# Roadtrips



## TheCat

*Toronto, Ontario to New York City, NY (and back)*

Greetings. I have recently returned from a trip to NYC, and as I promised in the thread about interstates, I have taken some random photos of the drive. I was only taking pictures when I wasn't doing the driving, so there are big gaps in the coverage of the photos in each direction. My camera batteries also died prematurely on the way to NYC. However, I was able to take pictures of different highways in each direction (to and from NYC), so the photos cover more or less the whole journey. I have also not taken photos of highways 401 and 427 because I was too lazy at the beginning of the trip 

I tried to categorize the photos according to the different highways that they represent to the best of my ability, but I am not familiar with these areas (first time driving there), so errors are quite possible, especially for photos at the edges of the categories.

Lastly, please excuse my bad camera work  Especially at the beginning (QEW), many of the photos are blurry because they were taken at dawn. Also, some birds took a crap on the windshield toward the end 

*The trip (around 800 km):*










*Part 1: Toronto -> NYC*

*Queen Elizabeth Way, Ontario:*






























































































































































































*Highway 405, Ontario:*














































*Canada-US Border (Ontario, Canada & NY, United States):*





































*Interstate 190 S:*























































*Interstate 290 E & (several pics of) Interstate 90 E:*














































*Interstate 80 E:*























































*Part 2: NYC -> Toronto*

*Interstate 95 S (Cross-Bronx Expressway & New Jersey Turnpike):*



















*Interstate 80 W:*






















































































































*Interstate 380 N:*























































*Interstate 81 N:*





































































































































































































































































































































*Interstate 690 W & Interstate 90 W:*
































































Well, that is it, I hope you enjoyed.


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## CborG

Nice pictures, thanks. Some parts really look like european motorways, except for the yellow line on the left.


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## Wilhem275

Very interesting pictures, indeed.

But why driving for 800 km instead of using a train or a plane?


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## mgk920

Wilhem275 said:


> Very interesting pictures, indeed.
> 
> But why driving for 800 km instead of using a train or a plane?


Well, I would say that he drove because A) flying is not any fun anymore and b) although there is frequent Amtrak rail passenger service across New York state (NYC<->Albany<->Syracuse<->Rochester<->Buffalo), and a route or two into Canada, for some-odd reason the USA border guards have made crossing into the USA from Canada by rail to be a total chore, it's far worse than what you hear regarding the TSA guys (the air security guards) at the airports.

And besides, there is a lot of WAAAAAY KEWL scenery along the highways and motorways in the northeastern USA. Yes, I have driven on ALL of the highways (except I-190 between Niagara Falls and the border crossing) that he used in the USA part of his roadtrip.

 

Mike


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## Verso

Wilhem275 said:


> But why driving for 800 km instead of using a train or a plane?


I say, everything you can reach by car in 1 day, is normal.


Very interesting journey, thank you very much! :cheers2:

I don't understand what this sign is trying to tell us though:


TheCat said:


>


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## mgk920

Verso said:


> I say, everything you can reach by car in 1 day, is normal.
> 
> 
> Very interesting journey, thank you very much! :cheers2:
> 
> I don't understand what this sign is trying to tell us though:


It is describing what interchanges serve the Pocono mountains region of Pennsylvania. It is a major regional tourist/summer home area and includes a major NASCAR racetrack.

Mike


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## Verso

^ So those are exit nos.?


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## TheCat

Wilhem275 said:


> Very interesting pictures, indeed.
> 
> But why driving for 800 km instead of using a train or a plane?


Hehe, all the reasons that the fellow forumers have mentioned are valid, but there are a few more important reasons. Flying is the most convenient option, but it is expensive. It costs around $300/person (and we had 3 people on the trip), so that would come out to around $900 overall. The road trip cost us less than $100 (I would like to point out that gas prices in the US, especially in PA, are much lower than in Canada ).

As for rail, I see that you live in Europe  As was pointed out, Amtrak does have a Toronto->NYC route, but it actually takes longer than driving by several hours, because the train takes a less direct route than the highway, and moves slower than cars on the highway .


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## mgk920

Verso said:


> ^ So those are exit nos.?


Yes. That sign is on the westbound (from NYC) approach to the I-80/380 split (about 1.5 to 2 hours' driving time west of the Hudson River bridge from Manhattan) and shows the numbers of the interchanges on each route that serve the Pocono mountains region.

Mike


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## snupix

Very nice, thanks a lot for the pics! I almost did (in the bus) the same route 2 years ago, but I was stopped at the American border.  :lol: Thanx for showing me the rest. :cheers:


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## Nephasto

Beautifull photo's! A very well documentel trip, no doubt! kay:

As CborG already refered, many pictures remind me of european motorways.


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## TheCat

Thanks for the comments 
A lot of the highways were indeed in a great condition, no complaints in general. Lots of construction was encountered along the way.


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## Alex Von Königsberg

Very nice photo-report! I noticed that in New York motorways look very different from what we have in California in terms of the road marking. I like the marking that allows changing lanes only in one direction kay: 



















Also, in California I haven't seen any YIELD signs at the on-ramps, but in Europe - plenty.


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## Manila-X

nice photos kay: I find East Coast highways fascinating because of it's scenery and more. A sharp contrast compared to west coast ones.


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## hkskyline

I've done this trip before on those Chinese bus tours. The routings were different each time, from the Syracuse route to skirting the southern edges of the Finger Lakes (stopping in Corning) and even via Albany. Quite a long 10+ hour trip on a bus.


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## ChrisZwolle

Nice report










You seriously don't call these destinations control cities or what?


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## Billpa

What's wrong with them?
America gets knocked for using cardinal directions and numbers....and now for cities and towns too?
I'm always honest when it comes to North America vs Europe arguments but what are we supposed to do over here?


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## ChrisZwolle

Well, the Delaware Water Gap is just some rivercrossing near Stroudsburg, but it is very small, why not signing Scranton or even some further away Pennsylvania destination? You might even wanna put Cleveland or Pittsburgh as a remote focal point on the signs. 

I don't think the directions and numbers are bad, but when you are not known to the area, you are searching for major cities, not some village on a riverbank which is accidently the border between NJ and PA.


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## AltinD

TheCat said:


> *The trip (around 800 km):*


There's something wrong there. 

I did the same trip last year and after entering Buffalo from Niagra Falls, I saw a road sign saying: "*NYC 600 miles*" and that alone is almost *1,000 km*. Consider that the border from Toronto is at least 100 - 150 more kms and you got much more then 800.

Nice pics though kay:


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## Billpa

Delaware Water Gap IS the NJ-PA border, is very well known in both states and is VERY visable as a destination. 80 doesn't go through Scranton and, in fact, doesn't really hit any major cities at all in Pennsylvania...and Ohio is really too far away.

And besides....you're not going to miss it:


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## go_leafs_go02

nice pictures...even though i travel down the QEW from st. catharines to downtown toronto several times a week, never been to New York State. 

Makes me want to check it out. 

Keep it up..and if you have more to share...I would love to see them


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## ADCS

Billpa said:


> Delaware Water Gap IS the NJ-PA border, is very well known in both states and is VERY visable as a destination. 80 doesn't go through Scranton and, in fact, doesn't really hit any major cities at all in Pennsylvania...and Ohio is really too far away.


Yep, as he said, there is really nothing of interest between Youngstown, OH and Northern New Jersey. In Youngstown, in fact, one of the control cities on I-80 is New York City, despite it being 400 miles (650 km) away. This is simply because while Northern PA is very scenic in parts, it is also very little-populated.


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## ChrisZwolle

Maybe, but Scranton is "just around the corner", and can therefor be signed on the I-80. 

650km is a long way, but there aren't any better destinations in Northern Pennsylvania. But we see for example 600+km destinations in France too, so it is possible. Without any large city on the I-80, i think most traffic is long distance too, so you might wanna sign long distance destinations too. 

I wonder what they sign in the west, it's all long distance there (I-15, I-40, I-80, I-90, I-94 etc).


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## Xusein

Great pictures. 

I have taken almost the same route, except I take I-84 west to I-380, since I live in Hartford and not New York. It's better than taking the Thruway the entire way.

The landscape is very beautiful when in Pennsylvania and in the Southern tier in New York State, but it gets boring fast from Syracuse westward. Buffalo, then Customs, and then those two super-bridges on the QEW keep you awake though.


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## Billpa

Chris1491 said:


> Without any large city on the I-80, i think most traffic is long distance too, so you might wanna sign long distance destinations too.


I suspect most traffic (at least the non-truck) is heading for northwestern New Jersey and the Poconos of PA. Again- the Water Gap is very well known in this area so works very well for a destination. I understand Europeans have never heard of it, but I doubt many Europeans know where Stroudsburg is either.


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## TheCat

AltinD said:


> There's something wrong there.
> 
> I did the same trip last year and after entering Buffalo from Niagra Falls, I saw a road sign saying: "*NYC 600 miles*" and that alone is almost *1,000 km*. Consider that the border from Toronto is at least 100 - 150 more kms and you got much more then 800.
> 
> Nice pics though kay:


Hmm, I have no clue, it is definitely not 1000 km  But I think you might be mistaken, as I remember an "NYC 400 miles" sign around the same area


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## mgk920

Chris1491 said:


> Maybe, but Scranton is "just around the corner", and can therefor be signed on the I-80.
> 
> 650km is a long way, but there aren't any better destinations in Northern Pennsylvania. But we see for example 600+km destinations in France too, so it is possible. Without any large city on the I-80, i think most traffic is long distance too, so you might wanna sign long distance destinations too.
> 
> I wonder what they sign in the west, it's all long distance there (I-15, I-40, I-80, I-90, I-94 etc).


I was very confused by 'Del Water gap' the first time I drove that way on a roadtrip a few years ago. Since then I have been thinking that 'Pennsylvania' would be a better control destination for those signs, just like 'Indiana' and 'Wisconsin' are used on the expressways in central Chicago.

Mike


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## Alex Von Königsberg

Interesting... In Western states they never use other states as control destinations. For example, on I-80 east of Sacramento, they always put Reno as the next control destinations, and after Reno they put Salt Lake City, etc. Similarly, on I-5 they point to Portland and then to Seattle.


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## sbarn

mgk920 said:


> I was very confused by 'Del Water gap' the first time I drove that way on a roadtrip a few years ago. Since then I have been thinking that 'Pennsylvania' would be a better control destination for those signs, just like 'Indiana' and 'Wisconsin' are used on the expressways in central Chicago.
> 
> Mike


In New York, they use "New England" as a control destination on signs in the City:


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## ChrisZwolle

Billpa said:


> I suspect most traffic (at least the non-truck) is heading for northwestern New Jersey and the Poconos of PA. Again- the Water Gap is very well known in this area so works very well for a destination. I understand Europeans have never heard of it, but I doubt many Europeans know where Stroudsburg is either.


Stroudsburg is somewhat bigger, and can easier be found on the map. You have to get a very detailed map to find the Delaware water gap.

My Rand McNally 2005 road atlas has included it, by the way.

And signage is not ment for those who is well known to the area, but for those who aren't. I don't need signage on the road to my work either, but i need it when i'm on a roadtrip for example.


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## Billpa

That's true- it is mostly for those unfamiliar with an area- I don't disagree at all. Perhaps POCONOS would work better.


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## Verso

Well, I was surprised at some tiny Van Horn as the main destination on the I-10 in El Paso, but at major interchanges in El Paso they also put San Antonio, so it's all fine.


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## Astralis

These are awesome pictures kay: kay:.
I must say I'm sort of disappointed by the look of these highways in some areas but it must have been because they are quite old and heavily used. Anyway how is the feeling in the car? Is it shaking at higher speeds?


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## TheCat

Astralis said:


> These are awesome pictures kay: kay:.
> I must say I'm sort of disappointed by the look of these highways in some areas but it must have been because they are quite old and heavily used. Anyway how is the feeling in the car? Is it shaking at higher speeds?


Thanks  It really depends on where you drive - a lot of the highways are actually in good condition. When taking this trip, we had recently replaced a component of the steering system, and the wheel was a little unbalanced (slightly turned to the left in the natural position ), so that actually made it a little less convenient on the worse-surface parts. Also, we have a relatively small Nissan Sentra, so it is definitely not as convenient as some of the bigger cars (bumps are felt with greater force, and there is almost no legroom for passengers in the backseat ). But otherwise it wasn't too bad.


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## Xusein

sbarn said:


> In New York, they use "New England" as a control destination on signs in the City:


Yeah, there are still plenty of old signs all over New York that still have that.

Most new signs put New Haven instead.


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## LordMandeep

I went this way. We went from 9pm and were at Battery Park at 4:30 am.

On the way back we chilled it down with the speed as it was the day.


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## Astralis

TheCat said:


> Thanks  It really depends on where you drive - a lot of the highways are actually in good condition. When taking this trip, we had recently replaced a component of the steering system, and the wheel was a little unbalanced (slightly turned to the left in the natural position ), so that actually made it a little less convenient on the worse-surface parts. Also, we have a relatively small Nissan Sentra, so it is definitely not as convenient as some of the bigger cars (bumps are felt with greater force, and there is almost no legroom for passengers in the backseat ). But otherwise it wasn't too bad.


I see. Thanx. I'm glad you had a good driving trip. And I asked that because Croatia has recently built many new kilometers of highway and everything is new and smooth... so driving is a real pleasure  and of course I'm expecting the same thing from one of the most developed countries in the world . :cheers:


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## ursurs

*belgrade->Zagreb and Zagreb->Budapest by truck??*

Is it possible to use the motorways from Belgrade to Zagreb and from Zagreb to Budapest with a truck? I heard that there are limitations-> that it is not allowed to use these motorways with trucks. 

Are both distances fully equipped with motorways or are many "normal" country roads to be used? Thanks for your urgent awaited response!


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## ChrisZwolle

The Hungarian part of the Budapest - Zagreb route isn't quite finished i thought. But Hungarian members can answer this better. 

Belgrade - Zagreb is a full motorway.


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## snupix

Chriszwolle said:


> Belgrade - Zagreb is a full motorway.


And as you said, Zagreb - Hungarian border, too.

I doubt that there are some limitations in Hungary.


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## x-type

Zagreb - Belgrade is fully motorway
Zagreb - Budapest: croatian part is fully motorway (only 1 km of access to border is normal road), in Hungary you have about 30 km 2 way road between Nagykanizsa (city about 25 km after border) and Balaton Lake, other part is full motorway.

there are not any restrictions for any vehicles (except special occasions such as holidays).

buon voyage!


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## RawLee

Chriszwolle said:


> The Hungarian part of the Budapest - Zagreb route isn't quite finished i thought. But Hungarian members can answer this better.
> 
> Belgrade - Zagreb is a full motorway.


Croatia-Hungary 1km border with bridge is u/c,and we have a gap of M7 between Nagykanizsa-Balatonszentgyörgy,which is also u/c







(I'd gladly show it,but imageshack refuses to show the pic I uploaded...)
Restriction we have is that trucks are not allowed to travel at weekends,except ones that transport perishable goods.
-website of our motorways in english:
http://www.motorway.hu/Engine.aspx


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## Alex Von Königsberg

*Victoria trip*

My wife and I made a short trip to Victoria by ferry, so several pictures from our trip à la Chriszwolle style 

*Heading North on Provincial Highway 99 after passing the border check point. This European-like guide sign is almost non-existent in the USA*








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*Entering the City of Surrey*








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*Sign indicating distance to ferry terminal at Tsawwassen and to Vancouver. Not quite a European style, but not US-like either*








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*Exit 10: King George Highway. Canada honours its royalty by naming highways, streets and other places after them*








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*Exit 20: Local access road to Point Roberts, a US exclave located south of Tsawwassen. To get to Point Roberts by car, one would need to cross into Canada and then back into the USA*








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*Google maps told me to take exit 20, and then follow the Ladner Road, but then I saw a guide sign telling me to continue on BC-99 further to reach ferries, so I re-entered the motorway*








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*To get to ferry terminal, we take exit 28 - a junction between BC-17 and BC-99.* 








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*Now, we are passing over BC-99 and a sign tells us to take BC-99 South if we want to get back to Seattle. Notice the font is different from Interstate*








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*A not-so-clear guide sign directing to continue straight for the ferry terminal. From the picture, it may appear that you may get to ferries by taking either West or East Ladner Trunk Road, which is incorrect hno: *








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*Now, we are heading South on BC-17 which will end at the ferry terminal. Along the way, they have an electronic sign that shows the delay time for ferry schedule. This time the 11:00 Ferry was full, so we had to wait 2+ hours *








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*Finally, we are boarding on a 13:00 ferry to Swartz Bay (Victoria)*








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To be continued...


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## Tom 958

Thanks for the pics!

Last year I drove from Whitefish, Montana to Franks Slide along Hwy 3 in Alberta (OMG, now I'll have to post pics of _my_ trip!) and your post reminded me: BC consistently uses jersey barriers instead of metal guardrails. Very unusual.


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## TheCat

Awesome pics, post more


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## Alex Von Königsberg

Tom 958 said:


> BC consistently uses *jersey barriers* instead of metal guardrails. Very unusual.


You mean concrete barriers? I am not good in terminology. If so, then it is not that unusual on the West Coast because concrete barriers are much more abundant here than metal guardrails. Plus, they are safer


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## Verso

Vielen Dank für die Blumen... err, Bilder!  Hehe, I remembered a song and got carried away...  But the statement holds, great photos! I guess there's continuation?


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## Alex Von Königsberg

^^ Hehe, whatever I can gather from the Island and the Vancouver itself  A bit later.


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## Tom 958

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> You mean concrete barriers? I am not good in terminology. If so, then it is not that unusual on the West Coast because concrete barriers are much more abundant here than metal guardrails. Plus, they are safer


Yes, concrete barriers with that magically-shaped double-beveled face. I haven't been out west much, but on my trip I noticed that BC used them far more than either Montana or Alberta.


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## ChrisZwolle

Nice pictures.

I think the Interstate Font is the most used, a lot of countries are using it.


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## edolen1

Wow, great pics! I hope it was an enjoyable trip!


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## sonysnob

BC has a nice route marker. Its very bright and colourful.


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## Billpa

Alex Von Königsberg said:


>



I'd like to see this more often in North America- combining the route marker and direction ON the sign giving distances. Obviously, that's a common practice in much of Europe- I think it would also work quite well here.


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## Czas na Żywiec

Great pics, can't wait til the next part.


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## Sphynx

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> *Now, we are passing over BC-99 and a sign tells us to take BC-99 South if we want to get back to Seattle.
> 
> Notice the font is different from Interstate*


Yeah, that's an old sign with outdated font circa 1960's or 1970's. Notice the route marker is just simple black lettering on white background as opposed to the correct coloured route marker.


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## ChrisZwolle

That old font looks like the Mexican font.


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## Alex Von Königsberg

Sphynx said:


> Yeah, that's an old sign with outdated font circa 1960's or 1970's.


In former USSR they still use the font similar to this with only capital letters.



edolen1 said:


> Wow, great pics! I hope it was an enjoyable trip!


Thank you, it was a very enjoyable trip indeed especially in the middle of a crazy semester  Too bad the break is over and I need to go back to school 



Billpa said:


> I'd like to see this more often in North America- combining the route marker and direction ON the sign giving distances. Obviously, that's a common practice in much of Europe- I think it would also work quite well here.


I would even prefer yet the greater degree of standardisation than this, but at least it's better than the US distance signs without route number on the sign.


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## Billpa

Alex Von Königsberg said:


> I would even prefer yet the greater degree of standardisation than this, but at least it's better than the US distance signs without route number on the sign.


And here's the best part: it would be cheaper than what's done now. The distance signs are already in place- it would be less expensive to add the route marker to those signs in the future with the eventual goal of not needing the stand-alone reassurance route marker. Win-win.


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## Alex Von Königsberg

Billpa said:


> And here's the best part: it would be cheaper than what's done now. The distance signs are already in place- it would be less expensive to add the route marker to those signs in the future with the eventual goal of not needing the stand-alone reassurance route marker. Win-win.


Agree 100%. But then some conservative whinnies would cry about their heritage being taken away


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## Alex Von Königsberg

All right, a few pictures from Vancouver Island. The ferry arrives to Swartz Bay after ~1.5 hours of sailing from Tsawwassen and we continue on the same BC highway 17. The distance from the ferry to Victoria city centre is about 30 km. 

*Find something unusual about this SUV? Yeah, an invisible driver :lol: My guess would be that the car was imported from Australia or New Zealand*








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*Again, a sign telling drivers to think metric. This one is very similar to the one posted right after the border, except for the green background. Intended for Americans arriving on the Washington State ferries from Anacortes, WA to Sidney, BC*








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*Some general BC-17 pictures*








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*Here, if you pay closer attention you will see snow peaks of the Olympic National Park across the Straight of Juan de Fuca*








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*I like that the acceleration lane marking (thick broken line) is run to the very end like in Europe (and pretty much everywhere else except for the USA)*








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*If you take a right turn, you will get to Trans-Canada Highway 1 which will lead to Nanaimo from where you can take ferry to Horseshoe Bay. From Horseshoe Bay you can either continue on Sea-to-Sky Highway toward Whistler or to the inland on Trans-Canada Hwy 1.*








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*Getting close to the city centre*








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For now, I will take a break. Later I will try to find some pics from the drive to Vancouver. Hope you enjoyed this small report


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## ChrisZwolle

What is wrong with that? They have it too in Denmark, works pretty good. It's a different kind of taper.


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## Alex Von Königsberg

I agree with arriaca. In my opinion, a lane should clearly begin or clearly end, without splitting or merging.


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## ADCS

As long as the lane marking works in conjunction with the signage (either through diagrammatic information or "EXIT ONLY" signs), I don't see a problem with either style.


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## Alex Von Königsberg

^^ Sure, it is not a big deal. However, it is still better when the marking clearly shows which lane ends and who should yield upon merging. And all it takes is just a bit more paint


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## TheCat

arriaca said:


> I hate this type of marking line, M-45 exit to A2 (Madrid, Spain)
> <picture>


This is very common in Ontario, whenever there is more than one lane exiting a motorway or when a motorway splits like in the above picture into perhaps two diverging motorways.

Often before exits you see this sign:








This sign is very common in Toronto and other cities, since almost all exits in big cities have at least 2 lanes. It means that the rightmost lane will split in the middle like this and exit. One confusing thing about this sign is that while it implies that the 2 right-most lanes are exiting (which is true in a way), it actually means that the right-most lane (with the word EXIT under it) will actually begin as an exit lane, i.e. it does not yet exit, so the lane to the left of it is actually the rightmost current through lane. I got confused like this at first, staying in the 2nd lane from the right thinking that it would split, but it just continued 

The sign for a splitting motorway is this one, although it's not as confusing as the above sign:











Alex Von Königsberg said:


> I agree with arriaca. In my opinion, a lane should clearly begin or clearly end, without splitting or merging.


I agree, but strictly speaking, if you have a split like the one above, you don't really have a choice. The only way to make a proper beginning and end is to physically add multiple new exit lanes to the right, which isn't always possible, especially when a motorway splits into two different motorways.


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## CborG

*Balkan Roadtrip: Suggestions?*

Hi all!

Me and some friends are planning a summer holiday roadtrip, we've done this already a couple of times in previous years. Usually we don't really plan the excact route and destinations, just going where the highway takes us.

This year though we wanted something more adventurous than Spain, France or Italy. The idea came to explore the balkan area by car. We all feel very attracted by this region. 

We have set ourselves to include city trips, fun, culture and outdoor sports. During a brainstorm and some searching on the internet a list of possible destinations was made:

City trips and culture:
-Ljubljana, Slovenia
-Zagreb, Croatia
-Sofia, Bulgaria
-Istanbul, Turkey
-Dubrovnik, Croatia 

Fun, beaches and nightlife:
-Sunny Beach, Bulgaria
-Marmaris, Turkey
-Corfu, Greece

Nature, outdoors, active:
-suggestions? 

Feel free to make suggestions for other cities, beaches, hotspots and all other places worth visiting. The best and most beautiful places are the ones only known by locals.
Here is a map with the global route we has in mind:



Some other questions we have are the following (It's not ment to be offensive in any way, but i do need honest answers about possible risks):
-Is it safe to travel through countries like Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria etc? 
-What can we expect at bordercrossing between the various countries?
-What are the do's and don'ts in the various countries
-Are euro's widely accepted?
-Which regions do you consider dangerous for tourists?

I hope to see some honest aswers and good suggestions, Thanks in advance!


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## pmaciej7

First thing is, i spent 2 weeks in Croatia. I can only tell about this country. 



CborG said:


> City trips and culture:
> -Zagreb, Croatia
> -Dubrovnik, Croatia


Dubrovnik is beautiful, but also you should visit Zadar and Split.



> Nature, outdoors, active:
> -suggestions?


You can't tell, you've seen Croatia without visiting Plitvica lakes. Also try to sail to Hvar and Bisevo



> -Is it safe to travel through countries like Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria etc?
> -Which regions do you consider dangerous for tourists?


I wouldn't travel through Albania and Kosovo. 
In Bosnia there are still many mined areas. Drive only asphalted roads, don't step aside.



> -What can we expect at bordercrossing between the various countries?


I crossed borders from Slovenia to Croatia and from Croatia to Bosnia usually even without showing my passport. But also i've seen cars asked to customs control, especially these filled with bags or pulling caravan or boat. If it's possible, drive through small bordercrossings, main ones are usually jammed and you can loose much time. 



> -Are euro's widely accepted?


In Slovenia it's no problem at all . In Croatia also, there are many money changes. Some of them, in big cities, change money without fees. In Bosnia (Mostar) euro and croatian kuna are accepted. If you pay in euro, goods are a little bit cheaper.

And don't buy cd's dvd's and movies in Bosnia. I wonder if they know, what copyright is.


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## Des

I got a similar idea yesterday when watching the Romanian and Bulgarian highway topics. 

I've done a little roadtrip last year from Budapest to Zagreb, Zagreb to Dubrovnik and on to Italy. 

Croatia has some of the best highways in the world with little traffic, watch out for the cops though they have modern undercover Mercedes's that will pull you over  

Going down from Dubrovnik to Tirana is doable, but from Tirana down to Greece I would say is not good, road is in terrible condition and if your car hits a puthole and breaks down you're fucked. Maybe you can go from Tirana through Macedonia to Greece instead. Greek roads are fine, drivers are a bit crazy though but that's the story of the Balkans. 

Going from Sofia to Belgrade is no problem at all. Be aware that a lot of trucks are heading from Turkey to Western Europe, which can make driving very exhausting. In most countries people do accept euro's but they can and some will rip you off with the exchange rate. Bringing some spare local currency can also speed up your border crossings  

Travelling to the Balkan's I would advise you to select an hotel at each town you want to visit, and if you're planning a long trip pick a backup hotel somewhere along the route in case you are delayed. Often you can make reservations without having to pay beforehand. In towns like Dubrovnik and Zagreb and probably most of Greece and Turkey you will always be able to find a good hotel or campsite upon arrival, but in the other countries make a reservation in advance.


----------



## SRB

why not visiting Belgrade


----------



## pmaciej7

One more thing: you should drive Thessaloniki-Sofia road.


----------



## x-type

i know quite many people who traveled to Albania by car and there are no major problems as kids with kalashnikovs, like people are used to expect there.anyway, infrastructure is still at the beginnings of the construction so that's the main reason why it's better to travel carefully and during the day. and you can be robbed also in Sweden or Switzerland, right?  at the trip you are never safe enough, but people who are planning trips like this usually know it and know how to take care 

fo return route through Croatia i'd suggest not to take A1 or D1, but D8 road which runs just next to the sea from Dubrovnik to Rijeka. scenery is beatiful, road is in good condition (although in summer it is jammed), it doesn't run through centres of the places, but you can stop whereever you expect to see something nice. and scenery is wonderfull because in each moment at the right side you have mountains, and at left sea and islands. especially i like part from Zadar to Rijeka which is not touristicly exposed too much yet. the only bad thing in case of using D8 is missing the Plitvice lakes. also, average speed without stopping will be max 55, maybe 60, so plan at least 3 h for Dubrovnik - Split or 4 h Zadar - Rijeka

of course, in summer border crossings are jammed because of huge amount of vehicles. avoid friday-sunday period for bordercrossings and it will not hurt so much


----------



## ChrisZwolle

pmaciej7 said:


> One more thing: you should drive Thessaloniki-Sofia road.


Yeah definatly, and make some real Struma pics


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ No doubt :lol:!Some info about Bulgaria if you are going into Bulgaria from Serbia(Kalotina) there is no problem of going to the Black Sea or even Turkey because the roads are well maintained and from Sofia-Bourgas there are 280/370 km highway(Trakiya motorway);if you're heading for Turkey then you follow Trakiya motorway and right after Plovdiv there is a sign for Istanbul.Then you are on the E80 heading for Istanbul(Maritsa motorway).You follow the road to the town Svilengrad and there is the border!When you get in Turkey there is motorway all the way to Istanbul


----------



## Zabonz

I would recommend you Krka and Kornati NP in croatia for nature part, they are really stunning and easily accessible


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## bgplayer19

i would recommend Pirin,Rila and especially Mussala(2925m)-the highest peak on the Balkans !Maybe Rodopi and Stara Planina and the Rose Valley near Kazanlak


----------



## KHS

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Paklenica National Park

Krka National Park

There are more but these are on your way from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. And also visit Zadar and Split.


----------



## Jünyus Brütüs

When you enter Turkey from Bulgaria, you will use TEM Motorway. It's wide, flat and well developed all the way through Istanbul so you'll be in Istanbul two hours later. I advice you to drive at night through Istanbul because it is possible to spend more than 2 hours for enter Istanbul after your arrival because of traffic jam. Many people try to turn back at home from industrial areas around... you can go crazy because of the traffic. After your visit in Istanbul, I suggest you to pass Bosphorus through Anatolian side and go to Kartal by seaside way from Kadikoy through Kartal! And use ferry instead of motorway through south from Anatolian side of Istanbul to Yalova or Bursa. Marmaris is way more southern than Izmir. If you want to go there you need to pass whole Agean.

I hope you will enjoy... have a nice trip...

Oh, I want to add fuel is far more expensive in Turkey than any other country around. So keep your tank full in Bulgaria before entering Turkey

Btw we made a similiar trip in Balkans( Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia...) in the late 90's. It was crazy and adventurous. I was a child but enjoyed so much, nothing bad happened... This is 2008, I guess ex-commie countries are far more safer now


----------



## Alle

Visit the Castles and Fortresses link in my signature for some attractions .

Other than that, I dont know how long you will stay at different places, but renting a sea side property in Croatia can be very rewarding  . Altough I dont know how easy it is to do so south of split, I did so north of Split but then again i come from the region so we know people down there... now if you will stop by anywhere in bosnia you might be interested in a guided hiking tour, there are several hiking companies there and the nature is fantastic with its contrasts, height differences, saturated green fields and forests. One of the last remaining primeval forests of Europe are in Bosnia. So it fits the "nature/outdoor" label. As far as mines are concerned they are pretty well mapped and its not a problem if you would take a guided tour. 

here are some images http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=487674

http://www.mtsobek.com/mts/bos

http://www.bosnian-mountaintourism.com/

http://www.ilovebosnia.com

... and some more galleries http://www.bosnian-mountaintourism.com/gallery/

Im sure you can find more organizers as well. Some croatian based ones lead you through bosnia as well especially if you are going rafting etc, so youd experience both nations. Whereas some bosnian ones will have offers for the croatian coast as well...


----------



## Verso

As you know, we're in the same Eurozone as you are  and Montenegro and Kosovo use euro too. You shouldn't miss Bled in Slovenia, Belgrade, Ephesus (Efes) in Turkey and Plitvice Lakes in Croatia (beside those you listed). And Struma, of course. :lol:


----------



## RKC

Ohrid lake and Ohrid town in Macedonia is just great


----------



## Realek

I'm a bit biased, but I'd suggest taking a turn through Macedonia also 



Des said:


> Going down from Dubrovnik to Tirana is doable, but from Tirana down to Greece I would say is not good, road is in terrible condition and if your car hits a puthole and breaks down you're fucked. Maybe you can go from Tirana through Macedonia to Greece instead.


The roads are good on the (red) part of the route that I've drawn. There are some nice towns along the way, most of all Ohrid:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=439985
Ohrid and the whole lake area is stunning. It is UNESCO's both cultural and natural heritage protected site.

Also there are some other interesting towns on the route, Bitola for example:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=213696
If you are into archeology, there are two very important archeological sites just by the road.
Heraclea Lyncestis:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclea_Lyncestis
and Stobi:http://www.build.com.mk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=161


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ yes you shouldn't miss it


----------



## Verso

Oh, if you're into caves (or just wanna cool down a bit), the Postojna Cave in Slovenia is breathtaking and Slovenia's top tourism site, with the country's only metro. :lol:


----------



## x-type

Verso said:


> Oh, if you're into caves (or just wanna cool down a bit), the Postojna Cave in Slovenia is breathtaking and Slovenia's top tourism site, with the country's only metro. :lol:


kay:


----------



## Tauernautobahn

CborG said:


> City trips and culture:


I'd add Kotor and Budva



CborG said:


> Fun, beaches and nightlife:


Budva seems to be quite nice




CborG said:


> -Are euro's widely accepted?


As for Croatia yes, but you only get back HRK (Kuna).
In Montenegro Euro is the official currency (without being an official member of the Euro-Zone)


----------



## Tauernautobahn

pmaciej7 said:


> In Bosnia there are still many mined areas. Drive only asphalted roads, don't step aside.


Also in Croatia thera are some mined areas e.g. near Zadar, on the Island of Vis and in eastern Slavonia


----------



## wyqtor

If you are willing to endure some serious congestion on main 2-lane highways, you can also go through Romania.

I especially recommend:
1. The Prahova Valley for some nice scenery. My favourite town is Busteni. You can take the cable-car to the plateau (at 2200m +) or you can hike through the thick forest (it's a different experience than going through an alpine forest, trust me - it's denser and you can actually smell the scent of fir trees). A great walk would be to Urlatoarea (Howling) waterfall.
Also in Sinaia you can visit the Peles Castle - a magnificent piece of architecture. The resort itself has a distinct architectural style (except for the commieblocks & hotels and the glass-covered villas :bash

2. Also Bran Castle (a.k.a. Dracula's) is very nice.

3. Ceausescu's palace in Bucharest is worth a look.


----------



## CborG

Thanks for all your comments so far! 

Ohrid and its lake look very interesting and if the road from Greece through Albania is really that bad it might be a good alternative. Too bad we have to skip Corfu then. 
About Greece: Any cities with good nightlife and beaches on the route from Turkey towards Thessaloniki?



SRB said:


> why not visiting Belgrade


 I don't really know much about Belgrade, is it worth visiting and safe? (no offence but what we hear about it is not always positive)

About Istanbul: Is it easy to find a affordable hotel or hostel? any suggestions?


----------



## Des

A couple friends of mine have been to Belgrade and said it was good fun and quite safe.

Albanian road:










But as you can see in the Albanian highways topic most of the roads are much better:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=18896608


----------



## mojaBL

The whole region is more safe than anyuke: town in the states. So the questions like is it safe etc. are really uke:
And there are mines in whole Europe dating from WW2, but it doesn't mean it is unsafe to travel trough Europe. Mines in Bosnia are in very remoted areas and if u wanted to step on one u would reallly have to make effort. 
And no one will rip u off if u pay in euros.

My suggestions for Bosnia are Mostar, Pocitelj and Bunda
They are really close to Adriatic so it will not be mayor de-tour. 
The town Mostar is worth visiting, old core is under Unesco protetcion (look at today's banner) 
There is river Buna well and old Tekija, great nature, culture and history. 
Same goes for Pocitelj. 

Rafting on Neretva river is really great expirience. 

http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostar 
http://www.visitmostar.net/

etc.


----------



## Realek

@ CborG

I'd say Belgrade is as safe as any big city in Europe.

And don't worry about accommodation in Istanbul. The central parts are riddled with small/medium affordable hotels. You don't even need suggestions, you can literally arrive there in 3am and find a place in no time (happened to me once )


----------



## Des

mojaBL said:


> The whole region is more safe than anyuke: town in the states. So the questions like is it safe etc. are really uke:
> And there are mines in whole Europe dating from WW2, but it doesn't mean it is unsafe to travel trough Europe. Mines in Bosnia are in very remoted areas and if u wanted to step on one u would reallly have to make effort.
> And no one will rip u off if u pay in euros.


CborG was asking for honest opinions not for Balkan propaganda :nuts:


----------



## x-type

i'd say that the most dangerous place in Belgrade is Slavija roundabout because it is the most confusing intersection at Balkan  that's all about Belgrade being dangerous.


----------



## bgplayer19

CborG said:


> Thanks for all your comments so far!
> 
> Ohrid and its lake look very interesting and if the road from Greece through Albania is really that bad it might be a good alternative. Too bad we have to skip Corfu then.
> About Greece: Any cities with good nightlife and beaches on the route from Turkey towards Thessaloniki?


Well I'd say the Asprovalta region including the Halkidiki Penensula !For Halkidiki 
you should know that Mount Athon is the most peaceful,Sithounia is not so quiet but again peaceful and last Kassandra is the bussiest of all but there you can have a lot of fun !Anything to add my Greek friends?


----------



## pmaciej7

Mostar is ruined, but really beautiful city.

Landscapes.



























Bridge.


















Other bridges and river.


















Mosques.


















Mostar by night.


















War reminders.



























I guess in 5 years this will be a great located 5-star hotel.


----------



## bgplayer19

^^ Why haven't they demolished that building?


----------



## mojaBL

Des said:


> CborG was asking for honest opinions not for Balkan propaganda :nuts:


and where do u see propaganda?
Well all those bullshits riping off, mines, unsafety that is real propaganda. 
And also i am sure that Amsterdam is less safe than any town in Bosnia.


----------



## mojaBL

bgplayer19 said:


> ^^ Why haven't they demolished that building?


because it is under protection and they can not demolish it. And there is not enough funds to repeare whole Mostar at once.


----------



## CborG

Can't you understand my doubts? Various travel sites on the internet all state that landmines are still a big issue in rural area's. The bigger cities maybe relatively safe but the thousands of UN troops still stationed in Bosnia are there for a reason, and i recon it isn't because of the historic cities en nature. I would love to visit Bosnia someday, no doubt, only not this holiday.


----------



## Jünyus Brütüs

CborG said:


> About Istanbul: Is it easy to find a affordable hotel or hostel? any suggestions?


You can find every kind of hotel easily just in minutes But you know it's a huge city, I mean HUUGE... so be careful and try to find tidy, clean and straight hotel, otherwise you can find yourself in a gay party or in an ultra dirty twister place etc... I advice you to make some search on web, learn more things about districts and I advice you to stay around Taksim or Nisantasi which is very enjoyable both at day and night or if you have more money try to find somewhere around Bosphorus' districts


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Video: A31 Emstunnel*

We start with a video, since my posts will be in chronological order. This video runs on the A31 Autobahn near Leer, through the Emstunnel. There were some roadworks, and a reverse holiday traffic jam in the other direction.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A28 Leer - Oldenburg*

The first photojourney runs from Dreieck Leer to Dreieck Oldenburg-West on the A28 motorway. The A28 is a quiet Autobahn, so average speed is quite high. 

route:









*Picasa webalbum 52 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A293 Oldenburg*

Journey 2 runs through the larger city of Oldenburg, over the A293 Autobahn, a motorway along the westside of Oldenburg. The A293 recently got exit numbers. 

route:









*Picasa webalbum 19 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*B211 / B212 Oldenburg - Nordenham*

Journey 3 runs through the polders of the Jaderland, a flat area near the rivers Jade and Weser. The journey starts on the B211 near Kreuz Oldenburg-Nord, to Brake, where we take the B212 heading north to the Wesertunnel near Nordenham.










*Picasa webalbum 40 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Video: B437 Wesertunnel*

The B437 features a major road tunnel under the river Weser, which is quite wide here. The tunnel is the only connection across the Weser, north of Bremen, and connects Nordenham with Bremerhaven. The tunnel is quite new, opened in 2004, and is 1600 meters or 1 mile long, and goes 40 meters below sea level.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*B71 - B74 - B73 Bremerhaven - Bremervörde - Stade - Hamburg*

Journey 4 continues through the north of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxonia), quite a surprising area, because i expected quite flat and boring polders, however it was hilly with lots of forests. The part from Bremerhaven to Bremervörde goes via the B71, and to Stade via the B74. From Stade to Hamburg continues via the B73. 

The B71 and B74 goes quite fast, traffic is very light there. The B73 is another story, it's a busy road from Stade to Buxtehude, and is 4-laned through suburban Hamburg, and very busy. The last few kilometers take a lot of time to travel. The A26 Autobahn is very much needed here. 










*Picasa Webalbum 95 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Video: A7 Hamburg*

Time for a video, this is video number 3. The video travels over the A7 motorway, through the port of Hamburg, where the containers are almost lined up at the shoulder, and the high Köhlbrandbrücke (bridge) is visible. Then we travel through the 2 mile / 3,2km long Elbetunnel (locally known as Elbtunnel), which consists of 4 tubes. After the tunnel, we continue until Interchange Dreieck Hamburg-Nordwest, where we take the A23 to Heide.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A23 Hamburg - Itzehoe - Heide*

The next journey runs through the west of Schleswig-Holstein, from Interchange Dreieck Hamburg-Nordwest to Heide. The first few kilometers travels through the suburbs of mighty Hamburg, and near Itzehoe, there are a few kilometers of Autobahn missing. North of Itzehoe, we take a look at the massive bridge over the Northsea-Baltic Sea canal, and we also see shipping pass by. You can really see the size of the bridge and ships if you compare it to the campers on the other side of the canal. Finally we head to Heide, where the A23 ends, and continues over the B5.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 102 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*B5 Heide - Husum - Tønder*

The road goes on. That's also the case on the B5 Bundesstraße, where we continue north. The B5 until Husum is a pretty fast route, well build-out, and few intersections, and low traffic. Further north it's a different story, since we pass by some towns. Note for travellers: The first gas station after Hamburg is in Husum, all the way on the A23 and B5, there are no gas stations! Something to keep in mind here. 

route:









*Picasa webalbums, 70 pics*


----------



## Verso

Oh, that's a lot of pics.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You just saw the tip of the iceberg


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Primærrute 11 Tønder - Varde*

Yay, we're in Denmark! We head north on the westcoast of Southern Jutland (Jylland) from Tønder via Ribe to Varde, just north of Esbjerg. The route is much more quiet than it's German B5 counterpart. The photo's were taken in 2 days, because i stayed in Ribe for one night, which is a touristic town.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 99 pics*


----------



## TheCat

Chris, as usual, you're the man! 
Do you hold the camera in your hand when you shoot videos (and pictures), or do you have it mounted on the dashboard? I am planning a very short trip on Friday, and hopefully my friend will be able to bring his camera, so I can publish a short video.

Great work, keep them coming :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I just point and shoot. Not really a problem, since i drive with one hand on the wheel 99% of the time, it's just a habit of me. Especially on those main roads, you normally don't need to shift gears. That's why you shouldn't see pics inside cities from me. Too dangerous.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

A few pics of Ribe, a touristic town in the southwest of Denmark. I stayed here for one night.

*Picasa webalbum, 26 pics*


----------



## Cicerón

Wow, thanks for posting, Chris! It's always good to see how the things are in different countries. 

BTW, I wonder why the road has this appearance. Some roads in Spain get a bit darker on the sides of the lanes when the pavement gets older, but not that much (and not that _perfectly_). Is it due to winter wheels?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm not sure, however, i've seen lots of Danish roads looking like this. To me, it looks like they've repaved track formation or something. It was very smooth though, but it really doesn't look aesthetic.


----------



## Timon91

I looks very strange, I have never seen something like this (apart from some 2-laned Slovak roads with deep tracks in it, making it look a bit the same)


----------



## kosimodo

U should have let me know.... i was BBQing last sunday in Aalborg


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Sekundærrute 181 Varde - Hvide Sande - Thorsminde - Lemvig*

Get ready for one of the most scenic roads in Denmark. This 120km journey shows us the southern part of Route 181, from Varde all the way along the west coast to near Lemvig. The road winds through the dunes for most of the time, and we can see laguna's, fjords and the sea, because i made a rest stop at beach #133. The further up north, the more quiet the road gets, with sometimes zero traffic for minutes. Very relaxing drive. 

route:









*Picasa webalbum, 144 pics*


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

Chris, any ideas why Danish put "km" on their speed signs? UK is pretty far from Denmark, so it is not easy to confuse measuring systems in that area.


----------



## Verso

^ Austrians also do that, and they are nowhere near UK.

That route #181 looks beautiful.


----------



## FREKI

Great work mate - that's some collection of road pics you got yourself there 

Love the videos btw kay:



Alex Von Königsberg said:


> Chris, any ideas why Danish put "km" on their speed signs? UK is pretty far from Denmark, so it is not easy to confuse measuring systems in that area.


Southern Jutland has ferry connections to the UK and get's British drivers/cars in large numbers.. - on Zealand I don't remember having seen such...



Cicerón said:


> I wonder why the road has this appearance. Some roads in Spain get a bit darker on the sides of the lanes when the pavement gets older, but not that much (and not that _perfectly_). Is it due to winter wheels?
> http://lh5.ggpht.com/ASWchris2/SCG-M9Skw6I/AAAAAAAAISs/LOn91sKs2ps/IMG_7504.JPG?imgmax=640


As Chriszwolle wrote they have repaved the worn tracks in the road...

Don't ask me why they don't just redo or overpave the entire road - that's just how they do in places with a lot of truck traffic... I guess it's faster and cheaper.. :dunno:

Thinking about it it might have something to do with noise reduction - road noise have been a big issue many places and they have gone to great lenghts to make "low noise" asphalt - maybe that's why - it's certainly cheaper than putting up noise barriers - although it still doesn't make sense why they don't do it properly to begin with.. maybe it doesn't pass water trough as good, so they keep the old on unused areas to do that :dunno:


----------



## Escher

Great trip, thank you for the post!! I also love to take my weekends to make a ride. I'd like to have this easyness to take the car on a weekend and travel for 3 countries, here in one weekend, leaving the state is already too much!


----------



## Verso

^ Be happy you don't have to show your documents every 200 km or so, like in Europe. Luckily the Schengen Area has grown quite much (which is useful also in this particular trip).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yeah i didn't have to show my passport or drivers license once, while i passed through 4 border crossings. I really love Schengen! 

I'll upload more pics tomorrow, i still have a whole bunch of them.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Sekundærrute 513 Lemvig - Struer*

A rather short journey from route 181 west of Lemvig, through Lemvig to route 11 near Struer. A quite surprising area, with sometimes steep hills and gradients on the road. 

route:









*Picasa webalbum 31 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Primærrute 11 Struer - Ydby*

Another part of main route 11, now through the lakes and fjords of northern Denmark. We only take route 11 for 30 kilometers. We cross the Oddesund bridge, where dozens of people were fishing from. Also, i take a short break at a parking lot right next to the water.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 47 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Sekundærrute 527 Ydby - Vestervig*

A short journey from Ydby to Vestervig via route 527, which brings us back to the route 181 i've been following for a while. The road is hilly and curvy.

*Picasa webalbum, 18 pics*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Sekundærrute 181 Vestervig - Hanstholm*

We approach the northernmost point of my journey. This trip takes us on the route 181 again, which winds through dunes and forests. This area is called "Thy", and is on the list to be approved as a national park. On the pics you can see why. I made a little stop to climb an high dune. There was sea fog near the coastline, but i didn't have any problems from it on the road. Temperature could drop 10 degrees within a few hundred meters. At last, i end in Hanstholm, a port town where the ferries to Norway, Faeroer and Iceland depart. We end the serie with some pics of the port of Hanstholm from above.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 75 pics*


----------



## Rebasepoiss

This type of repaving is quite common in Estonia, especially in the cities, because it's cheap , but I would not have expected this kind of repaving in Denmark.


----------



## mlm

@ Chriszwolle: Can we expect photos from the last streches too? Was kind of looking forward to them.


----------



## ØlandDK

Rebasepoiss said:


> This type of repaving is quite common in Estonia, especially in the cities, because it's cheap , but I would not have expected this kind of repaving in Denmark.


You'll see this everywhere in Denmark...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

mlm said:


> @ Chriszwolle: Can we expect photos from the last streches too? Was kind of looking forward to them.


Oh yeah, i'll upload them soon (this evening)


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Primærrute 29 Hanstholm - Aars*

We head southeast, from Hanstholm to Primærrute 11, which runs concurrent with the Primærrute 29 to Fjerritslev. We end just south of Aars, at the intersection with Primærrute 13. The entire route can be described as scenic, since we hit some lakes, forests, and the entire area is quite hilly.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 76 pics*


----------



## Verso

Lovely. :cheers:


----------



## Timon91

Aars is a nice name. Especially in dutch


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yes, it means Arse or Ass


----------



## Dan

*Crazy road trip this weekend...*

...that I am considering.

Stockholm to Hamburg and back on Sat-Sun.

2,800 km round trip I think.

We'll see!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Make sure to make some pics, especially from the E4!  I hope the weather stays okay, it's been clear skies for the last 2 weeks, however, it's a bit more unstable now in the Netherlands.


----------



## Dan

I ordered BroBizz, which makes it cheaper already after the 2nd bridge you pass, so that part would be a tiny bit cheaper but still harsh (I didn't get it in time but can send in my receipts and they will pay me back). My main concern is the gasoline. I haven't figured out exactly how much it would be but... my car claims it gets 8.5 which is awfully high (way higher than in the brochures for the car!!) which makes it harsh.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

11,7 km on 1 liter? That's not really fuel efficient. I went to Denmark lately (you probably noticed), and i drove 18,2 km per liter on petrol. 

You have to know driving 120km/h on motorways is way more fuel efficient than driving 50km/h in Stockholm.


----------



## Dan

Well it is mostly my Swede who uses the car, to/from work, 15km one way, and most of that is on the motorway, so I don't get it. It used to me 8.9 though, and it's now gone down to 8.5...hopefully it'll keep going down. It's supposed to be quite a bit lower than that.


----------



## Morsue

You can get a roundtrip ticket from Helsinborg including both of the ferries for €96 if you only stay away for the day, but since I guess these lads want to stay in Hamburg the price is about €180.

If they were to take both of the bridges the price would only be €112 with all discounts included, but there would be a 220 km deviation (per direction) which costs fuel and wears your car. Only the fuel would cost about €50.

My opinion is that the ferries are better since you get a break after driving quite a long while. But that's just me.


----------



## Morsue

Dan1113 said:


> Well it is mostly my Swede who uses the car, to/from work, 15km one way, and most of that is on the motorway, so I don't get it. It used to me 8.9 though, and it's now gone down to 8.5...hopefully it'll keep going down. It's supposed to be quite a bit lower than that.


My car does about 8,5-9,0 l/100km here in Stockholm depending on the traffic and how I drive. When I fix the cruise control to 110 km/h (maximum speed limit on motorways) I have been able to make the trip Stockholm-Helsingborg on a 6,9 average, twice. And that's with a Peugeot 607.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Traffic jams and traffic lights kill your incentives for driving economically (and environmentally ofcourse).


----------



## Dan

Now I am considering maybe just CPH...a fun weekend yet much cheaper than going to HAM.


----------



## Verso

Now it's less than 700 km.


----------



## Morsue

Haha, now that's cutting it short!


----------



## Timon91

Chriszwolle said:


> Traffic jams and traffic lights kill your incentives for driving economically (and environmentally ofcourse).


My parents drive a Prius, which has a small screen on the dashboard showing how many l/100km you use. Normally we drive between 4,8 and 5,5 l/100km. The best we've done so far is 4,2l/100km over 350 km. That was last year in Poland. When driving over a lot of quiet 2-laned roads, about 80 kmh.


----------



## Dan

Back from CPH.  Was fun but we spent so much total.


----------



## Timon91

^^Did you make some nice pics?


----------



## x-type

Timon Kruijk said:


> My parents drive a Prius, which has a small screen on the dashboard showing how many l/100km you use. Normally we drive between 4,8 and 5,5 l/100km. The best we've done so far is 4,2l/100km over 350 km. That was last year in Poland. When driving over a lot of quiet 2-laned roads, about 80 kmh.


i do with my Punto 4,5l/100km without any problems (petrol, not diesel) if i drive carefully at 2 lane road :dunno: sorry for mentioning it, but Prius is a story that is made by Americans who find consumption of 5l/100km extra saving. but for Europe car with that consumption is not big deal at all


----------



## Timon91

^^It's true. A Toyota Aygo is also much less consuming (though it's not hybrid). Prius is just a bigger car. And I know lots of people who have a same sized car who drive 10-15l /100 km.


----------



## x-type

^^true. and i'm glad that you have same opinion as i do


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The difference is that hybrid cars also have a low consumption inside cities, where your diesel or petrol car is consuming much more than regular driving in the countryside or freeways. 

However, i do think hybrid cars need to be developed better.


----------



## Timon91

^^It has also turned out that producing hybrid cars is quite bad for the environment. Time to have a better looks at hybrid cars...


----------



## mlm

More! More! More!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'll try to upload some of the motorway Herning - Vejle tonight


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Primærrute & Motorvej 18 Herning - Give*

This motorway is relatively new, and is the first motorway we see in this journey in Denmark. It runs from just north of Herning to just south of Give. There was a massive traffic jam between Give and Vejle, so i turned around and took a different route to Vejle than planned.

route:









*Picasa webalbum 35 pics*


----------



## x-type

*Giro d'Italia*

so, i have finally started to upload photos from my trip from this summer. uploading will probably last few more days, but i can allready start to put some pics. first - the plan of mytrip. blue line is going there, purple line is when i went back on different routes. 

most of you will ask why i used ferries. well, i had only 4 days , i wanted to be in central Italy at friday morning, and at thursday i still had to work, so night driving was not option, and ferry was great because i took rest and was brand new in the morning to discover Italy. and one more thing - since i was a kid i wanted to tak a trip by ferry from Croatia to Ancona and now finally my dream came true!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

That seems like a nice trip. I'm very interested in the roads around Nápoli, I heard some horrifying stories about the substandard freeways and drivers there.


----------



## keber

^^No panic, you get used to that pretty soon.:lol:


----------



## x-type

so, first part: reaching Split. i picked my frinds in Zagreb, entered A1 and continued to Split. it was very crowded in first 40 km till Karlovac, but after that it was very pleasant to drive.














































only 1 more year of jams at tunnel Mala Kapela!






















































also, jams at tunnel Sveti Rok are going to history soon, too!


----------



## x-type

my favourite point at A1


















who would say what nice bridge this is! it is so unattractive from this perspective


















this one promises...









...'cause you can see it from nearby rest area


----------



## Timon91

I like the signs indicating the almost finished tunnels. I'm looking forward to the rest of you pics :cheers:


----------



## RipleyLV

Nice photos, and interesting signs with those smiles! :cheers:


----------



## x-type

rarely photographet exit 24a - Vučevica. probably because it is unusefull (untill they build tunnel under Kozjak)












































































































exiting the motorway and enterin Split's suburbia


----------



## x-type

going down to Split at D1




































still not 2/2 at whole route 









i hate this road, it is dangerous, full of curves and descending all the time




































finally our ferry!




































my x-type in ferry garage  capacity is 300 vehicles, they are at 2 levels









this one left 1 h before us, but we overtook him and entered Ancona sooner 









Split


















it was interesting to investigate the ship, and when i was tired of it and wanted to make few more photos of Split and ship, it got too dark


----------



## x-type

ChrisZwolle said:


> That seems like a nice trip. I'm very interested in the roads around Nápoli, I heard some horrifying stories about the substandard freeways and drivers there.


acutally, i heard it too, but there was no way of it. and i must say that Italians are good drivers. only when they exit from motorway, they got crazy in cities  then comes the rule of the stronger


----------



## ChrisZwolle

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/ixic/Italija 2008/P8140075.jpg

Dutchmen everywhere hno: 

There are hardly places where you can't find Dutchmen in Europe.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Video: A20 Montauban*

A drive on the southbound A20 past Montauban in southern France. 

you can check it here on high quality or watch below:


----------



## x-type

sunrise at sea was really nice









i couldn't believe how the sea was calm while we were entering port of Ancona!



























we took direction SS76 to Perugia because our first stop was Assisi. it is blue motorway and i was really interesed into its condition.

and it was not bad. a bit narrow as all italian expressways (also, often motorways), but quality was ok. 


















exit ramps are bad. they are very short and ending to merge the road very soon after leaving expressway. descents are also large. as those exits were built as addition.




































entering the tunnels zone means end of dual carriageway.









road is still not bad, although not gorgeous.









Fabriano's bypass is 2+2









this is SS3. it is getting a new route to connect Fabriano and Foligno (probably een with Terni).


















SS75 near Foligno


















this Spello is really nice little city, we didn't plan to visit it, but when we saw it from expressway, we decided to visit it. and it was not fault at all!


















and finally, our first planned stop point - Assisi!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Who knows why they sometimes have the arrows pointed up, and pointed down? There doesn't seem to be a system in it. To be frank, I think the Italians are just dicking around with their signage and road guidances.


----------



## x-type

there is also third way for arrows: km, dunno how to describe it, it goes straight and has a curve, as letter J upside down. i don't know does it have something with age of signs. 

also, interesting thing - i expected direction signs to Perugia, but allready from Ancona we have Roma. somewhere around Foligno appears Perugia, and Roma dissappears  made in Italy


----------



## x-type

i'll try to keep the traffic on topic, but i must put at least some photos from Assisi: Santa Chiara and, of course, basilica San Francesco


----------



## x-type

we're continuing in direction Perugia on SS75









this is intersection of SS3bis and SS75bis, so exit to Perugia actually









Balanzano means egg-plant 









road has suddenly became totaly crappy and made in Italy 


















the name of this city (Deruta) describes road very well


















we're taking exit Todi and continuing at SS448 to Orvieto


----------



## x-type

SS448 is interesting. nice scenic road, lots of anti-avalanche covers, curvy, but nice to drive. condition is ok.



























Radi may not see these wooden crash barriers because he will get a heart attack hoe human being dares to make something like this!


















this is so "made in Italy". mass of direction signs makes you to stop in front of them and read them in order till you find your destination. i'm not oversizing, i really did it few times. this one is actually not that bad (and i remember that it was the first place where i stopped in front of it and read them)


















Orvieto at the top


----------



## x-type

again, few intermezzo photos of Orvieto. Duomo is really fascinating. people ask me "why Orvieto", and when I show them Duomo, they say "I see now why"


















time to show myself 









now again category "made in Italy": have you ever seen more weird placement for direction sign to motorway??









if you think you have, look at the street which leads to A1, according to that direction sign 









this one is also not far from the first one :lol:


----------



## x-type

ok, that's all for today. and it was all from free roads in Italy >(


----------



## keber

@Chris: pointing arrow direction depends on distance to exit (at least so I would imagine). If it points up, it means "going to Roma/Perugia... go straight", downward right arrow however means "prepare to go to right for exit". Close to exit however main arrows turn down and mean "stay on those lanes for continuation".

@x-type: at first, very nice pictures.
First part of SS76 has some old signage, which you don't see often on autostradas, even not much souther. That's why some inconsistent main places.

Also, I remember last year, when I had to stop at some intersection to fight through more than 50 signs to find my place (they were mostly hotels, but still ...).


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Very Intersting!


----------



## christos-greece

Nice trip


----------



## christos-greece

Very nice highroad -very clean- kay: I like the sign-smiles too :lol:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*Video: D900 Expressway Perpignan*

A drive on the northbound D900, the former N9 which runs parallel (often within sight) of the A9 Toll motorway. The D900 is a Voie Expresse, or expressway. It runs north from the city of Perpignan, not far north of the Spanish border.

you can check it here in high quality or watch below:


----------



## Norsko

x-type said:


>


Maybe this is their way of making people abide the stop signs  Anyway; Great photos, for some reason I love photos of Italian roads, maybe just because of the inconsistent signage or markings (you never know what to expect) or the great scenery.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A75 Pézenas - Millau - Mende*

The most exciting part of my trip was probably the A75, there are very few motorways which run this spectacular through the mountains. The height reaches over 1.000 meters, and is the highest motorway in France. This journey runs from the southern end of the A75 near Pezenas north across the gigantic viaduc de Millau until the exit near Mende, where I took the N88 Northeast.

*141 pics of the A75*

map:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

To complement the pictures in the album posted above; some pics from the viewing point near the bridge:


----------



## Norsko

ChrisZwolle said:


> Who knows why they sometimes have the arrows pointed up, and pointed down? There doesn't seem to be a system in it. To be frank, I think the Italians are just dicking around with their signage and road guidances.


Keber told me that arrows pointing upwards is used when it still is a while until you reach the exit, while arrows pointing downwards is used at the exit itself.


----------



## Timon91

That looks impressive, Chris :cheers:


----------



## x-type

today i'll upload photos from part of italian A1 from Orvieto to Cassino.

disunited toll booths. i don't see why :dunno:


















first impressions of A1. oleanders in the middle will follow us all the way till we leave Italy. they are gorgeous and i'm very happy when i saw that they are planting them at motorways in Croatia too 









this is SS205 passing over A1 (we came to Orvieto on that road)






















































at Orte we get 3rd lane 








































































fast railroad (for Eurostars) is allways beside motorway. it is interesting to observe its tunnels and viaducts (it doesn't have large ascents and descents)




































first tunnel at autostrada - Nazzano


















Pileggi


----------



## x-type

and finally intersection with D18 (first exit to Roma and GRA)









everybody goes to Roma


















so A1 becomes ghostly empty


















tunnel Il Barco


















intersection with A24 and second exit to Roma and GRA


















and with D19 - 3rd and last exit to Roma and GRA



























from now on we're following Napoli 




































this is the highest overpassing road over motorway i have ever seen! really unusual thing



























and this is weied: artificial tunnel and overpass over it :lol:


















Chris, this is the third type of arrows 









this is an old and defunct exit Ceprano









and finally Cassino! how had we finnished there? we planned to sleep in Autogrill Motel at La Macchia service area, but double room was 80€ so we went to find something cheaper. we found nice hotel in Cassino for 52€.


















12,10€  fair price


----------



## ChrisZwolle

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/ixic/Italija 2008/DSC01268orte-1.jpg

What is up with those road guidance on the pavement? In every other country this would mean this lane will exit to the right with no through possibilities. Afaik, Italy is the only country that finds it necessary to sign exits this way.



> this is the highest overpassing road over motorway i have ever seen! really unusual thing


Then you should see the viaduc de Cheratte on the E40 near Liège, Belgium.


----------



## RipleyLV

Awesome! kay: Thanks Chris for posting these pics! :cheers:


----------



## Timon91

^^I also thought there was some high overpass on the A46 (or A445) in the Sauerland, Germany, near Meschede.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

You mean this one:


----------



## Timon91

Ah, yes. But it is obviously not as high as the Belgian one. I remember driving underneath this one for the first time, when the motorway had just opened, and that my parents and I were both quite impressed.


----------



## DJZG

wonderful pictures... :banana:


----------



## Cicerón

Wow, thanks Chris. Those pictures of Millau Viaduct are impressive kay:

I hope you come next year to Spain (I mean more time :lol: ) and make such a good report


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*N88 Expressway, St. Étienne*

A drive on the N88 Route Nationale which is a Voie Expresse (Expressway) through the city of St. Étienne. The urban area of the city contains over 300.000 people. 

*33 pics of the N88*

kaart:


----------



## Onur

Italian signage needs renovation...


----------



## Des

*European Tour 2009*

I'm planning a little tour to do in June next year. Start and finish is planned for my hometown Amsterdam. And it should take about 20 days by car. 










Plan is to discover as much countries as possible. Driving south through Belgium, Luxemburg, France and Spain to Portugal and possibly even Morocco. Then back up through Spain through France to Monaco. From there into Italy through the Alps, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria into Germany. From Germany heading back south through Austria, Slovenia and Croatia into Serbia. From Serbia to Dubrovnik through Bosnia. Then leaving Croatia into Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece. From Greece entering Turkey for the most eastern stop of the trip on the Asian side of Istanbul. From there back home through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany.

Any advise on the route is very welcome! Especially the parts from France to Morocco through Portugal and from Istanbul to Germany are areas I'm not familiar with. If you live in the neighbourhood and like to tag along for a bit or wanna catch up for a drink, let me know :cheers1:


----------



## Des

The list of cities I like to visit:


Paris
Bilbao
Lisabon
Sevilla
(Tangiers)
Valencia
Barcelona
Andorra
Monaco
Milan
Vaduz
Munchen
Salzburg
Ljubljana
Zagreb
Belgrade
Sarajevo
Dubrovnik
Tirana
Thessaloniki
Istanbul
Bukarest
Debrecen 
Krakow
Prague
Amsterdam


----------



## Des

Verso said:


> ^^ I believe you get from Austria to Croatia through Slovenia, not Macedonia.


Correct, my bad. Drove from Croatia to Italy before, also through Slovenia. But this time I want to see Ljubljana :cheers:


----------



## Verso

^^ I believe you get from Austria to Croatia through Slovenia, not Macedonia.


----------



## Des

Total KM is about 12.000.


----------



## Verso

SSC time machine is getting crazy! Btw, isn't 12,000 km in 20 days too optimistic? I'd say you'll need a month.


----------



## Morsue

Yeah, 12,000 kms in 20 days is a bit optimistic if you want to not only pass by cities but actually visit them. I'm with Verso. Count with being away for a month. And I hope you're not on a tight budget...

About advice I can give you is that if you're only interested in visiting Tangier I suggest you drive to Tarifa (southernmost point on mainland Europe) where you park your car and take a ferry to Morocco which goes directly to Tangier. It's not worth the extra 200 euros for taking your car with you if you're not planning on going any farther south.

If you indeed decide on going farther, I recommend you go to the old city of Fes and to Marrakech. They are both connected to Tangier by motorway.


----------



## Timon91

Looks great, but I don't think that 20 days will be enough. 600 kms a day is possible, but you will see nothing of the cities you visit. Hopefully your pics will be as nice as snupix ones of his Balkan Tour


----------



## GregfromAustria

I think you can do that in 20 days 
it depends on how much you want to visit in the cities...


----------



## Des

I think 12 days is alright, but I can always extend my journey. I'm used to driving long distances, I did Miami to LA in 5 days and Berlin - Budapest - Dubrovnik - Monaco also in 5 days last year. 

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll leave the car in Tarifa and just take the ferry across to Tangiers.

I don't want to visit each city for a long time, a lot of cities I've already stayed for 1 or more days. Including Paris, Bilbao, Barcelona, Monaco, Milan, Vaduz, Munchen, Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Istanbul. So I don't have to really stop and explore there, just drive through or have lunch maybe.


----------



## Des

*Total list of countries:*


The Netherlands
Belgium
Luxemburg
France
Spain
Portugal
Spain
Morocco
Spain
Andorra
France
Monaco
France
Italy
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Austria
Germany
Austria
Slovenia
Croatia
Serbia
Bosnia
Croatia
Montenegro
Albania
Macedonia
Greece
Turkey
Bulgaria
Romania
Hungary
Slovakia
Poland
Czech Republic
Germany
The Netherlands

*Total countries: 30*


----------



## KHS

Maybe you should go with A1 from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and then up to Belgrade. A1 is great to drive on with lots of tunnels, viaducts, mountains, ... while A3 (Zagreb-Serbia) is boring. Everything is flat and you have nothing interesting to see.



Edit... I see now that it wouldnt be possible if you want to visit Belgrade and then Montenegro.


----------



## zazo

You could even visit the spanish city in north Africa, it's nice, Ceuta, there are a lot of ships from the European Spain to the african, and it's very near Tangier and Tetouan,


----------



## DiggerD21

Be aware that there is a congestion charge in Milan. If your car is not a Diesel and fulfils at least the Euro 3 norm, you don't need to pay. More info here (PDF).

Are you also planning a northern europe trip in the near future?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I think 20 days (3 weeks) is a bit short, but it will be the trip of a lifetime. I think you might need to calculate some lower average speed in some Balkan countries, especially on routes with no motorways. 

You need road vignettes in various countries, like Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Czech rep.


----------



## Stifler

Damn, I am absolutely jealous. It's great. I plan to do something similar in the future, but I guess I would need at least a month cause I would stop in every main spot. If you have already been to several places and you don't get tired of driving that much, I suppose it's possible to make it.

About the part of the route I know the most (Spanish side):
- If you want to stop in your way to Portugal I advice you Salamanca and San Sebastián. They are some of the nicest towns in Spain and you will pass through them according to your map.
- If you are really into motorways and infraestructure in general, Madrid is a must (even if you only want to drive through the rings without entering the city). 
- As someone stated leave the car in Tarifa since it's not worth to go with it unless you are going to spend some days in Morocco.
- In your way from Tarifa to Valencia, take A92 through Granada. It's one of the most spectacular motorways in Spain and if you want to stop Granada is a really special place.

Feel free to ask anything.


----------



## Des

DiggerD21 said:


> Be aware that there is a congestion charge in Milan. If your car is not a Diesel and fulfils at least the Euro 3 norm, you don't need to pay. More info here (PDF).
> 
> Are you also planning a northern europe trip in the near future?


Thanks for the info!

I've been to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland before, but I like to go to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia in the near future, and maybe drive back through scandinavia.


----------



## Euromast

Goede reis


----------



## RipleyLV

20 days is enough to drive through Europe, but if you plan to vistit all those cities in your list you'll need more time, especially if you haven't planed places of interest you would like to see, but I think you have already looked to that. 



Des said:


> , but I like to go to Poland, Lithuania, *Latvia*, Estonia and Russia in the near future, and maybe drive back through scandinavia.


I'm happy to see!


----------



## Des

Updated list of cities:


Luxemburg *
Paris *
Bilbao * 
Madrid
Salamanca
Lisabon
Sevilla
Tangiers
Granada
Valencia
Barcelona *
Andorra
Montpellier
Monaco *
Milan *
Vaduz *
Munchen *
Salzburg
Ljubljana
Zagreb *
Belgrade
Sarajevo
Dubrovnik *
Tirana
Thessaloniki
Istanbul *
Bukarest
Debrecen 
Krakow
Prague
Amsterdam *

The cities displayed in this color are to be decided. 
The cities marked with a * are cities I've visited before.


----------



## Des

Map of the trip part 1: 










Amsterdam to Salzburg

6.270 km


----------



## Des

I came up with two alternative routes from Istanbul back to Amsterdam.

Option 1 is what I originally planned: from Istanbul through Bulgaria to Romania's capital Bukarest. From there crossing most of Romania to Hungary's second biggest city Debrecen. The last days take me through Slovakia to Krakow in Poland before visiting the Czech Republic's capital of Prague and the last bit of driving down the German autobahn back to Amsterdam. 

Option 2 is an easier alternative from Istanbul to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. After an overnight stay in Sofia continueing to Belgrade where the trip already took me on the way to Istanbul. After Belgrade the road takes me north to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Leaving me plenty of time to explore the Slovakian and Austrian capitals the next day. First driving from Budapest to Bratislava and later Vienna. From Vienna driving into Prague and the last day of autobahn before returning home. 

Option 1 has less highway but it has some added bonusses, I get to see most of Bulgaria, Romania, a bit of eastern Hungary and eastern slovakia and the southern part of Poland before arriving in Prague.

Option 2 is easier and I get to see the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. Downside is I get to see Belgrade twice and skip Romania and Poland. Also I have already been to Bratislava and Budapest before. But if I get bored of driving or my co-driver it's the easiest way getting back to Amsterdam.

Option 1 is shown with the blue markers, option 2 is shown by red markers:


----------



## Verso

DiggerD21 said:


> Otherwise, to not loose time standing in traffic jams on *boring* highways in the suburbs of Istanbul


You're in a wrong subforum, man.  Nice to see you love Slovenija though.


----------



## DiggerD21

Istanbul is very big, and during daytime very congested. If you can manage to arrive in and depart from Istanbul outside of the rush-hour (to my knowledge somewhere between 10pm - 7am), then do it. Otherwise, to not loose time standing in traffic jams on boring highways in the suburbs of Istanbul, leave it out and drive along the bulgarian black sea coast coming directly from Thessaloniki.


----------



## Onur

My preferrence: Travel Through Marmara Sea.

What? Can't you use ferry?


----------



## Morsue

Verso! Can you please tell me what time-machine you are using? I want those prints!!! I'm getting rich! :lol::lol:


----------



## Verso

^ My mind beat Digger for 8 minutes, I know.


----------



## RawLee

Des said:


> I came up with two alternative routes from Istanbul back to Amsterdam.
> 
> Option 1 is what I originally planned: from Istanbul through Bulgaria to Romania's capital Bukarest. From there crossing most of Romania to Hungary's second biggest city Debrecen. The last days take me through Slovakia to Krakow in Poland before visiting the Czech Republic's capital of Prague and the last bit of driving down the German autobahn back to Amsterdam.
> 
> Option 2 is an easier alternative from Istanbul to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. After an overnight stay in Sofia continueing to Belgrade where the trip already took me on the way to Istanbul. After Belgrade the road takes me north to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Leaving me plenty of time to explore the Slovakian and Austrian capitals the next day. First driving from Budapest to Bratislava and later Vienna. From Vienna driving into Prague and the last day of autobahn before returning home.
> 
> Option 1 has less highway but it has some added bonusses, I get to see most of Bulgaria, Romania, a bit of eastern Hungary and eastern slovakia and the southern part of Poland before arriving in Prague.
> 
> Option 2 is easier and I get to see the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. Downside is I get to see Belgrade twice and skip Romania and Poland. Also I have already been to Bratislava and Budapest before. But if I get bored of driving or my co-driver it's the easiest way getting back to Amsterdam.
> 
> Option 1 is shown with the blue markers, option 2 is shown by red markers:


What about going from Debrecen to Budapest,then you can go to Vienna/Bratislava,then north to Ostrava-Wroclaw,and then back to Prague? I think it will take the same amount of time,because of more motorways,but you see more.


----------



## GregfromAustria

Yeah Vienna is such a beautiful city!


----------



## Des

@Rawlee: that sounds good, hadn't thought about it. I will add it to the next map I make.

Does anyone know a satnav that works in croatia, serbia, bosnia, albania, greece, turkey, bulgaria, romania and hungary?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I believe TomTom has maps for eastern Europe, but only for the main roads. 

From the TomTom site:



> De kaart van Oost-Europa wordt steeds beter, met meer dan 75.000 kilometer aan extra wegennetdekking en 15.000 nieuwe NP’s. Gedetailleerde deur-tot-deurnavigatie door Estland, Hongarije, Letland, Litouwen, Polen, Slovenië, Slowakije en Tsjechië. Plus beperkte dekking van Kroatië, inclusief de belangrijkste steden en de kustregio. Andere Oost-Europese landen worden gedekt in de vorm van een aaneengesloten netwerk van hoofdwegen dat naadloze navigatie door de hele regio mogelijk maakt.


----------



## Des

ChrisZwolle said:


> I believe TomTom has maps for eastern Europe, but only for the main roads.
> 
> From the TomTom site:


That's perfect. And I don't mind doing some old-school navigating so it shouldn't be a problem.

Also found maps for my Mio, and it seems to include more countries and streets than TomTom:

http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/Software/MIOMAP_V3_MAPS_OF_EASTERN_EUROPE_ON_SD_CARD.html


----------



## Cicerón

I've made some alternatives for the Spanish part.

*1:*









+ No tolls.
+ 3 km shorter than the AP-8 + AP-68 (169 vs 172 km).
+ The A-15 + A-10 part has some spectacular landscapes.

- You won't visit Bilbao.
-The AP-68 also has good landscapes.



*2:*









+ You will visit Madrid, which is, as Stifler said, a must if you like motorways. In the map I've put the longest itinerary in the M-30 from A-1 to A-6, passing through the southern bypass and the new tunnels next to Manzanares river. However, I'd recommend you to spend some time driving on the other rings (M-40, M-45 and M-50) and the toll-free radial roads (A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6).

+ You will avoid the A-62, which is quite old from Burgos to Tordesillas, and its landscape is plain and boring in my opinion. However, in this alternative You will cross twice the _Sistema Central_ mountain range (Somosierra and Guadarrama tunnels). 

+ The A-50 Ávila-Salamanca is supposed to be finished in december 2008, so you'll find a brand-new highway with much less traffic than the A-62.


- This route is much longer (465 vs 254 km). 

- It's tolled from Villalba to Ávila (AP-6 + AP-61).

- Depending on the days you are travelling (first/last days of July and August), you'll encounter lots of Moroccans and Algerians that live in Europe and return to their countries during the summer holidays.




The rest is OK in my opinion.


----------



## snupix

^^ LOL! :lol:

Excellent and very interesting pics, x! I like Italian motorways very much, and Autogrill's capuccino is the best in the world! 

And Capri is beautiful, as well as the Amalfi coast... I remember the roads around there are quite scary and narow sometimes...


----------



## GENIUS LOCI

Great thread and report x-type... SSC needs more users like you; for istance last week I've driven from Milan to San Benedetto del Tronto (between Ancona and Pescara on Adriatic Coast), passed interesting points of highway network as the renewed stretch nearby Bologna tangenziale, got my camera with me and didn't take any pics  :runaway: .....


----------



## x-type

Des, i have a suggestion: why wouldn't you break that trip into more smaller trips?

namely, i have allways bee trying to make an european round trip route. and after all tries, i made 5 really nice round routes which cover more than that one. what do you think about that?


----------



## x-type

on this section of A3 (in Napoli) i saw few those funny exits (actually, entrances) where you have toll station and sharp 180° curve and you are allready at merging lane to motorway, so you access it with some 30 km/h  here is screenshot from GE. green is entering the motorway in direction Salerno, blue is direction to enter motorway in direction Napoli, and red is exit from direction Napoli. also is interesting intersection of red and blue direction  "made in Italy"









whole A3 from toll barrier Napoli south to Castellamare di Stabia is construction site in both directions, they are widening it into 3+3








































































end of A3...









...and the beginning of A1


----------



## x-type

we're going back. as i've said, we didn't have enough time to go back via Amalfi and to see other coast of penninsula, but this is fantastic reason for coming back  and we were a little bit in hurry because we had to reach Avezzano and sleep there because any other place for sleeping would be roulette for getting on a ferry in time.



















i think this is an access to railway station 














































Verso, here is written Castellamare (single "m"), sry, i'm not in the mood for zooming to prove you 









viaduct over Castellamare vith a view on Vesuvio









and 1,50€ for entering motorway


----------



## x-type

on this section of A3 (in Napoli) i saw few those funny exits (actually, entrances) where you have toll station and sharp 180° curve and you are allready at merging lane to motorway, so you access it with some 30 km/h  here is screenshot from GE. green is entering the motorway in direction Salerno, blue is direction to enter motorway in direction Napoli, and red is exit from direction Napoli. also is interesting intersection of red and blue direction  "made in Italy"









whole A3 from toll barrier Napoli south to Castellamare di Stabia is construction site in both directions, they are widening it into 3+3








































































end of A3...









...and the beginning of A1


----------



## Des

@Ciceron: Thanks for the advice. I have friends in Bilbao and plan to stay there overnight. Also I've driven from San Sebastian to Pamplona before. 

Madrid is a serious option to include in the journey, so I probably will include it in the next map. 

@x-type: I was already thinking about that, maybe buy a car to do this trip in so I can leave it at an airport somewhere and fly back to Amsterdam. That way I can always continue the trip later.


----------



## Qwert

RawLee said:


> What about going from Debrecen to Budapest,then you can go to Vienna/Bratislava,then north to Ostrava-Wroclaw,and then back to Prague? I think it will take the same amount of time,because of more motorways,but you see more.


That's good option if Des wants to enjoy good motorways. But, if you wants to see stunning nature or beautiful medieval towns then better road would be Debrecen - Miskolc - Košice - Prešov - Poprad - Kraków - Wroclaw - Prague/Dresden - Amsterdam.

Something like this: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sad...,18.027895&sspn=5.165767,9.887695&ie=UTF8&z=7


----------



## Timon91

I can really recommend Kosice as a stop. You should spend a few hours there (it's quite small, but beautiful). Poprad is small and boring, Kraków is worth visiting or a few days, same counts for Prague and Dresden is good to stay overnight to visit it in the evening/morning. It's nice, but I didn't really like it.


----------



## Verso

x-type said:


> Verso, here is written Castellamare (single "m"), sry, i'm not in the mood for zooming to prove you


Then that's another "Made in Italy".  Click here. Unless the sign is before 1863  (when it was indeed still called "Castellamare"). Whatever.

Great photos again and funny entrance ramp.  And damn time-machine.


----------



## Des

Timon91 said:


> I can really recommend Kosice as a stop. You should spend a few hours there (it's quite small, but beautiful). Poprad is small and boring, Kraków is worth visiting or a few days, same counts for Prague and Dresden is good to stay overnight to visit it in the evening/morning. It's nice, but I didn't really like it.


There's something to be said for both alternatives. Since I've driven from Prague to Bratislava and Budapest I rather take the Debrecen - Kosice - Krakow route. 

I've been to Dresden before (the Kempinski hotel there is really good) so I don't really have to go there again.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

How much do you think this trip is gonna cost you? Besides fuel, there are tolls, food, hotels/motels etc. The tolls alone could be a couple of hundred euro's. Avoiding tolls is not really a luxury you have, given the time you have.


----------



## Des

I will make a day-to-day breakdown of the trip so I can plan it into further detail. 

*Day 1:*
768 km – ca. 7 hr 57 min


Amsterdam 
Luxemburg 
Reims 
Paris

Additional info / sights:

I can dream the route to Luxemburg, but the ultimate challenge of this trip is to visit as many countries as possible, so I like to include Luxemburg to the list. On the way from Luxemburg to Paris I like to stop in Reims. Overnight I might want to stay in Versailles so I don't have to worry about Paris the next day. Of course a lap of the Arc de Triomph and a photo moment near the Eiffeltower will be included on the way to the hotel.


----------



## Des

ChrisZwolle said:


> How much do you think this trip is gonna cost you? Besides fuel, there are tolls, food, hotels/motels etc. The tolls alone could be a couple of hundred euro's. Avoiding tolls is not really a luxury you have, given the time you have.


4.500 euro?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I like to get around with a 3-seconds light tent. It unfolds itself, so you're set within a few seconds. Campsites can be quite cheap, usually between € 10 and € 15 in the less touristic area's. If you have to spend every night in a hotel that charges € 50 per night, it's gonna be costly. However, I'm still working on the plan to turn my car into a small camper for one person.


----------



## Des

Day 2:
923 km – ca. 8 hr 42 min.


Paris
Bordeaux
Bilbao


----------



## Des

ChrisZwolle said:


> I like to get around with a 3-seconds light tent. It unfolds itself, so you're set within a few seconds. Campsites can be quite cheap, usually between € 10 and € 15 in the less touristic area's. If you have to spend every night in a hotel that charges € 50 per night, it's gonna be costly. However, I'm still working on the plan to turn my car into a small camper for one person.


I prefer a bed, so I don't mind staying with friends or in a hotel. It comes at a price but it's worth it for me.


----------



## Verso

ChrisZwolle said:


> However, I'm still working on the plan to turn my car into a small camper for one person.


Then you'll be officially considered gypsy.


----------



## Des

ChrisZwolle said:


> I like to get around with a 3-seconds light tent. It unfolds itself, so you're set within a few seconds. Campsites can be quite cheap, usually between € 10 and € 15 in the less touristic area's. If you have to spend every night in a hotel that charges € 50 per night, it's gonna be costly. However, I'm still working on the plan to turn my car into a small camper for one person.


I won't be driving alone so I can split most of the costs.


----------



## Qwert

Timon91 said:


> I can really recommend Kosice as a stop. You should spend a few hours there (it's quite small, but beautiful). Poprad is small and boring, Kraków is worth visiting or a few days, same counts for Prague and Dresden is good to stay overnight to visit it in the evening/morning. It's nice, but I didn't really like it.


Nobody is going to Poprad to enjoy the town itself. It's nothing special (although its renaissance quarter Spišská Sobota is). Poprad is interesting because it's gateway to High Tatras on one side and historical Spiš region with gems like Levoča or Spiš castle on the second side.


----------



## Stifler

Des said:


> Madrid is a serious option to include in the journey, so I probably will include it in the next map.


I would include it for sure (it's a motorway subforum, don't expect anything different :lol.

If you think Burgos-Madrid-Salamanca-Portugal is too long, you can also make a Burgos-Madrid-Toledo-Badajoz-Portugal. It's not tolled and Toledo is as nice as Salamanca.


----------



## Timon91

Qwert said:


> Nobody is going to Poprad to enjoy the town itself. It's nothing special (although its renaissance quarter Spišská Sobota is). Poprad is interesting because it's gateway to High Tatras on one side and historical Spiš region with gems like Levoča or Spiš castle on the second side.


But they do have a very nice pool, the best I've ever seen :banana:


----------



## TohrAlkimista

WoW! Thank you for this tour, it's simly amazing!!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A5 Sens - Troyes*

I almost forgot my last photobatch, which is from the quiet A5 motorway that heads eastbound. A lot of long distance destinations are signed here. The route is about 52 klicks long. 

*25 pics of the A5*

map:


----------



## x-type

so, i didn't take photos of A1 in opposite direction because we were a bit in a hurry to get in hotel, and the dark was falling. we took an exit Ceprano and road SS82 to Avezzano. actually, we tried to take it. we lost a good hour moving aroung Sora and trying to enter superstrada. 
for instance: there is a sign that says "turn right to get in Arpino". excellent! we don't want to go through Arpino, so we are keeping direction. but after 2 km, we are entering Arpino. WTF???
or when we finally felt that we were at right way, in Sora there is an Y shaped intersection, and sign says "straight". but which straight, there is left and right straight at Y intersection!! (btw, both ways have triangle sign, so no priority). also, in rondos direction signs are totaly confusing because you never know does it show to stay in rondo or to take an exit. untill coming to Sora, i was wondering why people said that direction signs at SS roads in Italy might be problematic.

i am really sorry because i dont' have photos of SS82 (it was dark), it is excellent because it has lots of objects. i thought about traveling that section early in the morning, but i was affraid not to get on ferry in time.

so, last day, entering A25 in Avezzano


















it is in excellent condition at this section, and i expected not very well maintained motorway




































approaching intersection A25-A24













































we were told about A24 as motorway with low traffic. so it was, and i tried to choose situations with cars on photos


----------



## Verso

Nice landscape! As for Arpino, it happens. I'd say the center of it was right, but that doesn't necessarily mean you won't enter it. In roundabouts (rondos) signs mostly point out of them.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hehe  Now you know my real identity


----------



## Verso

Yeah, you're everything but what your User Title says.


----------



## Timon91

Chris is just a Canadian European 
@Chris, when are you going to rebuild your Kangoo into a small camper? I'm looking forward to more roadtrips


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Timon91 said:


> @Chris, when are you going to rebuild your Kangoo into a small camper? I'm looking forward to more roadtrips


I just bought a mattress, so I only need to do something about ventilation, the regular ventilation inside the car is not enough. I already slept in my car once.


----------



## x-type

it's still tomorrow  i think my Giro report is about to be finnished tonight 

so, A14. Adriatica. or as i like to call it "degli oleandri" because there is a plenty of those lovely plants around it and in the middle of it.

soon as we entered motorway in Giulianova, we passed over large impressive viaduct Salinello (1454 m long, i don't know how high it is, but it is very high - reminds me to hungarian Köröshegy)

















































































3+3 section at A14 is extending to Pedaso


----------



## horiababu

Morsue said:


> Sorry, but Cape Tainaron is located at latitude 36 degrees, 27 minutes north, whereas the Punta de Tarifa is located on exactly latitude 36 degrees north. That's a difference of about 50 kms thus putting even a large portion of the Costa del Sol south of Cape Tainaron (Tarifa is on the Costa de la Luz).


My bad, you're right, sorry far spamming the thread.
Have a nice trip Des, and don't forget the Romanian girls.
:lol::cheers:


----------



## x-type

entering the working zone for 3rd lane









we're allready at our exit - Ancona south. we didn't take many photos - me because of driving, and my friends because they were nervous. namely, we were a little bit late for check in for ferry because there was awfull crowd at all service areas, and we were hungry (+ employers at Autogrill at service area Piceno are the hell horrible). and they we had jam 7 km before our exit  because of minor accident (but there was 5 km jam).gosh, i'm speaking italian fantastic when the situation is serious! i managed to extend our check in time 



























this is part of road that leads to port. we didn't ahve that nice road all the way, we had to go through city centre, too. fortunately, there are direction signs to port most of the way. but in some occasions they are "made in Italy" and having a company with other 30 direction signs 
and then when you reach the port, following the signs to ferry port will make you going round and round. at one place you must start to follow signs to fair, and then again to ferry 



























finally our ferry! we wereonly 15 minutes late for proposed check in, but everyone was late because they say tocheckin 2 hrs before depart, and you can do it even half an hour before. but at passport control is jam,so better to do it earlier.


----------



## Timon91

^^Des will enjoy himself in Krakow


----------



## x-type

last views of Ancona from ship


















and goodbye Italy, hope to be back soon!!


----------



## ufonut

Instead of going from Prague to Krakow I would go Prague->Wroclaw->Krakow. Give yourself few hours in Wroclaw or stay a day, well worth it. Very underrated city in my opinion. The market square can rival anything in Europe. They have a great microbrewery there too.


----------



## poller1

Well, I said Genova which absolutely isn't my hometown, yet worth a visit as I saw he passes there, but didn't put it on his list of towns to visit (he put Milan, which is worth a visit too).

My hometown is Antwerp, but as he comes from the Netherlands, he can go there every single weekend, and I think he will be impatient to drive southwards!!!

So I put Genova.

Worth a visit in France: Carcassonne, Bayonne (fêtes), St-Jean de Luz...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I wouldn't visit too many cities on such a roadtrip. You'll get so many impressions in very little time. Maybe you eventually can become city-tired.


----------



## Verso

^ I fear that too. The number of visited cities has to be limited, at least for me.


----------



## x-type

few photos from archipelago in front of Zadar. 



























our ship at international terminal in Zadar









i made a wrong turn, so we passed in road D502 crosses access to airport 









with an ancient rusty signal and ramp









but soon we got on new nice 20 km long connection road of Zadar centre with A1



























entering A1




































3 km queue in front of tunnel Sveti Rok. we're deciding to go to D-road because of it. oh what a stupid mistake! near Slunj we entered 60 km jam which extended our trip for 3 hrs 













































Maslenica bridge









this is why i hate jerseys


----------



## x-type

that's all from me and my trip. i hope you enjoyed it


----------



## poller1

Verso said:


> ^ I fear that too. The number of visited cities has to be limited, at least for me.


Indeed.

I would say, maximum 1 per day!!!


----------



## Timon91

Thanks for the great report :cheers:


----------



## Timon91

I once did a 'zomertoer' (summertour) in the Netherlands. It is a trainticket for two people for two days and you can travel unlimited by train inside NL. A friend and I, we visited 11 cities in two days, and after the last one, I was happy it was over, because all dutch cities look the same and it gets bored after a while.
-edit- my 1,000th post :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Seems like a fierce thunderstorm ahead of you.


----------



## Verso

Thanks for the Giro, it was great! :cheers:


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

mgk920 said:


> ... be aware that the date format most commonly used in the USA differs from that used elsewhere, here it is (annoyingly, to me) 'MM-DD-(YY)YY', *NOT* 'DD-MM-(YY)YY', in case of any confusion.


Hehe, on the flight from München to Denver, Lufthansa showed an instructional video about the differences between American way of writing date and digits and that of the rest of the world  

However, in the immigration inspection area, when American border officers wanted to deport one Russian, they asked him his height in centimetres and weight in kilogrammes :lol:


----------



## go_leafs_go02

*Roadtrip Advice - Cross-Country North America*

Hi all.

I hope I can get a few responses. I am traveling from Southern Ontario, through the continental United States to reach Vancouver, British Columbia.

Now that may seem fine and dandy, but realize, I am driving this route later this month/early January.

I am wondering if any locals could have any driving advice.

Here is the route I have chosen. Basically Google Maps says it takes 1 extra hour to take the more southern I-80 route compared to the 'shorter' I-94 route through North Dakota and such. 

I would prefer to go more south, just due to it likely being a bit warmer in winter, since the I-94 runs an average of 800 km (500 miles) more north than I-80.

Just wondering for some tips. What to expect, some hazard areas, what equipment to bring along. I'm reading about tire chains online, however, they are completely illegal in Ontario in all circumstances. New tires will be on the car.

Here is the route: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sad...8,-101.381836&spn=14.809651,39.550781&t=h&z=5

Hope you can help me out. And hey, maybe we can give travel advice to roadtrippers if they need it. 

Thanks all in advance!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I-80 through Wyoming can get pretty hazardous... They sometimes close the entire Interstate there due to blowing snow and blizzards.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*5-country roadtrip: NL / D / F / L / B*

I did a two-day roadtrip to 5 countries, well, 4 counting only the foreign countries to me. 

route:










Distance: ~1100 kilometers
Fuel consumption: 1 liter on 17 km and 1 liter on 19 km
Traffic jams: 1 near Köln, no big deal.
Photos: ~ 950
Videos: 9

Photos and videos will be added shortly! Check back often :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

First set: 

*A12 - A3 Dutch-German border.*

Good Friday, or "Karfreitag" began with a lot of patience for many Germans. There was a 25 km traffic jam between Emmerich and Arnhem.


----------



## PLH

Any bigger please?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I can post bigger pics, but then the loading time will be longer.


----------



## RipleyLV

No Chris, don't. The size is perfect.


----------



## Verso

950 photos, OMG! :nuts:  Chris, do you enjoy driving (and for so long) even though you have to take photos all the time? Btw, how did the battery survive for so long?


----------



## Alex Von Königsberg

Chris, I also think that the size should be larger (at least 800x600). Now, it's too hard to see details.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Set two:
*A59 Duisburg*

_ click on the title for the whole set_

I decided to break up the A59 set into three parts, one for every part of the A59. This one's in the vast urban landscapes of Duisburg.

route:









1. Entering A59 near Dinslaken.









2. Dinslaken-Hiesfeld









3. The first Duisburg exit. There are 12 exits of Duisburg along A59, plus two interchanges.









4. Oberhausen is not far from here.









5. Duisburg-Fahrn.









6. Duisburg-Marxloh









7. Passing over a canal









8. Interchange: Kreuz Duisburg-Nord (A42)









9. The A59 is build on narrow lands in a dense urban area









10. It kinda looks like a Parkway though at times.









11. Distance table.









12. Lots of exits ahead.









13. Duisburg-Meiderich









14. No shoulders here.









15. Duisburg-Ruhrort









16. Interchange: Kreuz Duisburg (A40).









17. Passing over the port of Duisburg, the biggest inland port of Europe.









18. Interchange.









19. Construction ahead, the roadway parts into two separate lanes.









20. Urban landscapes touching the Autobahn.









21. Duisburg-Duissern.









22. Road renovation.









23. Umwelt zone in Duisburg. Do you think those cars make a big difference considering the shipping and industries of Duisburg?









24. No traffic jam at this construction site.









25. Temporary exit Duisburg-Zentrum.









26. Is this the famous Autobahn? Yes it is.









27. The Duisburg-Hochfeld exit was closed at this time.









28. Ancient bridge









29. Duisburg-Wanheimerort.









30. Six lanes, yay!









31. Duisburg-Buchholz









32. It's only six-laned for a short section.









33. Duisburg-Großenbaum.









34. Distance table









35. End of the A59 in 1500 meters









36. I go right. I went left the last time (2006).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The next video is a video registration of the exact same road as the pictures above: A59 Duisburg.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A59 Düsseldorf - Leverkusen*

_Click on the title for the whole set_

The second part of the A59 runs between the Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf and Leverkusen, a major suburb of Köln (Cologne). It's a much more quiet Autobahn than the adjacent A3.

route:









1. Interchange: Kreuz Düsseldorf-Süd.









2. Exit within the interchange.









3. Exit Düsseldorf-Benrath.









4. 2x2 lanes here.









5. Distance table









6. Düsseldorf-Garath.









7. Oddly signed Solingen, possibly because of the planned A54 which was never build.









8. Richrath exit ahead.









9. Power lines almost touching the signs









10. Leverkusen is the next major city.









11. Exit Monheim. There's some rural area between Düsseldorf and Köln.









12. Interchange: Kreuz Monheim-Süd









13. The A542 is nowadays a short connector to the A3 motorway, but was planned as the A54 Autobahn.









14. Standard interchange signage.









15. Some A1 destinations now









16. Rheindorf exit









17. I thought Opladen was a part of Leverkusen, but it's signed as a independent city here.









18. Last interchange: Kreuz Leverkusen-West.









19. We need to take the A1









20. A59 ends immediatly after this interchange.









21. The A59-A1 connector is very long, almost 2 km.









22. That's the A1.









23. A1, we need to take the A3 South.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A59 Köln - Bonn*

_Click on the title for the whole set_

The third and last part of the A59 runs from Dreieck Heumar near Köln (Cologne) to the east side of Bonn, and is a busy commuter Autobahn. It also serves the Köln-Bonn Airport.

route:









1. Interchange: Dreieck Heumar A3/A4/A59.









2. We take the A59









3. A59 and A4 splits seconds later.









4. Exit Rath.









5. A559 traffic from Köln-Zentrum merges on the left. (actually A59 merges onto A559)









6. Flughafen = Airport









7. Exit Köln-Porz + Airport









8. Ugly









9. Bonn 21km









10. Exit Köln-Wahn









11. Busy traffic, though freeflowing.









12. Exit Lind









13. Major exit, with the B8.









14. Next exit: Spich









15. Spich plus Niederkassel. Niederkassel is not near Oberkassel or Kassel.









16. Exit Troisdorf









17. Traffic is easing now we left the Köln urban area









18. Interchange: Dreieck Sankt Augustin-West









19. A560 is the last chance to get onto the A3 to Frankfurt, since the A59 ends not much further in the Bonn urban area.









20. Bonn is straight ahead.









21. Interchange: Dreieck Beuel is ahead. 2x3 lanes in between.









22. Bonn is actually signed via A565, though you can reach it too via A59/A524









23. We're heading for Bad Godesberg, which is a part of Bonn.









24. Two exits close after eachother.









25. Exit Bonn-Beuel









26. And exit Pützchen









27. The last interchange on A59









28. B42 continues south on the east side of the Rhine as an expressway.









29. A562 to Bonn/Bad Godesberg.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The A59 gap near Köln is filled by the A3 Autobahn. Here's a video of it. It was quite busy, but most of the congestion was north of Kreuz Leverkusen, where I took the A59.


----------



## Ni3lS

Cool. Very nice pics and vids Chris. Thanks for sharing. You did this in one day?


----------



## Timon91

Nice report, Chris! The A59 looks quite substandard on some places, and some spots suffer from Belgiumism


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A562 Bonn*

The A562 is not much more than a bridge across the Rhine, and is only like 3 kilometers long. It gives a great view on the Bonn urbanized area though.

1. Exiting the end of the A59 Autobahn.









2. Entering A562.









3. Bonn's tallest.









4. Immediatly an exit









5. Exit Bonn-Beuel-Süd









6. And the last two exits:









7. DHL tower with an S-bahn in the median.









8. Bonn-Rheinaue, last exit before the bridge.









9. A view on the DHL tower









10. U-bahn station









11. Exit Bonn-Bad Godesberg.









12. Exit Bonn-Zentrum / B9









13. New dive-under with a S-bahn station on top of it. Germany at it's best.









14. Sharp U-turn, end of A562.


----------



## Fuzzy Llama

Wow, it is already that green in Germany? Here in central Poland we have (mostly) no leaves yet, buds only... Vegetation is surely few weeks faster in the West


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Roadgeek set-up


----------



## Xusein

Cool pics of the Autobahn, Chris. I hope you enjoyed your trip, and look forward to updates. Can't wait to see the other countries. 

Oh, and I agree with Fuzzy Llama...seems like the trees start to bloom early in Germany. Nothing here yet either.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*B9 Bonn - Koblenz - Bingen*

_Click on the title for the whole set_

Time to get off the Autobahn, and take the scenic route! This one travels through the Rhine river valley, which is almost a gorge at times. The B9 is a high-standard road between Bonn and Koblenz, with a lot of expressway standard sections, especially in Koblenz. All those grade-separated intersections would be unthinkable in any city in the Netherlands. I post them in parts, since there are over 200 pictures of the B9. 

route:









1. Tram station in Bonn, on top of the A562.









2. The B9 is a nice 2-lane road in Bonn.









3. Another tram approaching, seems like a high frequency service.









4. Rare sign. To turn left, you first have to turn right and then left twice to cross the intersection. As y'all probably know, the left turns are the worst on an intersection.









5. Mini-church on this intersection. Also notice the traffic light.









6. White signage. I'm heading for the "straßentunnel".









7. A nice tunnel to relieve this neighborhood of traffic. Way to go Germany!









8. Tunnel was about 1 - 1.5 km long or so.









9. Short expressway here. It turned out later that I should've passed that Buick.









10. The "Siebengebirge" (Seven Mountains)









11. The river Rhine (Rhein)









12. Lots and lots of cyclists. Though cycling is mostly of recreational nature in Germany.









13. Gas prices in Germany. Diesel is slightly more expensive, Gasoline is cheaper than in the Netherlands.









14. B9 with shoulders. You see that from time to time in Germany, but it's surely not a standard.









15. Local exit. Notice the railway on the right. The B9 parallels a railway very close along it's entire route to Bingen.









16. Spring colors.









17. Peeking across the Rhine.









18. Remagen. I thought this was the place where the Allies captured the first bridge across the Rhine intact in WWII.









19. Aral is a very common gas station in Germany, but I've never seen one in NL.









20. Remagen-Süd exit.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Verso said:


> 950 photos, OMG! :nuts:  Chris, do you enjoy driving (and for so long) even though you have to take photos all the time? Btw, how did the battery survive for so long?


Nah, 950 photos for 1100 kilometers is not that much, you should talk to ABRob :lol:

I had a couple of sets of batteries, and I recharged at the campsite. ( € 3,50 for electricity for one night is nuts though, seems like campsites want to make a profit from providing power).


----------



## Timon91

Beautiful pics, Chris. I passed there by train about a year ago. Unfortunately it was foggy and raining. It made it look very mysterious though.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Ni3lS said:


> Cool. Very nice pics and vids Chris. Thanks for sharing. You did this in one day?


No, two days, I stayed at a campsite in Kirkel (just east of Saarbrücken). 

€ 13,95 for one night.  I usually pay between € 10 and € 15 for a night on the campsite, much cheaper than hotels, plus you get to be outdoors


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Let's continue down the B9.

21. Expressway









22. Sinzig-Süd









23. Bad Breisig industrial zone.









24. Shopping mall Bad Breisig.









25. Bad Breisig: end of the expressway









26. Nice church.









27. LOTS and LOTS of motorbikes this day.









28. Rhine valley.









29. Almost alpine with those rocks.









30. Major intersection.









31. Another expressway part.









32. Andernach exit.









33. Parkway-like. We should have had that concept in Europe too.









34. Another Andernach exit, it's a somewhat larger town.









35. And a third Andernach exit.









36. Exit Andernach-Ost.









37. Interchange with the B254 to Neuwied across the Rhine.









38. Nuclear power plant near Andernach.









39. Local exit.









40. I think this road can be considered a "Gelbe Autobahn" (Yellow Motorway).


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Continue into Koblenz.

41. Interchange with the A48 Autobahn ahead.









42. Weird center sign. Never seen this before.









43. 8-lane bridge.









44. Exit Koblenz-Lützel.









45. Welcome in Koblenz.









46. Old, dirty sign.









47. Another 8-lane bridge. With speed cameras









48. I have to get on the right two lanes here.









49. Very urban expressway.









50. Koblenz has some great scenery around the city.









51. B9 narrows down to one lane, end of the expressway ahead.









52. We're going to Boppard.









53. We're next to the railway again.









54. Local exit.









55. Intersection to Rhens and A61, which runs just a few kilometers to the west, and at a much higher elevation.









56. Nice castle ahead. 









57. Running adjacent to the railway.









58. Lots of vineyards here.









59. A train coming towards us.









60. Entering Boppard town.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

61. Church in Boppard.









62. The valley.









63. Another village across the Rhine.









64. Rhine view.









65. Another regional train.









66. Local tour caravan.









67. Castle.









68. Sign.









69. Loreley.









70. Express train.









71. Ancient tower.









72. Intersection towards the Autobahnen.









73. Castle in the middle of the Rhine river!









74. General valley view.









75. Another motorcycle.









76. The valley is completely gone after you pass Bingen. Quite weird.









That's the B9 set  :cheers:


----------



## Wover

I'm so jealous now...

Here in Finland it's always lake, trees, snow, lake, trees, snow,... .

And now the snow is almost completely gone, so it's quite boring.. I'm hoping to see some green in a few days..


----------



## essendon bombers

Great pictures Chris!

Wish I could go for a drive in 5 countries in two days, but I can't do that in Australia.

I would love to see some pictures of France.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A60 Bingen - Mainz*

_Click on the title to view the full set_

The next journey takes us back on the Autobahn, from the interchange Dreieck Nahetal (A61/A60), eastbound to the city of Mainz. The set ends near interchange Kreuz Mainz-Süd (A60/A63).

route:









1. Interchange: Dreieck Nahetal.









2. Exit Bingen-Ost.









3. The next exit is closed, 









4. See?









5. Old signage.









6. Exit Ingelheim-West.









7. The pavement quality of the A60 is rather low.









8. Exit Ingelheim-West.









9. Provisional 2x3, no shoulders, as seen often in Germany.









10. Exit Ingelheim-Ost.









11. Ingelheim-Ost.









12. Distance table.









13. Exit Heidesheim.









14. Overhead sign.









15. Heidesheim.









16. Last distance table before Mainz.









17. Interchange: Dreieck Mainz.









18. We're heading for Mainz.









19. Exit Mainz-Finthen.









20. The beltway of Mainz is also shoulderless.









21. Yellow signage for the local roads.









22. I think this road is jam-packed during rushhour.









23. Mainz touristic sign.









24. Exit Mainz-Larchenberg.









25. Short exit ramp.









26. Interchange: Kreuz Mainz-Süd.









27. A63 to Kaiserslautern.









28. I'm exiting here.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

*A63 Mainz - Kaiserslautern*

_Click on the title for the full set_

The A63 is a north-south motorway connecting the larger cities of Mainz and Kaiserslautern. The last part near Kaiserslautern is relatively new, it opened in 2004. 

route:









1. Entering A63 southbound at Kreuz Mainz-Süd.









2. Exit Klein-Winternheim ahead.









3. The right lane becomes the exit.









4. Exit Nieder-Olm ahead. The pavement quality of the A63 was only mediocre.









5. There ain't a hilly scenery either, this is Rheinhessen.









6. Exit Nieder-Olm.









7. Next is exit Saulheim.









8. Standard fork-signage









9. This is a minor exit along A63.









10. Kaiserslautern 59km.









11. Spring colors, that's how I like it.









12. Exit Wörrstadt ahead.









13. This is a more important exit, an Autohof is planned here.









14. This part of A63 is quite old, but I'm not sure how old exactly.









15. Finally a view, and huge windmills in the hazy distance.









16. Exit Biebelnheim.









17. This one's rather close on the next Interchange.









18. Notice the two fonts; mittelschrift and engschrift.









19. Interchange Kreuz Alzey ahead with the A61.









Layout of the interchange:









20. Most traffic heads to or from the A61 south here.









21. First the southbound directions exit.









22. Then the northbound, it's usage would be low considering you also came from the north.









23. Pirmasens is the new city on the signage.









24. Exit Erbes-Büdesheim.









25. The area becomes somewhat more hilly.









26. Exit Freimersheim.









27. Next is Kirchheimbolanden (nice name).









28. First parking area since Mainz.









29. Exit Kirchheimbolanden ahead.









30. This is a somewhat larger town.









31. Typical German; no shoulders on the exit-lane.









32. Finally Saarbrücken signed.









33. General view.









34. Göllheim exit.









35. This is a more important exit.









36. These are the foothills of the Hunsrück mountains.









37. Exit Winnweiler ahead.









38. Exit signage.









39. Closing in on Kaiserslautern, an American-inhabited city.









40. This part is newer. Notice the relatively narrow shoulders, a truck doesn't fit there.









41. One of a few bridges across a valley.









42. Exit Sembach.









43. I'm heading for Saarbrücken.









44. Forests.









45. Dreieck Kaiserslautern.









46. The last part of the A63 has some curves.









47. Exit Kaiserslautern-Centrum is within the interchange.









48. There wouldn't be much traffic heading for Mannheim here.









49. Merging with the A6.


----------



## Palance

"Centrum" and no "Zentrum"?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yes, "Centrum" becomes more common in Germany  Same as "Hafen" => "Haven".


----------



## Patrick

I really enjoy your pics here, especially as it is close to my home region and know these places  Good job so far, Chris!

Haven is the common in the north (which is closer to Old German/Frisian/Old English/Dutch; Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven) while Hafen is more central and south (Ludwigshafen, Friedrichshafen).

Centrum developed in Hamburg, because of the local Congress Centrum, which usually would be Kongresszentrum. But the abbreviation of that would be KZ, which is usually associated with the nazi camps (Konzentrationslager), that's why Congress Centrum was chosen. I think, many of nowadays Centrum-signages derived from that story.


----------



## Palance

I know about teh CC/KZ story, but I thought is was developed in Berlin. Oh, never mind, but why couldn't the Germans use "Centre" (or "Mitte") anyway. Centrum is not an official German word, as far as I know. (it is Dutch, so thanks to Germany for using Dutch words  )


----------



## Patrick

We like to have it more ways  examples in this thread:

Kaiserslautern-Centrum

Mainz-Zentrum
Oberwesel-Zentrum
Rhens-Zentrum
Koblenz-Zentrum
Bonn-Zentrum
Köln-Zentrum
Leverkusen-Zentrum
Duisburg-Zentrum

Mainz-Innenstadt
Remagen-Innenstadt

Andernach-Stadtmitte

Bonn-Bad Godesberg-Mitte

PS: oh, and yeah, the B9 in Koblenz is quite an urban *express*way 








Pic by me.


----------



## Verso

I was up there!  And overslept in a camp below, but I can't recognize it from pics, it must've been in Sankt Goarshausen.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Patrick said:


> PS: oh, and yeah, the B9 in Koblenz is quite an urban *express*way
> http://autobahnatlas-online.de/Bildergalerie/b9s_25.jpg
> Pic by me.


Video:

*B9 Koblenz*


----------



## Cicerón

Nice pictures, Chris, thanks for posting . 
The scenery is great, less shoulders than I expected though.


----------



## panda80

Timon91 said:


> Great trip, panda80! Though they're not all in chronological order you did a great job and you must have seen very much during your trip :cheers:


Yes, it was a wonderful trip, that had everything:
-big cities:budapest, bratislava, wien, amsterdam, zurich
-beautiful smaller cities:linz, passau, regensburg, bamberg, wurzburg, leiden, brugge, gent, nancy,strassbourg, basel, bolzano, maribor
-nice charming little towns:szentendre, esztergom, gouda, delft, middelburg, vlissingen, maienfeld, ptuj, varazdin
-amusement parks(europapark)
-all sorts of landscapes:sea, plaines, mountains, hills, channels...
-all sorts of roads:from big motorways to small pictuoresque county roads...
the pics are not all in chronological order because they were with 3 different cameras, so i had them in different folders on my computer.The order is the following:from beginning till end with first camera, then with second camera from beginning till end , then with third camera.So they are like 3 independent sets of pictures...
I'm looking forward for another trip like this...hope this summer i will be able to go to western europe again:cheers:


----------



## Verso

Awesome trip, panda80! :cheers: Also great pics from Slovenia (1 pic) and Croatia (2 pics). :lol:


----------



## panda80

Verso said:


> Awesome trip, panda80! :cheers: Also great pics from Slovenia (1 pic) and Croatia (2 pics). :lol:


Yes, unfortunately i arrived in maribor at night and couldn't take pictures of section austrian border-mariborhno:.and in croatia i was quite on rush because i had to drove almost continously from maribor till bucharest.I stopped only for 1 hour in ptuj and half an hour in varazdin.however, i really liked these 2 countries:cheers:


----------



## Euroboyy

Des, in Poland you should see Zakopane (going from Poprad through High Tatras - this city is called winter capital of Poland). Then Krakow naturally and going by motorway straight to Wroclaw - some people think it is even more beautiful city than Krakow! Market Square is amazing. From Wroclaw is close to Prague.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice photos. Did you plan this trip to the kilometer, or did you just drive around?


----------



## panda80

ChrisZwolle said:


> Nice photos. Did you plan this trip to the kilometer, or did you just drive around?


Thanks to all!i planned my trip entirely from home, including booking accomodation.the only kilometres not planned were made due to the fact that fluela pass was close, so in order to arrive from davos to bolzano, i had to go over julier, bernina, aprica, tonale and mendola passes.but this big detour was very scenic, so i don't regret i had to take it.


----------



## Pavlemadrid

And Madrid? :S


----------



## Verso

^ Where's that?


----------



## Endrix

Des I am not sure if you already did your trip or when you ARE going to take it but I would recommend you to try out the new durres-kukes motorway in Albania, (Belgrade-Nis-Pristina-Prizren-kukes-durres-tirane) you'll visit Kosovo that way as well. You can visit Montenegro another time  (no offense to anyone) although this does depend on WHEN you are taking the trip since it will be opened on June 25th 2009... (Het uitzicht en natuur die je daar kan zien is echt geweldig plus het is net gebouwd dus het ritje zal lekker smooth zijn


----------



## Timon91

Pavlemadrid said:


> And Madrid? :S


You mean this beautiful city?


----------



## Palance

*[D][A] Koblenz-Tarvisio and Karawakentunnel-Moers*

Last week I have been to Croatia and made a lot of pictures in Germany and Austria (and of course in the other countries  ). These are 2 albums from the road to Slovenia and back home.

Koblenz-Tarvisio
Karawankentunnel-Moers


----------



## Verso

:master: Really beautiful photos, Palance! The Austrian A11 and A10 look rusty at times.  Alps are so beautiful. 

http://www.xs4all.nl/~egavic/ASN/HR/D-A/album/slides/S_1200.html

^ We totally pwn!  I wonder, if all those Germans have even heard of Ljubljana. :lol:


----------



## keber

Verso said:


> The Austrian A11 and A10 look rusty at times.


Actually they are rusty.


----------



## x-type

http://www.xs4all.nl/~egavic/ASN/HR/D-A/album/slides/S_0490.html

is that an old gullwing?


----------



## Palance

keber said:


> Actually they are rusty.



The A11 is, but the A10 was not, certainly in southern direction.


----------



## keber

It is for sure in northern direction on some parts between Villach and Spittal


----------



## Verso

True, e.g. from here 6 or 7 pics. But it's not so much.


----------



## panda80

I thought it's a good idea to open a thread where we all can present our roadtrips with descriptions and photos.It can be used also for presenting our future plans regarding roadtrips and asking for sugestions.For example threads like Balkan trip of snupix, european trip of des, karawanke tunnel-moers of palance and many others can be merged into this one.


----------



## Ni3lS

There probably is already a thread for something like this..


----------



## panda80

Although i've made numerous roadtrips around romania, the balkans and 3 roadtrips in central-western europe, i've only took road-pictures from 4 of them.
1)roadtrip in romania:
the route:
braila-DN21-viziru-DJ212-giurgeni-DN2A-constanta-DN39-eforie-neptun-mangalia-DJ391-negru voda-Adamclisi-DN3-ion corvin-DJ223-cernavoda-A2-Bucharest-DN1-ploiesti-brasov-DN11-targu secuiesc-oituz-DJ-targu ocna-DN12B-slanic modova-DN12B-targu ocna-DN12A-onesti-DN11A-adjud-DN2-marasesti-DN24-cosmesti-DJ252-movileni-barcea-DN25-ivesti-independenta-sendreni-DN2B-braila.
DN=national road(drum national)
DJ=county road(drum judetean)
here are the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rmihailucian/Drumuri#


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm considering this 3-day trip this weekend:


----------



## panda80

Wonderful, Chris!What will be the new percentage of autobahns where you have driven after this trip?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ Only A38 will be new for me... so maybe 1 or 2 percent.


----------



## MAG

Chris, you might consider going up the A18 (PL) and then A15 (D) up to dreieck Spreewald (A15/A13) and back down to Dresden. 
This is a bit of a detour but probably well worth it.

When you cross the Polish border I recommend you stay at the Hotel Baranowski in Słubice. 
Take the first exit on route 2 (E30) and go into Słubice on route 29. 
The hotel will be on your left after about 1 km.

Hotel Baranowski 
ul. Transportowa 4c 
69-100 Słubice 

Phone ++48 - (095) - 758 2102 
www.hotelbaranowski.slubice.net

Good luck and hopefully you will bring back lots of pictures, as always. 


.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^ I'm gonna stay at campsites... Cheap, usually something like € 8 - 15 per night. My campsite in Horb am Neckar cost me only € 6,70 for one night 

My first campsite will be along A12 in Bad Saarow... the second one depends how far I can drive on sunday... probably around Dresden.


----------



## PLH

^^ For €15 (70 zł) you can easily find a place in a good B&B.

Do you have any experience in driving on regular roads in Poland?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

PLH said:


> Do you have any experience in driving on regular roads in Poland?


Only as a passenger... DK4 mostly, and parallel roads of the A4, but those "experiences" date back to 2003. I heard some stuff about reckless overtaking.


----------



## Fuzzy Llama

Don't scare him, it's not that bad 

Chris, you just must be aware of two things: On 1x2 roads with wiiide hard shoulders people will expect you to give them some space while overtaking (although not everyone does that and even half-brain ******** in 20 y.o. BMW shouldn't force you to do that) and people generally drive fast here (majority drives about 20km/h over the limit).

Have a nice trip


----------



## PLH

The biggest problem is that when you see someone overtaking and driving head-on you, *never ever* brake rapidly, but move to the shoulder.

Just like this:







When seeing a speed limit, make sure nobody is tailgating you. In such situation also never brake when seeing a yellow light.

Flashing lights means either police ahead or 'get out of my way', very rarely to let you pass.

There are no carts on the road, and you won't get raped on the first parking


----------



## MAG

I think that stories of reckless driving in Poland are grossly exaggerated. Yes, there are some utter maniacs out there on our roads but show me a country where speeding does not happen at all. A few years ago when we changed out of our Fiats 126 into proper cars there was a period when owners of the more powerful cars showed off. Now that most people have got proper cars, speeding and reckless overtaking is seen as socially irresponsible. In my village nobody drives over 50 km/h, even though you could easily drive at 150 km/h, because the consequences are just unacceptable.

Ironically, my worst experience of bad driving (overtaking followed by verbal abuse and road rage) was actually in the Netherlands in otherwise peaceful Flevoland, as I was negotiating my way up to Afsluitdijk. However, I would not presume to extrapolate from this bad experience and say that all Dutch drivers are bad drivers.

Just stick to the speed limit, enjoy the leisurely drive, enjoy the scenery and ignore anyone who breaks the speed limit. Driving at 150 km/h will only get you quicker to heaven, nothing else.

And remember to switch on your car lights on entry into Poland – by Law you must use headlights 24h a day.


.


----------



## ufonut

People don't drive like maniacs because every road in Poland is now peppered with speed traps. That's the main reason. TV campaigns of course raise the awareness of what may happen to you when you act irresponsibly but the main reason people started driving less recklessly were fines and losing points off their licenses. 

It that wasn't enough there are a lot more cops patrolling routes in unmarked cars with video in front and behind. Just because a cop car passes you don't think you can now let it go and floor it. They could be checking your speed with their rear cameras.

Something to be aware of.


----------



## PLH

I was just trying to prepare Chris for something he has probably never thought of. 

Of course people don't drive that recklessly (4 cars shoulder to shoulder, >130 km/h), but this is what *we* consider dangerous.
I know many people claiming that others drive like insane and that more police should be there on the roads, while they also drive 120 km/h and overtake as the third.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nah, I drive 20 over the speed limit in NL too if I can... I do not overtake recklessly, but I know the system, I've seen it in Switzerland too, where there were 2 trucks and 2 cars next to eachother on a very wide 2-lane road.

Some staying-alive money for next Sunday. I don't plan on gas up in Poland, but you'll never know.


----------



## PLH

If you do, search only for brand-name stations.

I would be grateful if you could take some pics of A4/A18 interchange and of A18, it's only 12 kms off your route. Also border crossings would be welcomed


----------



## ChrisZwolle

^^


----------



## PLH

Heh, but now two lanes are already opened :| Anyway, it's your decision.


----------



## Stainless

I remember one incident of reckless driving in Poland last year, I was driving on a single lane road (E28) in a queue behind a slow lorry. Once the oncoming vehicles had passed everyone decided to overtake, at the same time. I got out just infront so saw in my mirrors the impressive sight of 5 vehicles alongside each other from shoulder to shoulder as they all decided to overtake not thinking that the car infront probably wants to go at a similar speed to them.


----------



## PLH

ChrisZwolle said:


> I'm considering this 3-day trip this weekend:


So, are you finally going or not?

Is photographing every km obvious, or should I remind you about it?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I'm planning to drive off about the end of tomorrow morning... 

The first day will take me from Zwolle to Niesky (near Görlitz) via Kassel and Leipzig, a distance of about 770 kilometers. I will be driving through Poland on sunday, and return home on monday, because weather conditions will already be detoriating during monday.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Hmmm, I had to postpone it... didn't feel well all night and now I have _kopfschmerzen_


----------



## RawLee

panda80 said:


> here are pictures i took from vienna-budapest-szeged-arad road taken during my one week bus trip to vienna:
> http://picasaweb.google.com/rmihailucian/Vienna#
> unfortunately i couldn't take photos of more romanian roads because we travelled through romania during the night.the route chosen was the classical one: vienna-A4-M1-budapest(M0)-M5-Szeged-national road 43-nagylak-national road DN7-arad-sibiu-pitesti-bucharest.


Do you mind if I borrow a pic or 2?


----------



## panda80

RawLee said:


> Do you mind if I borrow a pic or 2?


no problem, everybody can use the pictures for any purpose.


----------



## RawLee

Thank you!


----------



## panda80

Hi!
Now I want to present you my New Years Eve trip to Macedonia and Greece.
I left Braila around 3 a.m on 26th of December 2009.On the first day I used the following route:Braila-Slobozia-A2-Bucharest bypass-Giurgiu-Ruse-Pleven-Sofia bypass-Pernik-Kustendil-Kumanovo-Skopje-Tetovo-Ohrid.
I have pictures only from the section Sofia-Ohrid because I was the driver till Sofia and my friends are not so keen on taking road pictures. We arrived in Sofia around 11 a.m. The road was very good, I have achieved a medium speed of around 85km/h.
So we start with E79 national road, still inside Sofia:


















Immediately after Sofia, climbing Vladaja mountain pass:


















Intersection with the access road for Vladaja village. E 79 national road bypasses the village:









Continuing towards Dragichevo intersection, on E-79:

























Traffic lights in Dragichevo:










Now we are at the Dragichevo intersection. From here we leave E 79 that's heading towards Blagoevgrad and Greece and continue on E871 towards Kustendil and Macedonia. This intersection is a 2 level one. Gyusevo is the border crossing point.








Now we are in Pernik on a road with expresway profile. However speed limit is only 60:


----------



## panda80

From Pernik till the following town, Radomir, the road is 2+2:
































We can now see Radomir:


----------



## panda80

From Radomir the road becomes a normal 1+1:









































Typical Bulgarian asphalt:


----------



## panda80

The scenery gets better, we are approaching a mountain pass at about 1000m a.s.l to shortcut a meander of Struma river(yeaahh, the same Struma:cheers:


































Now we enter Kustendil county, the last in Bulgaria:










Pavement around here is not that good. However, there are no serious potholes:

























Pavement gets better as we approach Kustendil. We are going down from the mountain pass, on the uphill there are 2 lanes:










Near Kustendil:


----------



## panda80

I am sorry that most pictures are so dark, I don't have a very good camera (Fuji A900). However I hope that you will like the photos, as more will follow shortly...


----------



## snowman159

Thank you! Very interesting trip.

I was surprised to see quite a few cyrillic-only road signs.


----------



## panda80

Intersection with the bypass of Kustendil. We use the bypass so we go right:










On the bypass of Kustendil:


----------



## panda80

snowman159 said:


> Thank you! Very interesting trip.
> 
> I was surprised to see quite a few cyrillic-only road signs.


Indeed in Bulgaria there are very few cyrillic-only road signs, and most on very secondary roads. Many people fear they can have orientation problems, but that's not true. Roads are nice to drive, mostly they bypass villages and the important intersections are 2 level. This makes driving more comfortable and you can obtain a higher average speed.


----------



## panda80

We are leaving Kustendil bypass and go straight to the macedonian border. This border is a natural one, on the ridge of these mountains:



























Trafic is almost nonexistant closer to the border:










Skopje appears on signs:


----------



## panda80

Closer to the border pavement becomes better, this road is nice to drive as the traffic is scarce and we are going up the mountains up to 1160m, on the mountain pass between Bulgaria and Macedonia:


----------



## RawLee

panda80 said:


> I am sorry that most pictures are so dark, I don't have a very good camera (Fuji A900). However I hope that you will like the photos, as more will follow shortly...


The problem is not the camera,but your aiming. Aim lower(or zoom in),so that the autofocus wont recognise so much bright areas. This is especially true if its not the sun that is shining into the camera,but the reflection from the clouds.


----------



## panda80

^^Thanks for the advice!


----------



## panda80

Now some pictures from the border area between Bulgaria and Macedonia:
































































We stayed at border only 10 minutes.


----------



## panda80

The next pictures, from Macedonia, will come tomorrow.


----------



## panda80

Now, as I promised, pictures from Macedonia:
The first part is a downhill to Kriva Palanka town, placed in the Kriva Reka valley. As usual there are 2 lanes for the ones going up on the most inclined parts, even if traffic is scarce:





































Inside Kriva Palanka town:


----------



## panda80

After Kriva Palanka, for a few kilometres the road lacks a proper maintenance:




























But it gets better as we are closer to Kumanovo and the motorway:


----------



## panda80

The road is very wisely made through Stracin mountain pass, with very high curves radius. Also it bypasses the few villages around:




























A broken traffic sign. I encountered many in Macedonia:










Continuing towards Kumanovo:


----------



## panda80

hofburg said:


> nice pics. area around ohrid looks good.
> 
> 
> 
> we can discuss about that  I guess the roads were good when they were build, but they weren't well maintained.


Yes, some sections are poorly maintaned but the route of the roads was very clever chosen, with many straight lines even in the mountains, tunnels and viaducts on national roads, and low inclines. Also, usually road has 2 lanes for climbing direction.


----------



## panda80

Now we exit Resen and go towards Bitola on M5:










Straight line in the Prespa lake small plain:










Intersection for Otesevo, a resort on the Prespa lake. We go left, on the priority road:










Nice road with 100km/h speed limit sign in the distance:










Going down towards Bitola:














































Another broken sign:


----------



## panda80

We are now on Bitola bypass:




























And in Bitola town:



















Fuel prices (62 denars=1 euro):




























Sign for Greece:










Road from Bitola to the border:


----------



## Timon91

The last pics are a bit too large for my screen


----------



## panda80

^^Sorry...I will try to fix the problem asap...


----------



## panda80

Still in Macedonia, but very close to the border:










And now in Greece, immediately after Niki border crossing point:




























We enter Florina:



















Inside Florina town:










Albania is signed, by the Kristalopigi border point:










Still inside Florina:


----------



## panda80

Now, from Florina we climb to Vigla ski center, at about 1550m a.s.l., through bears habitat:























































From Vigla to Kastoria:


----------



## panda80

Now some pics from E-90, section Neapoli-Konitsa. The road is a wonderful one, passing through high mountains and nice valleys (like the one of Sarantaporos river). Traffic was scarce as this road was replaced by the modern Egnatia motorway:
































































Kakavia border crossing point is signed here:










We enter Epirus region:


----------



## panda80

Going further to Konitsa:














































Sarantaporos bridge:










View from the road:



















At this intersection we go left to Konitsa. The main road continues to Ioannina:


----------



## SuperSergei

Many nice pictures! Nice to see pics from Bitola, and low fuel prices.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

SuperSergei said:


> Many nice pictures! Nice to see pics from Bitola, and low fuel prices.


I bet € 1 per liter is much worse for Macedonians than € 1,50 per liter for Norwegians or Dutchmen.


----------



## panda80

Sure, when I stayed in Ohrid, I heard at the news that the medium income of a macedonian is about 430 US dollars/month.


----------



## panda80

On 29th of December I made a trip to Igoumenitsa by car and then we took a ferry (without car) to Corfu island. The ferry price for cars is 35 euro to Corfu town and 27 to Lefkimmi, and the price for persons is 8 euro/person to Corfu town.
I used the road Konitsa-Kalpaki-Soulopoulo-Vrossina-A2 (near Paramithya)-Igoumenitsa.

First, E90 and E92 (NR6) near Soulopoulo:





































Entering Voutsaras:










And Vrosina:










Continuing on NR6:










Road is a very mountainous one, extremely curvy on many sections:


----------



## panda80

Straight line, not many between Ioannina and Igoumenitsa:


----------



## panda80

Now we are on the road that links NR6 with the motorway:


----------



## panda80

We enter A2 (Egnatia) towards Igoumenitsa:










And here we are, on the A2:


----------



## panda80

Vasiliko exit:



















Vasiliko tunnel:










First glimpse of the sea:




























Igoumenitsa interchange, we continue to the port on A6:



















In Igoumenitsa:










And the ferry we took to Corfu:


----------



## KingGenti

Very nice photos.


----------



## panda80

^^Thanks! The ones from Albania will follow soon:banana:


----------



## KingGenti

Ahh..great.I hope that your impressions from Albania were good.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I started documenting my roadtrips on my site.

I started with the first roadtrip I ever did; Denmark in 2007.
http://sites.google.com/site/europeanroads/home/roadtrips/denmark-2007

to do:

Roadtrip Belgium 2007
Roadtrip Denmark 2008
Roadtrip Germany 2008
Roadtrip France/Spain 2008
Roadtrip Germany/Belgium 2009
Roadtrip Switzerland 2009
Roadtrip Slovenia 2009

:cheers:


----------



## hofburg

^^your site is really great, now it will be even greater. kay:


----------



## zsimi80

ChrisZwolle said:


> I started documenting my roadtrips on my site.
> 
> I started with the first roadtrip I ever did; Denmark in 2007.
> http://sites.google.com/site/europeanroads/home/roadtrips/denmark-2007
> 
> to do:
> 
> Roadtrip Belgium 2007
> Roadtrip Denmark 2008
> Roadtrip Germany 2008
> Roadtrip France/Spain 2008
> Roadtrip Germany/Belgium 2009
> Roadtrip Switzerland 2009
> Roadtrip Slovenia 2009
> 
> :cheers:



when are you gonna visit Hungary?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Probably this year, combining with Slovakia.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Belgium 2007:

https://sites.google.com/site/europeanroads/home/roadtrips/belgium-2007

also including Luxembourg, France and Germany.


----------



## Fuzzy Llama

ChrisZwolle said:


> Roadtrip Belgium 2007
> Roadtrip Denmark 2008
> Roadtrip Germany 2008
> Roadtrip France/Spain 2008
> Roadtrip Germany/Belgium 2009
> Roadtrip Switzerland 2009
> Roadtrip Slovenia 2009


You are slowly running out of countries...
Are you planning to do something extra-european?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Fuzzy Llama said:


> You are slowly running out of countries...
> Are you planning to do something extra-european?


Not at the moment. There's still so much to discover in Europe that is beyond the usual driving range of 1200 - 1500 kilometer, like Spain/Portugal, Italy, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia.

I'm currently thinking about doing a trip to Lapland in late June or early July.


----------



## christos-greece

ChrisZwolle said:


> Not at the moment. There's still so much to discover in Europe that is beyond the usual driving range of 1200 - 1500 kilometer, like Spain/Portugal, Italy, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia.
> 
> I'm currently thinking about doing a trip to Lapland in late June or early July.


Also another country to discover in Europe is Greece


----------



## bozata90

christos-greece said:


> Also another country to discover in Europe is Greece


I still think Greece is on the Balkans...


----------



## philimonas

Zdravei!

And where are the Balkans?

But I know what you mean.. and maybe you are right!


----------



## Vallex

Belarus...that will be quite a challange I think


----------



## Richie D.

It's been a while since the last time I did a proper roadtrip, but the last one that could be considered a real roadtrip was my trip to the Arenal. We took first the Panamerican highway towards somewhere near San Ramón IIRC, then headed towards Ciudad Quesada, where we'd take a very bad road towards the hotel that I stayed in with my class.

Another one was going to Golfito over 12 years ago. We'd take the Panamerican Highway towards Cartago, then went through the "Cerro de la Muerte" (you could translate it into the Pass of Death, as this pass is very dangerous) towards San Isidro del General and near Ciudad Neilly, we'd take a turn to the right to head to Golfito. We did that route twice on a bus (the very first time was probably en route to Panama) and once with the car with my grandfather, where we stayed in a police station (my late grandfather, a retired police colonel, was head of the Costa Rican Police at that time).

The last really long drive we did was to Puntarenas, again using the Panamerican highway, where we'd head over the Cambronero Pass, spending around three hours to make the 110 km trip to the Atlantic coast. Since then, we didn't do any long drives, because my father can't support the stress from the travels since he almost died of an embolism (it's really a miracle that he's recovered the way he did, he can even drive again but we make sure he only drives supervised by me or my mother).

As for Europe, we took so many routes, I can't even remember most of them. One that is etched in my memory is a route that we often took to return from our vacations in Italy back to Hamburg. It was basically driving the A2 from Chiasso, through the Gotthard Tunnel (I looked forward to it, but ended up pretty nervous when going through the tunnel, though we also once stopped at the station San Gottardo Sud in Stalvedro) to Basel, then the combo of A5 until near Kassel, then A7 until AS Othmarschen IIRC.

My Euro-Roadtrips, which I did with my parents as a child, lead us to lots of places: Netherlands, DDR (after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when it still existed), Denmark, all Benelux countries, France (once getting close to the border with Andorra), Monaco, Italy, San Marino, Austria and Switzerland (maybe even Liechtenstein).

The trip to Denmark was weird though. We crossed the border on the E45/A7 in Ellund, but we turned around after only 5-15 minutes or so, because my mother was feeling ill. It's prety difficult to imagine, having spent almost 2 hours driving to a foreign country, only to turn back after a short time to repeat the two hour drive through the A7.

It was the shortest visit to another country in my entire life.:bash: Hopefully the next time I'm in Denmark, I will be staying for a while longer.


----------



## Suburbanist

*My future road trip*

Guys, I'm posting about a road trip I want to make in 2011. As some here know, I'm living in The Netherlands for study/research purposes.

Since I was a teenager and started looking for online maps I've wanted to visit the US. I've been there a couple times, but never in the way I really wanted to see the country: behind the wheels, in a comprehensive trip.

So, here are my plans. Depending in how economy goes, I'll be able to do this trip either in June/July 2011 or 2012 :cheers:

I've always been fascinated by the least populated areas of US, like the Great Plains, the Great Basin and so on. I also love mountain roads and mountain passes, particularly those above 2000m altitude. I've had my fair share of urban driving in US, so this time the intent is to stick more with the countryside and some easily accessible national parks.

Duration of the trip will be 30-35 days. Here is a general map of my plans:



I essentially selected places I MUST visit by car (Yellowstone, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Salt Lake Desert, Napa Valley), added two long parkways I cannot miss (Natchez Trace Parkway and Blue Ridge Parkway), them combined with interesting places on viable routes.

On the map above, the blue stretches are the ones I expect to drive through more quickly, mostly on Interstates or "through" US routes.

Total distance: ~13.800 km.


----------



## koloite

*16 countries in 24 hours*

I finally took the time to make a decent write up of our road trip through 16 countries in 24 hours last summer. We visited Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands. The write up can be found at http://sites.google.com/site/espaceroadtrips/roadtrips/16-countries-in-24-hours.

The route we drove was:


----------



## Dr.Mabuse

*Songs about driving and trucking or songs you think which suit perfect for a good drive!*

:banana::lol:

The classical - "Markus - Ich will Spaß" A litte bit creepy, if you think that super will cost one day 3,10 DM....Isn't it today 1,40 € which is 2,80 DM....




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StEYj3qjsRs

Dave Dudely Deutschland - Autobahn




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqZ1mZz9AGk

Some more?:cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

The Road Hammers of course!


----------



## wdw35

The choice certainly depends on the type of road you're driving on!
Driving on a German freeway makes me feel the strong flow of energy - generated by all those cars going so fast - so probably some techno (The Prodigy's earlier albums) will do really nice!
But if I would be driving on a very low traffic departmental road in a semi-deserted area some dark ambient might be more appropriate...
And so on.


----------



## CptSchmidt

Autobahn by Kraftwerk.


----------



## NorthWesternGuy

Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress, by The Hollies.


----------



## zsimi80

*Hungary*


Budapest









Main road no 7.









Székesfehérvár









Main road no 8.









Várpalota









Random road


----------



## nerdly_dood

*Epic European road trip*

How feasible would it be to accomplish this drive here? How much would it cost, how long would it take, how likely am I to be robbed and/or killed?
Note: The link takes you to a URL of 1,331 characters, so it would be an epic link wall if I posted the entire URL.

It wouldn't be extremely difficult to drive directly from Dublin to Cardiff, so I figured I'd make it a bit more difficult. (And, as if that's not enough, I live in Virginia and I've only been to Europe once.)
*Start:* Dublin, Ireland
Edinburgh
London
Paris
Zaragoza
Madrid
Malaga
Barcelona
Toulouse
Marseille
Le Havre
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Oslo
Helsinki
Warsaw
Berlin
Krakow
Munich
Geneva
Rome
Prague
Bucharest
Athens
*Finish:* Cardiff, Wales


----------



## Carldiff

^I wouldn't do them in that order or you'll be driving in circles!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I have read about road trips of this distance, so it should be possible. I've read about an American guy who drove all lower 48 states in 16 days, which was over 20,000 kilometers of driving. I also read about two Russian guys who drove from Moscow to Magadan and back, a distance of 22,000 kilometers in 5 weeks. 

The real question is if you are able to drive, say, 1,000 kilometer for 20 days in a row, and if you have the finances, since it'll cost you a great deal of fuel and tolls. For example, if you have a car that runs 15 km / liter, you'll end up consuming 1,333 liters, at € 1,30 per liter, that is €1,733 in fuel alone. Add a few hundred in tolls and you're way over € 2,000 for travel.


----------



## crcorp

It's a hell of a trip, but not impossible to accomplish. As Carldiff already said, the trip could be optimized in order to avoid circles. The only "tricky" part is crossing the the Baltic states, there is - as far as I know - a small risk of being robbed. But as long as you stay on main roads, this will not be of a problem I guess.

Also pay attention that if you want to pass through the Kaliningradskaya Oblast' (the small piece of Russia between Lituania and Poland), you need you'll need a lot of paperwork for a transit visa and other formalities for your car. It would be advisable to stay within the EU.
Chances of getting killed are low, unless you are a dangerous driver of course :nuts:


----------



## Spikespiegel

I wouldn't go that way around either. Your full trip is 16,351 km as the crow flies between cities.










By taking them in another order, I've got 11,544 km.

Of course, you would need to take ferries from Italy to Greece, from Helsinki to Stockholm and from Rødby Færge to Puttgarden (or Gedser-Rostock). Also, you could take the cruise-ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen.

I have, however, managed to squeeze in two more stop. The first one is Budapest. You don't want to miss this beautiful city, and it would be perfect between Bucharest and Krakow. The other one is Stockholm, but that is mainly because you will be going through Stockholm anyway, on your way to Oslo from Helsinki.


----------



## Spikespiegel

Spikespiegel said:


> I have, however, managed to squeeze in two more stop. The first one is Budapest. You don't want to miss this beautiful city, and it would be perfect between Bucharest and Krakow. The other one is Stockholm, but that is mainly because you will be going through Stockholm anyway, on your way to Oslo from Helsinki.


Errr... I missed Geneva. It's a boring city anyway, so no harm


----------



## x-type

i planned similar trip, but later i realized that splitting that huge trip is much wiser and better choice. so make 4-5 trips instead of that huge one and it will be much better and easier to perform  i know that Europe is challenging to drive, but think smart


----------



## DanielFigFoz

koloite said:


> I finally took the time to make a decent write up of our road trip through 16 countries in 24 hours last summer. We visited Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands. The write up can be found at http://sites.google.com/site/espaceroadtrips/roadtrips/16-countries-in-24-hours.
> 
> The route we drove was:


That is just amazing :banana:


----------



## nerdly_dood

I didn't exactly organize it with simplicity in mind... which is largely why I listed Cardiff right after Athens. Quite the contrary - I had two goals - one, to find a particularly difficult route around Europe, and two, to possibly break the Google Maps direction-finder. I'd tried to find direct routes from Edinburgh to places in Asia such as Beijing or Tehran, but the longest direct drive I could find was from Edinburgh to a city in eastern Turkey, but it just said "route not found" so I don't consider that a success in breaking the Google Maps direction-finder.

I'd thought I'd listed Budapest in an earlier list, but probably that was wrong since I'd already listed Bucharest and the names are quite similar...

And the chance that I'll actually attempt a drive like this, even just within the USA, is extremely improbable.


----------



## Cicerón

As for the Spanish part, I'd recommend this:

Irún>Burgos>Madrid>Málaga>Barcelona>Zaragoza>Pau (France)

The route is ~200 km longer but it's worth it. The route from Pamplona to Zaragoza and then to Madrid is quite boring IMO, however from San Sebastián to Burgos you have a beautiful landscape with mountain passes, tunnels etc.
Also the A-1 from Burgos to Madrid is better than the A-2 from Zaragoza to Madrid (which is by far the worst _autovía_ in Spain). Plus, you cross the Pyrinees (Huesca>Pau) on some beautiful mountain roads (take a look) and you don't take the French A61 twice.

This is my proposal (vs. your proposal).

And if you don't care driving 22 km more you could pass near Córdoba, and then taking the A-45 (newer and better than the A-44 Jaén-Granada) and you won't drive twice on the A-92. link.

This is how it looks:









It's 234 km (145mi) longer than your route but you drive on much better roads and see more beautiful landscapes


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I want to drive A-23 Zaragoza - Teruel once. I believe it's one of the best desert drives in Spain.


----------



## Cicerón

I've made these two routes, you miss Athens in both though (as well as in the map you posted).

Option A: 15,174 km (9,428 mi)









Cost: 1138.05 € only in fuel, considering:

-A Diesel car that consumes 6 litres per 100 km (the Citroën C5, an average sedan, makes 4.5 litres per 100 km in non-urban roads).

-An average price of Gasoil of €1.25/litre (it's ~€1/litre in Spain, but it's more expensive in most of Europe).

Chances of being robbed: In every gas station everytime you fill up, our gas prices are astronomic :lol:

Chances of being killed: Very low if you drive carefully.

Option B: 15,892 km (9,874 mi) including Geneva-Amsterdam.











Edit:


ChrisZwolle said:


> I want to drive A-23 Zaragoza - Teruel once. I believe it's one of the best desert drives in Spain.


Actually it's not a desert - it's just arid: http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&sour...id=jD64_WRNA6AMho3v6MT1Bw&cbp=12,5.35,,0,8.13 

Well, maybe it is a desert for a Dutch 

If you want desert drives, you have Monegros, Bardenas (where our Area 51 is ) or Tabernas.


----------



## geogregor

Hi guys, let me show you my last few road trips in the USA.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends from the point of view) most of the pictures are not stricte road photos. But there are some among hundreds of others 
Here is overall map:
Red color indicate trips where I drove myself
Blue color shows cross country trip where unfortunately I was only navigating  It was before I got my driving licence.









And here are the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geogregor/USA2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNr1uKum5qaEkQE&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geogregor/SoutheastUSA2008?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geogregor/USACanada2007?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geogregor/WesternUSA2004?feat=directlink

Enjoy!


----------



## nerdly_dood

Cicerón said:


> As for the Spanish part, I'd recommend this:
> 
> Irún>Burgos>Madrid>Málaga>Barcelona>Zaragoza>Pau (France)
> 
> The route is ~200 km longer but it's worth it. The route from Pamplona to Zaragoza and then to Madrid is quite boring IMO, however from San Sebastián to Burgos you have a beautiful landscape with mountain passes, tunnels etc.
> Also the A-1 from Burgos to Madrid is better than the A-2 from Zaragoza to Madrid (which is by far the worst _autovía_ in Spain). Plus, you cross the Pyrinees (Huesca>Pau) on some beautiful mountain roads (take a look) and you don't take the French A61 twice.
> 
> This is my proposal (vs. your proposal).
> 
> And if you don't care driving 22 km more you could pass near Córdoba, and then taking the A-45 (newer and better than the A-44 Jaén-Granada) and you won't drive twice on the A-92. link.
> 
> This is how it looks:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's 234 km (145mi) longer than your route but you drive on much better roads and see more beautiful landscapes


I went on a trip to Spain once, in March 2008. It was the only time I've been to Europe. We landed in Madrid, then went to Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada, Benalmadena, Valencia and Barcelona. Some members of my group, the ones from Oregona and California went on a side-trip to Morocco; I and the rest of the Virginia crew stayed behind on instructions from the school. (It was a school-sponsored trip.) I'd love to do it again, and it'd also be a great deal easier than doing the whole of Europe all at once. My favorite parts of the drive were the mountains south of Madrid, the desert in the east, and the Sierra Nevada in the south, and I found all the cities entirely awesome (except in Sevilla you can't rent a bike just for an hour, you have to rent it for at least a week)


----------



## christos-greece

*Athens - Korinthos - Tripoli, Greece*

(From April of 2009)

Haidari - Skaramagkas:




































Aspropyrgos bridge:




































in Elefsina

















































































Elefsina tolls:













































Kakia skala tunnels:


----------



## christos-greece

*Athens - Korinthos - Tripoli, Greece*

Part II (from April of 2009)

*Korinthos - Tripoli section*


















Reconstructing the motorway: adding emergency lane











































































































































































Artemisio tunnel:


----------



## Carldiff

^^I love Granada, that place rocks!


----------



## TheFlyPL

If you go this way through Poland You will be forced to use very bad roads. 

While if you choose this variant, you will go mainly through highways.


----------



## x-type

^^
this is quite a detour.


----------



## nerdly_dood

Carldiff said:


> ^^I love Granada, that place rocks!


I do too - AWESOME views from the top of the mountain.

We have a bunch of great views around my city too, but that's just a fact of life living in a city in the mountains with a LOT of hiking trails around. But the view of Granada certainly tops any view around Roanoke (mainly because it's an urban area and not a rural one)


----------



## panda80

hofburg said:


> that road surface marking at the last photo is it frequent in romania? it's french copy.


Yes, it is quite frequent. We copied also les bornes kilometrique from the french roads. In the interwar period Romania was closely linked with France, in many fields of activity.


----------



## panda80

Reaching the border. The border facilities were enhanced recently, as from march 2011 this will be an external Schengen border:



















After romanian customs, bridge over Prut river ahead:



















The bridge:


----------



## panda80

Moldovan control point:










In Moldova. We pass through the country for just about 1km:










Border between Moldova and Ukraine ahead:










Already in Ukraine, in Reni province:










Speed limit sign:


----------



## panda80

The road to Reni:




































Inside Reni. The town is inhabited mostly by romanians:


----------



## panda80

The road is quite bad between Reni and Izmail:










Bad segments alternate with better ones:


----------



## panda80

Village of Orlivka:










Nice road for some kms:



















But it turns bad again:


----------



## panda80

Ialpug lake:




























Broska, a suburb of Izmail:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Awesome. Is the Cyrillic on those signs in Ukrainian or Russian? 

Orlivka vs Orlovka.


----------



## panda80

Inside Izmail:



















Lenin statue:


----------



## panda80

Still in Izmail. I visited the city for about 1h:


----------



## panda80

On the road between Izmail and Bolhrad:


----------



## Fuzzy Llama

ChrisZwolle said:


> Is the Cyrillic on those signs in Ukrainian or Russian?


It's Ukrainian, there is no I nor Ï in Russian.

I'm waiting for the Moldovan part. Panda80, keep the pictures coming


----------



## hofburg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LN5S4zu48gA/S91uvxpix2I/AAAAAAAADxE/n8Uzg6G6E10/s800/DSCF7266.jpg

that building on the left looks scary.  is it abandoned?


----------



## panda80

hofburg said:


> http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LN5S4zu48gA/S91uvxpix2I/AAAAAAAADxE/n8Uzg6G6E10/s800/DSCF7266.jpg
> 
> that building on the left looks scary.  is it abandoned?


I think it's not abandoned...I saw quite some of this kind of block of flats in Reni and Izmail and there were people living there...hno:


----------



## panda80

A village on the way to Bolhrad:










Buildings are quite far from the road, there is enough space for enlarging it to 2+2 if this will be needed in the future. Now the traffic volume is pretty low. In this part of Ukraine I've seen just very few modern cars, this region being quite poor and rural.



















We enter Bolhrad. It's a town of only aprox. 16300 inhabitants, mostly bulgarians.


----------



## panda80

After Bolhrad, on the way to the border, which is just few kms away:




























The border control post is just ahead:


----------



## panda80

We are already in Moldova. I didn't took pictures from the border because it's prohibited.Unfortunately, there are still people with Kalashnikovs on these borders.










We are now on the bypass of Vulcanesti, a small town in the autonomous province of Gagauzia, Moldova:


----------



## panda80

A soviet worker's monument. There is a discussion about eliminating these kind of monuments in Moldova, as the country leaders are now very pro-western. Hope they will succeed in bringing the country closer and closer to EU.









Vulcanesti-Cahul road:


----------



## panda80

After a little rain:


----------



## panda80

We enter Cahul, a town with about 40000 inhabitants, close to the present day romanian state border:



















Inside Cahul:


----------



## panda80

Palance said:


> I suppose this is related to the Hungarian "Vám"?
> 
> Thanks you for your pictures. The small 'transit' part between Romania and Ukraine in the south (how long is it? I can hardly be more than 5 km) is interesting. This should cause a lot of delay in someone's trip, 2 borderposts in such a short range.


I don't know the word etimology, but these 2 words have a similar meaning.That part is about 2.3km long between the 2 moldavian checkposts. Indeed it's a nightmare to pass through these borders, it can take more than 2 hours, and not because the border crossing is congested, but because it takes a lot of time for a single car to pass.


----------



## Penn's Woods

panda80 said:


> The trip was done on 10th of April.
> 
> @ChrisZwolle
> 
> I don't have a general picture of Ukraine as I've been to only a small part of this huge country to european standards. But regarding this part of country, it looks somewhat like 1997 Romania. The roads are pretty poor and some block of flats in the towns look uninhabitable.Regarding village houses, they look like in the romanian region of Baragan, meaning they are poor, with no installations excepting electricity.
> The mentality of people seemed not to changed a lot since Soviet times, we were on the verge of being arrested because of not having a stamped paper at the border. We completed that paper, but we didn't know it must be stamped because nobody explained this to us. On that paper you must provide a real adress to where you are going in Ukraine. I asked the man at the border to tell us a street and a number in the town of Reni. They are not used with tourists, they looked at us as we were smugglers.
> In Romania a lot of things changed in the last years, our communist blocks of flats are rehabilitated thermally and aestethically, our national roads are better and better, we are building some motorways, we see more and more beautiful houses in the towns and villages, our old Dacia's are no more than a relic of the past. We have at least 3-4 malls and hypermarkets in every city of more than 120-130k inhabitants. We enjoy travelling freely in Europe and many of us been at least once in central or western part of it.
> I think now Moldova has a chance with this pro-western government, while Ukraine chose another direction at the last elections.


I still remember being in Munich in 1986, boarding a train for Salzburg. The train was continuing on to Budapest and Bucharest; it was one of the few trains that trip that was late - left about half an hour late, because there were lots of people getting on with enormous amounts of luggage. Couldn't help wondering whether it was Hungarians and Romanians who were rarely permitted to travel. Hope that's not offensive....


----------



## Surel

Unfortunatelly I did not make road pictures last summer on the trip comprising more than 5000 km of the European motorways and highways. The trip started in Friesland (NL) went through Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Wien, Budapest, Bukurest, Constanta (Romania, Black Sea) and back through Calafat, stripe of Bulgaria, Belegrad, Zagreb, Maribor, A9 in Austria, and back to NL.

The last posts made me think about it again. In general, comparing the pictures posted from Ukraine and the road quality in Romania. I must say, that we talk about different level. However we talk also about different level comparing road quality in Romania and e.g. Visegrad countries. The same goes when we compare the CE with e.g. The Netherlands.

Main difference is that the roads in Romania in many places were repaved, reconstructed, they are taken care for. In same places are roads in bad conditions, and in any case, they are rather crowded on the main transit routes, due to the lack of motorways. As I was afraid to drive Peugeot 206 to the shore of Black Sea before we went I may state now, that it should not pose bigger problems than sometimes more careful driving and loking for potholes in some sections. Sometimes you can be suprised, like a gravel road in the middle of Bucurest at the place where we took a hotel, but that is more due to the permanent reconstruction in many places. The country is in huge internal infrastructure debt (same as in Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism, just now being repaired in Czech and Slovak republic). One complaint would be about the quality of reconstruction sometimes. Fast work is not allways the best, and a newly paved road may surprise you with 15 cm hole in the middle of it. Thats just the drainage that could not be repaved, but was not put higher. You have to watch for this stuff (especially with small peugeot).

In general the country reminded me of situation in the 90s in the Czech republic. However the dynamics is I guess bigger. Few highlights. In Constanta I was to a shop that could serve as museum of how the shop worked when first people wanted to start their private grocery shop in 90s in CR but did not have in fact things to sell and clients to buy them. However on the suburbs I was to a hypermarket of the Makro/Metro type flooded with stuff. The car is the utmost important status thing for Romunians guys according to one guy that I talked with on coasy evening in one Casa house in Constanta. I can confirm that with my eyes. It seemed to me that there is more BMWs, Audis, VW, etc on the streets than in The Netherlands (but the Dutch don't really need to and don't do show off). However, no Porsches. And the garbage around the roads was immense, but that requires the people to understand the concept of freedom first and change their behavier. That what they do affects them anyway sooner or later. It was same in CR at first. And dogs of course, that's I guess local phenomena.

Overall it was very pleasent stay and I recommend it to anyone. I wouldnt be scared for burglary or so as it can happen anywhere. E.g. if you park with things stupidly in front of Tesco in Slovakia and leave it unatended for few hours, or in Amsterdam. Just be carefull and think first where you leave it. The problem is with campings as the concept as we know it from CE is I guess hugelly unknown in Romania and Bulgaria. However by the main roads are sooner or later some pensions where the price for room is around the price of camping in Austria. However the prices are rising.

If you consider a roadtrip to Romania I recommend it. For navigation use Nav & Go. It covers the country rather well. No problem in Bucurest whatsoever. Enjoy the transfagarassian .










One of few places where a bear on road caused actually a traffic jam. It was worth to wait and see.


----------



## Surel

I did only few pictures. In fact I started to read SSC after this trip. I recovered few pics from the trip.

After some time in Romania. The road goes from Oradea to Biaus if I remember. The gravel is a rest stop by the road. Sorry. I did not then make these pictures becaus of roads. Next time .









Somewhere at the start of Transfagarassian.









At it.









On the other side of Fagaras. The road goes on the top of the dam.









Road between Constanta and Cernavoda. Most reconsturcted transit roads look like this I guess.









The ferry at Calafat, following picture is the actuall ferry and from the ferry.



























Quite usual picture at certain times on some roads in Romania. This one is however from the road in Bulgaria. From Calafat towards Serbian borders.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Surel said:


> Quite usual picture at certain times on some roads in Romania. This one is however from the road in Bulgaria. From Calafat towards Serbian borders.


Netherlands


----------



## AlexisMD

panda80 said:


> That's all from my trip to Moldova&Ukraine. All in all an interesting trip, I never been before to Ukraine and to Moldova I've been only once, but about 15 years ago. We (me and some romanian forumers like LeClerk and Nebunul) intend to go to Chisinau this summer for a weekend trip. So more photos from moldavian roads and places in 2-3 months time.



I will be waiting for you If you need help or something else you can contact me. I will try to help


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ Thanks a lot. We'll get in touch before we go there.


----------



## Le Clerk

Now I'll post a road trip I took this last weekend. This is the route I managed to take pictures of:



This is part of the so-called E81 road which is one of the most trafficked roads in Romania because it is part of European Corridor IV. Currently there are works on different sections parallel to this E 81 road to build a motorway. The road in the pictures is E81 from near Sibiu all the way through the Olt Gorge to Pitesti where A1 motorway starts. 

So we start with E81 from about 20 km to Sibiu:


----------



## Le Clerk

E 81 on the road to Sibiu:


----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk

Aproaching Sibiu:

(on the right it's the airport)













































This is already in the city. Until late this year when the motorway by-pass will be hopefully completed, the traffic is still made through the city:


----------



## Le Clerk

Driving through the city:














































Exiting the city already:


----------



## Le Clerk

Now going towards the spectacular Olt Gorge:

(in the background you can see the snow-covered peaks of the Fagaras Massif)































































You can see here the motorway by-pass bridge:


----------



## Le Clerk

On the same road E81, going towards the Olt Gorge:















































This is a small town before entering the gorge:


----------



## Pastaie

Mă uitam pe pozele postate de panda şi apoi pe cele ale tale şi remarcam ce diferenţă e totuşi între România şi Moldova.

I was looking over the photos posted by panda and then on yours and I was remarking what a difference is though between Romania and Moldavia.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ I think the 2 countries had very different paths of development so it's kinda normal...


Moving on with the pictures. Still on the way to the gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk

Last village before the gorge:























































The little fortress looking over the gorge (exiting Transylvania):









Already in the gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk

In the gorge:

(you will get to see a lot of concrete walls and steel nets against the falling rocks from the mountains)



















For example, this rock wall is locked in steel nets to prevent rock falling:













































This is a small village in the gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk

Reserving post...


----------



## Le Clerk

Into the gorge:









































































You will see some sections of this road which are repaved and without marks on it. They are still to mark it:


----------



## Le Clerk

Again, freshly repaved road and without marks:




























A U/C rail tunnel in the rock 










You can see here some anti-rock nets as well:










A restaurant by the road:










An old rail bridge:










Entering further into the gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk

To be continued...


----------



## piotr71

>


Is it legal to drive in the way blue Dacia's driver does? I suppose, it is just a habit to let others overtake, typical for some countries(incl. Poland) with relatively low amount of dual carriageway. However, probably illegal as it is in Poland.

By the way, what is the name of that peak covered by snow? Could it be Varful Moldoveanu?



>


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ Yeap, it could be *Moldoveanul* and other neighboring peaks. It stays like that until July, and even then you can get to see the snow there. You can partly get there by the Transfagarasan alpine road and get to see snow even in August. I went there once in August and had a snow ball fight in short pants and t-shirts. 

PS: I can't see that pic you quoted there about the blue Dacia.


----------



## Le Clerk

On the left of the road is the Olt River: 





































Driving on through the gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk

You can see here how the road was cut through the mountain:






















































And again the steel nets locking the rocky wall to prevent rock falling onto the road:



























To be continued...


----------



## panda80

piotr71 said:


> By the way, what is the name of that peak covered by snow? Could it be Varful Moldoveanu?


No, it's not Moldoveanu peak, but Suru peak, which height is 2283m. It's the first real peak of the Fagaras mountain looking from the Olt Gorge. Moldoveanu (2544m) is pretty far from there, and cannot be seen from the north as it lies behind Vistea Mare peak (2527m).

@LeClerk
Very nice pictures! Keep them coming...


----------



## panda80

Le Clerk said:


> PS: I can't see that pic you quoted there about the blue Dacia.


I think Piotr was reffering to picture 3 in post 309. Yes it' s quite common on 2*(1+1/2) roads for the slow vehicles to move on the right lane, which is normally an emergency lane, when a faster car is approaching from behind. It' s not legal, but it's tolerated by the police. I haven't heard of anyone getting fined for driving on the emergency lane on such a road. This is very good, because it increases road capacity.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ Thanks. Yep, that's right!

PS: I'll try to post this evening the section between Valcea and Pitesti, where they started repaving the road with fresh asphalt on large sections after the damages brought to the road by the large snow falls this winter.


----------



## piotr71

panda80 said:


> I think Piotr was reffering to picture 3 in post 309. Yes it' s quite common on 2*(1+1/2) roads for the slow vehicles to move on the right lane, which is normally an emergency lane, when a faster car is approaching from behind. It' s not legal, but it's tolerated by the police. I haven't heard of anyone getting fined for driving on the emergency lane on such a road. This is very good, because it increases road capacity.


Yes, this is the picture I meant. The answer is fair enough, thanks.



Le Clerk said:


> ^^ Thanks. Yep, that's right!
> 
> PS: I'll try to post this evening the section between Valcea and Pitesti, where they started repaving the road with fresh asphalt on large sections after the damages brought to the road by the large snow falls this winter.


The quality of surface on this road is pretty good, so far. Mostly very good, I would say. On previously posted pictures by Panda80 I have not noticed any particular issues with the surface of Romanian roads.


----------



## Le Clerk

^^ Yeap, but there is a section further down which I will post hopefully soon where the huge amounts of snow this winter led to a rapid deterioration of the road surface. They are repaving those sections now.


----------



## zsimi80

HUNGARY

Budapest->Eger->Szilvásvárad->Eger->Noszvaj->Budapest











My photos:






































Some license plates are photoshopped.


----------



## ionutzyankoo

How come you have so many fake numbers?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Fake or customized?


----------



## PLH

Photoshopped?


----------



## Le Clerk

After this beautiful pictures from Hungary, I'll continue with my roadtrip through the Olt Gorge:














































Here you can see already some sections with fresh asphalt (they still need to mark it though):


----------



## zsimi80

ChrisZwolle said:


> Fake or customized?


Photoshopped.


----------



## Le Clerk

Here you can see some bad asphalt:



















Some more steel nets:


----------



## Le Clerk

This is an old monastery from the 14th century:




















Steadily exiting the gorge (this is a small town called Calimanesti):


----------



## ChrisZwolle

gorge-ous!


----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk

Already exited the Olt Gorge:


----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk

Aproaching Valcea city:


----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk

Out of Valcea (via the by-pass road) and towards Pitesti:


----------



## Le Clerk




----------



## Le Clerk

You can see here some sections with fresh asphalt:



















































































To be continued...


----------



## Qtya

*Part I.*

Great pix Le Clerk and Zsimi80!

I made a little trip around the country this weekend too... It's pretty long, with lot's of pix, but I'll post it anyway...

Here's the map...



Driving towards Lake Balaton on M7...



Basterds... 







Exiting M7 before Balatonvilágos, and heading towards Veszprém on Main roads 71, 710, 72 and 8...









































New junction and overpass is being built at the intersection of Main road 72 and 8...









Main road 8...







Bypassing Veszprém on Main road 8, and heading towards Körmend...









Road between the city of Veszprém and Tapolca...



























My goal... The Szent György hegy next to Tapolca...



Arriving to Tapolca...


----------



## Qtya

*Part II.*

Szent György-hegy...









Csobánc (másik tanuhegy)...





Packed up... 50Ls of the 100, high quality Hungarian wine...



More pix to come, as the weather started to turn bad...


----------



## Qtya

*Part III.*

Cruising through the country....











Hungarian grey cattle...



























:cheers: Former greek village in Balatonfüred...


----------



## Qtya

*Part IV.*



































Inland inundation in Central Hungary... To be more specific, at the new junction of Main road 61 and M6, just before Dunaföldvár...











Crossing the Danube at Dunaföldvár...


----------



## Qtya

*Part V.*









Good old József Stadler... 









Entering M5 at Kistelek...





















"That's all Folks!"


----------



## panda80

Is this that roadtrip with a very noble purpose, for buying wine? :lol: :cheers:


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Whoa that's a lot of pics


----------



## Des

@Hofburg: I drove part of your route in the other direction friday! 

I drove from Berlin to Brussels via Sopot, Poznan and Innsbruck...


----------



## hofburg

^^

OMG, that's a trip! but why so curvy?  I see you took Insbruck - Fussen road. One of my favourite. any photos?


----------



## I-275westcoastfl

My trip next week I can't wait!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...169114,-77.299805&spn=15.528742,27.993164&z=5


----------



## Attus

Hey, I suppose you should as Hofburg to loan his GPS because your trip plan is not really the most optimal way from Brussels to Berlin ;-)


Des said:


> @Hofburg: I drove part of your route in the other direction friday!
> 
> I drove from Berlin to Brussels via Sopot, Poznan and Innsbruck...


----------



## Des

Attus said:


> Hey, I suppose you should as Hofburg to loan his GPS because your trip plan is not really the most optimal way from Brussels to Berlin ;-)


Thanks, when I look at it it's kinda :nuts:


----------



## hofburg

hehe. how much time did you spend on the trip?


----------



## panda80

Now I will show you some photos from my trip to Turkey, between 8-15th of May. I used the following route: Bucharest-Giurgiu-Russe-Razgrad-Targovishte-Omurtag-Kotel-Yambol-Elhovo-Lesovo-Hamzabeyli-Edirne-Uzunkopru-Gelibolu-Lapseki-Canakkale-Can-Balikesir-Akhisar-Salihli-Denizli-Korkuteli-Antalya-Kundu resort.
I stayed a few days in a hotel in Kundu, then i returned home via the following places:
Antalya-Manavgat-Seydisehir-Konya-Aksaray-Nevsehir-Goreme (stayed there 2 nights, in the middle of Cappadocia) -Kirsehir-Kirikkale-Ankara-Istanbul (stayed 1 night there)-Edirne-Svilengrad-Harmanli-Haskovo-Simeonovgrad-Nova Zagora-Veliko Tarnovo-Russe-Bucharest.

Few impressions about roads in Turkey. This country has very good roads and many cities are linked by 2+2 directions separated highways. On all remaining 1+1 sections I travelled, there were enlargement works to 2+2. So you can easily drive 120km/h as there are very few inhabited places, and police seemed to be very friendly with tourists, not harrasing them at all. Also roads, excepting the big cities, are not very crowded.

Unfortunately I have photos only from some sections as I was the driver most of the time.

The first bunch of photos are from inside Antalya:


----------



## panda80

Exiting Antalya towards Manavgat and Konya, on D400:




























On D400:


----------



## panda80

Entering Serik, a suburb of 51100 inhabitants. Usually, in Turkey, they show the number of inhabitants (nufus) of the town and the altitude where it lies (rakim).








Intersection towards Belek, a famous seaside resort:



















On D400 towards Manavgat:


----------



## panda80

Near Manavgat. We took the bypass, unfortunately we didn't had time to visit the famous waterfall (selale):





































Bridge over Manavgat river:


----------



## panda80

We took the road to Konya, D695:



















The road is very spectacular passing through Taurus (Toros) mountains. The highest point is Alacabel pass, over 1800 m a.s.l. Usually, the road is 1+2:


----------



## panda80




----------



## Planen B

Quick question, maybe some locals or people who have done a similar route can advise  I have never driven in the US before (and it's not something I'm particularly concerned with), but for this holiday we've planned a small road trip to connect 2 of the cities we're visiting.

It's nothing impressive and we'd like to do a real road trip one day, but it's not gonna be this year :2cents:

The route is a slight detour, because I'd like to see something more than just I-15. We expect to leave by about 9:00 and arrive around dinner time, say 19:00, at the latest (which is perfectbly possible, but just so you know what kind of time we want to be spending max incl. rest stops). Is there another route you'd recommend as far as seeing some more of the scenery on the way than just I-15 (or is I-15 actually the more scenic route), or is this a nice route? Are there enough gas stations alongside of it (with toilets) etc.?

We'll also be bringing food and water with us, but it could be nice to stop somewhere halfway, say Barstow, CA, and have a fresh bite and some leg stretching. How safe is it to leave the car unattended for 30 mins or so, maybe even in sight?


----------



## Verso

panda80 said:


> Now I will show you some photos from my trip to Turkey, between 8-15th of May. I used the following route: Bucharest-Giurgiu-Russe-Razgrad-Targovishte-Omurtag-Kotel-Yambol-Elhovo-Lesovo-Hamzabeyli-Edirne-Uzunkopru-Gelibolu-Lapseki-Canakkale-Can-Balikesir-Akhisar-Salihli-Denizli-Korkuteli-Antalya-Kundu resort.
> I stayed a few days in a hotel in Kundu, then i returned home via the following places:
> Antalya-Manavgat-Seydisehir-Konya-Aksaray-Nevsehir-Goreme (stayed there 2 nights, in the middle of Cappadocia) -Kirsehir-Kirikkale-Ankara-Istanbul (stayed 1 night there)-Edirne-Svilengrad-Harmanli-Haskovo-Simeonovgrad-Nova Zagora-Veliko Tarnovo-Russe-Bucharest.


Could you show it on a map? D695 looks great.


----------



## geogregor

Planen B said:


> Quick question, maybe some locals or people who have done a similar route can advise  I have never driven in the US before (and it's not something I'm particularly concerned with), but for this holiday we've planned a small road trip to connect 2 of the cities we're visiting.
> 
> It's nothing impressive and we'd like to do a real road trip one day, but it's not gonna be this year :2cents:
> 
> The route is a slight detour, because I'd like to see something more than just I-15. We expect to leave by about 9:00 and arrive around dinner time, say 19:00, at the latest (which is perfectbly possible, but just so you know what kind of time we want to be spending max incl. rest stops). Is there another route you'd recommend as far as seeing some more of the scenery on the way than just I-15 (or is I-15 actually the more scenic route), or is this a nice route? Are there enough gas stations alongside of it (with toilets) etc.?
> 
> We'll also be bringing food and water with us, but it could be nice to stop somewhere halfway, say Barstow, CA, and have a fresh bite and some leg stretching. How safe is it to leave the car unattended for 30 mins or so, maybe even in sight?


I drove most of the roads you plan to drive. The bit from Temecula to Palm Springs is really scenic. Especially descent just before Palm Springs.
From Barstow to Las Vegas there isn't really alternative to I-15. And interstate itself is quite scenic. I love roads crossing deserts. 
You shouldn't have trouble with finding gas stations or places to eat. Barstow is major service center between LA and LV. There are few gas stations and fast food joints to choose from.

What do you mean by leaving car? If you lock it there shouldn't be a problem, just don't leave anything valuable in plain sight. Hide it in the booth.


----------



## Planen B

^^ Yes, it was more about the part between SD and Barstow, don't really feel like going through urban landscapes on a highway when we could be seeing desert scenes  It's good to hear it was a nice ride!

By leaving the car unattended I mean, let's say we have lunch at a (roadside) (fast food) restaurant, and leave it in a parking lot for 30 minutes, locked, with all obvious stuff with us (passports, money, everything), but luggage (clothes) still in it. There's always a risk it gets taken obviously, but I just wanted to know if there's any areas where that risk is particularly high


----------



## panda80

The route from Antalya to Konya:


----------



## panda80

We are getting closer to Konya. 145 is a small distance to turkish standards:




























Very nice mountain road:























































Near Seydisehir:


----------



## TohrAlkimista

My roadtrip one month ago:










1) *Pavia* - Milano - Lugano - Luzern - Basel - Karlsruhe - Frankfurt am Main (night stop) - Hannover - Hamburg (night stop) - Puttgarden (ferry) - *Copenhagen*

2) Copenhagen - Malmö

3) *Malmö* - Copenhagen - Puttgarden - Lübeck - Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Würzburg - Stuttgart - Zürich - Zug - Luzern - Lugano - Milano - * Pavia *


----------



## panda80

Now some photos of some secondary roads in Cappadocia:














































Avanos-Kayseri road near Sultanhani palace:


















From Avanos to Goreme:


----------



## panda80

Road 54 goes to Kecskemet. We stay on 53:




























Dunafoldvar appears on distance signs:










We enter Kiskoros:


----------



## panda80

Now we are jumping to national road 8 between Veszprem and Kormend:










Very good road and not a lot of traffic. It was saturday, around noon.


----------



## panda80

In Kormend:



















Heading towards the border:




























A short 2+2 section:


----------



## panda80

Back on 1+1:














































Aproaching border crossing Rabafuzes-Heiligenkreuz:










The deserted buidings:










Inside Austria!


----------



## panda80

In Austria I stayed in a camping in the Klagenfurt area (Maltschach). It was raining all the way from Heiligenkreuz to Maltschach, so no photos from this area.
Next day I made a trip to Slovenia to visit Skocjanske and Postojna caves, which are indeed really spectacular.
I chose the following route: Klagenfurt-Loiblpass-Ljubljana-Postojna-Skocjan (using A2 and A1 in Slovenia) and back on the route Skocjan-Postojna-A1-Ljubljana-A2-Jesenice-Kranjska Gora-Tarvisio-Villach-Maltschach


----------



## panda80

Photos from Klagenfurt-Loiblpass section:





































Bridge over Drava near Ferlach:


----------



## panda80

The road is getting more and more spectacular as we climb Loibl:




























Entering Loibl tunnel:










We are inside Slovenia:


----------



## RKC

great report! i've been to postojna caves too, it really is unbelievable


----------



## panda80

RKC said:


> great report! i've been to postojna caves too, it really is unbelievable


Thanks!Yes, Postojna is really fantastic. You should also visit Skocjan caves, you will be surely impressed, there is an underground canyon of 90m height inside the cave. You pass on a bridge over the river, that is 45m under you. It should also be noted that the slovenes knows how to make tourism.


----------



## panda80

Continuing on our way to the caves:
Very nice road:



















We enter expressway:



















We join the motorway A2 in direction Ljubljana:


----------



## panda80

Driving down the autobahn A2:


----------



## panda80

Intersection with Ljubljana ringroad:




























A very photographed sign:


----------



## panda80

We continue on A1:










Distance sign:




























It's raining:










Close to Skocjan:


----------



## panda80

Next day, we've visited Venice but unfortunately I have no photos, as I was the driver of the day. We travelled through austrian A2, italian A23 and A4, towards Venice. Back I used a different route, in order to clinch some mountain passes in The Dolomites. So we went back from Venice on the more spectacular route: Venice-A27-Longarone-Forno di Zoldo-passo Forcella-Staulanza-Passo Giau-Cortina d'Ampezzo-Misurina-Dobiacco-Lienz-Spittal an der Drau-Villach-Maltschach. This was a great day, with Venice and the mountains in schedule.

Then, on 28th of September, we left the camping in Maltschach for a gasthof in Eben in Pongau. The route was fantastic, we travelled via Grossglocknerstrasse.


----------



## panda80

Near the camping, heading towards Ossiacher See:





































Nice straight line:


----------



## panda80

Already on national road 94, heading for Villach:


----------



## hofburg

nice report panda, interesting route for holidays. 



> slovenes knows how to make tourism.


yes and no. there are still lots of great places with tourism potential, but 'unused'.


----------



## panda80

hofburg said:


> nice report panda, interesting route for holidays.
> 
> 
> 
> yes and no. there are still lots of great places with tourism potential, but 'unused'.


Thank you 

I was impressed that at Skocjan and Postojna they gave us papers and informations about many other interesting tourist spots in the area. It seems to me like an integrated way of doing tourism, which is very good. However I was dissapointed when somebody told me there is no permanent guide at Divaca cave, which I heard it's also pretty impressive. You have to call someone to guide you if you want to see that cave.


----------



## panda80

Motorway ramp, we join A10:










On A10, Villach-Spittal section:




























Light traffic on the motorway:


----------



## panda80

Bau section:










We prepare to leave the motorway:




























A left exit:


----------



## Moravian

Thanks a lot for those pictures...Anyway, what could be interested on the road 311 (I do not consider wunderful landscape of the Alps....). The direction "Salzburg" there. Both directions (could) continue to this Mozarts birthplace! Both directions are right!:banana:

Anyway the B311 and this route via Bischofshofen is the clear "Austrian" connection Salzburg-Innsbruck without any neccesary to cross the Bavarian soil (motorway-alternative via Rosenheim: boarder crossings Walserberg-Kiefersfelden or shorter way via Bad Reichenhall: Walserberg-Steinpass). Nowadays there is "Schengen" - no need to take care about that....


----------



## panda80

Moravian said:


> Anyway the B311 and this route via Bischofshofen is the clear "Austrian" connection Salzburg-Innsbruck without any neccesary to cross the Bavarian soil (motorway-alternative via Rosenheim: boarder crossings Walserberg-Kiefersfelden or shorter way via Bad Reichenhall: Walserberg-Steinpass). Nowadays there is "Schengen" - no need to take care about that....


Thanks! Yes, this route is the only between Innsbruck and Salzburg which is entirely on austrian soil. However, now, with Schengen, I think no one uses this route to go from Innsbruck to Salzburg or Vienna.


----------



## panda80

A short expressway:


----------



## Moravian

panda80 said:


> Thanks! Yes, this route is the only between Innsbruck and Salzburg which is entirely on austrian soil. However, now, with Schengen, I think no one uses this route to go from Innsbruck to Salzburg or Vienna.


You are right. Nowadays, these troubles are over (it was the same issue for railroad connection). However before Schengen - for example for people from central and eastern Europe - this Bavaria-crossing was - from time to time - the tricky problem and time-wasting (with threath of the "Bischofshofen verdict" hno: from boarder authorities....).

That Bavaria-crossing - in German speaking countries - has been named as "Deutches Eck" (=German Corner).....


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## hofburg

311 is really nice alternative to the motorway trough germany.


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## panda80

We join A10:




























On A10, 12 km to our destination, Eben:


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## panda80

Our exit:



















We enter Eben:


----------



## BND

panda80 said:


>


new Tern-sign :banana:

anyway great photoreport! kay:


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## panda80

BND said:


> new Tern-sign :banana:
> 
> anyway great photoreport! kay:


Thank you :cheers:


----------



## cinxxx

Some pics from a roadtrip in Serbia in October this year

Timisoara - Vršac - Bela Crkva - Stara Palanka - Smederevo - Ram - Zatonje - Veliko Gradiste - Vinci - Golubac - Golubački grad - Donji Milanovac - Orsova - Moldova Noua - Oravita - Timisoara

Road map









Road to Moravita (Serbian border)


















Road to Vršac 


















In Vršac 









To Vršac Tower (nice lady helped us get to the right road)




































Back from Tower


















To Stara Palanka



























To Smederevo



























To Ram













































After Ram it got dark, we stayed over night in a nice pension near Veliko Gradiste


----------



## AlexisMD

nice roads in Serbia


----------



## cinxxx

Veliko Gradiste


















To Vinci









*In Derdap National Park*
To Golubac Fortress































































To Donji Milanovac


























































































To Iron Gates (border with Romania)













































To Orsova









Orsova


















To Moldova Noua




































U/C - 10 km/h



























after this it got to dark for any more photos, it's a pitty, because the road from Moldova Noua to Oravita was also nice, windy up and down forrest


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## panda80

Very nice trip!:cheers: Both roads in the Danube Gorge are really beautiful.


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## Magnus Brage

I always wanted to do a roadtrip to Continental Europe. sofar I have only been driving in Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Russia (St Petersburg)

*Denmark: *Fredrikshavn-Skagen and Fredrikshavn-Ålborg, Grenå-Kolding, Helsingör-Köge.

Traffic is more intense than in Sweden, on the E45 outside Kolding I felt rather insecure with the heavy traffic of cars and trucks at high speed in heavy rain. You don't see that kind of traffic in Sweden ever, not even in Stockholm at rush hour.

*Estonia:* I drove Tallin-Narva, few service stations along the road (this was in 1998). At one gas station they sold all sorts of liquor but no motoroil.:nuts:

*Finland:* Almost the same type of light traffic and roads as in sweden, 

*Russia:* Drove Narva-St Petersburg and St Petersburg- Torfjanovka (finnish border)

Had some arguments with the GAI, they tried to rip me off, told me to pay fine because my car was dirty :lol:

This was also in 1998 but driving in Russia is still an adventure.


----------



## seem

I found a video from jurney to our coast of "Slovak sea" - Croatia, it is not really road trip but just a video from holiday..

670 km - http://goo.gl/maps/JL1a 

I love this country. :cheers:


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## Verso

*Australia*

Here are a few photos I recently made in Australia on my trip by campervan from Cairns to Melbourne (4,485 km with side roads). Most of them are from the Bruce Highway (A1) between Cairns and Brisbane. Unfortunately I don't have photos from the tropical part between Cairns and Townsville, because I was driving there, and no one else was willing to take photos, but I have photos from the subtropical and temperate parts from before Mackay to Maryborough (Maribor?), and some others.

This is how the Bruce Highway looks like most of the time.









It rains every 5 minutes in the wet season and there's usually strong wind.









There're dozens of annoying little railway crossings on the Bruce Hwy for sugar cane, which don't connect to any other railway. Imagine driving 100 km/h over them.









"Overtaking lane 300 m ahead" - there're a lot of possibilities to overtake on Australian 2-lane roads, even on isolated roads like the Bruce Hwy (which was surprisingly busy in my opinion).









Even after driving the whole day you think you got nowhere. Prepare for a lot of driving and a lot of nothing on this trip.









Now a few signs on an isolated road like this.



























Koalas! They're always on trees hardly visible, so I only saw them in a sanctuary.



























70 km to Marlborough (Marlboro?). I think this was the calmest part of the Bruce Hwy.


















:shifty:









"Driver fatigue crash zone next 160 km" - there was also a sign with 250 km.









There're a lot of overrun kangaroos on the Bruce Hwy. Driving a rented car at night is strictly prohibited, even at dusk. Once we couldn't find a camp (or a caravan park, as Aussies call them) until late dusk and it almost ended our trip as I almost hit two kangaroos, not to mention dozens of tortoises on the road. Very few people drive at night, almost all of them trucks, which are equipped with strong bumpers for kangaroos. Thriller.


















In Australia trucks overtake cars. Don't be surprised to see a truck doing 120 km/h - common sight.









"Fatigue zone - question - highest mountain in Queensland?" (no idea)









"Fatigue zone - answer - Mount Bartle Frere" (interesting)









"Fatigue zone - keep playing trivia - it may save your life" - interesting way of fighting fatigue.









Typical bridge - concrete and a bit narrower than the rest of the road. These creeks look so wild and ancient that I wouldn't be surprised to see a dinosaur there (but at least I saw a crocodile in one of them).


















Roadworks.



























Rain again.


















Floods are common in Queensland.









Rivers can get very wide - much more than that.









_to be continued..._


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## Verso

There're very few bypasses even on main roads; but at least they get 4 or 6 lanes.









Very close to the Tropic of Capricorn. Brisbane only appears on signs after Rockhampton (no Brisbane in Cairns or Townsville).









Not on the A1. Gladstone is home to the world's largest alumina plant (this is just a small part of it).









Back on the A1.


















The Bruce Hwy is ok (although a bit bumpy), but there're a lot of big potholes on it sometimes (and these ones are small). The asphalt is about 0.5-m-thick because of the harsh climate. Side roads can be horrible.


















More potholes...









19 km to my favorite Australian town (because it has a gas station).


















Luckily we only saw one slow vehicle hauling sugar cane (not like you can't overtake them any time).













































Australians are very prudent drivers, but they will try to overtake you until the very end of the overtaking lane.









I think this is the Sunshine Motorway north of Brisbane (no sunshine though). It's partly 2-laned!









Turn left for the Steve Irwin Way.









Toll bridge over the Brisbane River in Brisbane. I accidentally drove over it, so I had three days to pay for it at a gas station (we didn't have their toll device).









_to be continued..._


----------



## Verso

Pacific Motorway (M1). 917 km to Sydney.









8-lane Gold Coast Highway. Gold Coast (south of Brisbane) is the largest tourist center of Australia, hence a lot of traffic in summer.









Back to the Pacific Hwy.









Truck overtaking us - nothing out of ordinary.


















Approaching Sydney...


















Check out this cut!









Motorway/freeway sign - very rare in Australia.









Complicated interchange in Sydney.









I didn't see any signs for Melbourne in Sydney, only Canberra.









Famous Sydney Harbour Bridge (looking from the Opera).









Unusual color of signs.









Yellow isn't usual either. (roadworks perhaps?)









Bonus - turn left for Robin Hood.









That's it from the Land Down Under, hope you liked it.


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## hofburg

great report verso. australians think that people are dumb apparently. I don't like that kind of signs, where everything is written moreover, you feel like you have an IQ of a kangaroo.


----------



## hofburg

seem said:


> I found a video from jurney to our coast of "Slovak sea" - Croatia, it is not really road trip but just a video from holiday..
> 
> 670 km - http://goo.gl/maps/JL1a
> 
> I love this country. :cheers:


seem, map obviously doesn't match the video. there's a border crossing H/HR Gorican on the video, but on the map the route pass border crossing H/SLO.

furthermore, I don't like that route, it avoids Vienna and all the motorways in Austria, and slovenian vignette, so I don't see what's the point of taking all those hungarian normal roads instead of a motorway.


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## Verso

^^ Thanks. In Oz it's like in the US - a lot of text. But Australians are in no way dumb; they're by far the best people I've ever seen.


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## DanielFigFoz

Wow Verso! You are lucky!


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## Fuzzy Llama

Wow, that was astonishing roadtrip.

Those 'anti-fatigue' signs - very unusual, but I guess they are placed there for a reason...


----------



## PLH

Great trip! Do you remember anything from it apart from roads, Verso?


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## Verso

^ Of course! How could I forget things like the Great Barrier Reef, a tropical rainforest, great Australian cities, very rich flora and fauna .............  To stay on topic, here's a road in a camp (carapark). Bonus - kangaroos. 










They're everywhere. I even saw them eating grass on a football field in Rockhampton. I also touched and fed them in a sanctuary. Nice guys.


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## snowman159

Great pics, thank you! kay:
How long are you staying? Can't wait to see more.



Verso said:


> They're everywhere. I even saw them eating grass on a football field in Rockhampton. I also touched and fed them in a sanctuary. Nice guys.


Just be careful you don't run into him: :lol:






or him:


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## Verso

^^ LOL!



snowman159 said:


> How long are you staying?


I'm back. I was there for 3 weeks, of which 1 week by my relatives in Melbourne (including the Great Ocean Road and a trip to Bendigo) and 2 weeks to get from Cairns to Melbourne.



snowman159 said:


> Can't wait to see more.


Sorry, that's all I have. I was mostly driving (3,400 km), besides, I focused on the Bruce Highway, which is more isolated. But to be honest, the Princes Highway is even more beautiful (you drive a lot through forests), except it isn't (sub)tropical. It has even less traffic than the Bruce Hwy. By far the most touristic is the Great Ocean Road with its Apostles. Of shorter highways, the Kings Highway (Canberra - Batemans Bay) was quite spectacular with its hairpins crossing the Great Dividing Range. But the most spectacular would have to be the Kennedy Hwy NW of Cairns running through the Kuranda tropical rainforest, but I didn't drive there, because we took cablecar to Kuranda and returned by train. I only drove on the Captain Cook Hwy until the cablecar station. I also drove on the Hume Hwy (Sydney - Melbourne), but only between Sydney and the Federal Hwy for Canberra. If you wanna know more, just ask.


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## crazyknightsfan

hofburg said:


> great report verso. australians think that people are dumb apparently. I don't like that kind of signs, where everything is written moreover, you feel like you have an IQ of a kangaroo.


Unfortunately the majority (or at least a very very prevalent minority) of Australian drivers are dumb.


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## snowman159

Verso said:


> ^^ LOL!
> 
> I'm back. I was there for 3 weeks, of which 1 week by my relatives in Melbourne (including the Great Ocean Road and a trip to Bendigo) and 2 weeks to get from Cairns to Melbourne.


Great trip! I'm so jealous. 



Verso said:


> Sorry, that's all I have. I was mostly driving ...


I can relate, I'm usually the one who does all the driving. My passangers mostly think road pics are silly and refuse to take any. And for some strange reason they really hate it when I take pics WHILE driving. :lol:


----------



## Verso

^^ The thing is that even those few pics they're willing to take, are usually really bad. But anyway, I didn't go to Australia to take pics of roads, just a few of them to get the feeling. They're on Google Street View anyway (although the quality is really bad).


----------



## hofburg

snowman159 said:


> I can relate, I'm usually the one who does all the driving. My passangers mostly think road pics are silly and refuse to take any. And for some strange reason they really hate it when I take pics WHILE driving. :lol:





> The thing is that even those few pics they're willing to take, are usually really bad.


I couldn't agree more


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## Verso

It also has to be noted that the Bruce Hwy is often the only interesting thing to take pics of. :lol: There were days when we didn't see anything particularly interesting except for the highway and lush vegetation along it. Just driving all day...


----------



## invincible

Try the Hume Hwy all the way between Sydney and Melbourne. 800km of the most boring drive ever.

The Black Spur is a nice road to head down around Melbourne (less traffic than the Great Ocean Road!). Great daytrip location but tragically quite a lot of it has burned down in a bushfire.


Black Spur pre Bushfires by Thomas P. Naismith, on Flickr


----------



## Verso

^^ I only drove until the Healesville Sanctuary. I drove on the Kings Hwy where vegetation along the hairpins is very lush and very different from here (like tree ferns etc.).


----------



## Trilesy

hofburg said:


> great report verso. australians think that people are dumb apparently. I don't like that kind of signs, where everything is written moreover, you feel like you have an IQ of a kangaroo.


U.S. is the same way, everything is spelled out. You don't have to remember any weird signs, just read what it says. Simple enough. 

That's why when Americans come to Europe they have no clue what half of the sings mean.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

In the end of the day, it's what you like, which normally is what you're used to.


----------



## seem

Verso said:


> ^^ I only drove until the Healesville Sanctuary. I drove on the Kings Hwy where vegetation along the hairpins is very *lush* and very different from here (like tree ferns etc.).


Lush? Have you ever had a roadtrip (or whatever) in South West England or what..?


----------



## Verso

^^ I haven't been to England. Here is an example from the Kings Hwy, but the quality is bad, so it doesn't look as good as in reality.


----------



## panda80

I spend the New Year's Eve in the bulgarian ski resort of Pamporovo, and I took some photos of the road to Bucharest.
This is the route I took when going to Pamporovo: Bucharest-Giurgiu-Ruse-Byala-Veliko Tarnovo-Gurkovo-Yagoda-Stara Zagora-A1-Cirpan-Popovica-Asenovgrad-Chepelare-Pamporovo.
This is the route I took when going back to Romania: Pamporovo-Dospat-Batak-Peshtera-Stamboliyski-A1-Stara Zagora-Tulovo-Gurkovo-Veliko Tarnovo-Byala-Ruse-Bucharest
I have pictures only from the road back home.

So we start with some photos around Pamporovo, descending from the resort to the ethnographical village of Siroka Laka:


----------



## panda80

In the village of Stoykite, we have an intersection with a road going to Smolyan, the most important town in the oblast:










Entering Shiroka Laka:









Continuing down the road to Devin (NR166):



















Intersection with the road to the pictuoresque village of Beden:


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## TrueBulgarian

panda80 said:


> A small section without median. Probably prepared to be used by planes in a state of war? The motorway ends at the the start of this section and starts again after. There is a speed limit here of 90, and police was present.


Yeah, it was built as a wartime runway. There are a total of 12 such runways on the Bulgarian roads. Here is a list, given by blagun in the Bulgarian section:


blagun said:


> 12-те писти са:
> - писта „Соколаре" при Бяла Слатина;
> - писта „Межда - Скалица" при Ямбол;
> - писта „Поройна - Леново" при Пловдив;
> - писта „Младиново - Пъстрогор" при Свиленград;
> - писта „Криво поле - Малък извор" при Хасково;
> - писта "Усойка - Слатино" при Дупница;
> - писта „Мало Конаре - Цалапица" при Пловдив на автомагистрала „Тракия";
> - писта „Маноле" при Пловдив на автомагистрала „Тракия";
> - писта „Карналово - Петрич" при Благоевград;
> - писта „Мустрак - Райкова могила" при Свиленград;
> - писта „Млада гвардия" (АМ „Хемус")
> - писта „Ботевград" при Ботевград.
> (цитат от 24 часа: http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=603878)


The news from the last few weeks is that they would be putting in crash barriers etc. on both of Trakia's emergency runways. 
Anyway, thanks for the great pics and I hope you enjoyed your stay :cheers:


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## ChrisZwolle

How bad is pavement like this?


----------



## JloKyM

^^ It is not. This is my favourite part of the highway, because the cohesion of asphalt is superb. :cheers:

panda, unfortunately I can see only 3-4 of your pictures


----------



## TrueBulgarian

JloKyM said:


> ^^ It is not. This is my favourite part of the highway, because the cohesion of asphalt is superb. :cheers:
> 
> panda, unfortunately I can see only 3-4 of your pictures


There must be something wrong with your connection. I have no such problems  
This kind of pavement maybe more noisy and unpleasant for passengers but as Lokum said, the cohesion and the general stability of the car is better.


----------



## tanashubav

ChrisZwolle said:


> How bad is pavement like this?


It's actually noisier to travel on road with that surface cus there are little dots on the asphalt. However it's really hard and durable surface and that's how all Bulgarian motorways (and many national roads) were build 15 years ago. This section at the photo was opened in 1995 and is still in great condition I thought!


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## panda80

^^Yes, I confirm that such pavement is quite good, even if is noisier. Probably also the adherence of the car in case of snowy conditions is better.


----------



## snowman159

^^

somehow reminds me of Belgium (but of the good roads in Belgium)


----------



## panda80

Continuing with photos...

This is where Maritza motorway starts (now it ends just after less than 2km):










Nice motorway:



















Long straight line:










The motorway continues to Stara Zagora:










We intersect the road Stara Zagora-Plovdiv:


----------



## EEH

ChrisZwolle said:


> How bad is pavement like this?


It is really very durable, especially for heavy trucks, but the grip is much lower, because the friction surface between the tyre and the asphalt is lower. When wet, it is very slippery.


Nice trip report, panda! kay:


----------



## panda80

Small hills area:



















The motorway ends:





































We take the bypass of Stara Zagora:


----------



## panda80

On the bypass. It was foggy:










Still on Stara Zagora bypass:




























We take road nr. 5 to Ruse:


----------



## panda80

The road is 2+2 for quite a long stretch. We pass through Sredna Gora mountains:


----------



## rossiankov

Unfortunately, I have troubles seeing the pictures and cannot see any of them


----------



## cinxxx

rossiankov said:


> Unfortunately, I have troubles seeing the pictures and cannot see any of them


If I am right, I saw pictures are from server lh5.ggpht.com, so this should be Picasa Server, I had the same problem, that my pictures were not seen when I used Picasa, so I had to upload them to something else, I used imageshack, and problem disappeared.


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## rossiankov

I opened them with a different browser and it worked. Thanks anyway


----------



## panda80

We go to Tulovo. This road is a shortcut, to get to national road 6 faster:



















Already on national road 6, whih is of high quality:


----------



## panda80

Intersection with national road 55, which is now used for transit traffic between Romania and Turkey:










Republika pass is open:










In Gurkovo:










The road was rehabilitated in recent years and is of great quality:


----------



## panda80

2+1 on most uphill sections:




























The spa resort of Voneshta Voda:


----------



## panda80

Continuing to Veliko Tarnovo:























































After the intersection with national road 5, that comes from Gabrovo and Shipka pass, the road is 2+2:


----------



## PhirgataZFs1694

panda80 said:


> We go to Tulovo. This road is a shortcut, to get to national road 6 faster:


Thank GOD you didn't took IV-5007 shortcut near village of Yagoda as it happened to me.:lol: The road looked heavily meteor showered:lol: Anyway, building motorways and upgrading first and secondary roads are more important than a fourth class road.

BTW, magnificent report. You seem to know Bulgaria quite well.


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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx

Here we turn left


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## cinxxx

In background you can see Vrsac mountains









Road is not very good


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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx

Here we enter Caras-Severin county


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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx

Oravita


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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx

These are from the second day, from return, more snow ...


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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx




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## cinxxx

Hope I didn't bore you with to many pictures .


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## xrtn2

^^^^

Amazing !!!

SP 070 , Brazil




caco said:


> *Rodovia Carvalho Pinto (SP-70)*
> 
> 01. Rodovia Ayrton Senna nas proximidades do entroncamento com a Rodovia Carvalho Pinto.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 02. Entroncamento das rodovias Carvalho Pinto e Ayrton Senna, em Guararema.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 03.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 05.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 06.
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> 07.
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> 08.
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> 09.
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> 10.
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> 11. Entroncamento com a Rodovia Dom Pedro I (SP-65), em Jacareí.
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> 12.
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> 13. Viaduto de São Silvestre, em Jacareí, que possui mais de 80 metros de altura.
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> 15. Segundo conjunto de túneis, que é logo após o primeiro.
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> 18.
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> 19.
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> 21.
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> 22.
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> 23.
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> 24.
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> 25. Praça de pedágio de São José dos Campos.
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> 26.
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> 27. Frango Assado, em São José dos Campos, único posto de serviços em toda a extensão da rodovias. Notem que ele serve aos dois sentidos.
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> 30. Imediações do entroncamento com a Rodovia dos Tamoios (SP-99), com acesso ao Litoral Norte e São José dos Campos.
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> 31.
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> 32.
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> 33.
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> 34.
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> 35.
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> 36.
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> 37. Praça de pedágio de Caçapava.
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> 38.
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> 39.
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> 40.
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> 41. Local destinado à posto de serviço.
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> 42.
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> 43.
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> 44.
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> 45.
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> 50.
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> 51.
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> 52.
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> 58.
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> 59. Essas aí estavam a mais de 250 km/h.
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> 60.
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> 61.
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> 65.
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> 66.
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> 67.
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> 68.
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> 69.
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> 70. Entroncamento com a Rodovia dos Tamoios, em São José dos Campos.
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> 71.
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> 72.
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> 73.
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> 74.
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> 75.
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> 76.
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> 77. Praça de pedágio de São José dos Campos.
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> 78.
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> 79.
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> 80. Acesso à Rodovia Nilo Máximo (SP-77).
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> 81.
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> 82.
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> 83.
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> 84. Terceiro conjunto de túneis.
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> 85.
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> 86.
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> 87. Ponte sobre o Rio Paraíba e segundo conjunto de túneis.
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> 91. Viaduto de São Silvestre.
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> 93. Entroncamento com a Rodovia Dom Pedro I.
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> 94.
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> 95.
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> 96.
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> 97. Acesso à SP-66 (antiga SP-Rio), com acesso à Guararema.
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> 98.
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> 99.
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> 100.
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> 101.
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> 102.


----------



## Penn's Woods

^^Nice!

Retorno = u-turn?


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## g.spinoza

Are bicycles allowed or are they breaking the law?


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## ChrisZwolle

There are quite a few countries which do not specifically forbid bicycling on freeways.


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## EEH

Is it really as steep as it looks?


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## DanielFigFoz

Penn's Woods said:


> ^^Nice!
> 
> Retorno = u-turn?


Yes.

----

Those pictures from Brazil were very interesting, thanks!


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## xrtn2

EEH said:


> Is it really as steep as it looks?


yes


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## Czas na Żywiec

great photos cinxxx. nice scenery! it reminds me of the roads in the south of Poland.


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## malegi

The State of São Paulo has many great highways!

The SP-070 is a very good example!!


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## RKC

bloody hell, ayrton senna 49 kms 

must be a great drive with all those rolling hills and turns, and the scenery is amazing too!


----------



## vitinhooo

Roadtrip between São Paulo and Presidente Prudente(countryside of Sao Paulo state). Aprox. 560km of good roads! 




vitinhooo said:


> Vamos lá,
> 
> Essa semana aproveitei as férias e fui de Presidente Prudente(SP) à São Paulo por causa de alguns compromissos e também a passeio. Como fui sozinho, resolvi ir de ônibus, já que de carro não compensaria, pois são 557km mais os 12 pedágios do percurso. Na volta porém, por sorte, consegui uma carona de um amigo, e voltei de carro. Como durmi nos primeiros 250 quilômetros da viagem, deixei de fotografar a parte mais interessante da viagem, que é a chegada da Rodovia Castelo Branco à São Paulo  . Mas no km 277 da Castelo, saquei a câmera e fotografei o restante do percurso, com a finalidade de mostrar à vocês as rodovias que utilizei no caminho, as quais são todas concedidas à iniciativa privada.
> 
> Bom, vamos deixar de enrolação, e vamos logo as fotos. Ah, vou dividir o thread em 3 partes, pois são muitas fotos. A 2ª e a 3ª parte estarei postando o quanto antes.
> 
> *Editando
> 
> Parte II: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1180105
> Parte III: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1180521
> 
> Dados da viagem:
> 
> Percurso: 558 km
> Tempo: Cerca de 6 horas, somando a parada no Rodoserv Sorriso.
> Pedágios: 12
> Preço dos pedágios: R$ 64,55 (com base no site www.mapeia.com.br)
> Preço/km: R$0,11/km
> 
> Esse foi o trecho fotografado. Em amarelo é a Rodovia Raposo Tavares. Em lilás está o conjunto SP-327 e SP-225(que na verdade são 1 rodovia só, sem entrocamento entre elas, ficando a nomeclatura estabelecida apenas por uma questão de padrões) e em verde está a Rodovia Castelo Branco.
> 
> 
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> 
> Fotos:
> 
> 1- Rodovia Castelo Branco: um primor.
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> 2- Castelo: uma das melhores rodovias do Brasil.
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> 3- Castelo: subida.
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> 4- Era cerca de meio dia de domingo. A estrada estava completamente vazia neste trecho.
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> 5- Quilômetro 304, já estavamos próximo do fim da rodovia.
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> 6- Caminhões rumo a São Paulo, provavelmente.
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> 7- Tapetão. Neste trecho a Castelo Branco é administrada pela empresa SPVias.
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> 8- =)
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> 9- Final da Rodovia Castelo Branco, no km 315.
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> 10- Fim do trecho sob concessão SPVias.
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> 11- Sinalização impecável.
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> 12- Entramos rumo a Ourinhos.
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> 
> 13- Trevo de entroncamento com a Rodovia Eng. João Batista Cabral Rennó(SP-225). A SP-225 junto com a rodovia SP-327(Orlando Quagliato) formam o corredor que liga a rodovia Raposo Tavares a Rodovia Castelo Branco. É muito utilizada por quem vem de Ourinhos, Assis, Pres. Prudente e do norte/leste do Paraná e vai rumo a São Paulo.
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> 14- A Castelo passa aí em cima.
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> 15- Rodovia SP-225, sentido Ourinhos.
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> 
> 16- O Corredor Raposo Tavares(SP-270,SP-225 e SP-327) foi concedido recentemente à iniciativa privada(empresa CART). Vocês vão perceber muitos trechos recapeados e remendados, e também obras, nas fotos.
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> 17- Limite de 110 para carros. Na Castelo, o limite permitido é de 120km/h.
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> 18- Pedágio. O 1º do trecho administrado pela CART e o 7º da nossa viagem.
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> 19- Pista recapeda a pouco tempo. La em cima está o Graal Paloma.
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> 20- Graal Paloma, uma das melhores paradas da viagem.
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> 21- Faixas fresquinhas.
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> 22- Desce e sobe .
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> 23- Logo após o Paloma está o Graal Kafé. Um posto muito bom também!
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> 24- Mais de perto.
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> 
> 25- Depois desta curva a rodovia passa a se chamar Rodovia Orlando Quagliato(SP-327). A SP-225 é aquela láá na frente, e para acessá-la é necessario entrar no trevo que está logo à frente(não aparece na foto).
> 
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> 26- Obras pesadas na SP-327. A CART(empresa do grupo OAS) vem fazendo um bom trabalho na rodovia!
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> 27- Obras de recapeamento na rodovia. Em pleno domingo.
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> 28- Rapagem do asfalto. É o dinheiro do pedágio em ação.
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> 29- Visão geral.
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> 30- Asfalto bem irregular. O corredor Raposo Tavares ainda está bem distante do padrão Castelo Branco. Mas também foram só 2 anos de concessão.
> 
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> 
> 31- Curva para a esquerda. Reparem os remendos.
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> 32- Posto Cruzadão, logo ali.
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> 33- Paisagem. Lá no fundo vemos a cidade de Ourinhos.
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> 34- Pedágio adiante.
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> 
> 35- 2º pedágio do trecho administrado pela CART. Esse é o 8º da nossa "odisséia" :lol:
> 
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> 
> 36- Vista da estrada: essa rodovia tem um número expressivo de caminhões em circulação. A maioria deles segue rumo à Rodovia Castelo Branco.
> 
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> 37- Viaduto que dá acesso ao posto Cruzadão. Ele serve também de retorno e de acesso à estradas rurais.
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> 38- Posto Cruzadão. Boa opção de parada.
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> 
> Bom galera, vou tentar hospedar o resto das imagens, pode ser que demore um pouco pra upar todas. Tentarei postar o resto o mais rápido possível!





vitinhooo said:


> Parte I: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1180077
> 
> Continuando:
> 
> 39- Canaviais... Há muitas usinas nesta região.
> 
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> 40- Subida. Pista bastante remendada, porém "lisa".
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> 41- Ourinhos ali no cantinho.
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> 42- Entrada secundária de Ourinhos
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> 43- Polícia Militar Rodoviária
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> 
> 44- Baixada do Rio Turvo. Lá em cima acaba a Rodovia Orlando Quagliato. É lá que a SP-327 encontra a Raposo Tavares e a BR-153(Transbrasiliana).
> 
> 
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> 
> 45- Trevo (porco) da BR-153 com a agora Raposo Tavares. Espero que a CART e a concessionária da BR-153 dêem um jeito nisso.
> 
> 
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> 
> 46- Ainda no trevo. Aqui nesse trecho a BR-153 se funde com a SP-270(Raposo Tavares). Elas se separam no trevo inacabado logo à frente.
> 
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> 47- Transbordo da carga de cana-de-açúcar. Como disse, essa região abriga várias usinas de álcool e açucar.
> 
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> 
> 48- Trevo inacabado da BR-153 x Raposo Tavares. Aqui elas se separam e a BR-153 ruma para Jacarezinho, já no PR.
> 
> 
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> 
> 49- Pavimento tenebroso na saída do trevo inacabado. Aqui a CART reassume a rodovia. Estamos agora na Rodovia Raposo Tavares (SP-270)
> 
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> 
> 50- Limite de 110km/h para veículos leves e 90km/h para veículos pesados.
> 
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> 51- Trecho recém recapeado, lisinho. Reparem nas obras do outro lado(no sentido capital).
> 
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> 52- Lojas que prestam serviços as centenas de carretas que passam por aqui.
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> 53- Uma das raras curvas deste trecho.
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> 54-
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> 55- Retão. Estamos rumo a cidade de Presidente Prudente.
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> 56- Sobe e desce constante. A topografia desta rodovia é totalmente diferente da topografia da Rodovia Castelo Branco, já que os métodos construtivos utilizados foram totalmente diferentes.
> 
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> 
> 57- Milharal. A agricultura é muito forte no trecho entre Ourinhos e Assis. O solo da região é de alta qualidade, extremamente semelhante ao do norte do Paraná.
> 
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> 58- Canaviais derrubados.
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> 59- Desce, sobe, desce, sobe, desce, sobe...
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> 60- Retrovisor
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> 61- Pedágio adiante.
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> 62- Olha o bichão aí! Esse é o 3º do trecho administrado pela CART e o 9º desde de São Paulo.
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> 63- Pit-Stop para abastecer no Auto Posto Rota Sul.
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> 64- Retão interminável.
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> 65- Cidadezinha de Nova Alexandria. Acho que nem cidade é, deve ser um distrito.
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> 66- O Posto Alexandria está atrás destas palmeiras. É um posto muito bom.
> 
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> 67- Obras na Raposo. Essa "kombosa" é da CART.
> 
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> 68- Campos cultivados com não sei o quê.
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> 69- Legenda idem à da foto 59 :lol:
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> 70- Mais obras. Aqui chegamos à parar.
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> 71- Perímetro urbano de Assis. Aqui a rodovia está um cocô. Aqueles postes ali na frente são da base da Polícia Militar Rodoviária.
> 
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> 72- Base da PMR
> 
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> 73- Trevo da Rodovia Miguel Jurban. Aqui desembocam muitos carros vindos do norte do Paraná e de Londrina.
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> 74- Aeroporto de Assis.
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> 75- Este trecho, entre Assis e Maracaí, foi duplicado recentemente, às vesperas de a rodovia ser entrege à CART.
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> 76- Pedágio. O 4º do trecho administrado pela CART e o 10º de nossa viagem.
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> 77- Detalhe.
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> 78- Sem Parar
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> 
> Continua...
> 
> kay:





vitinhooo said:


> Parte I: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1180077
> Parte II: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1180105
> 
> Bom, aqui vou postar a 3ª e ultima leva de fotos que fiz da viagem. Dêem uma olhada nos 2 primeiros threads da viagem para ter uma noção melhor do trajeto
> 
> Ah, dei uma compactada no número de fotos, senão teria que fazer um 4º thread.
> 
> Continuando,
> 
> 79- Passamos pelo pedágio e seguimos viagem. Este trecho é entre Assis e a cidade de Maracaí, com cerca de 25km. Como disse, foi duplicado recentemente pelo Governo Estadual(terminou em 2008 se não me engano).
> 
> 
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> 80- Muitos canaviais na região. O tráfego é bem tranquilo, especialmente por se tratar de uma tarde de Domingo.
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> 
> 81- Trevo da cidade de Maracaí. Este trevo era em nível, mas com a duplicação foi modernizado. Ali na frente acaba a pista dupla.
> 
> 
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> 
> 82- Fim da pista dupla  . A estrada só volta a ser dupla daqui à uns 80km, um pouquinho antes do trevo de Taciba.
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> 83- Novo limite de velocidade, agora para a pista simples.
> 
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> 84- Canaviais. Este trecho(Maracaí-Tr. Taciba) tem previsão de ser duplicado entre 2011 e 2013. Vai dar trabalho!
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> 
> 85- Milharal/Canavial. Apesar de ser pista simples, e aparentar estar bem gasta, o pavimento é bom, possibilitando desenvolver velocidades acima de 120km/h.
> 
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> 86- Movimento.
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> 87- Esse posto abriga um SAU provisório da CART. Os postos de Serviço de Atendimento ao Usuário deverão ser erguidos na beira da rodovia, em locais apropriados. Só não sei o prazo para a CART fazer isso.
> 
> 
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> 88- Trevo em nível. Este trecho requer bastante atenção, já que a pista não é duplicada.
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> 89- Paisagem interiorana.
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> 90- Retão interminável.
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> 91- Bambuzais.
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> 92- Movimento.
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> 93- Viaduto da SP-457 Rod. Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes. Ali na frente está a Base da PMR e também outro pedágio. Neste entroncamento havia um grande posto de combustível, mas ele faliu.
> 
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> 94- Pedágio. O 5º do trecho administrado pela CART e o 11º de nossa viagem. Ah, no trecho da CART as motos também pagam(metade do valor cobrado aos carros).
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> 95- Baixadas e subidas intermináveis.
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> 96- Aqui já percorremos uns 35km desde o ultimo pedágio. E já tem outro logo à frente. São muito próximos um do outro. E foi neste local que há uns 5 anos atrás 2 ônibus da empresa Andorinha se chocaram de frente matando mais de 30 pessoas.
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> 97- Outro pedágio. O 6º do trecho administrado pela CART e o 12º e ultimo de nossa viagem.
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> 98- Daqui até Presidente Prudente, cerca de 25km, é tudo pista dupla. Logo ali na frente está o trevo de Taciba, da SP-483, que nos leva ao PR.
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> 99- Este trecho foi duplicado em 2003-2004 se não me engano. Por ser bastante movimentado, era local de muitas mortes, principalmente nos trevos de Taciba e Regente-Feijó, que eram em nível.
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> 100- Caminhões. Ali na frente está o trevo de Regente Feijó/Anhumas.
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> 101- Distrito Industrial de Regente Feijó. Muitas empresas de autopeças e serviços para caminhoneiros estão instaladas aí.
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> 102- Tapete.
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> 103- DI de Regente. Do lado esquerdo está o Aeroclube de Regente Feijó, que esse ano recebeu uma feira de aviação muito bacana.
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> 104- Skyline prudentino ao fundo. Estamos próximos!
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> 105- Saída 560 para a Rodovia Assis Chateaubriand SP-425, rumo à Oswaldo Cruz e SJRP. Aqui a SP-425 se funde com a SP-270.
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> 106- Outra base da PMR. São várias neste corredor Prudente-SP, conhecido como a Rota do Tráfico.
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> 107- Caminhão fumacento à frente. Saída para o Paraná via SP-425 ou se continuar na SP-270 chegamos à Presidente Epitácio(100km à frente) e ao MS. Fim da nossa longa viagem de cerca de 6 horas!
> 
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> 
> Espero que tenham gostado. Desculpe se o thread ficou muito pesado, coloquei as fotos em tamanho grande para todos os detalhes serem observados.
> 
> kay:


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## malegi

Nice pictures!


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## mmmartin

cinxxx said:


>


That's the village where the Karašovani Croats live? Shouldn't the signs be bilingual?


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## bogdymol

I am going to post some pictures from a roadtrip that I made in September last year. You will get to see roads from Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland.

This evening: pictures and videos from Arad, RO to Prague, CZ.

Untill I upload all the pictures I will show you some videos I made:

Budapest M0 south





M1 motorway - Hungary





HU/SK border + D2 Bratislava





Bratislava (SK) - Brno (CZ)





Brno - Prague part 1/2





Brno - Prague part 2/2


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## bogdymol

Arad, RO - Prague, CZ roadtrip pictures:

New section of M43 near Szeged, HU:




























There were some roadworks at the bridge over main road 5, so the traffic was diverted:




























Back on M43, taking right on M5, direction Budapest:


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## bogdymol

M5 motorway:










Roadworks 










Roadside rest area entrance. The signs warns you that there might be thieves:










Aproaching Budapest:










An accident on M5:




























Entering Budapest:


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## bogdymol

Taking the exit to M0 - south:









^^ this pictures was made while the car was stopped because of the congestion

M0 - as seen from the bridge over M5:










More roadworks:










M0 was pretty busy:










A train running paralel to M0:










3 lane M0 (to bad that one was closed):



















M0 expansion works:














































Approaching M1:










Taking the exit towards M1 - Gyor:


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## DanielFigFoz

Thank you all :cheers:


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## bogdymol

M1 motorway, direction Bratislava:





































Even more roadworks:










Running the wrong way on a motorway :lol:










Ecoduct:










Taking the M15 exist towards Bratislava:









^^I hope you like the sky. My girlfriend took this picture 

Approaching the Slovak border crossing:










Old Hungarian check-point:










Welcome to Slovakia:










Old Slovak check-point:










Slovak speed limits:










Approaching Bratislava:










D4 motorway overpass:










Entering 1415 m long Sitina Tunnel:










This was the first time I drove in a tunnel










Leaving Bratislava:


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## bogdymol

Heading towards Brno on D2:










More roadworks...










Entering Czech Republic:










Random police check. I wasn't stopped.










Czech speed limits:










Still on D2 (this time the Czech D2):










Approaching Brno:










Taking the exit to D1 - Prague:










D2 motorway entering Brno, seen from the D1 overpass:


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## bogdymol

D1 in Brno, direction Prague:



















Nice licence plate plate:
































































Approaching Prague:


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## bogdymol

Prague bypass wasn't opened yet:









^^Trucks were stopped.










Interesting motorway overpass:










Finally, Prague:



















Prague train station:


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## ChrisZwolle

Nice report! Thanks for posting. I noticed the quality of both Slovak D2 and Czech D1 isn't very good. Unfortunately, I've driven only the first 15 - 20 km of D1 outside of Praha. (guess where to...)


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## bogdymol

^^ Slovak was still quite fine, but the Czech D1 was pretty bad, especially at the return trip. There were some motorway stretches on which everyone was driving on the passing lane because the first lane was to bad.

Where did you go on D1?


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## Falusi

Nice pics!



bogdymol said:


> 3 lane M0 (to bad that one was closed):


Imo it isn't that bad, it could be even worse if it would be opened because during rush hour the ending of the 3rd lane and the re-merging would cause more congestion.
At least the speedlimit is 100km/h here.



bogdymol said:


>


Btw this situation can't happen any more (truck is overtaking) because of truck's total overtaking ban between 6.00AM and 22.00PM on all motorways and expressways.


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## Falusi

Chris did you drink some beer?


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## Surel

Great pictures and video. 

To comment on the D1 in CZ. Yes, it is not great ride and it needs totall reconstruction, the only worse motorway surface that I drove is on A18 in Poland in the first 70 km (only the direction from the German border) other side is superb. On the other side, it is not heavily congest even if some czechs would argue that it is, my experience tells me that there could be even more traffic and the road would still do.

Wouldnt it be stupid to reconstruct it only to do the widening 10 years later? So if reconstruction, than with widening, and according to me that can wait some years still. I would first build R35...


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## bogdymol

Surel said:


> Great pictures and video.
> 
> To comment on the D1 in CZ. Yes, it is not great ride and it needs totall reconstruction, the only worse motorway surface that I drove is on A18 in Poland in the first 70 km (only the direction from the German border) other side is superb. On the other side, it is not heavily congest even if some czechs would argue that it is, my experience tells me that there could be even more traffic and the road would still do.
> 
> Wouldnt it be stupid to reconstruct it only to do the widening 10 years later? So if reconstruction, than with widening, and according to me that can wait some years still. I would first build R35...


The main problem on D1 were the dilatation spaces between the concrete blocks that were making some noise in the car when passing over them. It wasn't that bad going towards Prague, but as I mentioned above, at the return trip for few km everyone was driving in the passing lane because of the road surface. That section should be reconstructed now, but the other ones could wait a for some time. 

Regarding the congestion, there was traffic but I don't think that D1 needs to be widened to 3 lanes right now. Maybe only few more km from Prague. On the uphill sections the hard shoulder became a slow lane for trucks, so there weren't problems.

More pics comming today from a trip across the Czech Republic.


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## cinxxx

*Great trip report bogdymol, can't wait for your next pics* :cheers:



mmmartin said:


> That's the village where the Karašovani Croats live? Shouldn't the signs be bilingual?


From wiki

According to the 2002 census in Romania, the population of Caraşova municipality comprises 84.60% Croats, 4.96% others (presumably declared Krashovani), 4.47% Roma, 4.41% Romanians, etc. [1]

http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1930

Most of the ethnic Krashovani declared themselves as Croats in this census, although in the past they mostly were declaring themselves as Krashovani.

The commune is officially bilingual, with both Romanian and Croatian being used as working languages on public signage and in administration, education and justice.

This map is also interesting:


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## bogdymol

I realised that I want to post many pictures from my trip, not only from the road, but also from the places I visited, so I made a new topic in the Romanian Travelogue sub-forum. I will publish the next parts of my trip there, so if you want to take a look just click *here*.


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## hofburg

thanks for great photos bogdymol. :cheers: entering Prague is amazing.


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## zsimi80

What do you think about quality of Hungarian motorways?


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## bogdymol

zsimi80 said:


> What do you think about quality of Hungarian motorways?


I'm very familiary with Hungarian motorways because I drove a lot on them. The asphalt is close quite perfect on most of the stretches.


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## cinxxx

zsimi80 said:


> What do you think about quality of Hungarian motorways?


I can also answer regarding M5 and M1. Very good quality! Bravo! kay:


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## Moravian

hofburg said:


> I took a few shots. In general, Germany has the worst motorways, France and Italy the best, Austria something in the middle. I mean, Germans are widening their A8 for a hundred years now, still haven't completed it. Driving culture is very low, speed limits unreasonable (old 4 lanes autobahn without hard shoulder without any limits, nice 2X3 with shoulders with 120 km/h...).
> 
> French A4 is one of the nicest motorways to drive, low traffic (almost lower then H4 in Slo!), smooth. Austria has bad pavement. Italy has very smooth motorways, with high fence, very safe, tunnels without speed limits.
> 
> Thanks a lot fot that attracting collection. Good job. IMO, the drive via A23.it Udine-Tarvisio - the motorway Alpi-Adria - is almost always an interesting experience. The wonderful landscape there - coming from the lowlands "suddenly) into the Alps (without any foothills), 17 tunnels, deep valleys with wide gravel riverbeds (something very special, I know there is special expression in Italian language for these riverbeds...).
> 
> Generally, the traffic volumes on A4.fr are not so high (sure not so in the section in Ille de France...). I suppose there is the clear impact of the quite expensive toll. I would expect that some lorries utilize the alternative route - and toll-free highway N4 etc.
> 
> The "Rhein-crossing" via Haguenau (from A5.de) might be the better choice as the (if you come from Karlsruhe) the crossing in Kehl/Strasbourg......


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## Penn's Woods

Don't mean to sound bitchy here, although maybe it can't be helped, but I see very little point in posting pictures that are so wide that you can only see parts of them at a time. Particularly if they are so...bandwidth-intense if that's the right term...that it takes the page five minutes to download and you can't do anything else on your computer while you wait.


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## cinxxx

To see large images, you can use the zoom option, it will make the content of the page smaller. I didn't have problems loading the pictures, maybe the bandwidth is good. But in the end, you are right, pictures could be 1024x768 format.

Great pictures BTW!
:cheers:


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## Penn's Woods

^^Thanks. Where *is* the zoom option?

And, yes, they are great pictures (Botev's I mean), as far as I could tell, and I should have said so.

Peace!


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## ChrisZwolle

Right. No offense, but the pictures are not of great quality (not really bad though), but they will likely show much better at 800 or 1024 px. I don't understand why people post tons of large size (1600+px) pictures of rather low quality.


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## cinxxx

Penn's Woods said:


> ^^Thanks. Where *is* the zoom option?
> 
> And, yes, they are great pictures (Botev's I mean), as far as I could tell, and I should have said so.
> 
> Peace!


Here are some links, depending on what browser you are using

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/23/how-to-zoom-in-firefox/
this should also work on IE and Chrome

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsvista/webzoom.aspx
http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=96810


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## Verso

Moravian said:


> deep valleys with wide gravel riverbeds (something very special, I know there is special expression in Italian language for these riverbeds...).


_Torrente_ (torrent)?



Penn's Woods said:


> Where *is* the zoom option?


Ctrl + mouse wheel.


That was a great trip, Botev1912.


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## x-type

Botev1912 said:


> http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo197/botev1912bg/USA/2009/San Francisco CA/DSC00953.jpg


why do people use that Lombard Street that much while they have much easier way to get down from Russian Hill just few hunderds of metres from it? why is ti opened for traffic at all?


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## ChrisZwolle

^^ Tourists of course


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## g.spinoza

Verso said:


> _Torrente_ (torrent)?
> .


I think the word is _greto_.


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## x-type

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Tourists of course


i thought so


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## Botev1912

ChrisZwolle said:


> Right. No offense, but the pictures are not of great quality (not really bad though), but they will likely show much better at 800 or 1024 px. I don't understand why people post tons of large size (1600+px) pictures of rather low quality.


The pictures are 1600x1200 on photobucket. They look zoomed in. That's why the quality looks low. I don't know how to reduce the resolution without having to upload them again. The pictures look good on the computer because they actually look smaller (take less space on the screen). Their original resolution is 4000x3000


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## hofburg

if you have 1080p screen, it's nice to look at 900p photos. of course for most screens 1024x768 is more suitable. I only leave photos taken with my phone on 900p, because there is no optical zoom, so roads are very small on them. Photos taken with camera with optical zoom 3x or +, I resize to 1024x768.



Moravian said:


> Thanks a lot fot that attracting collection. Good job. IMO, the drive via A23.it Udine-Tarvisio - the motorway Alpi-Adria - is almost always an interesting experience. The wonderful landscape there - coming from the lowlands "suddenly) into the Alps (without any foothills), 17 tunnels, deep valleys with wide gravel riverbeds (something very special, I know there is special expression in Italian language for these riverbeds...).
> 
> Generally, the traffic volumes on A4.fr are not so high (sure not so in the section in Ille de France...). I suppose there is the clear impact of the quite expensive toll. I would expect that some lorries utilize the alternative route - and toll-free highway N4 etc.
> 
> The "Rhein-crossing" via Haguenau (from A5.de) might be the better choice as the (if you come from Karlsruhe) the crossing in Kehl/Strasbourg......


A23 is really spectacular. I will take more photos with decent camera maybe once later.

Expensive toll could be the reason for low A4 traffic. this section at the begining of A4 had a lot of traffic, then just before péage, suddenly everybody took the exit on the map.  but, I prefer to pay for a better driving, then getting stuck in Germany, where everyone is on the motorway.

of course, it's a better choice, that's why I chose it.


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## Botev1912

ChrisZwolle said:


> Right. No offense, but the pictures are not of great quality (not really bad though), but they will likely show much better at 800 or 1024 px. I don't understand why people post tons of large size (1600+px) pictures of rather low quality.


OK Done! I just resized the pictures on the previous page 68. So anybody can go to the previous page and see the resized pictures


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## Moravian

g.spinoza said:


> I think the word is _greto_.


Well, I have heard about the italian expression "torrente" but there maybe be another expressions for that type of alpine rivers.


http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagliamento
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fella
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fella


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## g.spinoza

Moravian said:


> Well, I have heard about the italian expression "torrente" but there maybe be another expressions for that type of alpine rivers.


Torrente is just the equivalent of English "torrent", it says nothing about the riverbed. "Greto" refers specifically to the riverbed, which is stony and usually quite wide. "Il greto del torrente" means those specific kind of torrents' riverbeds.

EDIT: Possibly you're referring to Fiumara:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiumara_(idrografia)

I have to admit, though, that this expression is used almost exclusively in Southern Italy. I never heard a torrent or a river called "fiumara" in Central or Northern Italy.


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## Moravian

g.spinoza said:


> Torrente is just the equivalent of English "torrent", it says nothing about the riverbed. "Greto" refers specifically to the riverbed, which is stony and usually quite wide. "Il greto del torrente" means those specific kind of torrents' riverbeds.
> 
> EDIT: Possibly you're referring to Fiumara:
> http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiumara_(idrografia)
> 
> I have to admit, though, that this expression is used almost exclusively in Southern Italy. I never heard a torrent or a river called "fiumara" in Central or Northern Italy.


Thanks a lot for the explanation. I am referring to the following information (in German):

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrente_(Sturzbach)

These rivers are noted in Friulia-Giulia Venezia (in Alps) too.
The fact is that it is fascinating to observe both rivers - Tagliamento and Fella - when you drive on the A23. The tunnels are surely interesting too but one day I would like to enjoy that landscape from the highway SS13.

It is not only interesting motorway due to the attracting landscape. But the route of the A23 follows the track of the high-speed-railroad Pontebanna as well as the "ghost" old railroad Udine-Pontebba-Tarvisio could be observed there.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrovia_Pontebbana
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontebbana


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## Zagor666

Zagor666 said:


> As i notice the Austrians have changed Ljubljana with Slowenien,was that a idea of that right Kärnten Landeshauptmann Haider? :lol:


The old one :cheers:





Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## Verso

^^ Yes, Haider changed Ljubljana with Slowenien and Udine with Italien, because they "can't have signs in non-German languages", but strangely he only changed one sign, but left the other one (also with Ljubljana and Udine). I don't see a problem though.


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## Botev1912

From Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon and back to Seattle (6 September 2010) 174 miles (280 km) one way, 348 miles (560 km) both ways


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## Botev1912

from Seattle, Washington to Leavenworth, Washington (also known as the German city in Washington State) 109 miles (175 km) one way, 218 miles (351 km) both ways (September 2010). It's interesting how the climate on the other side of the mountain is completely different. It was 14 degrees Celsius (58F) and rainy in Seattle and 32C (90F) and sunny in Leavenworth.


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## bogdymol

^^ Nice landscapes and nice town


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## hofburg

nice copy I would say.  landscape suits.


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## Verso

Leavenworth... not very German name though.


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## bmanx06

Verso said:


> Leavenworth... not very German name though.


The Bavarian façade was developed later for tourism purposes.


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## xrtn2

Mega road thread in Brazil

Ponto do parana to Ponta grossa



Manezinho said:


> Após uma longa noitada na bela Ilha do Mel, é vez de colocar o pé na estrada novamente para mais uma aventura pelo Paraná. Agora vamos para Ponta Grossa, coletar fósseis em um sítio paleontológico em meio a cidade. A viagem é longa, as paisagens das mais variadas e algumas cidades darão as caras pelo caminho. Vamos descobrir quais? :cheers:
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----------



## DanielFigFoz

Nice picures! Portugal has the same chevrons as Brazil


----------



## Penn's Woods

Off-topic, but I caught a sign in one of those Leavenworth pictures for an Amtrak station. (I guess it's on the Seattle-Chicago line?) And yet there are cities as large as Nashville and Columbus that haven't seen a passenger train in years. hno:

Those Brazil pictures are gorgeous. I want to go there *now*. Or maybe during the Northern Hemisphere winter.


----------



## tompaw

*Krakow - London*

Many times in the past I was driving between Krakow and London and I always took the same route: A4 PL - Berlin - A2 DE - Antwerpen - Calais. It's pretty nice, motorways only, but has one big disadvantage: IT'S BORING AND FLAT.

So this time I decided to go through Leipzig, as per ViaMichelin advice:

http://tompaw.pl/ViaMichelin.pdf

Is the route OK? Also, instead of driving for 10h straight I am considering splitting the journey in two, staying somewhere for bed&beer. Anything interesting somewhere between Middle Germany and Calais?  (I love town centres, more crowdy the better)

Thanks in advance!


----------



## geogregor

tompaw said:


> Many times in the past I was driving between Krakow and London and I always took the same route: A4 PL - Berlin - A2 DE - Antwerpen - Calais. It's pretty nice, motorways only, but has one big disadvantage: IT'S BORING AND FLAT.
> 
> So this time I decided to go through Leipzig, as per ViaMichelin advice:
> 
> http://tompaw.pl/ViaMichelin.pdf
> 
> Is the route OK? Also, instead of driving for 10h straight I am considering splitting the journey in two, staying somewhere for bed&beer. Anything interesting somewhere between Middle Germany and Calais?  (I love town centres, more crowdy the better)
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Cologne is quite nice.


----------



## Ni3lS

I'm pretty excited for my possible roadtrip to Croatia this summer. I'm leaving a tad later than my parents do because of work and stuff. My sister will join me and we'll meet up with my parents somewhere in Europe. Thinking of the North Netherlands towards Cologne > Bonn > Koblenz > Stuttgart > Munich > Salzburg > A10 through Austria, later A11 down to Ljubljana > Zagreb > Rijeka > Trieste > Venice [never been there, want to see it] > Verona > Innsbruck > Ulm and Stuttgart > Back up.

Doubt that this is going to be my route since there are always going to be changes but hopefully it will be something similar. There's also a possibility that we might go to France instead [via South Germany, the only place that we have a reservation for, 8 days]. I'll see, it's gonna be awesome for sure


----------



## hofburg

good choice


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## Fuzzy Llama

Ni3lS said:


> [..] Zagreb > Rijeka > Trieste > [...]


Consider a little detour and go to the island of Krk. The moon-like landscape at the southern end is astonishing, let me post some pictures from my May trip:

(i apologize for the quality of some pics, but those were the best ones covering the overwhelming Krk experience  )


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## DanielFigFoz

How the hell do you pronounce Krk?


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## hofburg

R is a vocal replacement.


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## Ni3lS

Hmm. Really depends on what my parents are gonna do. Thanks for the suggestion though.


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## RKC

DanielFigFoz said:


> How the hell do you pronounce Krk?


http://hu.forvo.com/word/krk/

press the play on the one from zagreb


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## DanielFigFoz

^^ Thank you. To me that sounds like Kirk


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## RKC

It does, you just have to try and not say the "i". Otherwise, yes


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## DanielFigFoz

^^I'm not sure that I can do that, it doesn't have any vowels.

Hmm I want to post some pictures but I don't want to make page 70 too long


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## cinxxx

^^Yes, you could pronounce it, I can .
Split the pictures to 3/post and it will be OK.


----------



## mediar

*Bulgaria
Gabrovo - Varna ( Shumen )
19 June 2011*

Map:









Part 1:

We have just left Gabrovo. This part of the road was rehabilitated an year ago and it's still in perfect condition.









This is the beginning of Gabrovo's ring road, which goes at the junction to the left.


----------



## mediar

Part 2:


----------



## mediar

Part 3:










The road on the right leads to Dryanovo's monastery.



























We are entering the village of Dryanovo.


----------



## mediar

Part 4:



















You can see in the distance that the renovated section of the road ends near the sign marking the end of Dryanovo.









Even though this section hasn't been rehabilitated in the past 8 years, the asphalt is still in very good condition, without any holes and patchs.


----------



## mediar

Part 5:


----------



## mediar

Part 6:























































These bridges are part of the south interchange in Veliko Tarnovo, the biggest one in Bulgaria.


----------



## mediar

Part 7:


----------



## mediar

Part 8:














































We are entering the village of Sheremetya. In the middle of the village the road gets worse for a while, but it's going to be rehabilitated on the next two years.


----------



## mediar

Part 9:



















You can see the end of the section in bad condition.


----------



## mediar

Part 10:


----------



## mediar

Part 11:


----------



## mediar

Part 12:



















Shell Kyosevci.


----------



## mediar

Part 13:



















This bridge is part of the interchange, north of Omurtag.


----------



## mediar

Part 14:


----------



## mediar

Part 15:





































The road ahead goes north of Targovishte. But we are going to turn right and drive through the city.









Малко по-напред, в дясно, се намира заводът на Кока-кола.


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## mediar

Part 16:










We are following the signs for Varna.


----------



## mediar

Part 17:

This is the other end of Targovishte's ring road.


----------



## mediar

Part 18:










The restaurants at the northen side of Fisek artificial lake.


----------



## mediar

Part 19:

The road crossing near Belokopitovo, where the road from Varna devides into two directions - toward Ruse and toward Sofia.






















































Shumen, 5th kilometer.


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## mediar

Part 20:























































This is the second part of Hemus motorway, from Shumen to Varna. I haven't taken any more photos, since I have already taken quite a lot photos of this motorway.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Nice report, thanks for sharing!

This type of pavement cover is not used a lot in Europe to my recollection. I've seen it on some Danish motorways, but I can't recall seeing it anywhere else than in Bulgaria. It seems to be some kind of concrete stone chip pavement. I remember it as being rather noisy.


----------



## mediar

Yes and no. As you aready know, the kind of asphalt, used on our motorway sections that build before the 2000th year, has the same view and is noisier than the regular asphalt. But unlike it, the one used after that is somehow different, because it isn't noisier at all. There is no difference between the one on this photo and the regular asphalt, used on the other roads.


----------



## Penn's Woods

The images on the previous page aren't showing, just the little red X.


----------



## DanielFigFoz

If this cuts out halfway though like last time...

Today we are gonna follow the A286 out of Winchester

Part 1



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## DanielFigFoz

Part 2



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## Penn's Woods

^^_There'll always be an England
While there's a country lane...._


----------



## DanielFigFoz

^^ So true, its a bit big country lane though :lol:

Sorry, I went for a walk :lol:

The other parts are coming..


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Part 3

This village is called Cocking



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## DanielFigFoz

Part 4, this is Mishurst I believe



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Try and find the 50 sign on the right hand side :lol:



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## DanielFigFoz

Part 5 tommorow if I remember :lol:


----------



## pmalenkin

|| From VALLADOLID to REINOSA in Spain ||

Map here: http://maps.google.es/maps?saddr=Ca...dHebA_w&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=15&via=1,2&t=h&z=11


----------



## pmalenkin

Part 2:


----------



## pmalenkin

Part 3:


----------



## pmalenkin

|| From SANTANDER Airport to VALLADOLID ||

Map here: http://maps.google.es/maps?saddr=Ca...qIewIdVyS4_w&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=16&via=1,2&z=8


----------



## pmalenkin

Part 2:


----------



## pmalenkin

Part 3:


----------



## Penn's Woods

There are over 230 images on this page! I'll look at them after I've taken a nap (I'm home sick) while it loads [shakes head].


----------



## tonylondon

spain is a beauty


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## tonylondon

VERY GOOD PHOTOS THANKS FOR SHARING WITH US


----------



## Penn's Woods

DanielFigFoz said:


> Is "piloting" even a word? Or is it one of those American verbs like "keyboarding"?


"When two-thirds of the native speakers of a language call it a 'freight train,' it's a freight train, and the others are speaking a dialect."
- H.L. Mencken. 

1) Never heard "keyboarding."
2) Surely "piloting" has been in use since the days of sailing ships.
3) I'm not sure I'd use "driving" unless I was at the wheel. Although alternatives are either cumbersome ("gone by car") or ambiguous ("ridden," which suggests on horseback.)


----------



## DanielFigFoz

I have only ever heard the term "keyboarding" from American TV but that obviously doesn't mean that all Americans use it. I've never heard "piloting", if I was a pilot of an aeroplane I would say that I had flown as a pilot. I asked my father and he said that he's only heard the verb "piloting" in the circumstances of a person who works in a port and comes out to guide ships to their dock



g.spinoza said:


> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pilot
> 
> Since "to pilot" is a verb, I guess you can also say "piloting"


I guess so, but I've never heard it. In Portuguese it is a verb


----------



## Satyricon84

My roadtrip from Vimercate (Italy) to Pontresina (Switzerland)

Driving on the SS 36 (Lake Como and Spluga)



























Switzerland, driving on the Strada Cantonale 3



























Approaching to Maloja pass




































Driving next to the Lake Sils



























Strada Cantonale 29 near Pontresina









On the way to Celerina, Strada Cantonale 27









Going back home


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## DanielFigFoz

So beautiful


----------



## Agurv

beautiful pictures Satyr

Part of the reason I found this site is because I was googling road trips and this came up. Me and 2 of my friends are doing a road trip from Pittsburgh to the west coast and back

We've done some solid research its gonna be about 7,500 miles

Basically from Pittsburgh - South Dakota - Yellowstone- N. Nevada - N. Cali - San Fran - Yosemite - LA - Death Valley - LV - Grand Canyon - Colorado Springs - St Louis - Pittsburgh

3 week trip. Gonna be a lot of driving


----------



## Satyricon84

My roadtrip from Vimercate (Italy) to Bivio (Switzerland).

Strada Cantonale 3


















The street next to the Lake Sils









Approaching to the Julierpass













































Oops...wrong way 









Bivio from above









Going back home...again the Julierpass (Other side)


----------



## g.spinoza

This is the first part of my previously announced trip München-Trento via Garmisch. Due to the high number of pictures I will divide it into three parts: Germany, Austria, Italy.

So let's begin!

Due to misunderstanding with my human navigator, who took the pictures, the photoset begins at the Starnberg intersection between A95 and A952:









Exit Wolfratshausen:









Exit Seeshaupt:









Exit Penzberg-Iffeldorf:









Exit Sindelsdorf:









Exit Murnau and bridge over the Loisach:









Last exit, Eschenlohe. You can barely see the Karwendel mountains:


----------



## g.spinoza

Autobahn ends here:









and this is the first part of the Bundesstraße, before Oberau:









Works for the Oberau bypass (the so called Westumfahrung) have started:









I passed again there a couple of days ago and this part is already covered with asphalt:









Inside Oberau:









Beginning of Farchant bypass:









and its tunnel:


----------



## g.spinoza

Still on Farchant bypass, exit for Garmisch. Going straight we will go through Partenkirchen: 









inside Partenkirchen:









After Partenkirchen, road begins to climb:

















Approaching Austrian border:









and crossing it:









See you soon with the second part of the set, Austria!


----------



## Schwarzpunkt

Nice report and landscape, Spinoza kay:, I will wait the following.:cheers:
I know this road (E533), it's a good alternative from Muenchen to Innsbruck.


----------



## alserrod

A very simple trip... but first trip for her (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=82595133&postcount=887).

Zaragoza - Sos del Rey catolico, having lunch there and stopping on return at Sadaba to visit its castle

http://maps.google.es/maps?saddr=za...28twcgQ&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&vpsrc=6&z=9



Sos del Rey catolico takes its name because it was where king Fernando I de Aragon was born (grandfather of Charles V of Germany, part of Belgium and Netherland, all Spain, Napoli, Sicilia, Sardegna and half of America... and I suppose I miss some parts)


Sos del Rey catolico











Sadaba














Not a long trip for all of us... but being so "old"... a nice day considering these weather forecasts on the Ebro valley

http://www.aemet.es/en/eltiempo/prediccion/municipios/zaragoza-id50297


----------



## DanielFigFoz

Congratulations!


----------



## Suburbanist

*Mountain Pass last minute trip*

Me and a friend decided to go for a last-minute mountain pass road trip from Netherlands to the Alps. We're taking advantage of knock-out hotel prices after high season ended. It is a road trip with a friend who broke off with his ex-girlfriend and wants to wind down. He loves open/sparsely populated areas and side roads, but hates driving, so we're a perfect team to travel together (as I hate being in the passenger seat).

We depart tomorrow, come back Monday and will travel over the following road passes:

*tomorrow*
drive from home+
Fernpaß (probably at night)

*Saturday*
P. di Monte Giovo
P. del Romblo (Timmelsjoch)
Finternmünzpaß
P. dello Stelvio

*Sunday*
P. di Gavia
P. del Bernina
P. del Maloja
P. dello Spluga (Spügenpaß)
P. San Bernardino (we're not cheating by taking the tunnel)
P. del Lucomano (Lukmanierpaß)
Oberalpaß
Furkapaß

*Monday*
P. della Novena (Nufenenpaß)
P. San Gottardo (Gotthardpaß)
Sustenpass

+ drive back home

I can't get to get behind the wheel.


----------



## Alargule

So what car do you travel with?


----------



## bogdymol

Suburbanist said:


> Me and a friend decided to go for a last-minute mountain pass road trip from Netherlands to the Alps. We're taking advantage of knock-out hotel prices after high season ended. It is a road trip with a friend who broke off with his ex-girlfriend and wants to wind down. He loves open/sparsely populated areas and side roads, but hates driving, so we're a perfect team to travel together (as I hate being in the passenger seat).
> 
> We depart tomorrow, come back Monday and will travel over the following road passes:
> [...]


We will be waiting for pics and a map of your roadtrip. Have a safe journey!


----------



## ChrisZwolle

They don't use the ß in Switzerland by the way. In Austria it's the Fernpaß, but in Switzerland it's the Gotthardpass.


----------



## Suburbanist

ChrisZwolle said:


> They don't use the ß in Switzerland by the way. In Austria it's the Fernpaß, but in Switzerland it's the Gotthardpass.


:bash::bash::bash:

I always forget that. I'm hopeless in mixing D, A and CH about the use of ß. hno:


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## g.spinoza

^^ Swiss always wanting to be different hno:

Beware the Timmelsjoch, which is only open during daytime (until 8pm), but of course you already know that... and have a safe (and full of pictures) journey!


----------



## Suburbanist

bogdymol said:


> We will be waiting for pics and a map of your roadtrip. Have a safe journey!


Route in and out (mostly highways)









The mountain stuff


----------



## g.spinoza

Let's continue our journey from München to Trento via Garmisch!
We stopped at the German-Austrian border crossing in Scharnitz, so let's resume from there!

Part II - Austria

Immediately after the border there is the former customs area:









Exit Leutasch:









Around here is the highest point of this part (1200 m), near Seefeld in Tirol:









You can see the Inntal below, with a sort of divine light over Innsbruck and part of a rainbow:









Steep descent towards Innsbruck begins (16% for 2km):









Lots of Notweg (emergency escape ramps):









Almost down in the valley:


----------



## g.spinoza

In the valley, at last! Going straight towards Innsbruck/Brenner:









Never understood what is that tunnel on the side of the mountain:









In the Inntal Autobahn (A12):









Exit Innsbruck West:









Beginning of Brennerautobahn (A13) towards Bozen:









Tunnels (and roadworks) on the ramp towards A13:









A13 and Innsbruck Süd exit:


----------



## g.spinoza

Exit Zenzenhof:









Exit Igls/Patsch:









World-famous Europabrücke (Europe bridge):









On the bridge itself:









Tunnel before the toll booth:









Exit Schönberg and the killer curve before the toll booth (what were designers thinking of?):









Europabrücke toll booth:


----------



## g.spinoza

Exit Steinach/Mafrei:









Another (different) rainbow!









Ski slopes:









Roadworks near Gries am Brenner:









"Italian tolled motorway 2km". The Italian motorway begins at 2 km, but it isn't tolled for 18 more km:









From 3 to 2 lanes:









Entering Italy at Brennerpass (1370 m)









Stay tuned for the third and last part of the journey -- Italy!


----------



## bogdymol

:redx:


----------



## g.spinoza

I can't see them either... I don't know what I can do, the first part is showing fine...


----------



## bogdymol

^^ Right-click on the picture in Picasa and copy the URL, then paste it here. It should work that way.


----------



## g.spinoza

Can you see them now?


----------



## bogdymol

g.spinoza said:


> Can you see them now?


Yes, now they work. Great pics!



>


I had some technical problems with my car exactly in this place last winter hno:


----------



## g.spinoza

^^ Better here than later. A13 has no hard shoulder whatsoever.


----------



## bogdymol

g.spinoza said:


> ^^ Better here than later. A13 has no hard shoulder whatsoever.


I continued my way because anyway I was exiting at Schonberg thinking that it will be fine, but I stopped before that in a parking lot to see what's the problem. After giving the engine some high revs (5 - 6000 rot/min on a 1.5 diesel engine) in the parking lot it was good again. Imagine that I couldn't go faster than 60 km/h on that climb before the so-called engine repair.


----------



## Suburbanist

g.spinoza said:


> Beware the Timmelsjoch, which is only open during daytime (until 8pm), but of course you already know that... and have a safe (and full of pictures) journey!


Yes, and they have a € 14 toll


----------



## Schwarzpunkt

g.spinoza said:


> "Italian tolled motorway 2km". The Italian motorway begins at 2 km, but it isn't tolled for 18 more km:


Unfortunately the section Brennero - Vipiteno is not free. :2cents: Try to exit in Vipiteno / Sterzing, 100 m after the big toll barrier, you'll pay € 1.20


----------



## g.spinoza

^^ Yes but there are 2 more exits between Vipiteno and the pass... I guess exiting there is free.


----------



## Schwarzpunkt

g.spinoza said:


> Never understood what is that tunnel on the side of the mountain:


It's the railway Innsbruck - Seefeld - Germany. 
Here you can see his path.


----------



## Schwarzpunkt

g.spinoza said:


> ^^ Yes but there are 2 more exits between Vipiteno and the pass... I guess exiting there is free.


Yes, if you travel southwards these two exit are free, but northward in Vipiteno you'll pay the entire section Vipiteno - Brennero


----------



## cinxxx

Can you please explain me what those Notweg (emergency escape ramps) are for? 
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wdN_Xiu8Phc/Tku-Wt-RZVI/AAAAAAAAIWw/NbzK4C0bm5Y/s800/IMG_0536.JPG
Thanks.


----------



## Falusi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_truck_ramp


----------



## Schwarzpunkt

^^
I found a good explanation on wikipedia: :cheers:
"it's a traffic device that enables vehicles that are having braking problems to safely stop"
The full article here.

edit:
Falusi, we had the same idea, but I arrived too late:laugh:


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## Falusi

Exceptionally I was faster 

These things are quite good, the only ramp like this I saw on a czechian main road, more of these should exist in montainous areas


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## cinxxx

Thanks guys! I thought it to be something like this, but wanted to be sure.


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## g.spinoza

I have to tell you, at the end of that part of the road with steep descent, a very unsettling smell of burnt brakes spreads over...


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## Suburbanist

Most car drives grossly underestimate the power of using their car engines on lower gears as brake


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## g.spinoza

Since the (very smart) sysadmin here at work blocked all my data for some software upgrade (shouldn't this be done on weekends?), this is a good time to post the last part of my Tri-State trip -- Italy!

We left at Brennerpass, so that's where we resume our journey. First tunnels, few meters after the border:









and the landscape:









Toll gate at Vipiteno/Sterzing. On the right you can see the (now useless) escape ramp.









Roadworks just after the toll gate:









Artificial Isarco/Eisack lake near Fortezza/Franzenfeste:









Exit Val Pusteria/Pustertal:


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## g.spinoza

Tunnels near Gardena/Grodn:

























Beautiful landscape:









On of the (very long) viaducts in this part of the road. On the right you can see the National Road 12 with one of its tunnels:









Tunnels near Bolzano/Bozen:


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## g.spinoza

Characteristic church tower very close to the motorway:









Exit Bolzano Sud/Bozen Süd









Bye bye Alto Adige/Südtirol; welcome to Trentino!









Exit Trento Nord:









5 km from Trento sud, I stopped taking pictures because they were starting coming out of focus  :









Hope you enjoyed!


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## bogdymol

^^ Great pics from Brennerpass. I should do it on it's entire length one day (I've been on it only from Innsbruck to the first exit after Europabrucke). But now I have another (great) roadtrip planned...


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## g.spinoza

bogdymol said:


> ^^ Great pics from Brennerpass. I should do it on it's entire length one day (I've been on it only from Innsbruck to the first exit after Europabrucke). But now I have another (great) roadtrip planned...


There is one particular spot I love on Italian Brennerautobahn. Can't remember exactly where it is, somewhere between Affi and Verona I guess. It's a steep descent from where you can see the Padana Plain almost down to the river Po. Every time I drive there and see that landscape... I feel home.


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## Penn's Woods

I went through the Brenner on a train once, early on a June morning (had left Florence at something like 1:30 a.m., and slept until it started to get light out (except during a stop at Bologna). Beautiful.


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## hofburg

nice report Spinoza. kay: anybody knows why A22 has brown barriers?


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## g.spinoza

Penn's Woods said:


> I went through the Brenner on a train once, early on a June morning (had left Florence at something like 1:30 a.m., and slept until it started to get light out (except during a stop at Bologna). Beautiful.


I went by train once as well... it was August 11th 1999, the day of Central European solar eclipse... so basically half Italy was on that train. I could write a book about that particular trip 



hofburg said:


> nice report Spinoza. kay: anybody knows why A22 has brown barriers?


I read somewhere they are made of a special alloy created to better withstand atmospheric conditions, or something like that.

EDIT: This is the alloy they're made of: 
http://www.siderservizi.com/corten.htm

It's designed to rust only on a thin superficial layer, so that the rest is better protected.


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## ChrisZwolle

g.spinoza said:


> I went by train once as well... it was August 11th 1999, the day of Central European solar eclipse... so basically half Italy was on that train. I could write a book about that particular trip


I remember that day vividly. I was on vacation with my parents in Imst, and we decided to drive north into Germany to get a view of the eclipse. It was pouring rain the entire trip, and we eventually stopped in Landsberg am Lech. It was cloudy the whole time, except for the 15 minute timeframe during and around the eclipse. It was so amazing. A solar eclipse is really worth a 1000 km road trip in my opinion.


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## g.spinoza

^^ Same thing with me, we went - ironically - in Munich, and it was raining all the time except the exact length of the eclipse  800 km for me


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## BND

^^ I was at Lake Balaton (130 km from Budapest). The weather was nice back then


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## cinxxx

I was more lucky, the eclipse had it's total phase in my hometown, as you can see on the map above. It was raining also, and all cloudy, but on that time frame when it reached the total phase, the clouds left a blank space to see it. After that, all clouds dispersed and it was (half)sunny until the eclipse finished.
...sorry for off-topic...


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## DanielFigFoz

I was in my local park in London, and I think that it was a pretty good day, I remember that an Indian family gave us some special glasses


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## Botev1912

I was in Plovdiv in Bulgaria and I remember it was a hot and sunny day


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## cinxxx

I did this trip last weekend. I will try to post pictures here, but I have to make some selections first. It passes the 2 most tallest roads in Romania, Transfagarasan - 2042 m and Transalpina - 2,145m

Google Maps Link, just a little over 1000 km in total


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## Suburbanist

I'm in the middle of my Alpine Pass tour. However, we've got problems. Yesterday, the front plate of my rental fell of while I was driving near Mals. Now, I'm in Bormio and will have to include a detour to Orio Al Serio airport to exchange my car without front plate by a new one. It will be hopefully a fast operation so I'll still drive thourhg the Splügenpass later today.


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## Palance

ChrisZwolle said:


> I remember that day vividly. I was on vacation with my parents in Imst, and we decided to drive north into Germany to get a view of the eclipse. It was pouring rain the entire trip, and we eventually stopped in Landsberg am Lech. It was cloudy the whole time, except for the 15 minute timeframe during and around the eclipse. It was so amazing. A solar eclipse is really worth a 1000 km road trip in my opinion.


I drove to a village near Reims in France, that night (departed around midnight - arrived there 4 hours later). Fortunately, It was one of the few places in western-Europe where the eclipse was quite visible. The journey back home took me 12 (!) hourse instead of 4. I was not the only one  But a nice trip that day (via Antwerpen-Brussels-Charleroi to France)


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## Penn's Woods

I take it, from the chart in BND's post, that the reason I've never heard of this eclipse is that it was the middle of the night here? (And I'm way too far south - latitude 40?)


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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

By pmalenkin at 2011-10-02


*Bulgarian products*:










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## pmalenkin

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*
Spanish-French border:*










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## Verso

Great pics from Romania.


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## xrtn2

good immages


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## pmalenkin

Part 2: *France*










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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

Part 3: *Italy* (just few photos because we pass through the country at night)










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## pmalenkin

Part 4: *Slovenia*










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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

Part 5: *Croatia*










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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

Part 6: *Serbia*










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## xrtn2

Curitiba to Joinville Brazil​
By street view google


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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

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## pmalenkin

Part 7: *Bulgaria*










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## hofburg

wow, that was quite a trip!


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## pmalenkin

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*The End*


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## BND

nice trip! :cheers:


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## pmalenkin

^^ Köszönöm BND!


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## NordikNerd

A trip on a rural road at dawn (Länsväg 206) Sweden


Some guy is in a hurry

19.11 It's still bright outside


19.15 The new stretch of the national road 32 is in construction.



19.26 Now it's getting dark and I'm getting closer to the motorway.

E4: The motorway


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## NordikNerd

*Nordik Trip*

Roadtrip

Linköping (S)-Lubeck (D)

Countries: S,DK, D

Total distance: 687km
Time of journey: ca 10hours with several stops and ferries
Cost of petrol: 117 EUR
Cost of ferries: 110 EUR (it's expensive to live outside continental europe)

Don't forget the costs of the return trip !!


1.
1. by Joner1669, on Flickr
2.
3. by Joner1669, on Flickr
3.
E4 through Jönköping, S

P4101154 by Joner1669, on Flickr
Time to fill up
4.
P4101159 by Joner1669, on Flickr
Helsingborg-Helsingör 20 min ferry
5.
P4101181 by Joner1669, on Flickr
6.
P4101186 by Joner1669, on Flickr
E47 Copenhagen-Rödby
7.
1-Puttgarden by Joner1669, on Flickr

2 Puttgarden by Joner1669, on Flickr
8. Rödby-Puttgarden ferry
9. 
Puttgarden-Bordershop
10.
P4131384 by Joner1669, on Flickr
Approaching Lubeck


Herrentunnel toll cost 1,30 EUR

11.

Arrival


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## g.spinoza

I'm planning this roadtrip for next week:









Looks short because it is entirely in Italy, but it's more than 2400 km...


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## Luki_SL

^^I hope, you`ll take many photos from this trip


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## g.spinoza

^^I hope that as well, I have to convince my girlfriend... but on such a long journey, without anything else to do...


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## hofburg

DSC01241 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01242 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01233 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01237 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

Switzerland again

why all swiss motorways have to go trough cities?

DSC01250 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01252 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01252 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01252 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01265 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01272 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01259 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01261 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01259 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01261 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01256 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


DSC01257 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

DSC01278 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

nice railway bridge on A36 (France)


DSC01243 par d.hofburg, sur Flickr


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## hofburg

there are more photos here, this time in order

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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## Penn's Woods

hofburg said:


> there are more photos here, this time in order
> 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


Nice! I was about to say, nice photos but I can't figure out where you are!

:cheers:


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## hofburg

> going there
> https://maps.google.si/maps?saddr=Me...&via=1&t=m&z=6
> 
> return
> https://maps.google.si/maps?saddr=Me...&via=1&t=m&z=6


for particular photo, look at the signs. I'm too lazy to write


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## NordikNerd

*Scandinavian Roadtrip*

A Jules Verne Style Trip involving road, rail & sea but not Air Balloon. 

A roadtrip from Linköping, Sweden to Flensburg, Germany

700km of driving and a 4 hours ferry trip












*Swedish westcoast*

*Ferry in Varberg*

*Trucks waiting for the ferry*





*The "road" to continental Europe*


*Aboard the ferry to Grenå, DK*

*Continental breakfast*



*At sea*

*Time to exit the ferry.*

*Road 15, Djursland, DK*






*E45 at Århus*


*Rest area south of Århus*

*After Århus the weather became worse and so did my photos*
(it's always raining in Denmark)




*We parked our car at Flensburg railway station, free parking which is great
*
*Then we spend the night at a hostel in Flensburg.*




*The next day we changed the way of transportation, the journey continued on rail. *




*Eventually we reach the destination, this beautful City.*:cheers:


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## hofburg

NordikNerd said:


> A Jules Verne Style Trip involving road, rail & sea but not Air Balloon.


and not space gun and submarine


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## NordikNerd

hofburg said:


> and not space gun and submarine


Well I like all kinds of transport except flying. Car, Train, Bus, Bicycle, Boat, Moped.

The journey contined on the road again after returning from Prague.










In DK it was raining as usual.











*Kruså at the german/danish border.*

















*"The Little Belt bridge"*











*Entering the town of Assens pop 6000*


Östergade, Assens +13 C in late June.


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## NordikNerd

*The whole section Jönköping-Flensburg on video speed 4-16X*







*Next part of the scandinavian roadtrip: Assens-Odense*











*Assens, The House of Naval Officer Peter Willmoe*


*Leaving Assens*


*Kerte*





























*Refuel at the service station*


*Trucks on the road*




*Arrival in Odense, Vesterbro*


*Model of a tunnel at the danish railway museum*




*Visit at the danish railway museum*








*Driving in Central Odense*

*Driving in DK is quite easy, people drive safely and defensively. *T*he only difference between driving in Sweden and DK is that DK is more densely populated which means more traffic on rural roads.*


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## cinxxx

A nice trip report from Bucharest to Zagreb taken from the RO forum. It also involves a comparing of the "classic" route with a new one using the new bridge between RO and BG



alexxxxx said:


> Am avut de facut in weekendul care a trecut un drum cu masina la Zagreb, drum pe care-l fac de vreo 2 ori/an in ultimii ~4-5 ani.
> La dus traseul a fost "clasic", Bucuresti-Craiova-Severin-PDF1-pe malu' Dunarii la sarbi-Belgrad-Zagreb, google zice 985 de km, timp de mers vreo 13h in total.
> 
> La intors am zis sa incerc, de curiozitate, drumul prin Calafat si noul pod. Google zice cam aceiasi distanta, 1015 km, insa as merge ceva mai mult pe autostrada dintre Belgrad si Nis si astfel ar trebui sa economisesc, teoretic, ceva timp.
> 
> Ceea ce ne aduce la subiectul nostru, noul pod si posibilitatile pe care le deschide. Prin 2008-2009 cand am mers in Muntenegru de vreo 2 ori, ma gandeam ca ar fi fost ideal un pod la Calafat-Vidin, acest drum scutindu-mi cateva ore bune de ocol prin PDF1. Am zis sa vad si ce aduce nou pe ruta asta, Bucuresti-Belgrad-Zagreb-Europa.
> 
> Dinspre Belgrad, pe autostrada se merge pana la Paracin. Autostrada la sarbi e cu plata, se plateste civilizat si rapid cu cardul (nu cere pin sau alte balarii), costa vreo 3E/100 Km (estimare grosiera). In Croatia costa ceva mai mult, de la granita pana in Zagreb (~300Km) costa 121 de kune sau 16,3 E, la fel platibili cu cardul.
> 
> 
> 
> Apoi directia este Zaiețar, pe un drum impecabil si liber, o placere sa mergi pe el.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sarbilor nu le e frica de tuneluri.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Serbia semnalizarea e pe fundal galben, putin derutant.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gara Timoc
> 
> 
> 
> Dupa Zaiețar, drumul (cativa km) pana in vama e destul de prost insa si mai liber, aproape pustiu.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In vama sarba liniste si pace. Nimeni, nu exista ghereta, trebuie sa te duci sa-l cauti pe politist, foarte dragut dealtfel. Totul dureaza 2 minute.
> 
> 
> 
> La bulgari situatia identica, totul merge la fel de bine, dureaza cu 1 minut mai mult fiindca trebuie luata vigneta (10 leva, 5 E) pt portiunea de vreo 30 km de la ei. E ghereta de vignete chiar inainte de vama. Liniste si pace. Aveam leve destule.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dupa vama drumul nu foarte bun, insa fara gropi si, cum ati ghicit, pustiu. Ma gandeam ca prind niste politisti la verificat vignete insa cred ca pur si simplu nu merita deranjul, traficul e aproape inexistent. Se ajunge foarte repede la Vidin, nu prea sunt localitati mai deloc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Centura Vidinului impecabila, iar podul spectaculos.
> 
> 
> 
> Calea ferata noua
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Statia de taxare. Vama aproximativ goala, nu mi s-a parut cine stie ce trafic (luni seara, pe la vreo 7). Ce-i drept, toate posturile de control functionau, poate de-aici si impresia.
> 
> 
> 
> Controlul de frontiera facut de bulgari, foarte prietenosi si totul a mers repede, 10 secunde cu totul. Taxa se plateste dupa controlul de frontiera la o ghereta bulgareasca, pe care scrie in bulgara si engleza. Am intrebat daca putem plati in lei si mi s-a spus ca nu, leve sau euro. Am platit in leva, 12 leve. Cred ca e mai mult efectul psihologic, fiindca la Ruse, unde ghereta de taxa pod e pe malul bulgaresc, n-am nici o problema cu faptul ca se accepta doar leva si euro. In cazul asta ma asteptam ca daca am trecut in Romania sa se accepte si lei. Not a big deal, insa...
> 
> Tarifele
> 
> 
> 
> Cativa km dupa pod povestea frumoasa continua
> 
> 
> 
> Insa este intrerupta destul de brutal. Drumul e cam praf. Fara gropi mari insa cu sleauri, merge cam 80 km/h.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> La un moment dat situatia se impute si mai rau
> 
> 
> 
> Erau ceva lucrari, insa timide. Pe tot parcursul am prins si ceva muncitori la lucru.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunt portiuni largite insa asfaltul de pe mijloc n-a fost schimbat si imbinarea nu e perfecta in nici un caz. Cam ciudat, oricum.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aproape de Craiova
> 
> 
> 
> In concluzie, ruta asta a constat in:
> 
> vreo ~30-45 minute economisite, estimare "la ochi"
> cost suplimentar: vreo 3 euro in plus la autostrada la sarbi, 5 euro vigneta bulgareasca si 6 euro podul. Rotunjit, vreo 15 euro. Plus ceva consum suplimentar de combustibil, insa necuantificabil.
> 
> Daca data viitoare cand merg la Belgrad/Zagreb aleg ruta asta? Poate, atunci cand Craiova-Calafat va fi refacut complet. Pana atunci nu merita banii in plus. Plus ca drumul pe partea sarbeasca a Dunarii este o placere absoluta de fiecare data cand il fac. Drumul e absolut gol pana pe la vreo ~40 de km de intrarea pe autostrada si ofera niste peisaje fantastice (am vazut multe peisaje prin lume si astea sunt realmente world class).
> 
> Doar cu cateva poze va plictisesc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sper ca "povestea" isi are locul aici.


----------



## hofburg

very neat roads in Danmark. why did you chose normal road instead of motorway?

@cinxxx where is located the road from 3rd photo?


----------



## cinxxx

hofburg said:


> @cinxxx where is located the road from 3rd photo?


It should be on this road --> http://goo.gl/maps/Ong6U


----------



## NordikNerd

hofburg said:


> very neat roads in Danmark. why did you chose normal road instead of motorway?


Well, the E45 was packed with trucks and it was raining heavilly. My wife didn't appreciate that, so we took another route. Also when on vacation it's interesting to drive through the towns and see what they look like. I saw Vejle and Åbenrå. Only because there is a motorway it doesn't mean that you must use it. I can understand if the daily commuters drive on the motorway, for them it's only a matter of reaching their destination as fast as possible.









*Part 3 of my Scandinavian Roadtrip
*

*Assens-Helsingör distance 235km*


*Cold waters of Denmark in late june.*







*Odense and the Great Belt Bridge*



*Rest Area
*



*Rest area along the E20 at Odense*




*It's raining *


*E20 at Slagelse
*

















*Road 14 at Ringsted*








*Soon in Roskilde*








*Roskilde*









*Helsingör Harbour*


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Old routes next to motorways in Denmark are often quite alright, they aren't as downgraded as they are in the Netherlands. I've driven parts of SR-170 and SR-161 which run parallel to E45 and E20 respectively. They are quite straight and sometimes wide with shoulders.


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle;104949do177 said:


> Old routes next to motorways in Denmark are often quite alright, they aren't as downgraded as they are in the Netherlands. I've driven parts of SR-170 and SR-161 which run parallel to E45 and E20 respectively. They are quite straight and sometimes wide with shoulders.


Which sort of downgrading do you refer to? Lowering the roads' administrative class or making technical changes?


----------



## ChrisZwolle

In the Netherlands, ''downgrading" means any measure to force traffic off a particular route. This includes physical changes to the road layout, such as chicanes, narrowing, lower speed limits, speed bumps, obstacles with alternating traffic flow, etcetera.


----------



## NordikNerd

*E6: Helsingborg-Falkenberg*











*Still raining*






*E6 outside Halmstad*
















*Looking out the window*











*Overtaking a bus on the E6. The yellow numbered exit signs were introduced some 10 years ago.*


*The weather is improving*


*Summertime is maintenance-time on the motorways, which can result in congestions.*






*Arrival at the camping*


----------



## hofburg

nice countryside


----------



## MattiG

ChrisZwolle said:


> In the Netherlands, ''downgrading" means any measure to force traffic off a particular route. This includes physical changes to the road layout, such as chicanes, narrowing, lower speed limits, speed bumps, obstacles with alternating traffic flow, etcetera.


Ok, the Dutch interpretation about downgrading is more or less equals to discouraging to use the old road.

In that context, I think Denmark and Finland have taken rather a similar approach: The old road remains as a regional road, and no major actions are taken to keep the traffic away. 

In Finland, the the main roads 1, 3, 4 and 7 have been (or will be) replaced by motorways up to 140-180 kilometes from Helsinki. The old roads are nowadays numbered 110, 130, 140 and 170 respectively. With some minor exceptions, the roads are currently in the same shape as when they were main roads.









_Downgrade action on the former 1/E18_


----------



## cinxxx

What is the reason for so heavy downgrading in NL?


----------



## NordikNerd

*Scandinavian Roadtrip - Final Part*





*Morup Church. We left the camping and drived towards Ullared.*


*Trucking Company along the road.*


*Road 154 to Ullared*








*Bad weather again*


*Ullared a budget shopping centre in the middle of nowhere*


*People from all over the country and from other nordic countries drive to Ullared for the shopping. *




*A +120.000EUR RV* 



*Lots of RV's and buses*


*The Parkinglot is usually full*


*Tourbus from Norway*


*Ullared has its own realityshow.* (but I don't watch it.)


*Time for lunch*


*The Cockpit of my Car.*


*Back on the road, this one is national road no 26*













*Refueling 55km south of Jönköping.*


*Road 40 West of Jönköping A 2+1 road with a great deal of traffic.*








*Onwards a steep section of the road 40 *


*Heavy truck on the move*













*At last some really slow congested traffic on the motorway*


----------



## Moravian

Fly trip to Adriatic Sea in Croatia:

Praha-Brno-Mikulov-Lednice-Breclav (CZ) -Austria-Balaton (Hungary) - Maribor (Slovenia) - Zagreb (HR) - Karlovac - Velebit - Primosten

Unfortunatelly reportage only in Czech language:

http://cestovani.idnes.cz/chorvatsk...orvatsko.aspx?c=A130703_220618_chorvatsko_jdv
Totally 41 pictures available there.

Video from Croatian coast:

http://video.idnes.cz/?c=A130703_220618_chorvatsko_jdv&idVideo=V130702_172645_tv-zpravy_Eli


----------



## piotr71

*Poland*

Hello! I went to buy some nice Hungarian wine...









Dk52 near Wadowice.









Former Dk52, 96, E7 and E462 going through Wadowice market place.


















Dk (National road) 28.






















































Dual carriageway part of so called "Zakopianka" - road infamous for its heavy traffic.



























We are heading towards former border crossing in Jurgów.









Tatra mountains in the back ground. By the way, have you ever heard about Zion Train? No? Anyway, they played on this field some 13-14 years ago.


----------



## piotr71

*Poland/Slovakia border.*


----------



## piotr71

*Slovakia.*




























Spisska Bela.









Kezmarok.



























Poprad.


















Towards Presov.









Such interesting architectural mixture would not be possible anywhere outside former communist block. 









For some unknown reasons I had not bought Slovak vignette yet, so had to follow I18.









Construction of D1.




































Beautiful town of Levoča.



























Spišský hrad, one of the largest medieval castle in Europe. This UNESCO site can be seen from D1.


















Castle again.


----------



## piotr71

*Slovakia.*

Approaching longest road's tunnel in Slovakia.































































Presov.









Older D1 stretch connecting Prešov and Košice.









R4 near Košice.


----------



## piotr71

*Slovakia - Lunik IX.*

Short circle around this horrible place. Apart from unpleasant look of Lunik IX, there is also incredibly strong, hard to describe, nostrils' irritating smell. People living there seemed to be rather curious than unfriendly, however, I wasn't plucky enough to jump of my rolling shelter and have a chat with them.








































































Will continue soon...


----------



## cinxxx

^^You're trip reminded me of my trip 3 months ago thorugh Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Didn't go to visit Lunik IX though


----------



## Moravian

piotr71 said:


> Hello! I went to buy some nice Hungarian wine...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Former Dk52, 96, E7 and E462 going through Wadowice market place.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nice to see the results of the reconstruction at main square in Wadowice. The old road is currently closed for buses and trucks.....


----------



## Proterra

That dual-carriageway bit on Zakopianka going up the hill from Chabówka isn't that bad, and neither is that bit in Rabka just after where the 7 splits of to Chyżne. The 7/47 intersection is however where the problems start going the other direction (and of course Zakopane-Szaflary and the road up Klikuszowa, but Zakopane-Szaflary doesn't apply to me, and the road up to Klikuszowa is not often delayed more than 10 minutes, unless there's an accident), if you're unlucky it can sometimes take up to one hour going from Rabka to Lubień...

Alternatively, leave DK 47 in Rdzawka at the Statoil, go down the road through Rdzawka into Rabka, go through Rabka to the 28 and from there turn right at the new roundabout towards Mszana. At Mszana, turn left towards Lubień and go on the highway there. This takes about 35 minutes - but it will always take about 35 minutes, so when Zakopianka is clogged with vehicles carrying W* ***** registrations, it will be much faster.

Oh, and the house of my fiancee's parents can be seen on one of your pictures...


----------



## piotr71

*Hungary/Slovakia border, Tisza lake and Puszta.*



















Advanced roadworks on Slovak side.




































Tisza lake.









Myself.









National road 33. Direction Debrecen. 









Alonside the road. Road crosses beautiful Puszta.


----------



## cinxxx

^^I saw a lot of those hey ballots in Slovakia last week


----------



## Verso

Why would you go to a "Borat-country", if you don't like it?


----------



## verreme

I kinda understand being angry at people cleaning your windscreen and then asking for money (though it does not bother me, I'll just give them nothing). However, he says they did even give him a map and some helpful information. I mean, that's not even begging. It's kind and should be treated as such. Getting mad at this is just a "hater" thing. The comment about the country being a 2nd-class one just confirms it.


----------



## Verso

Penn's Woods said:


> Maybe spelling "Swinoujscie" correctly wore him out? :jk:


Świnoujście. Just copy-paste it.


----------



## Kanadzie

cinxxx said:


> The "windshield cleaning" problem is also common in Eastern Europe, was wide spread in Romania for a time, now not so much anymore. I saw it also in Italy and other places. It's of course annoying. If they at least clean it properly, then be it, but as long as it doesn't happen at every corner.


In Montreal, Canada it is common as well in downtown areas... street urchins arrive at the red light with the dirty water and squeegee and try to "clean" the window, but just make it dirtier hno: Once one was going straight for me so I just hit the gas and went through the light :lol: If you recognize them early you can make them **** off in various ways (like yelling at them when they approach)


----------



## NordikNerd

verreme said:


> I kinda understand being angry at people cleaning your windscreen and then asking for money (though it does not bother me, I'll just give them nothing). However, he says they did even give him a map and some helpful information. I mean, that's not even begging. It's kind and should be treated as such. Getting mad at this is just a "hater" thing. The comment about the country being a 2nd-class one just confirms it.


Well. I actually wanted to give them some change. I had about 1.50 euros in my wallet, which I offered them for the information and the map (which is free). But that wasnt good enough for them and they kept asking for a 10euro bill, they were hostile and rude. So I gave them nothing.


----------



## Road_UK

Verso said:


> Why would you go to a "Borat-country", if you don't like it?


Comparing a modern country like Poland with Kazakhstan is stretching it a bit far as well. But then again, so is filming ethnic minorities for kicks... 

So... NordikNerd... How old are you?


----------



## cinxxx

Well 10€ is a little to much though...


----------



## italystf

NordikNerd said:


> Well. I actually wanted to give them some change. I had about 1.50 euros in my wallet, which I offered them for the information and the map (which is free). *But that wasnt good enough for them and they kept asking for a 10euro bill*, they were hostile and rude. So I gave them nothing.


Oh, that's very rude! One thing is begging, another ask for a specific (high) amount. This doesn't justify prejudices against the whole country, too.


----------



## italystf

Road_UK said:


> Comparing a modern country like Poland with Kazakhstan is stretching it a bit far as well. But then again, so is filming ethnic minorities for kicks...
> 
> So... NordikNerd... How old are you?


That's Astana, the capital of the Borat country. It doesn't look like the village in the movie (that was actually shot in Romania). :lol:


















Very modern and futuristic but "fake" just built to satisfy the ambition of the dictator and show to the world how his country is modern. Something like Ashgabat or Pyongyang.


----------



## Verso

Don't like it, looks like Las Vegas; I prefer Almaty. Also climate sucks.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

Well why did you go there Nordik if you can't take at least some trouble? 

I used to live in Ystad and there is problems with the ppl arriving with the ferry almost every day. 
Many ppl in Ystad including politicians want to close all ferry lines except those to Bornholm DK, thus ending E65.


----------



## Penn's Woods

^^Between that and the French politician who was recommending yesterday that French people root for Algeria over Germany, I think it will be a long while before the EU looks anything like a real federal nation-state. Which may or may not be a good thing...none of my business.


----------



## italystf

Mirror's Edge said:


> Well why did you go there Nordik if you can't take at least some trouble?
> 
> I used to live in Ystad and there is problems with the ppl arriving with the ferry almost every day.
> Many ppl in Ystad including politicians want to close all ferry lines except those to Bornholm DK, thus ending E65.


Hopefully the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will reduce the need of those ferries. But suppressing ferries? Can the government do that since ferries are private? And it's for traffic problems in Ystad or just to isolate Poland?
The E65 won't end, however, it would be rerouted through the Sassnitz - Trelleborg ferry.


Penn's Woods said:


> Between that and the French politician who was recommending yesterday that French people root for Algeria over Germany, I think it will be a long while before the EU looks anything like a real federal nation-state. Which may or may not be a good thing...none of my business.


I think that those nationalisms are extremely stupid in 2014, but it's not that I wish for the United States of Europe soon. I think only a small minority of Europeans would like a single European state.

EDIT: I translated the article with Google. It seems that they want to build a ferry terminal outside the city, not to suppress ferries.


----------



## Verso

italystf said:


> And it's for traffic problems in Ystad or just to isolate Poland?


Isolate Poland? Reminds me of "Fog in English Channel, Continent cut off". :lol:


----------



## Mirror's Edge

italystf said:


> Hopefully the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will reduce the need of those ferries. But suppressing ferries? Can the government do that since ferries are private? And it's for traffic problems in Ystad or just to isolate Poland?
> The E65 won't end, however, it would be rerouted through the Sassnitz - Trelleborg ferry.
> 
> I think that those nationalisms are extremely stupid in 2014, but it's not that I wish for the United States of Europe soon. I think only a small minority of Europeans would like a single European state.
> 
> EDIT: I translated the article with Google. It seems that they want to build a ferry terminal outside the city, not to suppress ferries.


Those politicians wish to only allow the Bornholm traffic to continue in the outer harbour when the inner harbour is converted to a marina style area, that would end E65 in Ystad..or Bornholm I guess.:lol:

As custom service cost increase thanks to new expensive tech(truck x-ray etc) and better roads is required to move the (often drunk) truckers away from civilians, it makes sense to collect all the traffic on the E6 in Trelleborg.
Poor me, I live here and it's already bad.

I think this is probable to happen sooner or later, Ystad is a upper class cute town with little need for a few ferry jobs.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

If they would cease the ferries from Poland to Ystad, traffic would just switch to alternate routes, to Trelleborg, or via Malmö.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

^^Yeah I also think more trailers only ferry traffic would be great, could load them on trains already in Europe or in Trelleborg/Ystad then cheaply deliver to GBG/STHLM/Oslo.


----------



## Kanadzie

Penn's Woods said:


> ^^Between that and the French politician who was recommending yesterday that French people root for Algeria over Germany, I think it will be a long while before the EU looks anything like a real federal nation-state. Which may or may not be a good thing...none of my business.


Actually such provincial mindsets are probably more indicative of a federal country :lol:


----------



## Penn's Woods

^^Vis-à-vis outsiders, perhaps. But I haven't heard of any U.S. state or Canadian province talking about closing its borders to a neighboring state or province.

At least in the U.S., and probably within English Canada, what I call the "feeling of belonging" is national rather than regional. I can move to California or Florida tomorrow and feel more or less at home. I think it'll be a while before that's true in Europe.


----------



## italystf

Penn's Woods said:


> ^^Vis-à-vis outsiders, perhaps. But I haven't heard of any U.S. state or Canadian province talking about closing its borders to a neighboring state or province.
> 
> At least in the U.S., and probably within English Canada, what I call the "feeling of belonging" is national rather than regional. I can move to California or Florida tomorrow and feel more or less at home. I think it'll be a while before that's true in Europe.


I think it's silly to compare the USA or Canada in Europe. The first two are countries, although bigger than most countries in the world, but with a common history, culture and language (with the notable exception of Quebec).
European countries are more different each other in term of culture and language, and they had very different history and traditions in the past centuries. EU and USA could never be the same.
Now we are living in peace and democracy for almost 70 years (25 years in the East), we are economically better than most of the world, we can speak freely, vote a party or profess a religion without the fear of being arrested, we have free market between EU members, we can travel between each other without bureaucratic hassles, etc...
Why should us became the United States of Europe? We manage quite well without, EU integration is OK, but we don't want to level all differences and local peculiarities.
I think it's normal that a German feels different than a Briton or an Italian, that's nothing wrong with that. I actually like the fact that we have different cultures, languages and realities withing a day-long car or train distance.
What is wrong is the extreme nationalism and xenophoby, the hate of someone or something just because is foreigner.


----------



## Penn's Woods

italystf said:


> I think it's silly to compare the USA or Canada in Europe. The first two are countries, although bigger than most countries in the world, but with a common history, culture and language (with the notable exception of Quebec).
> European countries are more different each other in term of culture and language, and they had very different history and traditions in the past centuries. EU and USA could never be the same.
> Now we are living in peace and democracy for almost 70 years (25 years in the East), we are economically better than most of the world, we can speak freely, vote a party or profess a religion without the fear of being arrested, we have free market between EU members, we can travel between each other without bureaucratic hassles, etc...
> Why should us became the United States of Europe? We manage quite well without, EU integration is OK, but we don't want to level all differences and local peculiarities.
> I think it's normal that a German feels different than a Briton or an Italian, that's nothing wrong with that. I actually like the fact that we have different cultures, languages and realities withing a day-long car or train distance.
> What is wrong is the extreme nationalism and xenophoby, the hate of someone or something just because is foreigner.


I'm not at all saying you should become the U.S. of Europe. (First off, that's not for me to say. But if anyone did ask me I'd say you shouldn't try to.) But that does seem to be some Europeans' goal.


----------



## Verso

Penn's Woods said:


> I can move to California or Florida tomorrow and feel more or less at home.


That's because you're not from Alabama. :troll:


----------



## NordikNerd

*Baltic Roadtrip Part 3*









*Jak sie masz* my dear friends. Discovering Europe by car is a hoot...










...unless you meet these "students" in Swinoujscie harbour.









Ferry across the Swina-river









Rainy Swinoujscie









Well, Swinoujscie - A polish city situated very close to the german border, actually it's separated from the rest of Poland located on the german side of the island of Usedom. 
Strange that the western part of this city is separated from the eastern part and that there is no bridge inbetween. 





















Mirror's Edge said:


> Well why did you go there Nordik if you can't take at least some trouble?


 I went there because I wanted to know what it's like to drive in Poland. Traffic was quite civilized, better than I had expected. But these panhandlers in Swinoujscie was a bad experience, they target tourists. I actually thought they were some kind of staff. I had no idea what so ever that I had to use a ferry to cross the river. But it's eastern europe and I presume this is a part of the whole experience. I remember driving in Russia in the 90's wondering why all wipers were missing on the cars, so I found out one morning why when my own wipers on my car were missing, young people prowling around at night stealing the wipers and then seeling them in the streetcorners.




Mirror's Edge said:


> I used to live in Ystad and there is problems with the ppl arriving with the ferry almost every day.
> Many ppl in Ystad including politicians want to close all ferry lines except those to Bornholm DK, thus ending E65.


That is not good, the ferries are a vital part of international transport. Ystad-Swinoujscie is a good option to reach Poland and Eastern Europe. 
Trelleborg-Sassnitz means an additional drive on the already crowded road 96/E22. I drove on that road and traffic was very slow, many germans drive to Rugen during the summer.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

^^Cool, but this is why I think Ystad should close this route:
1 Ystad is Sweden's best or at least second best preserved city, problem is the city has almost no waterfront anymore cause the ferry's.

2 Ystad is upscale, friendly and clean and the truckers/tourist/smugglers/ driving in the middle of town ruin the city + Östelens mojo

3 Many ppl use Rv19 going north from Ystad , making this a very dangerous road with many tales of crazy behavior, drunk truckers driving the wrong way etc. E6 in TRBG is motorway with barrier.

4 Customs and police use a lot resources in Ystad on for example on breath-tests, custom in Skåne is buying new better truck-x-rays and of course it would save a lot if you could concentrate it to one place.

5 Yeah this pic is self-explanatory. Cough cough 










Lot's of the traffic with Europe is not very beneficial for us anyway so less might be better in this case.


----------



## Road_UK

Why not build a bypass? Traffic between Sweden and continental Europe will only get busier. Not only tourism, but also freight...


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Has it been considered to move the ferry terminal to the west side of Ystad? Plenty of space there.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

ChrisZwolle said:


> Has it been considered to move the ferry terminal to the west side of Ystad? Plenty of space there.


No that area is planed for new development, right now the water company is the problem there blocking that zone from full scale waterfront housing.
The city has invested a lot of tax payers money(33 million SEK) on excellent electric access that would make it unnecessary to run the diesel motors when stationed in harbor + in the future maybe even run on electricity when leaving the city.
So far the ferry company's have been rather uninterested at that investment even as they *promised to flip to power when in harbor* and it was all built because of that promise.
+The ferry's are still mostly running on really dirty diesel today even after being asked to change to somthing a bit cleaner for years now.:bash:

I would evict them and make a cool waterfront and up the city's value by 10!


----------



## Road_UK

Wouldn't that slash the tourism down?


----------



## Mirror's Edge

^^All the tourist are Swedish and Danish. Google Österlen for pics
Poland and Germany have excellent Baltic sea of their own.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Shorepower is a good option to reduce idling of engines. Many ports are investing it to reduce pollution. Some areas already have regulation that ships cannot run on low-grade fuel oil when in or near a port, but I don't know how it is enforced.

Shipping is still very polluting compared to land-based transport. Maybe not when expressed per ton-kilometer overall, but local emissions are very high.


----------



## Surel

ChrisZwolle said:


> Shorepower is a good option to reduce idling of engines. Many ports are investing it to reduce pollution. Some areas already have regulation that ships cannot run on low-grade fuel oil when in or near a port, but I don't know how it is enforced.
> 
> Shipping is still very polluting compared to land-based transport. Maybe not when expressed per ton-kilometer overall, but local emissions are very high.


Some 15 largest ships produce as much pollution as all the worlds cars I read. Dunno if the lorries were included and I guess it differs based on the pollution type in question.

Anyway it is safe to assume that ships emissions pollute the planet in multitude compared to the cars. However, when we would look at the tons/km and pollution from manufacturing cars and ships, the ships would still get green light I guess.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Emissions from cars have been reduced significantly. For example, 10 years ago, it was only possible to use longitudinal ventilation in tunnels up to 10 kilometers. Longer tunnels needed an intermediate exhaust tower. However, today, longitudinal ventilation is possible in tunnels of up 20 kilometers, for example, the 18 kilometer long Fehmarn Belt Tunnel has no vertical ventilation. That is all due to much cleaner exhaust compared to the 1990s road fleet.


----------



## NordikNerd

Mirror's Edge said:


> ^^Cool, but this is why I think Ystad should close this route:


According to the article you linked, the ferry transport to Poland is expected to be increasing in the future. So something has to be done.

Ystad is closer to Poland & Bornholm than Trelleborg and an obvious starting point for the ferries in that direction.

The ferry traffic is of national interest so the question is how much can the local residents of Ystad decide about it ? 
It seems like the eternal argument: We need a port or a motorway but not in my backyard !

Ystad is as you say the gateway to Österlen which is upscale and the ferries 
do not fit into that image. 

Closing the ferry-traffic in Ystad would mean increasing traffic through Trelleborg. I recently drove through here and this is also a quaint little town 
with a big ferry terminal in the centre. What do the people of Trelleborg think about Ystad rejecting the ferry traffic to Poland ? 

The arriving ferry passengers in Ystad create revenue for the local trade. Closed ferry traffic would result in reduced income for local shops, gas stations, restaurants. Who would profit from the ferries disappearing ?

The port of Sassnitz, Rugen Germany also handles a lot of ferry traffic across the Baltic Sea. This port used to be located in the heart of the city Sassnitz but a newer and bigger port was built south of the city in 1991.

Maybe its time to build a new port east of Ystad this would also reduce the traveltime for the ferries to Bornholm.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

NordikNerd said:


> .
> 
> Closing the ferry-traffic in Ystad would mean increasing traffic through Trelleborg. I recently drove through here and this is also a quaint little town.


Trelleborg is not like Ystad at all, that's why I moved here, no artist or hippsters, strait wide roads and low property prices + close to Öresund. This town never had much old buildings and first came to grow with industry, like Trelleborg AB is from here.

Anyway Trellborg is already building a new port east of the city center, and plans are to lead the traffic in east of town via a new ring road, then build a new neighborhood on the old port. 
The only problem right now is the damn fools on Länstyrelsen crying over lost fields from the road but the city is ignoring them, problem is the will not get federal money to build the road cause TS use LS to cop out.
*Anti-poster from the losers showing the ring road and new port*








*New Marina district in the west*








The new eastern port is already filled out but not completely dry and paved etc.



NordikNerd said:


> .
> 
> The arriving ferry passengers in Ystad create revenue for the local trade. Closed ferry traffic would result in reduced income for local shops, gas stations, restaurants. Who would profit from the ferries disappearing ?


Nope, little money is coming in to local bizz from this traffic as Sweden is "pricey", 99% of ppl leave town ASAP, most for Malmö and some to Kristianstad.
And many of the ppl coming with this ferry is trouble, it's old dirty dangerous trucks some with drunk drivers(drinking on-board), trucks are already filled with fuel, next filling might be from theft.hno:
And plenty of beggars and gangs of thieves use the ferry's in Ystad, if they properly scanned leaving trucks they find our stolen bikes, boat motors and lawnmowers etc. Rest stops are now dumping grounds for garbage or worse from truckers. :runaway: 


Ystad would be blessed to lose this and gain a new Marina district instead filled with millionaires and cafés.:cheers:
TRBG could handle the problems much better, we are already building the new port and are part of Malmö metro with better roads and less room for trouble you know.


----------



## MonteChristo

riiga said:


> You think it's normal to have a stanger clean your car windscreen and then demand money for it without you even asking for them to do it in the first place?


It's stupid to even talk to them. Why did he even talk to them?

I never talk to beggars-it any country I am.





> Because that's the name in's know under in Sweden?


So I undrestand You (and rest of the * ENGLISH SPEAKING* forum) would be ok If I started to write "Szwecja" instead of Sweden-and Sztokholm instead of Stockholm.



verreme said:


> I kinda understand being angry at people cleaning your windscreen and then asking for money (though it does not bother me, I'll just give them nothing). However, he says they did even give him a map and some helpful information. I mean, that's not even begging. It's kind and should be treated as such. Getting mad at this is just a "hater" thing. The comment about the country being a 2nd-class one just confirms it.


Once again-why did he even talk with them? They didn't look like students at all. I never talk to strange looking stangers-and NEVER give money.



Mirror's Edge said:


> Those politicians wish to only allow the Bornholm traffic to continue in the outer harbour when the inner harbour is converted to a marina style area, that would end E65 in Ystad..or Bornholm I guess.:lol:
> 
> As custom service cost increase thanks to new expensive tech(truck x-ray etc) and better roads is required to move the (often drunk) truckers away from civilians, it makes sense to collect all the traffic on the E6 in Trelleborg.
> Poor me, I live here and it's already bad.


Question is who needs more that ferry connection? It would be Sweden that is cut off from the rest of the contintental Europe.



> I think this is probable to happen sooner or later, Ystad is a upper class cute town with little need for a few ferry jobs.


So you guys need better marketing-because Ystad is completey unknown among Poles (probably ecxept truckers)


----------



## NordikNerd

MonteChristo said:


> It's stupid to even talk to them. Why did he even talk to them?
> 
> I never talk to beggars-it any country I am.


I arrived in Swinoujscie and I didnt have a clue where to go, I didnt know if there was a bridge or not and the ferry was a complete surprise to me.

I think they ought to put up some better information about the ferries, for instance a sign showing a ferry and a "D" sign for Germany.





MonteChristo said:


> ISo I understand You (and rest of the * ENGLISH SPEAKING* forum) would be ok If I started to write "Szwecja" instead of Sweden-and Sztokholm instead of Stockholm.


Polish is a difficult language. For instance the danish capital is originally called "København" but the english speaking world uses Copenhagen, because it's easier. 

I am quite bright when it comes to languages but I still have problems spelling Szczecin correctly (probably learned it by now) Why be so offended by the german spelling, which should be the international name of that city.



MonteChristo said:


> Once again-why did he even talk with them? They didn't look like students at all. I never talk to strange looking stangers-and NEVER give money.


These "students" were very convincing and I'm not a spring chicken I have been in Eastern Europe before. Beeing unaware of where to go and then these
panhandlers show up, at least someone to ask for help although they had intentions of demanding big money. They really picked the right spot for their
"business".




MonteChristo said:


> Question is who needs more that ferry connection? It would be Sweden that is cut off from the rest of the contintental Europe.


I'm sure that there are more poles going to Sweden than the other way around. Many poles work here temporarily usually as craftsmen. If there is a demand for ferry transport from Ystad I dont see any reason to cease the service.



MonteChristo said:


> So you guys need better marketing-because Ystad is completey unknown among Poles (probably ecxept truckers)


Ystad was signposted at least 5 times on the E65 north of Stettin, so I think that polish people in that area have heard about Ystad. (The birthplace of the famous actor Ernst-Hugo Järegård)


----------



## Road_UK

Never heard of him. Other than that I agree with what you said. Miracles do happen...


----------



## Venividi

NordikNerd said:


> I'm sure that there are more poles going to Sweden than the other way around.


however in my hometown, which also has a ferry connection with Sweden, I see increasing numbers of swedish people traveling to Poland. I'm not sure why they are coming here, but it seems that our shops offer good prices for swedish customers so you can find swedish car plates in a parking lots at shopping centers more often than a few years ago.


----------



## MonteChristo

NordikNerd said:


> Ystad was signposted at least 5 times on the E65 north of Stettin, so I think that polish people in that area have heard about Ystad. (The birthplace of the famous actor Ernst-Hugo Järegård)



I have no clue who this famous actor is. Well maybe you are right about areas around Szczecin-but I don't think so about rest of Poland (38m country).


----------



## Penn's Woods

NordikNerd said:


> I am quite bright when it comes to languages but I still have problems spelling Szczecin correctly (probably learned it by now) Why be so offended by the german spelling, which should be the international name of that city.


Why?


----------



## NordikNerd

My next roadtrip is going to be to Szczebrzeszyn ! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczebrzeszyn


----------



## Penn's Woods

54°26′S 3°24′E;115626679 said:


> In this case, given the history I can perhaps understand the Polish insistence on Szczecin, but from a practical and commercial point of view they should really embrace the historic name "Stettin" internationally, as that is something people will remember and connect with the rich architecture of this beautiful city.


Um...

Like Danzig and Breslau and Posen and Budweis and Brünn and Pressburg....

Seriously, as time goes on, the "historic" name will be known to fewer and fewer people.


----------



## Road_UK

Den Haag or The Hague? München or Munich? Milano or Milan? Beograd or Belgrade? Athina or Athens?


----------



## Alex_ZR

Road_UK said:


> Den Haag or The Hague? München or Munich? Milano or Milan? Beograd or Belgrade? Athina or Athens?


If spoken and written in English then The Hague, Munich, Milan, Belgrade and Athens.


----------



## Road_UK

My point exactly. So why bother with SZZSC etc? Polish is a very difficult language. So why not stick with some of the old German names internationally and perhaps change a few things to make it easier in English?


----------



## cinxxx

NordikNerd said:


> My next roadtrip is going to be to Szczebrzeszyn !
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczebrzeszyn


Maybe you will gather enough courage and will eventually drive farther south of that!


----------



## Venividi

NordikNerd said:


> Yes. The Gdansk/Gdynia area has improved lately and it's advertised quite well by Scandlines.


Why Scandlines? Karlskrona-Gdynia route is operated by Stena Line (and Gdańsk-Nynäshamn by Polferries)



NordikNerd said:


> My next roadtrip is going to be to Szczebrzeszyn !


you should visit also Jazgarzewszczyzna


----------



## Kanadzie

Venividi said:


> however in my hometown, which also has a ferry connection with Sweden, I see increasing numbers of swedish people traveling to Poland. I'm not sure why they are coming here, but it seems that our shops offer good prices for swedish customers so you can find swedish car plates in a parking lots at shopping centers more often than a few years ago.


Swedes have never been able to resist the siren song of the Polish lands, for hundreds of years 



Penn's Woods said:


> Um...
> 
> Like *Danzig and Breslau and Posen and Budweis and Brünn and Pressburg*....
> 
> Seriously, as time goes on, the "historic" name will be known to fewer and fewer people.


My Polish-born father always calls all of those places those names (and Stettin too, though sounds almost same :lol: ) Well, okay, maybe not Brno (this one is probably even worse for an anglophone to say than Szeczcin), but it's rare for Brno to come up in conversation for people who don't live anywhere near there or Ostrava either 



Road_UK said:


> Den Haag or The Hague? München or Munich? Milano or Milan? Beograd or Belgrade? Athina or Athens?


The Hague sounds like a disease. 's Gravenhage is much better


----------



## Penn's Woods

Kanadzie said:


> Swedes have never been able to resist the siren song of the Polish lands, for hundreds of years
> 
> 
> 
> My Polish-born father always calls all of those places those names (and Stettin too, though sounds almost same :lol: ) Well, okay, maybe not Brno (this one is probably even worse for an anglophone to say than Szeczcin), but it's rare for Brno to come up in conversation for people who don't live anywhere near there or Ostrava either


My American-born father had some interesting names learned from his Polish-born father for "Russians." Don't know if he had any for "Swedes." ;-)

And that's "Mährische Ostrau" to you!





Kanadzie said:


> The Hague sounds like a disease. 's Gravenhage is much better


's Gravenhage, pronounced properly, sounds like a disease of the throat. I mean the actual pronunciation sounds like you have one.


----------



## Kanadzie

NordikNerd said:


> My next roadtrip is going to be to Szczebrzeszyn !
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczebrzeszyn


Which is famous for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polish_Tongue_twister_-_Chrząszcz_-_2.ogg


----------



## Surel

Kanadzie said:


> Well, okay, maybe not Brno (this one is probably even worse for an anglophone to say than Szeczcin), but it's rare for Brno to come up in conversation for people who don't live anywhere near there or Ostrava either


You mean the village on the left by the right turn on the way to Vienna? .



Penn's Woods said:


> And that's "Mährische Ostrau" to you!


Ostrava as it is now did not exists back then. It were several cities/villages.


----------



## Penn's Woods

^^Well, I know I've seen "Mährische Ostrau" on an old map somewhere....


----------



## Mirror's Edge

MonteChristo said:


> Question is who needs more that ferry connection? It would be Sweden that is cut off from the rest of the contintental Europe.


From looking at the traffic it's 90% European traffic on these direct to Europe ferry's and as far as I know our real trade surplus is done outside Europe so technically it would be Europe losing the most.

But there is also many negative aspect with these ferry's, specially in transportation many local company's/drivers lose out completly as they have to follow strict local laws.. or actual follow laws, while European traffic is kinda dodgy.


MonteChristo said:


> So you guys need better marketing-because Ystad is completey unknown among Poles (probably ecxept truckers)


Nah this is like the coast of England, it's great for natives that "get it" but ads little to foreigners...Ystad = Swedish Penzance(look it up).:lol:
+It's x3 times more expensive then Polish coast, why would U come here?
+Already there is no more rooms to rent or tables to eat at in July/August.


----------



## Surel

Penn's Woods said:


> ^^Well, I know I've seen "Mährische Ostrau" on an old map somewhere....


Yes. Besides Moravská Ostrava, there was also Slezská Ostrava and other villages or cities. Moravská Ostrava was already made of several independent villages cities. The place grew very fast in the 20th century.

Mährische means Moravian as it was on the Moravian side of the river Ostravice. Moravská Ostrava and Slezská Ostrava are still the names of two city districts.


----------



## Mirror's Edge

NordikNerd said:


> According to the article you linked, the ferry transport to Poland is expected to be increasing in the future. So something has to be done.
> 
> Ystad is closer to Poland & Bornholm than Trelleborg and an obvious starting point for the ferries in that direction.
> 
> The ferry traffic is of national interest so the question is how much can the local residents of Ystad decide about it ?
> It seems like the eternal argument: We need a port or a motorway but not in my backyard !
> 
> Ystad is as you say the gateway to Österlen which is upscale and the ferries
> do not fit into that image.
> 
> Closing the ferry-traffic in Ystad would mean increasing traffic through Trelleborg. I recently drove through here and this is also a quaint little town
> with a big ferry terminal in the centre. What do the people of Trelleborg think about Ystad rejecting the ferry traffic to Poland ?
> 
> The arriving ferry passengers in Ystad create revenue for the local trade. Closed ferry traffic would result in reduced income for local shops, gas stations, restaurants. Who would profit from the ferries disappearing ?
> 
> The port of Sassnitz, Rugen Germany also handles a lot of ferry traffic across the Baltic Sea. This port used to be located in the heart of the city Sassnitz but a newer and bigger port was built south of the city in 1991.
> 
> Maybe its time to build a new port east of Ystad this would also reduce the traveltime for the ferries to Bornholm.


It's already happening, the new line run by TT-lines from Poland to Trelleborg is doing great, in 10 years Ystad will only have the ferry to Bornholm.
http://www.trelleborgsallehanda.se/trelleborg/article2208460/TT-Lines-nya-Polenlinje-tar-fart.html


----------



## Voorish-Gdansk

Road_UK said:


> Easier to pronounce for non-Polish citizens.


The international name for Szczecin is Szczecin since it was included into polish state. I don't understand why everything needs to be made easier for "non-polish" citizens? I have never heard complaints from such regarding our nomenclature, except for native-english speakers. This is the proper name, deal with it.


----------



## Road_UK

Voorish-Gdansk said:


> The international name for Szczecin is Szczecin since it was included into polish state. I don't understand why everything needs to be made easier for "non-polish" citizens? I have never heard complaints from such regarding our nomenclature, except for native-english speakers. This is the proper name, deal with it.


So... How is life in Danzig treating you?


----------



## ElviS77

Penn's Woods said:


> Um...
> 
> Like Danzig and Breslau and Posen and Budweis and Brünn and Pressburg....
> 
> Seriously, as time goes on, the "historic" name will be known to fewer and fewer people.


Still, in some languages many city names are translated. In Norwegian, I'd be talking about "Praha", "Köln" (sometimes "Køln") and "Wien", for instance. Those would be "Prague", "Cologne" and "Vienna" in English, of course, and that's just the way it is. It's not me trying to offend Czechs, Germans and Austrians when writing or speaking English...


----------



## Penn's Woods

^^Of course. But I'm a native speaker of English and I don't think of the town in question as "Stettin." Granted, it doesn't come up all that often....


----------



## Verso

Thanks for so much talk about Szczecin; now I know it's in German pronounced Stettín, and not Stéttin, as I thought.


----------



## Des

Guys I could use some help with a road trip I'm doing in July: Germany to North Cape. Some stops are fixed but apart from that I could use some help with sights / monuments / nature worth visiting along the route and which are the nicest roads to drive.

Also some tips of what to see in the cities would be great.

Planned stops:

Leipzig
Warsaw
Riga
Tallinn
Helsinki

I know the Berlin - Poznan area so prefer to go south between Leipzig and Warsaw via Dresden and Wroclaw. Everything after that is new territory.


----------



## NordikNerd

Des said:


> Guys I could use some help with a road trip I'm doing in July: Germany to North Cape. Some stops are fixed but apart from that I could use some help with sights / monuments / nature worth visiting along the route and which are the nicest roads to drive.
> 
> Also some tips of what to see in the cities would be great.
> 
> Planned stops:
> 
> Leipzig
> Warsaw
> Riga
> Tallinn
> Helsinki
> 
> I know the Berlin - Poznan area so prefer to go south between Leipzig and Warsaw via Dresden and Wroclaw. Everything after that is new territory.


I definately prefer Tallinn compared to Riga. Tallinn as a city is more welcoming, easygoing and touristy. 
I was there in 1998 the last time, back then it still had a bit of that soviet gloom. Talllinn has a quaint old town, go see the Round Tower. 
The inner city is small and it's easy to walk around. 

Photos I took in 1998








The round tower








The port and the ferry to Sweden.

I dont see why people want to drive to the North Cape, there is really nothing special to see there. I wouldnt go further than Rovaniemi and then on the way back drive through Sweden to Trelleborg, 
then take the ferry to Sassnitz back to Germany.

I'm probably going to Rugen again this summer, and there's going to be a some shorter roadtrips in northern Germany.


----------



## Verso

NordikNerd said:


> I dont see why people want to drive to the North Cape, there is really nothing special to see there.


Probably because it's closest in Europe to the North Pole. Interestingly, no one really cares about other European extremities (westernmost, southernmost).


----------



## NordikNerd

Verso said:


> Probably because it's closest in Europe to the North Pole. Interestingly, no one really cares about other European extremities (westernmost, southernmost).


The North Cape is the northernmost point you can drive to in the whole world. The southernmost point you can drive to must be Ushuaia, Argentina.

The western/easternmost point doesnt attract tourists. In Europe it would be difficult to determinethe where it is. Is it the Azores to the west ? Since they have no regular car ferry (?) the westernmost point to drive to would probably be at the westernfjords of Iceland ( car-ferry from DK) . To the east it would be slighlty east of Yekaterinburg, Russia. To the south maybe Crete if they have a regular car ferry otherwise Tarifa, the southern tip of Spain or take the ferry to the spanish enclave Ceuta which belongs to Europe but is located in Africa.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

I've been contemplating about driving to Vadsø, the easternmost point in Norway, located on an island in the Barents Sea. North Cape seems overpriced and the scenery is not as spectacular as farther southwest. Driving across Lofoten seems more interesting than North Cape from a scenery point of view. Though I can relate to drive all the way to the northernmost point on the European mainland. Although Cape Nordkinn is technically the northernmost point of the mainland. And Knivskjellodden is also farther north than North Cape (on the same island).


----------



## italystf

ChrisZwolle said:


> And Knivskjellodden is also farther north than North Cape (on the same island).


Aparently, it was discovered much later, when North Cape was already known as the northernmost point in Europe, as no accurate latitude measurement was possible with old technologies.
Moreover, you cannot drive to Knivskjellodden, but you have to hike 9 km each way from the E69 road. While it's not particularily challenging (it's not a 4000+ meters mountain to climb), this still prevents the majority of tourists to visit the place.
Nordkinn can be reached by motorized vehicles, even though it requires driving several kilometers of dirt road, but again is virtually untouched by tourists, that prever to visit North Cape. There's only a parking lot and a lighthouse at Nordkinn.


----------



## NordikNerd

ChrisZwolle said:


> I've been contemplating about driving to Vadsø, the easternmost point in Norway


Dont you mean Vardö ? The easternmost point of Norway. Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Stockholm are closer to Vardö than Oslo. Murmansk is only 170km away.


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Yes I meant Vardø (Vadsø is a nearby town). Vardø looks south into Russia  It's at the terminus of E75.


----------



## italystf

I'm positively surprised about how goods are roads in Norway, even in the most remote Arctic wastelands. I don't mean the E6, that is still an important road, or the E69, that leads to a main touristic attraction, but even small remote roads like in Vardø peninsula are paved and with lines.
Fo example this road leads to an unhabitated promontory north of Vardø, yet they bothered to paint lines.
And also it surpises me that many small islands are connected with very expensive tunnels and bridges. You can explore the whole Lofoten\Vesterålen archipelago only with your car, without taking any ferry. Is something you don't see in Mediterranean countries.


----------



## cinxxx

Verso said:


> Probably because it's closest in Europe to the North Pole. Interestingly, no one really cares about other European extremities (westernmost, southernmost).


I've been to the western and southernmost places of *continental* Europe


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Both France and Spain have a locality called 'end of the world' at their western extreme point. Finistère in France and Cape Finisterre in Spain.


----------



## Verso

cinxxx said:


> I've been to the western and southernmost places of *continental* Europe


I know. I've only been to the easternmost point of Australia. I met two Slovenians there. :lol:


----------



## Kanadzie

Verso said:


> I know. I've only been to the easternmost point of Australia. I met two Slovenians there. :lol:


not easternmost part of... Austria? :lol:


----------



## Verso

I don't care about that (except for the fact that it's a tripoint as well, but I've never visited it).


----------



## NordikNerd

*Roadtrip 2015*









*1) *Cloudy and rainy weather, the southbound right lane is closed due roadwork on the E4 north of Jönköping.









*2)* Klevshult south of Jönköping. Still cloudy but the raining ceased.









*3)* Exit at Värnamo.









4) Driving through the small city of Värnamo.









5) Time for lunch. Kebabtallrik tastes good after a few hours drive.










6) Filling up my car with biofuel.










*7)* Truck passing on a 2+1 section of the E4 at Laganland.









*8) *What happend to this car ? Dangerous place to stop at.









*9)* The cockpit









[/url]
*10)* Motorcycle riding, it can't be very comfortable in the rain.









*11)* Exiting the motorway in Markaryd.









*12)* Road 117









*13)* Road 21









*14)* The luggage









15) Custon. A nice truckstop along the road 23.









*16)* I think this is Höör, Skåne. The very south part of Sweden.

In my next post the journey continues south.


----------



## NordikNerd

*17)* A polish lorry on the E22.









*18)* Next exit on the E22 is Lund N.









*19)* Central Lund.









*20) *The scientologists have a tent on a square in central Lund, where they perform "stress-tests"









*21)* Road 108

















*22) *Arrival in Trelleborg.









*22)* Camping outside Trelleborg.

*In my next post the journey continues to a continental-european city...
*


----------



## piotr71

Nice _Ś_ in Świnoujście


----------



## Mirror's Edge

Staying at Dalabadet like a boss..lol

Enjoyed "the traffic light" I guess?


----------



## NordikNerd

*The roadtrip continues*



piotr71 said:


> Nice _Ś_ in Świnoujście


Yes, there is an *ś* and an *ü* on this sign. No *ø* is signposted in Sweden though.










*The next day in Trelleborg harbour*









*Error message in the display of my car. Not something you want to see in the harbour when you're about to board the ferry.*
The message disapeard after a while.









*Stena line breakfast*









*Cargo-ship on the Baltic Sea*









*The B96 at Sassnitz-Mukran* The bus has a trailer for bicycles.









*The B96 and the railway Sassnitz-Stralsund to the left.* 
This road is quite bumpy and only fixed temporarilly with a patchwork of asphalt. 








*B96 at Samtens. This is the main road on the island of Rugen.*


















*The Stralsund-bridge*









*From up there you can see the city of Stralsund*









*The A20 Motorway*-Not all german motorways are congested. The A20
was in excellent condition, much better than the B96.









*Not much traffic here, although it was a friday.*









*Rostock 47km*


----------



## NordikNerd

*Roadtrip 2015-final part.*



Mirror's Edge said:


> Staying at Dalabadet like a boss..lol
> 
> Enjoyed "the traffic light" I guess?


I have been to Trelleborg twice, but there was no time to see the city which is sad. I only drove directly to the camping and then the next morning to the ferry. Same thing with Helsingborg, never saw anything there but the harbour. 









*The A20-exit Bad Sulze*









*Restarea at the A20. There is a "dry" toilet here. *









*Sign at a rest area along the A20. Last year I went the other way to Stettin, but here I'm bound for Rostock.*









If I drove this fast in my country, and the police stopped me for speeding I would lose my license for more than a year, and then I would have to do the driving test again. 

170km/h felt like a little bit too fast for me and my 10 year old Volvo.
Germany is the only country in the world with motorways without speedlimit.
I mostly drove at 150km/h on the motorway, that felt comfortable and safe, more than 170-180 km/h felt risky and not very relaxing, nevertheless, I was overtaken by cars driving at a significantly higher speed, perhaps more than 200km / h. They drove no Porsches or Ferraris but the usual Audi's and MB's









*Two motorways the A20 & A19 meet at Rostock.*








*Here is the exit if you want to go to Berlin on the A19*









The sign says that the A19 motorway to Warnemunde has a toll (maut). It is a tunnel under the Warnow river.








I drove off the motorway at "Rostock Sudstadt"










*Traffic in the outskirts of Rostock.*









*We're almost there. They have trams in Rostock.*









Central Rostock close to the Steintor. Quite easy to drive here, wide streets and no traffic jams even if it was on a friday. Pretty much like driving in Norrköping.








*Downtown Rostock.* We parked here. Parking was not that easy to find on a friday noon.









Beautiful Rostock, pedestrian area









*The map*




The movie


----------



## ChrisZwolle

Not here either.


----------



## g.spinoza

Can you see it now?


----------



## Autobahn-mann

now yes


----------



## Verso

Not me.  Just post a link from Google Maps.


----------



## Penn's Woods

So last weekend, I took a little trip.
Until I figure out how to use GMaos better, have these screen caps:
Saturday:









Pics from Hawk Mountain:


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## Penn's Woods

Next leg:
View attachment 687510


Can you all see the map? I just get a link to the attachment. Which doesn’t work.

A friend who now lives in Australia grew up in Summit Hill. So I got him a picture:









Now by this point, the Sun had come out so the foliage was glorious.

Next to my stop for the night:
Except I used 81 to 80 rather than that shortcut.


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## Penn's Woods

Then Sunday:










Glorious country - farmland with nearby mountains, Sun out, foliage peaking - west of Lewisburg. I’d used that route before.

Then I-80 back to New Jersey.


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