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Driving in Europe
Posted on 7/15/26 at 1:59 pm
Posted on 7/15/26 at 1:59 pm
I just got back from a 12 day drive across central Europe. Our group was 8 and I was driving a 9-passenger Ford Transit. (although in past trips, I have rented Mercedes Vitos as well as VW Caravelles).
I can't recommend this enough and think it's weird how "scared" some people seem to be of such. You really get to see a lot of things you don't normally see.
Driving was easy and parking was easy. I was given numerous, onerous warnings about the difficulty of parking such a vehicle. The only slightly "non-easy" thing was in Dresden - I was too lazy to move the van off of the street earl in the AM, so I got a ticket. $29!
We hit 5 countries total, including Luxembourg. I wasn't expecting much from Lux, but I actually would like to go back and spend a little time.
I can't recommend this enough and think it's weird how "scared" some people seem to be of such. You really get to see a lot of things you don't normally see.
Driving was easy and parking was easy. I was given numerous, onerous warnings about the difficulty of parking such a vehicle. The only slightly "non-easy" thing was in Dresden - I was too lazy to move the van off of the street earl in the AM, so I got a ticket. $29!
We hit 5 countries total, including Luxembourg. I wasn't expecting much from Lux, but I actually would like to go back and spend a little time.
4
Posted on 7/15/26 at 2:32 pm to Big Scrub TX
I'm in Europe now and have taken several Uber rides through various cities and it is rudder chaos with all the pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and motorcycles all doing whatever the hell they want. I would not want to deal with all that. Plus I usually have been drinking so if I was driving that would be a no no.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 2:45 pm to Big Scrub TX
I have driven a bunch of times in France and Italy. I find that the highways are good and driving is pretty easy once you get out of the big cities. In the cities such as Rome, Paris and Florence, traffic is bad and the only thing worse than the traffic is the parking.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 4:45 pm to Big Scrub TX
If you don’t mind me asking an off topic question…what did your group do to manage cell phone usage (text, calls, maps) while in Europe?
Posted on 7/15/26 at 4:47 pm to Bow08tie
quote:T-Mobile - I just got everyone the international data boost. I think it was $70 for 30 days or 30GB - whichever came first. I thought I was going to run out, but I never did. Speeds seemed blazing almost everywhere.
If you don’t mind me asking an off topic question…what did your group do to manage cell phone usage (text, calls, maps) while in Europe?
Posted on 7/15/26 at 4:48 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:That was a small part of our experience, as we were mostly in much smaller and/or rural places. But I found Paris very easy to deal with also.
I'm in Europe now and have taken several Uber rides through various cities and it is rudder chaos with all the pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and motorcycles all doing whatever the hell they want. I would not want to deal with all that.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 5:08 pm to Big Scrub TX
We uber'd between train stations through the heart of Paris and it was crazy. There are no dedicated bicycle lanes so cyclist were weaving between lanes and riding the white line .
Posted on 7/15/26 at 6:41 pm to Big Scrub TX
quote:
T-Mobile
International is part of my contract with T-Mobile. I receive a text with rates and limits when I enter a country and connect to a tower.
I don't ever reach the data limits and have never been charged for service.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 7:25 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
Plus I usually have been drinking
Honesty matters!
My tactic is usually to rent cars from the airport when I go to rural destinations, where it's not "urban" driving with a bunch of what you described, in order to get to Bastogne, etc. (ETA: take the train or bus to the airport rental location, and you're on a major motorway PDQ) In Ireland, and I presume Scotland, it's the damned sheep that just appear out of nowhere. It keeps you on your toes though.
I am going to rent a sports car (or touring car) and re-create some Grand Tour stuff. One episode I think they drove from Croatia to Norway, spectacular. I'm not renting a Nissan Micra for that.
This post was edited on 7/15/26 at 7:40 pm
Posted on 7/15/26 at 9:48 pm to Big Scrub TX
I drove from Rome to Florence last month, spending two nights near Orvieto and two in Siena. That was awesome, and I'm so glad that I drove those days. We could stop at a sheep dairy and do some cheese tasting, drive over to Civita di Bagnoregio (a hill town falling down), stop for a couple of hours in San Gimignano on our way from Siena to Florence, etc. I can't imagine going back to Tuscany without a car.
But I absolutely would not have wanted the car for the days we were in Rome or Florence. There's no point, for one thing, because there's a "ZTL" which only allows the cars of taxis and residents into the city center.
But I absolutely would not have wanted the car for the days we were in Rome or Florence. There's no point, for one thing, because there's a "ZTL" which only allows the cars of taxis and residents into the city center.
Posted on 7/15/26 at 10:40 pm to 2 Jugs
quote:Me too, but the variable is speed. You can do all you want at 256mbps. I wanted 5G.
International is part of my contract with T-Mobile. I receive a text with rates and limits when I enter a country and connect to a tower.
I don't ever reach the data limits and have never been charged for service.
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