Holidays with your A3

h5djr

h5djr

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Is anyone else intending to take their A3 on holiday with them this summer ?

I shall be off to Austria in June via Germany and a few days in Switzerland, some 2500 miles of continental motoring.

Lovely Autoroutes / Autobahns and virtially no speed cameras and even no speed limits on some parts of the autobahns in Germany. Plus lots of lovely driving on wonderful roads in the mountains in Switzerland and Austria. Roll-on June.
 
It's definitely something I'd like to do. All the long journeys I've made in my Sportback have always been a pleasure, with tall gearing of the 2.0TDI and cruise control.

In fact, if it wasn't the for the fact that I've just got back from my honeymoon, I'd like to have driven to see the Geneva Motor Show later this month. Would have been a great road trip!
 

Took mine down to devon last year does that count? Planning on going to Newquay for my birthday in May with it but not sure if the wife will be joining me or if it will be a lads road trip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

J.
 
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Is anyone else intending to take their A3 on holiday with them this summer ?



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Yep, me too. Loaded with camping/canyoning/mountainbiking stuff, to the Ardeche for three weeks in August. Shame the Ardeche is in France, but there you go...

Watch yourself in Austria/Switzerland...get a vignette for the motorway. They can be got for day/week/month from a petrol station. The fine for not having one of these is greater than that for speeding, he said after being stopped on a bike. The police were hiding and using a laser around and through bridge pillars. At least the copper spoke English. The internet connected swipe card/pincode machine and till in the back of the VW van was a nice touch. It looked like a proper shop!

Saving grace its a fine not points on your licence yet, or worse, the same situation as a local ban in France. I think Hitler was Austrian...or I could believe he was. Use your Road Angel changed to KMh but you probably know all this stuff....Have a great trip
 
Yes I know all about the 'vignette'. In Austria you can buy one for ten days or one month but in Switzerland the only sell one for 1 year. Bit of a waste when your only in the country for a few days but still, better than a fine.

The other thing with Austria is that it is now compulsory to drive with your headlights on at all times. From Novemeber the police would stop and warn you but from April this year they will fine you - £10.

The only time I've ever been stopped in Europe was for exceeding the special 40mph speed limit in a tunnel. It was lowered from 50 to 40 mph following some accidents earlier in that year and I had forgotten. I was stoped by a police motorcycle patrol as I came out of the tunnel and fined - £10. Almost worth it !
 
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Use your Road Angel changed to KMh but you probably know all this stuff....Have a great trip

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Using a Road Angel or other camera detector in France is illegal full stop, on the way over to LeMans last year lots of people got stopped for one and they have the power to not only confiscate the device but a pretty large fine if I remember correctly - could have even been 750euros. They didn't seem to have a problem with PDAs with sat nav and camera maps though.

Can't wait to go back to LeMans this year and plan to find time for a driving holiday around europe next year!
 
Too true about France and RA's.... I have also seen a few of their wheelie bin style camera's that seem to have been hit with very large rocks....

A lot of anecdotal comments suggest that brit plate vehicles are a bit of a target, may just be the biking fraternity over indulging on that first glorious right hand knee down after arriving in Calais...sunshine, good road surface....holiday.... Be rude not to really......

Ho Hum....
 
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may just be the biking fraternity over indulging on that first glorious right hand knee down after arriving in Calais...sunshine, good road surface....holiday.... Be rude not to really......

Ho Hum....

[/ QUOTE ]

Straight off the ferry ?
Cold tyres ?

Waaahey !
 
I've thought about austria and would love to do it - dave, could you give me a rough breakdown of hours and stuff?


cheers mate




3.2Q DSG RNS-e TV
 
What the hell is a vignette? Is that one of those stickers that you need on your headlights? Or used to need, don't know if you do anymore.

If thats what it is, whats the deal on Xenons in europe?
 
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whats the deal on Xenons in europe?

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I got mine adjusted by the dealer before I went.
It took about half an hour for them to do.......................and they cahrged nothing!
 
Ragonian. My normal trip, direct to Austria is 775 miles from Calais each way. It's a bit too much to do in one day, so I always stop at a hotel near Baden-Baden, just inside Germany for the first night and continue the next day to Austria. It's 415 miles from Calais to the first night and takes around 5hrs actual driving, but add some time for any stops. From Baden-Baden to Zell-am-See in Austria is a further 360 miles and takes around 8hrs (fast roads in Germany but much slower in Austria).

The total toll charges across France amount to about £55 for both ways and two 10-day vignettes for Austria cost around £11 (cheaper that a month vignette)

I always use the route from Calais on the A26 to Reims and then the A4 towards Strasbourg and then across the Rhine. It does cost but is a much better road than going further north and through Belgium. I usually travel on a Sunday and the autoroutes are very very quiet. In Germany I go up the A5 to Karlsruhe, take the A8 towards Suttgart and Ulm, the A7 and A96 to south of Munich and then the A8 in Austria. It's a route I have driven many times and is very enjoyable driving. A little busy around Suttgart but otherwise reasonable quiet.

If you would like any more information about the route or anything else, just PM me and I will be glad to help.
 
fantastic, thanks dave - i may well PM you soon!!
 
I'm off to Florida shortly so my 'summer' holiday will be a return trip to Arrochar with a car full of camping equipment and a 13tog duvet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
may just be the biking fraternity over indulging on that first glorious right hand knee down after arriving in Calais...sunshine, good road surface....holiday.... Be rude not to really......

Ho Hum....

[/ QUOTE ]

Straight off the ferry ?
Cold tyres ?

Waaahey !

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, think July/August, its warm in the bowels of the ferry, 30+ degrees outside, midday, wall to wall blue sky, track, sorry road temp well up, no potholes/manhole covers on the racing, sorry driving line.......deep and prolonged joy.....
 
Just got back from a few days in Northumberland. Car did well again 32Mpg, nice break. I also would love to have a drive over into Europe. Those roads on the Italian job look nice..
 
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