Roadtrip to Austria - stopover ideas?

roundthebend

Yo

We booked a summer holiday in Austria, quite close to Salzburg. We're planning to drive with a ferry crossing to Calais/Dunkerque. Looking at routes it seems we have a few options:

1. Through Belgium, into Germany then via Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich then Salzburg

2. Through Belgium, into Luxembourg, then into Germany and follow the French border until Karlsruhe/Stuttgart, over to Munich then Salzburg

3. Down through France to Reims, then across to Metz before heading to Stuttgart, Munich then Salzburg

By my reckoning, we'll probably do about 5-7 hours driving from Calais before wanting to stop for the night. We won't have much time to be tourists where we stop, but it'd be nice to have a pretty town/city to stroll around in the evening and find some food. Another consideration is how scenic the route will be - the prettier the better.

But I've only ever driven 2 hours into each of those routes before reaching my destination. So I need your experienced suggestions.

crunchman

I've driven Belgium / Luxembourg / Stuttgart on the way down to Switzerland. It's not very scenic through Belgium though.

If you want to drive on the motorways in France then there will likely be tolls to consider, and I don't recall the motorways in Northern France giving much in the way of scenery either.

goldtop

For your route 1 and added prettiness, how about: http://www.romanticroadgermany.com/ - cutting across to Munich?

I did a Euro road trip this last Summer. I stopped near Wurzburg (more or less half way between Calais and Ljubljana).It's proper wein-country, too!

Also, very close to Salzburg and definitely worth a visit - Berchtesgarten and the Konigssee - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berchtesgaden

holnrew

I misread it as Australia. That would be a trip and a half.

Clarky

Vienna is beautiful… so it's worth a stop..

Schoenbrun Palace is an amazing day out

makes Queenie's Buck House look like a shed

roundthebend

Cheers. So, sounds like that bit of France would be worth missing! Any tips for stopping points on the Belgian edge of Germany?

thomasross20

Yeah my girlfriend keeps banging on about Vienna. 

Austria is AMAZING - have fun.

joneve

Clarky said:

Vienna is beautiful… so it's worth a stop..

Schoenbrun Palace is an amazing day out

makes Queenie's Buck House look like a shed

Have a wisdom sir. 

roundthebend

Clarky said:

Vienna is beautiful… so it's worth a stop..

Schoenbrun Palace is an amazing day out

makes Queenie's Buck House look like a shed

Unfortunately, I think Vienna is a tad far for us once we're there. We're staying in Schladming, which is just South of Salzburg.

TinLip

Make sure you buy your sticker thingy for the autobahn in Austria or else you will need to factor in 120 euros each way. Ouch!

Hertz32

And your hi vis vest and breathalyser etc. That you must have in car if you want to drive through france.

stickyfiddle

roundthebend said:

1. Through Belgium, into Germany then via Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich then Salzburg

2. Through Belgium, into Luxembourg, then into Germany and follow the French border until Karlsruhe/Stuttgart, over to Munich then Salzburg

3. Down through France to Reims, then across to Metz before heading to Stuttgart, Munich then Salzburg

I'm pretty sure I'd pick option 3, get as far as Champagne and put down roots...

stickyfiddle

roundthebend said:

Yo

We booked a summer holiday in Austria, quite close to Salzburg. We're planning to drive with a ferry crossing to Calais/Dunkerque. Looking at routes it seems we have a few options:

1. Through Belgium, into Germany then via Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich then Salzburg

2. Through Belgium, into Luxembourg, then into Germany and follow the French border until Karlsruhe/Stuttgart, over to Munich then Salzburg

3. Down through France to Reims, then across to Metz before heading to Stuttgart, Munich then Salzburg

I'm pretty sure I'd pick option 3, get as far as Champagne and put down roots...

FazTheWookie

Nice little jaunt for you...

roundthebend

stickyfiddle said:

roundthebend said:

Yo

We booked a summer holiday in Austria, quite close to Salzburg. We're planning to drive with a ferry crossing to Calais/Dunkerque. Looking at routes it seems we have a few options:

1. Through Belgium, into Germany then via Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich then Salzburg

2. Through Belgium, into Luxembourg, then into Germany and follow the French border until Karlsruhe/Stuttgart, over to Munich then Salzburg

3. Down through France to Reims, then across to Metz before heading to Stuttgart, Munich then Salzburg

I'm pretty sure I'd pick option 3, get as far as Champagne and put down roots...

I like Champagne but 10 days of it would be too much (money and repetitive). Austria looks like a massive outdoor theme park to me, where we can do some adrenaline rush activities or just kick back and enjoy the stunning scenery. I'm pretty sure they have good beer there.

Lodious

Nice trip Faz, done it many times....spent ages getting to Kissing and Petting, then only a minute in Fucking.

Clarky

roundthebend said:

Clarky said:

Vienna is beautiful… so it's worth a stop..

Schoenbrun Palace is an amazing day out

makes Queenie's Buck House look like a shed

Unfortunately, I think Vienna is a tad far for us once we're there. We're staying in Schladming, which is just South of Salzburg.

that's a shame..

I'm been to Vienna for a long weekend chill out a few times new..

I think I'm pretty well travelled, and I can say without doubt that it's one of my fave cities..

amazing music [especially Mozart], stuff to see [palaces and stuff], great beer, awesome cakes..

roundthebend

I fully expect to make a long weekend trip to Vienna at some point in the future.

In a few years me and Mrs RTB are planning to do a camper van road trip around Central and Eastern Europe with stops at some of the capitals, so it might get a visit then too.

roundthebend

I'm reasonably confident that Wurzburg in Northern Bavaria is going to be our overnight stop on the way. It's the right distance from Calais and looks to be a really pretty city.

And it's twinned with Dundee, which is my parents' home town.

ESBlonde

roundthebend said:

I fully expect to make a long weekend trip to Vienna at some point in the future.

In a few years me and Mrs RTB are planning to do a camper van road trip around Central and Eastern Europe with stops at some of the capitals, so it might get a visit then too.

Ditto here, Mrs ESB and I have the idea to own a camper for a year or two in out early retirement to do Europe in some detail, south in the cooler months and north in th warmer periods avoiding the masses. Still a ways off but if you have a dream etc.

roundthebend

ESBlonde said:

roundthebend said:

I fully expect to make a long weekend trip to Vienna at some point in the future.

In a few years me and Mrs RTB are planning to do a camper van road trip around Central and Eastern Europe with stops at some of the capitals, so it might get a visit then too.

Ditto here, Mrs ESB and I have the idea to own a camper for a year or two in out early retirement to do Europe in some detail, south in the cooler months and north in th warmer periods avoiding the masses. Still a ways off but if you have a dream etc.

Our plan is for the summer around my 40th birthday. That's 3½ years away, so need to get the camper next year so we can get used to it and kit it out. I quite enjoy doing things without too much of a plan, it is fun to test how resourceful we can be and how we work together as a team. Basic requirement is for shelter and food, so the camper and some cash provides most of that. The rest is about seeing where we can get to and what we can do and see.

Just do it!