Dom H
Member
Registered: 14th Jun 06
User status: Offline
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Hello! 
I've been in Barcelona for almost 2 months now, loving it out here, really am. I have a lease on an apartment next to the beach, been living here since the end of January. My lease here is up on April 30th, instead of extending it I'm planning to use the remainder of the money I have saved to drive around Europe! I'm guessing someone on here has done this or something similar in their time! I'm hoping you could share any advice. 
I'll have £3k for the trip, I'll need to eat into this for a car. What car would you recommend, I'm hoping to get a tidy little VW. Diesel be best? Best insurance company for this? I'll be gone for a month, probably August. What're fuel prices be like in Europe? Any laws I need to look out for? Anything you think I should know?
Cheers guys.
Dom
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Robbo_Corsa
Member
Registered: 5th Jul 06
Location: North Lincolnshire
User status: Offline
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I'd also love to do this so any info would be 
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Dom H
Member
Registered: 14th Jun 06
User status: Offline
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Found out that you need to be at least 18 year old and hold a full UK driving licence to drive in Europe, you do not need an international driving permit. You must have GB stickers (I'm guessing GB plates would suffice). Also, an interesting fact I've just found out is that all UK insurance company are required by law to offer the minimum cover for driving in Europe! (So, I'll be hitting up Tesco value insurance. )
[Edited on 13-03-2008 by Dom H]
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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GB plates are fine.
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richc
Member
Registered: 24th Mar 07
Location: Ilkeston
User status: Offline
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Yer thats the whole point of the plates - to get rid of them shitty stickers! 
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deano87
Member
Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
User status: Offline
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You'll probably get a Green Card (it's called something like that) from your insurance company.
Other things to consider:
Breakdown cover - in France, the police/motorways people get you off the motorways (as they are largely private) then you call for recovery.
Country laws - some countries require things like spare bulb kits, first aid kits, warning triangles and so on. The AA website has all this useful information.
Headlight direction - going for that amount of time, I'd consider getting headlight stickers, or them realigned if they are the newer lights.
And tbh, I'd abide by all these rules. You'll be in a foreign car, so will attract more attention in the first place.
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ryzer
Member
Registered: 18th Mar 03
Location: Berkshire Drives:UGLY MUG
User status: Offline
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yes mate i went for 3 weeks driving around europe.
we bought a merc 230e. and we got temporary insurance for the time, as it gave us 3rd party cover in europe, and was extremely cheap.
fuel is slightly cheaper but not by anything significant. france and germany are about the same, eastern europe is noticeably cheaper.
we went to france (calais), belgium, germany (Frankfurt), cezch republic, slovakia, austria, germany again (munich) france again (Straasbourg and paris)
we never got pulled once, BUT you will need by law to carry:
Warning triangle,
Spare bulb kit
First aid kit
fire extinguisher
GB stickers if you havent got them on your plates.
headlight beam adaptors.
high vis jacket are also highly recommended
its very easy to do mate, and an awesome trip, i will put some pics up in a bit.
make sure you have a decent spare wheel and jack etc.
also make sure you have personal travel insurance. very important.
also...dont watch hostel the film, will not help your situation. have fun!
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ryzer
Member
Registered: 18th Mar 03
Location: Berkshire Drives:UGLY MUG
User status: Offline
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this is what happens when some idiot mechanic cannot put a spark plug in without threading the bastard. i fixed it temporarily with duck tape and string. was perfect for 45 miles.
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Dom H
Member
Registered: 14th Jun 06
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by ryzer
yes mate i went for 3 weeks driving around europe.
we bought a merc 230e. and we got temporary insurance for the time, as it gave us 3rd party cover in europe, and was extremely cheap.
fuel is slightly cheaper but not by anything significant. france and germany are about the same, eastern europe is noticeably cheaper.
we went to france (calais), belgium, germany (Frankfurt), cezch republic, slovakia, austria, germany again (munich) france again (Straasbourg and paris)
we never got pulled once, BUT you will need by law to carry:
Warning triangle,
Spare bulb kit
First aid kit
fire extinguisher
GB stickers if you havent got them on your plates.
headlight beam adaptors.
high vis jacket are also highly recommended
its very easy to do mate, and an awesome trip, i will put some pics up in a bit.
make sure you have a decent spare wheel and jack etc.
also make sure you have personal travel insurance. very important.
also...dont watch hostel the film, will not help your situation. have fun!
Haha, mate that looks amazing. What time of year did you go? We'll be going in August so it'll be super hot! How much did you spend if you don't mind me asking? On both petrol and living/food costs etc..
Ta buddy.
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Twiggy
Member
Registered: 15th Oct 04
User status: Offline
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car wise i would say a german estate?
e30 325tds?
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ryzer
Member
Registered: 18th Mar 03
Location: Berkshire Drives:UGLY MUG
User status: Offline
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We did it extremely cheaply mate, we spent about 1000 each, which included buying the car for 800. there were 3 of us and we had a bit of money remaining. it can be done cheaply, its the going out in the cities that dries up the cash quickly, we went in August too, it wasnt hot at all! we had some nice days though, except in Prague, where it rained constantly for 3 days.
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ryzer
Member
Registered: 18th Mar 03
Location: Berkshire Drives:UGLY MUG
User status: Offline
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btw, we used the lonely planet book: europe on a shoestring, its an awesome book, not really geared up for the driver, more aimed at the backpacker, but it gives excellent information on places to stay and go out and things to see / do trust me mate its well worth doing!
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Dom H
Member
Registered: 14th Jun 06
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by ryzer
We did it extremely cheaply mate, we spent about 1000 each, which included buying the car for 800. there were 3 of us and we had a bit of money remaining. it can be done cheaply, its the going out in the cities that dries up the cash quickly, we went in August too, it wasnt hot at all! we had some nice days though, except in Prague, where it rained constantly for 3 days.
Haha, that's ace. So you had about 2200 in your car for living and petrol costs? That's good, £2k is about as much as I'm gonna have (for myself and a passenger). We'll have three cars going, so should be a good laugh. Also got that book infront of me mate, as I'm living in Barcelona right now. Well worth it.
Cheers mate.
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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PistonHeads is your best bet for advcie buddy!
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VegasPhil
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Jan 05
Location: Fareham, Hants Drives: Octavia VRS
User status: Offline
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Doooooooom
Glad your enjoying it mate!
Corsa 2.0 16v Vegas - Sold
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