I got back just before the weekend. A few final thoughts and car photos from the trip:
- The major point to note is that the car performed
absolutely flawlessly for the entire journey. It got a lot of (I'd like to think) jealous glances from other road users on the way and someone in Berlin even stopped me at the traffic lights to admire the car and ask me if I wanted to sell it
I insured my girlfriend to drive once we were in Austria/Germany and she enjoyed it a lot too (she drives a 25 year old Kangoo usually)
- The full journey with stop-overs was Northampton - Reims - Strasbourg - Bergamo - Rimini - Verona - Innsbruck - Bayreuth - Berlin - Hannover - Dusseldorf - Ghent - Northampton
- The total distance was 3,300 miles and I spent just over €400 on diesel (bearing in mind I started in England with a full tank, and I still have a third of a tank of German diesel now I'm back). Of course, the vast majority of the driving was on motorways, but with quite a lot of less efficient local driving in Italy too which took up almost one entire tank in itself.
- Of the countries I drove through driving in France was by far the best, with the least traffic density overall, in fact long stretches of totally uninterrupted cruising where I didn't touch a pedal for half an hour or more, and some wonderful views - I was driving on A roads mostly.
- Second would be Austria which has very nice A roads (again, we avoided motorways here) and stunning scenery pretty much everywhere. Also some great winding hill roads which you can just throw the RCZ into
and being a diesel going uphill is even faster than going downhill!
- Third would be Italy where the autostrada is generally very good these days although at a cost, but with very good coffee and food stops at sensible prices, and wonderful scenery.
- Fourth would be Switzerland which again has nice views but you need one of those annoying stamps, and motorway food is extortionately expensive.
- Fifth, The Netherlands which is free but pretty boring and the motorway speed limit during the day is 100 kph (65 mph) which gets tiring.
- Belgium would be sixth as the roads are pretty lumpy and boring, and the traffic is absolutely awful around built up areas. Fortunately it's free.
- In last place would be Germany which easily had the highest instances of absolute w@nkers sharing the roads and even though the roads are smooth and free, the traffic and amount of roadworks is a constant problem. There is no speed limit for long stretches of autobahn, which is fun to begin with and I took the car up to 200 kph with no qualms ( although it was a bit wet and I didn't fancy pushing it any further). The trouble with this lack of a limit is 1. fuel consumption for me was just terrible by 150 kph, which is a very easy speed to cruise at in the RCZ, and 2. driving is stressful with idiots constantly racing up behind you at 250 kph+ if you are over taking or just going faster than most other people in traffic. And one minute you are free to drive at 600kph and the next they have sneakily inserted a limit of 120kph and it's way too easy to get caught out!!
- In Germany's defence, they have toilet stops almost every 10 km, which is great news for those of us whose bladders are getting on a bit
- Ranting over, generally I had a great time driving and would do it all again without hesitation and would absolutely recommend a 90K-on-the-clock diesel RCZ for a long road trip
In fact, I'm driving to Belgium for New Year too..
A couple of tips:
- you need a sticker to be able to drive into cities in France - it's very cheap and easy to apply online. It takes a week or so to arrive and is also valid in Switzerland
- stay on the non motorway roads in France, Switzerland and Austria if possible - they are free and more than good enough unless you are in a real hurry
- stay on the autostrada in Italy - the smaller roads can be very bad so it's worth paying
- you need permission to drive into most cities in Belgium - again, you can apply on line but it should be free in any RCZ
- those anti-glare light stickers don't do a great job on the RCZ and many drivers will still flash you ESPECIALLY IN GERMANY VHERE ZEY JUST CANNOT HELP ZEMSELVES UND BLITZ YOU IMMER!!!
Now for some final photos.. nothing too amazing, sorry:
Having a wash in Rimini:
Scenic Austrian autobahn:
South Germany before the traffic, fog and police-stops started:
Parked outside my girlfriend's place in Berlin: