route I could find. Ignore the cost in GBP it was before price rises.

Time Mile Instruction For Toward
Summary: 373.3 miles (5 hours, 14 minutes)
09:00 0.0 Depart Birkenau on Local road(s) (East) 87 yds
09:00 0.1 Turn LEFT (North) onto Am Burgacker 0.1 mi
09:01 0.2 Turn RIGHT (East) onto Lindenstraße 174 yds
09:02 0.3 Turn LEFT (North) onto L3408 [Obergasse] 0.1 mi
09:02 0.4 Turn RIGHT (East) onto Bahnhofstraße 0.2 mi
09:03 0.6 Turn LEFT (North-West) onto Am Grossen Falltor 43 yds
09:03 0.7 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Ringstraße 0.2 mi
09:03 0.9 Turn LEFT (South-West) onto Zimmerstraße 142 yds
09:04 1.0 Continue (West) on K13 65 yds
09:04 1.0 Turn LEFT (South) onto B38 [Hauptstraße] 2.3 mi
09:07 3.3 Turn LEFT (South) onto B3 [Bergstraße] 0.3 mi
09:08 3.6 Continue (West) on B38 [Mannheimer Straße] 1.4 mi
09:11 5.0 Turn LEFT (West) onto B38A 0.3 mi
09:11 5.3 Continue (West) on A659 3.5 mi
09:14 8.8 Continue (West) on Viernheimer Kreuz 0.3 mi A6 / Frankfurt / Saarbrücken
09:15 9.1 Bear RIGHT (North) onto A6 [E50] 1.5 mi
09:16 10.6 Stay on A6 [E50] (North) 7.6 mi A6 / Saarbrücken / Kaiserslautern / Neustadt(Weinstrasse) / Ludwigshafen
09:22 18.2 At A6 Exit 23, stay on A6 [E50] (West) 3.9 mi A6 / Saarbrücken / Kaiserslautern / Frankenthal
09:25 22.1 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Autobahnkreuz Frankenthal [21] 131 yds A61 / Speyer / Neustadt/Weinstrasse / Koblenz / Mainz
09:25 22.2 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Frankenthal (West) 0.4 mi A61 / Koblenz / Mainz
09:26 22.6 Continue (North) on A61 [E31] 19.6 mi
09:41 42.2 Stay on A61 [E31] (North) 48.6 mi A61 / Köln / Koblenz
10:20 90.7 Stay on A61 [E31] (North) 9.6 mi A61 / Köln / Trier / Koblenz
10:28 100.3 Stay on A61 [E31] (North-West) 50.6 mi A61 / Köln / Bonn
11:08 150.9 Stay on A61 [107] (North) 6.9 mi A61 / Venlo / Mönchengladbach / Aachen
11:14 157.8 Continue (North) on Autobahnkreuz Kerpen [20] 0.1 mi A4 / Eindhoven / Aachen / Kerpen / Köln
11:14 157.9 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Kerpen (North) 0.3 mi A4 / Eindhoven / Aachen / Kerpen
11:15 158.2 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Kerpen (North) 0.3 mi A4 / Eindhoven / Aachen / Kerpen
11:15 158.5 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Kerpen (South-West) 0.4 mi A4 / Aachen / Kerpen
11:15 158.8 Continue (West) on Anschlussstelle Kerpen 0.3 mi A4 / Eindhoven / Aachen
11:16 159.1 Bear RIGHT (West) onto A4 [E40] 23.8 mi
11:35 182.9 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Autobahnkreuz Aachen 0.1 mi A4 / A44 / Antwerpen / Eindhoven / Aachen / Lüttich (Liège) / Krefeld
11:35 183.0 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Aachen (West) 0.2 mi A4 / A44 / Lüttich (Liège) / Aachen-Süd / Antwerpen / Eindhoven / Aachen
11:35 183.3 Stay on Autobahnkreuz Aachen (West) 0.4 mi A4 / Antwerpen / Eindhoven / Heerlen / Aachen
11:36 183.7 Bear RIGHT (West) onto A4 [E314] 6.3 mi A4 / Antwerpen / Heerlen / Aachen
11:41 190.0 Entering Netherlands
11:41 190.0 Bear LEFT (North-West) onto A76 [E314] 16.8 mi
11:55 206.7 Entering Belgium
11:55 206.7 Bear RIGHT (West) onto A2 [E314] 53.7 mi
12:34 256.6 Refuel before here (last refuel was 256.6 miles ago)
12:37 260.4 Bear RIGHT (South-West) onto Leuven 0.5 mi E40 / Brussel
12:38 261.0 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Ramp 0.4 mi
12:39 261.3 Bear RIGHT (West) onto A3 [E40] 6.6 mi
12:44 267.9 Continue (West) on Ramp 0.3 mi E40 / E19 / E411 / Ring
12:45 268.2 Stay on Ramp (West) 0.2 mi E40 / E19 / Gent / Antwerpen / Luchthaven Zaventem
12:45 268.4 Bear RIGHT (North) onto E40 [R0] 10.2 mi
12:55 278.6 Continue (South-West) on Ramp [E19] 0.7 mi E40 / N9 / Oostende / Brussel / Gent / Koekelberg / Asse
12:56 279.3 Continue (South-West) on Groot-Bijgaarden [Grand-Bigard] 0.5 mi E40 / Oostende / Gent
12:57 279.8 Continue (West) on A10 [E40] 57.0 mi
13:42 336.8 Bear LEFT (West) onto A18 [E40] 25.9 mi E40 / Veurne / Nieuwpoort / Oostende
14:03 362.7 Entering France
14:03 362.7 Continue (West) on A16 [E40] 8.8 mi
14:10 371.6 At A16 Exit 31, bear RIGHT (North-West) onto Ramp [Échangeur de Coudekerque Br Ctre] 65 yds Bergues / Coudekerque / -Br.Centre / Zone du Tonkin
14:10 371.6 Bear RIGHT (North) onto Échangeur de Coudekerque Br Ctre 164 yds
14:10 371.7 Bear LEFT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
14:10 371.7 Turn LEFT (North) onto D916 [Route de Bergues] 1.1 mi
14:12 372.9 Turn LEFT (West) onto N1 [Quai de Mardyck] 76 yds
14:13 372.9 Turn LEFT (South) onto D916 [Rue de Lille] 0.3 mi
14:14 373.2 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Rue des Passerelles 120 yds
14:14 373.3 Turn RIGHT (North) onto Local road(s) 120 yds
14:14 373.3 Arrive Dunkerque

SUMMARY
Driving distance: 373.3 miles
Trip duration: 5 hours, 14 minutes
Driving time: 5 hours, 14 minutes
Cost: £43.52

thnaks for doing his travel plans, can you also do ours now, we want to go from Munich to Salisbury
Cheers

Thanks Johnny, let'S hope this translates into a cool and harmonious journey. We've driven many times to the UK but only using sat-nav. We're out of sat-nav temporarily and, as we squabbled our way to Mainz last week-end, there was a horrible dawning realisation that we have to get to Dunkerque this weekend. Now, if only he can drive slowly enough that I can read the road signs all will be fine.

As for Munich - Salisbury: simple, drive to Birkenau and follow Johnny's directions. On arrival in Dover abandon all hope!

It depends on the time of day that you leave, however if you are coming from Munich and going to Britain, your best bet is to avoid Frankfurt and Cologne and to take the A8, despite the roadworks especially from Stuttgart to Pforzheim, to Karlsruhe, A65 to Landau, B10 to Pirmasens, A8 to Luxembourg (cheaper fuel) and then on to the coast.

Munich to Salisbury Goes a different way. cost updated

Time Mile Instruction For Toward
Summary: 753.5 miles (1 day, 3 hours, 6 minutes)
DAY 1
09:00 0.0 Depart Munich on Lenbachplatz (West) 109 yds
09:00 0.1 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Elisenstraße 0.3 mi
09:00 0.4 Continue (West) on Marsstraße 0.5 mi
09:01 0.9 Continue (West) on Marsplatz 0.1 mi
09:02 1.1 Continue (West) on Marsstraße 0.3 mi
09:02 1.3 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Local road(s) 65 yds
09:02 1.4 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Arnulfstraße 0.2 mi
09:03 1.6 Stay on Arnulfstraße (West) 54 yds Stuttgart
09:03 1.6 Stay on Arnulfstraße (West) 1.3 mi A8 / Stuttgart / Nymphenburg
09:05 2.9 Turn RIGHT (North) onto Romanplatz 164 yds
09:05 3.0 Bear RIGHT (North) onto Notburgastraße 0.2 mi
09:06 3.2 Continue (North) on Ludwig-Ferdinand-Brücke 54 yds
09:06 3.2 Continue (North) on Menzinger Straße 1.2 mi
09:08 4.4 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Amalienburgstraße 0.3 mi
09:09 4.7 Continue (West) on Verdistraße 1.4 mi
09:12 6.1 At roundabout, take the FIRST exit 120 yds
09:12 6.2 Exit roundabout onto A8 [Anschlussstelle München-Obermenzing] 131.7 mi A8 / Stuttgart
10:57 137.9 Stay on A8 [E52] (North) 33.5 mi A8 / Karlsruhe / Basel / Pforzheim
11:24 171.5 Continue (West) on Autobahndreieck Karlsruhe [41] 0.9 mi A5 / Basel / Baden-Baden / Ettlingen
11:25 172.3 Bear RIGHT (West) onto A5 [E35] 17.9 mi
11:40 190.2 Continue (South-West) on Anschlussstelle Baden-Baden [51] 87 yds B500 / Baden-Baden / Iffezheim / Autobahn Paris / Flughafen Baden-Airpark
11:40 190.2 Stay on Anschlussstelle Baden-Baden (West) 0.2 mi B500 / Iffezheim / Flughafen Baden-Airpark / Autobahn Paris
11:40 190.5 Continue (North-West) on B500 3.8 mi
11:46 194.2 Entering France
11:46 194.2 Bear RIGHT (West) onto D4 0.7 mi
11:47 195.0 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit 109 yds
11:47 195.0 Exit roundabout onto D4 2.1 mi
11:50 197.1 Stay on D4 (North-West) 87 yds Haguenau / Strasbourg / Paris
11:50 197.1 Continue (North-West) on Ramp 0.3 mi
11:50 197.4 Bear RIGHT (South-West) onto A35 20.0 mi
12:06 217.4 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Échangeur de Hoerdt 0.1 mi A4 / Brumath / Haguenau / Paris
12:06 217.6 Bear RIGHT (North) onto A4 [E25] 5.5 mi
12:11 223.1 *Toll road* Stay on A4 [E25] (North) 84.0 mi
12:36 254.6 Refuel before here (last refuel was 254.6 miles ago)
13:18 307.1 *Toll road* Stay on A4 [E25] (West) 115.3 mi A4 / E50 / E25 / Thionville / Luxembourg / Nancy / Paris
14:50 422.4 At A4 Exit 26, stay on A4 [E50] (North) 5.7 mi
14:55 428.1 Continue (West) on Ramp 0.3 mi Reims-la Neuvilette / Z.I Colbert / Laon / Lille / Calais
14:55 428.4 *Toll road* Continue (North) on A26 [E17] 151.9 mi
16:04 513.6 Refuel before here (last refuel was 259.0 miles ago)
16:57 580.4 Stay on A26 [E15] (North) 3.2 mi
17:00 583.6 End of day
DAY 2
09:00 583.6 Stay on A26 [E15] 7.6 mi
09:06 591.2 Bear LEFT (West) onto Ramp 0.4 mi
09:06 591.6 Continue (West) on A16 [E402] 3.5 mi
09:09 595.1 At A16 Exit 13, bear RIGHT (West) onto Ramp 0.2 mi Tunnel Sous la Manche
09:09 595.3 Stay on Ramp (West) 0.3 mi Terminal Tourisme
09:10 595.6 Continue (South) on Local road(s) 0.3 mi
09:10 595.8 Continue (South) on Terminal de Coquelles 120 yds
09:10 595.9 Continue (South) on Local road(s) 0.6 mi
09:11 596.5 Bear LEFT (South) onto Local road(s) 0.2 mi
09:11 596.7 Turn RIGHT (South) onto Local road(s) 0.2 mi
09:12 596.8 *Check timetable* Take Channel Tunnel/Tunnel Sous la Manche (South)
09:23 596.8 Entering United Kingdom
09:45 596.8 Take Local road(s) (West) 0.7 mi
09:46 597.6 Continue (West) on Ramp 0.3 mi M20 / London / Ashford
09:47 597.8 Continue (West) on M20 37.2 mi
10:16 635.0 At M20 Exit 3, continue (West) on Ramp 0.7 mi M26 / M25 / M4 / A25 / A20 / A227 / Gatwick / Heathrow / Sevenoaks / Wrotham / Gravesend
10:17 635.7 Continue (West) on M26 8.9 mi
10:25 644.6 Continue (West) on M25 12.0 mi
10:34 656.7 At M25 Exit 7, stay on M25 (West) 16.5 mi M25 / M1 / A217 / M4 / Watford / Reigate / Heathrow Airport
10:47 673.2 At M25 Exit 10, stay on M25 (North-West) 4.9 mi M25 / M4 / A320 / Heathrow Airport / Watford / M1 / Chertsey
10:51 678.1 At M25 Exit 11, stay on M25 (North) 2.0 mi M25 / M4 / M3 / Heathrow Airport / Watford / M1 / Basingstoke
10:53 680.1 At M25 Exit 12, continue (North) on Ramp 0.3 mi M3 / Basingstoke / Southampton / Sunbury
10:54 680.4 Stay on Ramp (West) 0.4 mi M3 / Basingstoke / Southampton
10:54 680.9 Continue (West) on M3 30.9 mi
11:19 711.8 At M3 Exit 8, stay on M3 (South-West) 19.2 mi M3 / Winchester / Southampton
11:34 731.0 At M3 Exit 14, continue (South) on Ramp 2.7 mi M27 / So'ton Docks / Bournemouth / Romsey / The West
11:38 733.6 Bear LEFT (West) onto M27 4.5 mi
11:42 738.2 At M27 Exit 2, continue (West) on Ramp 0.2 mi A36 / A326 / Salisbury / Fawley
11:42 738.4 At roundabout, take the THIRD exit 0.2 mi
11:43 738.6 Exit roundabout onto A36 0.5 mi
11:43 739.1 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit 87 yds
11:44 739.2 Exit roundabout onto A36 2.4 mi
11:47 741.6 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit 32 yds
11:47 741.6 Exit roundabout onto A36 [Salisbury Road] 11.2 mi
12:05 752.8 At roundabout, take the FIRST exit 32 yds
12:05 752.8 Exit roundabout onto A36 [Southampton Road] 0.6 mi
12:06 753.4 At roundabout, take the FIRST exit 21 yds
12:06 753.5 Arrive Salisbury

SUMMARY
Driving distance: 753.5 miles
Trip duration: 1 day, 3 hours, 6 minutes
Driving time: 10 hours, 33 minutes
Cost: £140.62

You are a star,
will print out your route and send you a postcard,
Cheers!

forum!

if one were traveling from southern germany to north west England, would one cut the drive but increase the ferry time by driving to Rotterdam, taking the ferry to Hull, driving across country in England? or driving to Calais, and taking the long drive up England?

I favour the Rotterdam - Hull route, the only issue being the times (21.00 only)

thankyouplease