Driving In Austria

This page last updated 19/07/11

Preparing for your trip and latest winter driving legislation.

Some things you should make sure you have before you jump in the car and set off are as follows.

*Check your insurance covers you for the trip. Most insurance policies cover you for up to 30 days abroad and some will insure for up to 90 days for each trip, but best to check.

*Next take out Breakdown cover. It is well worth the cost if you should break down.

*Next get your vehicle checked out at your local garage, it is great to have the peace of mind when you are undertaking a long drive.

There are certain items you must carry when driving in Europe otherwise you could be fined.

*Headlamp adaptors. Fit these when you get to Dover. You must have them for Europe, failure to do so could deem your vehicle unfit for use on the road and invalidate your insurance! ( My car was checked recently(October 2010) by the Police in a layby in Belgium!)

*a GB plate must be displayed on the rear of your vehicle.

*Reflective vests for driver and all passengers. These must be worn by all in the event of a breakdown. You can be fined if you do not have one and also for passengers.

*Spare Bulbs. All your lamps must be in working order. You could be fined on the spot.

*Warning triangle, carry as large a one as possible. In the event of a breakdown, place it 50 - 150 metres behind your vehicle. Both the RAC & the AA sell European packs that will keep you on the right side of the law.

*First aid kit and Fire extinguisher. The European 'Good Samaritan Law requires every driver to stop and provide assistance when encountering an accident or incident, providing it is safe to do so. This may require a First aid kit or Fire extinguisher, so it is highly advisable to carry these.

If you are going to drive in the winter, either get some snow tyres put on your car or if you are going to be driving up to ski areas etc when you get to Austria, invest in some snow chains. You will need them!

Snow tyres are required from 1st November until 15th April each year. Remember, if you are driving with UK summer tyres and have an accident, it is likely your insurance will not pay out as your car was not fit for purpose! Here are the latest tyre rules for winter driving in Germany and Austria. These are effective immediately...Germany coming on board this year 2010.

Austria

Winter tyres are mandatory in Austria. The law states that passenger cars with a permissible maximum weight of up to 3.5 tonnes may be operated only between 1 November and 15 April in winter conditions such as snow, slush or ice if winter tyres have been installed on all wheels. All-season tyres are also considered winter tyres if they have the "M + S" mark.

As an alternative to winter tyres, snow chains may be used on at least two driving wheels, however, these may only be used in case the road is covered by a complete or scarcely broken snow cover or sheet of ice. Failure to comply with the law results in a fine up to 5,000 Euros and the vehicle could be impounded. Insurance is deemed void if a vehicle which is involved in an accident between November 1 and April 15 is not fitted with winter tyres.

Germany

Motorists are obliged to make sure they have correct tyres to suit the winter weather conditions. This may mean the use of winter tyres (with M&S or snowflake symbol) and in extreme weather, the additional use of snow chains.

Vehicles with summer tyres fitted are not allowed to be driven on roads covered with snow and ice. Fines are in place for vehicles found to be doing so.

The Drive to Austria

Routes: There are various choices, you can go via France, Via Belgium and Luxembourg or Via Belgium - Koln - Stuttgart...this is the fastest route at 9.5 hours!! Go to www.google.co.uk and click on maps. Then type in Salzburg and then when it asks for a route from here...type in Dunkerque, or Calais, France. It will give you the route viw Koln, you can then modify to suit your self. Have a good drive!!

Here is a link to the google maps, for drive to Austria. via Dunkerque.

TIP. We always tackle the journey in two halves. On the first day we get the 10 am ferry to Dunkerque. The drive takes about 7/8 hours to get to a halfway point. We have made this Permisens in Germany. There is a good Guest House the 'Falkenstein' at Hinterwiedenthal. This is on the main road, so no need to be looking around country lanes late at night.

TIP. We try to fill up with enough fuel to get to Belgium, then it is a little cheaper than France. There are two routes to take, the first is via france: After leaving Dunkerque head for LILLE We found this town the most confusing, because on our earlier trips we were trying to religiously follow the RAC route, but it is best to take the first exit towards Bruxelles then you are on your way to belgium. After LILLE head for Belgium & Luxemburg. We found Luxemburg the cheapest for fuel. You will find that a lot of Petrol/rest stations have a turnstyle at the toilets for payment. It is worth it, the toilets are excellent, some even have automatic seat cleaning after you have stood up! Also you can use the ticket towards any purchases you make in the restaurant or shop...so the toliet is effectively free! Then it is on towards Germany and Permisens to stop overnight.

TIP. Go via Belgium, it is so much easier and a nicer drive... and there are no road tolls...unless of course you want to visit some of France!!

The standard of driving in Europe is no worse than in the UK. The drivers seem to have the same penchant for tailgating as we have in the UK! THis can be quite frightening particularly on the German Autobahns in the wet when you watch them tailgating at 100 MPH! Best to stay in the inside lane! The Gasthof 'Falkenstein' where we like to stop overnight, is on the main road between Permisens and Landau & Karlsruhe. We have found them friendly and very helpful. On our last trip when we got delayed in snow leaving Austria and did not arrive until almost midnight. We found that all was in darkness and thought we might have to spend the night in the vehicle! After just two rings on the bell, the owner himself came down and let us in. He had been worried that we might have had an accident and had been listening for our arrival.

The Gasthof is a good place to stop as you are almost exactly halfway to Salzburg(about 350 miles) The staff speak a little English, as they do get a few property owners stopping regularly. The price for a room for two people is 60 Euros and this includes breakfast. They do a wonderful menu if you get there in time for dinner. They like you to pay for the room in advance, probably as most truck and car drivers leave early and it would be a long queue at the till in the morning! There are a lot of roadworks between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, so be prepared for some traffic hold ups at peak times.

The next day we have a good breakfast and aim to get away about 10am. This means we are in Salzburg for late afternoon. When we set of we head for Karlruhe, Stuttgart and then onto Munich. The motorway leads all the way round Munich and you can pick up the connection for Salzburg and Innsbruck. An interesting new building is the Allianz Arena, it looks like a giant tyre that has fallen on it's side! The inner ring road can save about 15 minutes depending on traffic, but we found it was not worthwhile getting off the motorway and the last time we tried we got stuck in rush hour traffic!!.

TIP. You will find as you get nearer to Austria the price of fuel seeems to go up!! If you can fill up before Munich then do so. It is then cheaper to buy fuel in Austria.

TIP. Once in Austria, do take care over traffic signs. I ended up with a speeding fine on one trip because I did not notice I was within village boundaries where the speed limit went from the 80KPH of the road to 50KPH. Unlike England with it's 30MPH signs as you get to a town or village, they tend to have the speed for the road then a sign for the same speed with a diagonal line through it. In other words the speed you were travelling at has been cancelled!

The traffic officer that stopped me was very pleasant, but was not happy that I had left my driving licence in my apartment! Anyhow, I was doing 74 KPH in a 50 KPH area and he fined me 20 euros, which I had to pay there and then. He let me off the forgetting my licence although he could have also fined me for that! (carry your documents with you always, just in case!)

Speed limits: Motorways - 130km/h Country roads - 100km/h In towns/villages - 50km/h

Alcohol limit is 0.5% drunken driving is punishable with a fine and confiscation of driving licence.

You will need a Road toll sticker if you intend to use the Motorways or Expressways in Austria. These are called Vignette (pronounced Veenyet) and can be bought at petrol/service areas as you get near to Austria. You can also buy them at the border control, but we found it easier to purchase from a service station. The cost for 10 days is 7.60 euros and for 2 months 21.80 euros. They should be affixed to the windscreen top centre or top left. Infringements of the toll regulations are punished with an additional charge of, up to 120 euros! If you don't have one when you should have one the fine can be from 300 - 3,000 euros!! Don't think that being a tourist gets you off the hook either!

TIP. you can only get unleaded petrol in Austria. For older cars without a catalytic converter an additive is available at petrol stations.

We did some price comparisons with air travel (not including 1p flights from Stansted) and found that an average return flight per person was £110. So for four people it would cost £440 plus to hire a car was another £250, making a total of almost £700 for 4 people.

The return Ferry cost is approx £90 - £120 for vehicle and up to 5 people. Then there is fuel costs of about £250 - £300 depending on the car and how fast you decide to drive! The hotel would costs about £125 for 4 people B&B, making a total for the round trip of approx £425. Allow £35 for some European breakdown cover and you still have a saving of over £200! So taking your car stacks up quite nicely as opposed to flying, plus you get to be adventurous and see some more of Europe. Many clients who have bought apartments in Austria, regularly make the trip and take equipment for their apartments. If you are interested in a property in Austria have a look at our property page.

REMEMBER.

Be especially careful when setting off from service stations or restaurants on the left side of the road and remember to switch on your headlights. These are a legal requirement in Austria even in the day time!
Take care when overtaking - allow more space between you and the car in front so you can see further down the road ahead.
Austria has strict drink driving laws, only allowing 0.5 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood - stricter than the UK where the limit is 0.8.
Seat belts front and rear are obligatory everywhere.
Speed limits, are implemented rigorously. Radar traps are frequent in Austria, and heavy on-the-spot fines can be levied.
Remember - Speeding and other traffic offences are subject to on-the-spot fines

All motoring legislation and toll costs is subject to change so you should check with our Austrian tourist office link for any updates before you travel. Also, to help when you get there....Here is a link for an interactive Austria map

Many of our clients who have bought property in Austria are driving to the country regularly. We have asked them to post their experiences on this page...so watch this page!

If you have already driven to Austria in the past, please email us with your experiences so that we can add to these pages. email us at info@amazingaustria.com

If you are driving down to view property for Sale in Austria, we have a great choice from small studio apartments, plots of land on which to erect one of our Traditional wooden chalet homes, to a castle set in it's own grounds by an Austrian lake. Check out our Austrian property for sale pages.

Driving or keeping your car in Austria - Property Owners

Many property owners complain about the cost of renting a car each time they come to Austria. You can of course drive here in your car and leave it at your property...then you need to have insurance and also it needs to stay MOT'd. THis means you would have a trip back once each year to keep your vehicle legal. It can be well worth it, just to pick up a second hand car and keep it here. Cheaper than renting each time. You can always email us for some guidance should you wish to do this..

UK Trip updates

3/05/11

Yet another trip to UK ...but this time with 2 toddlers!

Another long drive back to the UK...normally we can do the drive in 16 hrs..this time with the children needing to stop every so often it took us 3 days to get back to our Devon offices!! But to be fair te children were great and I am sure that being stuck in a child seat for 3 days of driving is no fun on a young backside, even if it is padded with a Pampers nappy!It would be the first time our son was to visit England...and he seemed exicited, not I think abut going to the UK but with the hotels and the different surrounding each night.

On the first night we stopped of at our favourite Hotel Guest house, the Frauenstein, near Permisens in Germany..not far from Karlsruhe. We had not been there since the birth of our son and it was nice to meet up with the owners once again...although the Hotel had changed and updated a bit, the feel and the service was still the same..very relaxed and friendly.

The next day we headed to Luxemburg..to fill up on cheap fuel for the drive to Dunkerque..I can recommend this to all drivers.. as the fuel is 1.19 euro as opposed to 1.50 plus euro in Germany. Before the journey across Belgium we stopped at Ikea on the border to give the kids a break from the car and for ourselves to have a coffee. It is always interesting to experience the differences between the different IKEA stores around Europe, not so much with the products on sale but with the different menu's in the restaurants. The one in Belgium reflects the French style of cuisine, fish, chicken, wine with the meal..where as our own local branch at Salzburg is very much a meat based menu. Anyhow, as in all Ikea stores the coffee is free if you have a family card.

We arrived at the Dunkerque Campenille hotel, late in the evening, but the kids did not seem to mind because we had a large family room that they could let of steam. This hotel had obviously changed management and had a refurb...the old open restaurant was gone and in it's place a new, what looked like a Wine Bar, in its place. Also, the staff were more polite...we shall see how long this lasts! We stay here because it is only 10 minutes drive to the ferry, so no need to rise at an ungodly hour to get to the check in.

Once again the children enjoyed the availability of the large play area at the terminal and then again on board. I know lots of drivers prefer to take the tunnel, but for us needing to drive to Devon, the ship crossing gives that few hours break from the car before the last leg of our journey.

Some readers might be interested in our hotel stops for the return journey. We found a website that offers apartments all over France and you can even book for just one night. WE were lucky enough to find an apartment hotel in Arlon which is on the route back to Luxemburg. The nice surrise was the price...only 89 euros for a one bedroom apartment. parking was extra at 2 euros and the internet connection also 2 euros...so all in all not a bad bargain. WE shall let you all know if the quality and service is up to the advertising.

Ok, onto Devon! Will update this page after the return journey.

10/10/10

Another trip to UK, and as interesting as ever...now that the new motorway from Munich to Augsberg nears completion. This old road was always a bottleneck, particularly with the amount of heavy lorries that used the road, and the increase in this heavy traffic, it was so necessary to have a wider road. We all know that without our trucker friends the shops would be empty, it is just that these trucks are so numerous and so intimidating at times.....the thing I hate is that they drive so close and if you are overtaking it becomes a nightmare to try and get back in again. This is even worse if you are trying to look out for which exit you need as the height of the trucks make it almost impossible to see clearly from a car...maybe road builders could take this into consideration and make the road signs higher??

Anyhow, one of the worst bits of driving I have seen was, whilst driving across Belgium on the motorway. A white van came whizzing up behind me and then started to overtake in the outside lane. I was doing about 120 kph and he came haring past me in the outside lane easily doing 150kph!!! It was as he flashed past that I noticed it was a school bus!!! Filled with kids!! Not nice at all.

10/11/09

After our second breakdown on our return to UK last moth, I hired a car to return my family to Austria. This gave our garage a chance to get the special parts and repair the car.

Something that I noticed on the trip back was that unleaded fuel was just a cheap in UK as in Europe!! Must be something to do with government tax on fuel. I am used to driving a diesel and this is cheaper in Europe than the UK So keep an eye on this if you drive with unleaded. I had forgotten my own advice and filled up with unleaded at Dover!!!

24/10/09

This latest trip was a bit of a nightmare!!! WE broke down in France and had to stay there fo 4 days..while the garage did temporary repairs!! It was only 3 fan belts that needed replaced!! We were almost at the Ferry port of Dunkerque when the first belt snapped, with lound clunk...I kne immediately what it was, ut needced to drive for a further mile to get of the motorway.

We called our breakdown service...absolutely brilliant...we had a tow truck looking for us within 30 minutes. When the mechanic arrioved he pronounced that all three belts needed replaced and as it was a Friday night...I had no chance of a repair untilo Monday. Our breakdown insurance offered to extend and pay for our Hotel stay until the vehicle could be repaired. They were fast effecient and being based in UK, spoke English...also their partners in France spoke excellent English. I am pretty ok, with German, Spanish, Portuguese...but French has always been a problem...sort of mental block!! Anyhow, the tow truck put the car on the truck and we climbed aboard...my wife was cxoncerned, when the driver told me not to worry about a seat belt as the police did not bother to stop tow trucks!!

Then off he shot out onto the motorway and speeded up to around 120km...the car had not been strapped down and I was quite concerned...and also the look of panic on my wife's face as she cuddled our young daughter on her lap whilst trying to hold onto the seatbelt in the back seat of this truck...which was no more than a bench seat. The more the mechanic tried to chatter in broken English the more I came to realise he had been drinking and by the glazed look in his eyes...quite a lot to drink!!

We arrived at the hotel in the centre of Dunkerque...with a sigh of relief. Stopping on the centre island road of the road, we had to unload our cases from the back of the cvar and dodge the oncoming traffic to get to the Hotel reception...The driver then gave me his card with the address of the garage where he was taking the car...then he was gone...again at top speed...I watched as he disappeared up the road with our car shaking precariously......

It was now 1am and we were shattered..particularly our 2 year old. But the IBIS was a nice hotel and the room was very modern with internet access. But all we were interested in was getting into bed!!...and before you ask...it was to sleep!!

We were stuck in France for 4 days...how can it take 4 days to replace a few fan belts???

When we got back to UK, unfortunately the work was not good and because of an over tight fan belt the Alternator bearings broke up!! But that is another story!!

2/07/09

For my latest trip to the UK in July to get our second car MOT'd..this is necessary if you intend to keep using a UK car. The rules in Europe are that your car must be legal in the country of registration, no matter where you are in Europe...s in the case of a UK car it needs to be MOT'd, taxed and insured, just as if you are in the UK. AS many owners of property in Austria, tend to drive back and forth...this presents no problem and has the advantage of being able to bring larger items to their home in Austria.

Speaking of insurance..our company CIS..offered that we could have all year insurance for Europe...we were so impressed as this is always a problem if you travel a lot and stay for long periods in Europe. WE no longer had to worry about informing the Insurance company that we were going abroad for x days...and the icing on the cake....they offered us our Breakdown cover for both UK and Europe at a discount price because we had our insurance with them. AS it was half the price of our current provider we could not resist!!

5/04/09

For my last trip to the UK, I decided to fly back!! Yes, I know sacreledge, but I did not have the time for the drive. But I did hire a car...and wished I had driven back!!

I found a company near Gatwick that would hire a large car for £160 per week. I only needed it for 4 days but they would not do it any cheaper and said they would chuck in the baby seat for free. Well, I thought at least I have a large comfortable Ford Mondeo with baby seat....well the large bit was right, the car was crap! It was about 8 years old, with 3 hub caps missing and they had not even bothered to clean it inside!! Now I knew why they wanted me to pay all before I got to UK! It was in case I cancelled!!

My wife was concerned for our safety and particularly of our baby daughter, as we headed south from gatwick, because there started a series of squeaking sounds turning into screaching from the rear offside wheel. We were about halfway to the south coast, so felt it best to get there before dark. Then started a knocking from the steering..thank goodness we got back in one piece.

The next day, I phoned the company to complain and asked for another car. I told them I could have hired a new car from easycar for the same price. To be fair they did not quibble and I made the 60 mile drive back to Gatwick..just!. When I got there, they had another car waiting..a similar Ford Modeo, but an estate, just as old!..it did have all it's hub caps and I thought aha, this is better, impressed that I had a car with 4 hub caps! So if you are offered a cheap car hire deal...just stick to any of the big names!!

Me, I can't wait to drive back in my own car!! This will be in May to get the car MOT'd...so I will keep you posted.

One of our clients is driving to Prague this Easter and is then coming back into Austria. I hope to give you a good narrative of his Journey in a few weeks time.

24/9/08

The Summer seems to go on and on this year...and with extremely hot weather! This is great for standard summer tyres on your car. But don't forget if you are driving over in the late Autumn...mid October on...then get some winter tyres. You will be amazed at the difference in road holding!! From October, here in Austria we change our tyres...we have to or the police will complain!! There are many shunts caused by people with summer tyres getting caught out in an early snowfall and ploughing into the back of the car in front.

Yes it does seem a long way to Austria from the UK!! but it is very rewarding and very cost effective for families and friends wanting to share an adventure! We will be updating this page regularly, so if you have an experience or some advice to share please email us at news@amazingaustria.com

If you want to be in control of your journey and have more than a week's holiday it is worth driving, if only because you can take as much as your car will carry. Your wife/Girlfriend will love this, she has no need to worry about weight restriction on her suitcase!! For a start the ferry cost is approximately £90 for a car with up to 5 people! Compare that to the cheapest flights and now particlarly with air taxes increasing all the time. We have given some figures for the costs with the experience gained from the many trips we have made to Austria and back again.We normally spend about £160 on fuel, but it depends on the vehicle and it's fuel consumption. Fuel cost varies between countries, about 1.35 euro in French hypermarket to the cheapest in Luxemburg approx 1.29 cents. The cost in Austria as of July2008 is about 1.39 euro per litre for Diesel to 1.35 euro for petrol.

For a short channel crossing the best port to use is Dover. We found that after a few trips via Calais, we were not happy with the crowded Ferries full of day trippers. We tried another port Dunkerque and what a difference, no day trippers! We went with Norfolkline and they specialise in cars and trucks only. The ships are super modern and a joy to be on. We now use this route all the time, particularly as getting off at Dunkerque cuts the drive to Austria by almost 30 kilometres! They have a great web page for driving in Europe: http://www.norfolkline.com/EN/FAQ/Motoring/

For our latest trip last week end of July, we had the opportunity to check out the effectiveness of RAC membership!!! Yes...we broke down just outside Munich. A bolt holding the Generator sheared and all the belts were driving nothing...so we lost brakes and everything!!

We found this out when the mechanic arrived. But to relate how good the European motor service was...we called the centre in France, from our mobile...it cost a fortune!! If youare reading this RAC...please set up a text alert system for your members as many people have pay as you go...and at £1 a minute it does not last long!! That aside, the RAC were great..keeping in contact and wanting to know what was going on. We were towed to a garage, but as it was the weekend...you guessed it...everything was closed so we had to wait until Monday morning. The RAC supplied a hire car so that we could return to Austria for a few nights while the car was repaired.

I can only say...don't travel Europe without Motoring assistance membership...you will regret it if you do get a breakdown!!