# Europe: Six countries, 2100km of roads, 300+ photos



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

The last kilometers in Belgium
67.









68.









69.









70.









71.









72.









Next: The Mecca of roads and motorways in Europe a.k.a. *The Netherlands*.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ That section of E40 between Oostende and Aalter is the oldest motorway in Belgium. It opened in 1940.


That might explain why it looks a little scruffy. I also assume it gets more busy on the weekdays (even though I couldn't say it was empty on Saturday either).


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

E40 gets very crowded on Friday afternoons, Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings during the summer from and to the coast. Other than that, it's adequate, although the Gent - Brussels section is often congested due to the crazy commuting around Brussels (it is the city with the highest amount of commuters per capita in the world, so I've read).


----------



## msz2 (May 25, 2006)

What I like very much in Belgium motorways is lightening within entire motorway.


----------



## aswnl (Jun 6, 2004)

Nice series.
I'm awaiting your pictures from Poland, especially the north-eastern part.


----------



## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

aswnl said:


> Nice series.
> I'm awaiting your pictures from Poland, especially the north-eastern part.


+1


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Pansori said:


> _The best roads in general_ were observed in *The Netherlands*. Everything was more or less perfect.


Since you've traveled the recently expanded "_Randweg Eindhoven_" (A2/A67) it had to be.  It was the only potential traffic jam spot on your trip through the Netherlands, but since the whole motorway has been widened from 2x3 to 4x3 lanes (A67 section) traffic congestion has almost completely disappeared (apart from incidents, of course). 

The next objective on that route would be to widen A67 to six lanes lanes from Eindhoven to Venlo, as this is a major truck corridor that carries 20,000 trucks per day (30,000 on the A2/A67 multiplex). Compare it to the German A2 between Dortmund and Hannover.


----------



## Big Cat (Dec 1, 2008)

That Icelandic volcano turned to be a good thing after all...


----------



## havaska (Dec 26, 2005)

Having seen the pictures of signage in France and Belgium, I have to say I much prefer the font used in Belgium. The French one is just a bit too 'shouty' for me.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

^^ The Belgian font is called "SNV". The French font is called "Caractères".


----------



## bleetz (Feb 13, 2009)

I make this trip twice a year on average. It is good to see some photos as you tend to miss out on things when driving. 

These are the comments that I have to make about countries that were covered:

*UK*

Major improvements are needed. Total motorway length is too short and surface quality is only average. However, I do like standard to which UK motorways were built, i.e. slip road length is good, hard shoulders are adequate, they are mostly 3x3 and signage is also very good (I know that this is not a popular opinion on this forum). I think that the UK should improve these things: there should be more motorways and surface quality should be improved. The rest is very good.

*France*

French roads are overrated because: a) you have to pay for most of them, b) they are not that great. The positive thing that stands out when you enter France from the UK is the surface quality. This along with overall motorway length are the only advantages to UK motorways. Slip road lengths are pretty good, however, I don't like the signage and too many roads are only 2x2 while most UK roads are 3x3. I would definitely rather have roads of UK quality that are free than French roads that you have to pay for. Therefore the only advantage that France has over the UK is overall motorway length (I don't think that extra surface quality is worth the money).
I think that France should improve signage and get rid of tolls.

*Belgium*

Very good apart from surface quality on some stretches which is dreadful, especially when compared to Dutch roads.

*Netherlands*

I have already mentioned before in this forum that Holland has the best roads in Europe. [It also looks like the most developed country in Europe because of other things too (supermarket quality, petrol stations, service quality, etc.).] This stretch does not really show it though. The best example of Dutch road quality is A2.

*Germany*

Certainly better than the UK or France but a bit of a disappointment otherwise due to average road surface quality on quite a few stretches as well poor standards in quite a few stretches (e.g. even a 2x2 road without hard shoulders can be called an autobahn!). Germany's infrastructure is surely impressive but they need to raise their game up a bit. Roads in the Netherlands are noticeably significantly better.

*Poland*

Mixed feelings. Roads are very inadequate but extremely good and building pace is amazing. But then you have to pay for them and there's still a long way to go to catch up with other European countries in terms of adequacy. I don't really know what to think, though you have to say that Poland is definitely the most improved country in the last 5 or so years. North East is quite an embarrassment  but then its the poorest area. So, again, mixed feelings.

*Lithuania*

Overall adequacy of roads is a lot better than in Poland, however, the south of the country is abandoned and the Via Baltica project is stagnant. That's why the roads in the south now look worse than roads in Poland's north east (was not the case before!). Apart from Via Baltica though, national roads are very good for an Eastern European country. On the other hand, roads in cities are poor. 
What needs to be done is: Via Baltica needs to be completed and road quality in cities needs to be improved. Otherwise its all quite good (though I might be a bit biased ).


----------



## Superkot634 (Apr 9, 2007)

bleetz said:


> *Poland*
> Mixed feelings. Roads are very inadequate but extremely good and building pace is amazing. But then you have to pay for them and there's still a long way to go to catch up with other European countries in terms of adequacy. I don't really know what to think, though you have to say that Poland is definitely the most improved country in the last 5 or so years. North East is quite an embarrassment  but then its the poorest area. So, again, mixed feelings.


Nonsense... Most national roads are in good condition... in good condition is 60% of roads (DK).


----------



## piotr71 (Sep 8, 2009)

msz2 said:


> What I like very much in Belgium motorways is lightening within entire motorway.


Not all Belgian motorways are lit. Thanks to Pansori we have an opportunity to see one without lightening on along some parts of its length. Check the stretch from French border towards Gent, however, it's just minor exception.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Superkot634 said:


> Nonsense... Most national roads are in good condition... in good condition is 60% of roads (DK).


I think it's an apples an oranges situation here. 
Bleetz has mentioned the _adequacy_ of roads while your reply is about _quality_. These are two different things in this case.

I would say on our way through Poland (2, A2, S8, 63, 61, 16) road quality was good for about 80% of the distance if not more. Certainly more than 60% . In fact, there were only a few stretches of rather bad road somewhere between S8 and the PL/LT border. The rest was more or less excellent in terms of road quality. Signage was good pretty much all of the time: clear, simple and consistent.

However, adequacy-wise the situation is different. Perhaps the only stretches that were really _adequate_ in the given situation were the A2 and S8. For the rest of the distance the road went through relatively dense residential areas and towns and despite being of excellent quality the speed was very often limited to 70km/h or less which slows things down. So here you have a situation with a nice local road used by transit/international traffic that usually includes loads of heavy trucks going right via the town centers which is, of course, not adequate. Anyway, I'll post my photos later to illustrate that.


----------



## Miguel_PL (Jan 26, 2007)

Pansori said:


> I think it's an apples an oranges situation here.
> Bleetz has mentioned the _adequacy_ of roads while your reply is about _quality_. These are two different things in this case.
> 
> I would say on our way through Poland (2, A2, S8, 63, 61, 16) road quality was good for about 80% of the distance if not more. Certainly more than 60% . In fact, there were only a few stretches of rather bad road somewhere between S8 and the PL/LT border. The rest was more or less excellent in terms of road quality. Signage was good pretty much all of the time: clear, simple and consistent.
> ...


Totally agree... I share your opinion about Polish roads quality. They're good but in terms of adequacy there's still a lot to do. Driving across my country often makes me mad because of the huge congestion on the 2 lane roads and the necessity of dangerous overpassing (not to mention an average speed). That will remain our problem till the basic network of expressways is built. Overall, the improvement is impressive and in circa 5/6 - year - time our infrastructural situation will be much different


----------



## piotr71 (Sep 8, 2009)

Superkot634 said:


> Nonsense... Most national roads are in good condition... in good condition is 60% of roads (DK).


Bleetz said nothing on contrary to this 60%. He has valuated quality of our roads really high. I think we should read what visitors to our country say and let them express their own opinion, no matter how good or bad it would have been. Just let's not shout if some wouldn't like roads in Poland.

By the way, we (with Pansori) almost approached the Netherlands


----------



## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

ChrisZwolle said:


> due to the crazy commuting around Brussels (it is the city with the highest amount of commuters per capita in the world, so I've read).


Probably not true.


----------



## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

msz2 said:


> What I like very much in Belgium motorways is lightening within entire motorway.


The great thing about Belgian motorways is the giant Spirou characters posted on the sides of the motorways. But they only exist along the motorways in Wallonia I believe.

Concerning lighting, it's one of the things that I find the most annoying in Belgium. Driving at night on the Belgian motorways is not relaxing at all due to the constant lighting. I much prefer driving in the middle of France at night when you can drive for more than 100 km without crossing a single city and seeing a single light, with only the stars above you. For example the A75 at night between Issoire and Lodève is just unbelievable. 250 km totally out of this world, more than 1,000 meters above sea-level.


----------



## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

bleetz said:


> *France*
> 
> French roads are overrated because: a) you have to pay for most of them, b) they are not that great. The positive thing that stands out when you enter France from the UK is the surface quality. This along with overall motorway length are the only advantages to UK motorways. Slip road lengths are pretty good, however, I don't like the signage and too many roads are only 2x2 while most UK roads are 3x3. I would definitely rather have roads of UK quality that are free than French roads that you have to pay for. Therefore the only advantage that France has over the UK is overall motorway length (I don't think that extra surface quality is worth the money).
> I think that France should improve signage and get rid of tolls.


What some people seem to have a hard time understanding is that motorways are only a very small fraction of French roads. There are about 12,000 km of French motorways, but in total there are about 1 million km of roads in France, so the motorways make up barely 1% of the total French road network.

For me the greatest thing about French roads is not the motorways, it's the non-motorway roads, many of which are spectacularly beautiful, and usually with excellent smooth surface. Besides, the low density in France means there isn't much traffic outside of the cities (except in some very dense regions like Greater Paris, French Flanders or Alsace, but the rest of France is pretty empty), and the roads (at least national and departmental roads) tend to have long straight lines (the policy of straightening French roads has been continuously implemented since the middle of the 18th century), so you can drive pretty fast on them, even though the maximum speed allowed is of course 90 km/h, and of course I cannot possibly suggest you should drive faster than that. :angel:.

One of the greatest road experiences I had was a few years ago driving at night from Millau to Albi on the D999. The excellent road was all for myself (I crossed maybe one car every 10 minutes at the most), there were few villages around, so I could drive pretty fast, and at some point the road runs along the top ridge of a plateau that is part of the Montagne Noire (Black Mountain), so I could see all south-west France below me, the forests of fir trees around me, and the stars above. I had this feeling of being far away from civilization, like driving in the sky... Of course if you only drive on the A61 motorway, you won't have that feeling. The A61 is boring in comparison.

PS: For an idea of what I meant, these are a few pics of the D999 that I found on Google Street View. On that section of the D999 (the easternmost section), I drove at sunset and I didn't cross a single car for 30 km.




























The steep climb after Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance at night was also pretty impressive, but Google Street View doesnt cover it. I was driving a heavy Mercedes (diesel), and I thought it would never make the climb.

I tell you, compared to the D and N roads, French motorways (A) are really boring, with a few exceptions.


----------



## Superkot634 (Apr 9, 2007)

Pansori said:


> I think it's an apples an oranges situation here.
> Bleetz has mentioned the _adequacy_ of roads while your reply is about _quality_. These are two different things in this case.
> 
> I would say on our way through Poland (2, A2, S8, 63, 61, 16) road quality was good for about 80% of the distance if not more. Certainly more than 60% . In fact, there were only a few stretches of rather bad road somewhere between S8 and the PL/LT border. The rest was more or less excellent in terms of road quality. Signage was good pretty much all of the time: clear, simple and consistent.
> ...


Forgive, my mistake.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

171.









172.









173.









174.









175.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

176.









177.









178.









179.









180.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

181.









182.









183.









184.









185.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

186.
One of the most scenic views during the entire 2000km long trip









187.









188.









189.









190.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

191.









192.









193.









194.









195.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

196.









197.
Nearby towns









198.









199.









200.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

201.









202.









203.









204.









205.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

206.









207.









208.









209.









210.









211.
Berlin was simply not getting closer no matter how fast we went (and we rarely went slower than 130km/h). At that point we had driven virtually non-stop for about 800km and simply got tired so the only thing I was thinking of was the hotel in Poznan (Poland). Wes till had another 500 or so km to go. At least the day was nice and traffic not too heavy which helped alot.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Oh yeah, the A2 has some scenic overlooks, first near Bielefeld towards Herford / Bad Oeynhausen and then somewhat further near Bad Eilsen.

I also think A2 has above-average quality for a German Autobahn, and, together with it's six lanes for almost 500 kilometers, it qualifies as one of the best Autobahnen in Germany.


----------



## tompaw (Mar 14, 2007)

MAG said:


> Hang on a minute, you drove some 1500 km in 11 hours?
> This gives an average speed of just over 130 km/h, ignoring any pit stops.
> .


As I said, it was 10h 52mins from A4 Krakow Gateway to Calais Channel terminal. 100% motorway all the way through. Easy to achieve with my girlfriend doing 210-230 km/h on A2 west from Berlin ;-)


----------



## havaska (Dec 26, 2005)

Wover said:


> I think those signs are found next to most highways in Europe, but they might not be as visible in every country. In Belgium for example, they gave the big kilometer-signs (like the one on your first picture from Holland, in front of the "Nederland" sign) and small hectometer signs which are directed towards the motorway (so not very visible from a passing car).
> 
> Reason why they have so many is that if you break down or you had an accident, you could specifiy your location to emergency services as efficiently as possible.


They have these in the UK too, though they're spaced out every 500m (yes, they're in metric in the UK!)

You can read more about them here http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/dls/


----------



## snowman159 (May 16, 2008)

I noticed the 120km/h limit on the overhead signs. Last time I drove on the A2 (at night) it was 120km/h pretty much all the way between A14 and A7. Is that a permanent limit?


----------



## PLH (Mar 9, 2007)

No, such speed limits are temporary, mainly due to heavy traffic.


----------



## snowman159 (May 16, 2008)

PLH said:


> No, such speed limits are temporary, mainly due to heavy traffic.


well, there was no traffic at all, no construction going on, no reason to be seen anywhere. that's why I asked


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

^^ Lärmschutz.


----------



## hofburg (Jun 27, 2009)

A2 looks great. you took some really good photos of that highway. :cheers:


----------



## MAG (Sep 24, 2004)

ChrisZwolle said:


> ^^ Lärmschutz.


That's the most likely explanation.

-----------------------

Looking at these pictures one can easily understand why the German autobahns will remain the benchmark by which all others are measured, for a long time to come. There is not a lot one can improve on here.



.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

The *last* batch from Germany... I know it's getting boring by now. This report so far looks more like Germany report than "6 countries". 

141.
Landscape near the A2. Wind turbines seemed so common. In some locations there were so many of them that it started to look a little over the top. But knowing Germany's attitude to nuclear energy that may be out of necessity rather than just to show-off the commitment to being "green"









142.









143.









144.









145.
Dynamic road signs on A2


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

146.









147.









148.
Speed was often limited to "only" 120km/h









149.
We're near A391... I could barely spot this road on the map. Any ideas what's the story behind that one?









150.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

151.









152.









153.









154.









155.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

156.









157.









158.
Limit to 80km/h









159.









160.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

161.









162.









163.









164.









165.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

166.









167.









168.









169.









170.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

171.
Excellent road quality









172.









173.









174.
Nearing Berlin









175.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

176.









177.









178.









179.









180.









181.









182.









This is it from Germany. It was getting too dark to take photos on the move so there won't be any pictorials from this spot to Poznan in Poland where we'll be hitting the Polish A2.


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

> We're near A391... I could barely spot this road on the map. Any ideas what's the story behind that one?


A391 is a rather important urban Autobahn, it serves the city of Braunschweig. There is an even shorter A392, which is a tangent of A391 and only like 2 km long.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Finally we're in *Poland*

The Polish part of the trip was certainly the most interesting and exciting as well as diverse in terms of road quality, types and layouts. We spent the night in a cheap hotel in Poznan and also crossed Warsaw via the city center instead of going around which lost a few minutes of time but was more interesting

*Roads: 2, A2, 14, 8, S8, 63, 61, 16*

Map:









Overall the impression was very good with seemingly a lot of work having been done during the last few years to improve the quality of roads, not to mention the construction of new motorways. The most exciting part was, of course, from Warsaw towards the Lithuanian border which featured a number of roads with dramatic differences: everything from the excellent motorway-like S8 (which is called expressway but is nothing short of a motorway) to some really bad stretches of local road with an immediate need for reconstruction (which I'm sure will happen over the next few years). The local roads were dotted with towns with constant speed limits to 70km/h or less but on the other hand there were lots of excellent places to have a meal. Too bad most of them would not accept credit/debit cards. Overall travelling in Poland was very smooth and exciting if a little slow.


183.
Trying to find our way to the A2 in the outskirts of Poznan









184.
This is not A2 yet... just some local road near Poznan









185.
Expressway-like street which will bring us to A2









186.









187.
And here it is, the long-awaited Polish *A2* which I deservedly call the best road of all during our 2100km long trip. The surface was perfectly smooth and apart from some very smooth turns it went in a straight line for large part of the distance so making the driving exceptionally comfortable and stress-free. Traffic intensity also seemed very low which made things even better. Too bad the sun was positioned in front of us which didn't help with the quality of pictures but I did my best


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

188.
We were driving at 120-130km/h (i.e. maximum legal speed), however some cars were going as fast as 180km/h









189.









190.









191.









192.
All photos are taken with a 70-300mm which allows to see a distant perspective of the road. You can see how perfect the surface is


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

193.









194.









195.









196.
Straight line as far as one can see









197.
Looking back


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

198.









199.









200.









201.









202.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

203.









204.









205.









206.









207.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

208.









209.
An unusually steep gradient... I realized it was a viaduct over a railway track. Perhaps it made more sense to make a motorway bridge over a railway than the other way around









210.









211.









212.









213.
End of motorway... easy life ends here 
If only road like this would go all the way from DE/PL border to PL/LT border the journey time would probably be cut in half... however it's more exciting this way and I'll post my next batches of pictures to show why.


----------



## delfin_pl (Mar 11, 2004)

So did you get to Poznań (from German border) by 2 or A2 from Nowy Tomyśl?
Great pics BTW.


----------



## Tin_Can (Jun 17, 2009)

Poland seems to have really good motorways kay:


----------



## delfin_pl (Mar 11, 2004)

Tin_Can said:


> Poland seems to have really good motorways kay:


yeah you can say it in 5 years time, now it just has good quality roads, and only few motorways and expressways.


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

On the German pictures, what are the little blue signs with the letter U and two numbers (U35, U52...) that you see on some directional signage?


----------



## hofburg (Jun 27, 2009)

what about the stretch between poznan and germany?


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

delfin_pl said:


> So did you get to Poznań (from German border) by 2 or A2 from Nowy Tomyśl?
> Great pics BTW.


We got on A2 near Novy Tomysl. I think it's where the A2 starts at the moment.


----------



## PLH (Mar 9, 2007)

*@ Pansori* More, more... 



hofburg said:


> what about the stretch between poznan and germany?


Here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=14949640&postcount=27
and:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=14950027&postcount=29

Pics are of course in reverse order and for the time being the section just before the border is repaved.

One representative pic:


----------



## delfin_pl (Mar 11, 2004)

hofburg said:


> what about the stretch between poznan and germany?


its under construction now and will be ready before EURO 2012

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=55972243&postcount=4455


----------



## TheFlyPL (Jun 21, 2007)

hofburg said:


> what about the stretch between poznan and germany?


Between border and Nowy Tomysl there is simple 1x2 road. Sometimes with bad pavement quality. Traffic flow is high so (as it was said) road is not adequate to it. 

From Nowy Tomyśl to Poznań there is a highway wich looks the same as this after Poznań.


----------



## ufonut (Jul 24, 2007)

Pansori said:


> We got on A2 near Novy Tomysl. I think it's where the A2 starts at the moment.


I think this might be the picture that shows where A2 is currently U/C and where you entered A2 already built (I could be wrong though).


----------



## Uppsala (Feb 26, 2010)

Penn's Woods said:


> On the German pictures, what are the little blue signs with the letter U and two numbers (U35, U52...) that you see on some directional signage?


That means *Umleitung*. If the motorway is closed all of the traffic are going at a route with Umleitung signs outside the motorways. Or you can use an Umleitung instead of the motorway if there is to much traffic and you can find another road is faster.

In Sweden we have something similar, but here we have road number signs which are white instead of blue or green. But no one outside Sweden understand that. Its like even most of the Swedish drivers don't understand the white road number signs. And onle a few motorways here in Sweden have that. Here in Uppsala we don't have it on the motorways. So the Swedish system is not good. But the German system with the U-signs is quite good.

I hope one day we can have a European standard for this sort of sign so we can understand what they means in all parts of Europe.


----------



## Uppsala (Feb 26, 2010)

Pansori said:


> 188.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think those signs at the Polish motorways are very good. They are very big and I like the font. The only thing I missing on them are exit numbers. I heard its coming to Poland but I still don't see them in Poland. Sometimes I driving at the A18 and A4 in Poland and I still don't see any exit numbers. But the signs are very good at the motorways. I think they are even better than the German signs. I see the difference when I going at the German A15 and over the border and the motorway change number to Polish A18.


----------



## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Uppsala said:


> That means *Umleitung*. If the motorway is closed all of the traffic are going at a route with Umleitung signs outside the motorways. Or you can use an Umleitung instead of the motorway if there is to much traffic and you can find another road is faster.
> 
> In Sweden we have something similar, but here we have road number signs which are white instead of blue or green. But no one outside Sweden understand that. Its like even most of the Swedish drivers don't understand the white road number signs. And onle a few motorways here in Sweden have that. Here in Uppsala we don't have it on the motorways. So the Swedish system is not good. But the German system with the U-signs is quite good.
> 
> I hope one day we can have a European standard for this sort of sign so we can understand what they means in all parts of Europe.


That's good if you know what it means; at first I thought they might be leading to particular public-transit lines. (U-bahn line 35....)

Pennsylvania has this sort of permanent detour signage as well. They're even color-coded (red detour, blue detour....) I had to use one once, and it worked out fine.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Uppsala said:


> That means *Umleitung*. If the motorway is closed all of the traffic are going at a route with Umleitung signs outside the motorways. Or you can use an Umleitung instead of the motorway if there is to much traffic and you can find another road is faster.
> 
> In Sweden we have something similar, but here we have road number signs which are white instead of blue or green. But no one outside Sweden understand that. Its like even most of the Swedish drivers don't understand the white road number signs. And onle a few motorways here in Sweden have that. Here in Uppsala we don't have it on the motorways. So the Swedish system is not good. But the German system with the U-signs is quite good.
> 
> I hope one day we can have a European standard for this sort of sign so we can understand what they means in all parts of Europe.


I think it would be a great idea to introduce a single standard for *all* traffic signs accross the EU. Introducing single set of traffic regulations would be a great idea as well. I don't understand why this hasn't been done yet. It's not like this would cost extra or anything. They could simply start changing to the new signs after the current ones would get obsolete (too old, damaged etc.) instead of just doing that in one go. That would make life for drivers sooo much easier.


----------



## Mr_Dru (Dec 15, 2008)

Uppsala said:


> That means *Umleitung*. If the motorway is closed all of the traffic are going at a route with Umleitung signs outside the motorways. Or you can use an Umleitung instead of the motorway if there is to much traffic and you can find another road is faster.
> 
> In Sweden we have something similar, but here we have road number signs which are white instead of blue or green. But no one outside Sweden understand that. Its like even most of the Swedish drivers don't understand the white road number signs. And onle a few motorways here in Sweden have that. Here in Uppsala we don't have it on the motorways. So the Swedish system is not good. But the German system with the U-signs is quite good.
> 
> I hope one day we can have a European standard for this sort of sign so we can understand what they means in all parts of Europe.


Since two years the Dutch addopted the U-signs from the Germans. It's a very convience system. The *U* means in the Netherlands '*U*itwijkroute'.










But btw very nice photo-serie. Poland is very nice to see. It looks everyting is recently build. I can't wait to see more.

Greetz.


----------



## Wover (Feb 23, 2009)

Mr_Dru said:


> Since two years the Dutch addopted the U-signs from the Germans. It's a very convience system. The *U* means in the Netherlands '*U*itwijkroute'.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


In Belgium we recently use yellow signs with a black letter and a direction. The letters are random and they provide the route to the next highway ramp.

http://www.verkeerscentrum.be/verkeersinfo/faq/beheer-3 (Flemish)


----------



## Miguel_PL (Jan 26, 2007)

Where are the photos ?


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Miguel_PL said:


> Where are the photos ?


Here they are 



After the end of A2 driving towards Warsaw became much slower and more stressful. The good thing was that we still had a long day in front of us and the idea that the very same evening we would arrive in Vilnius helped to stay cheerful. Also, as you can clearly see in all photos, the weather was simply wonderful which also was an advantage.

Map of the route from the end of *A2* to *PL/LT* border via *Warsaw*.









214.
Continuing to Warsaw. This is the kind of road we used for most part (*2*).









215.









216.
What really helps is the hard shoulder which is convenient for overtaking other cars without causing danger or stress









217.









218.
Town after town on *2* towards Warsaw


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

219.









220.









221.









222.









223.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

224.









225.









226.









227.
Apples anyone?









228.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

229.









230.
70km/h is the most common speed limit, typically before junctions or other dangerous spots









231.
Great surface quality









232.
Typical overtaking maneuver in roads with hard shoulder. Especially useful when overtaking heavy trucks









233.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

234.
You can see large solar panels. I'm not sure what they are for but my guess is that they are powering the flashing light at the pedestrian crossing or other nearby road-objects that require low amounts of electricity









235.









236.
[edited] duplicate picture

237.
Traffic slowed down... police car standing on the road. Something happened...









238.
...that's what happened. Volvo S40 if I'm not mistaken


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

239.









240.









241.









242.









243.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

244.
*Warsaw.*
Initially we did not plan to go via city center (satnav was showing some different route via suburbs and onto road *61*. However we spontaneously decided that it would be a good idea to go via the center of the capital just to see how driving is like and, of course, see some skyscrapers. 









245.









246.
24 hr Tesco. Too bad we were short of time to stop over, because I would love to see how Tescos look like in Poland... and it's my favorite supermarket anyway. I Wonder if they're better than in Britain (for some reason I believe they are)... once I was surprised how much better Tescos are in Thailand (cleaner, nicer staff, better shop layout etc. one would not believe it's run by the same company)









247.
Warsaw Trade Tower looking good in the far perspective of the street









248.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

249.









250.









251.
Warsaw skyline









252.
Rondo 1, arguably the best skyscraper in Warsaw









253.
Public transport


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

254.
Solaris bus. Seemingly the company found its success in European markets









255.
Next to Rondo 1









256.
Rondo 1 seen via... the sunroof 









257.









258.
Warsaw Financial Center tower (if I'm not mistaken... the angle was quite complicated )


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

259.









260.









261.









262.









263.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

264.









265.









266.
I wonder what Polish forumers think about advertisements near the road? All the way through Poland I was seeing insane amounts of such advertisement boards sticked and mounted to absolutely everything (even on trees!) in any way possible. Sometimes it really looks over the top, I think









After this point the remaining part is towards the *PL/LT border*. Coming very soon...


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

322.









323.









324.









325.









326.
Last kilometers in Poland









327.









328.
Border betwen Poland and Lithuania near Ogrodniki (and Lazdijai from Lithuanian side). This is one of the two main crossings between PL and LT the other one being on E67 (Via Baltica) route which is much more intense and generally more eimportant. Some of the border-crossing infrastructure is still in place although after Poland and Lithuania joined the Schengen agreement there are no more formal border controls. However there is a border security car stationed nearby which can choose to stop cars at random









329.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

We're in *Lithuania*... sweet home 

Map (we did some zig-zagging... I'm not sure why but it just happened ) :









330.









331.









332.


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

333.









334.
The road doesn't look too good and neither it is comfortable... however, keep in mind that none of the roads from the border crossing on the Lithuanian side are _main roads_ (i.e. the highest rank "A" roads) but rather _national road_ (i.e. road of local importance without a letter and a step below _main road_). The most striking occurance is the lack of road-signs... after Poland it felt as we entered no-mans land: just very basic signage (i.e. directions to some local vilages... as if Vilnius or other larger cities did not exist), no traffic, no people, nothing. Lithuania's residential density is noticeably lower than Poland's and this is very obvious while on the road









335.
Fancy going to Veisiejai? Or perhaps Leipalingis? No? Would rather go to Vilnius? Of course, only if you know _which way_ it is . If you're not familiar with road signage peculiarities of Lithuania's _national roads_ it's your own problem... or at least that's what the responsible people of the Lithuanian Road Agency believe. While _main (A) roads_ use relatively decent signage, _national roads_ usually show only directions to some local villages and towns. Very smart.









336.









337.
Cops! Will they stop us?


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

338.
Hell yeah! 
We were not speeding or doing anything wrong. However our left headlight didn't work (it did before leaving!) which, I guess, was the reason our car caught their attention. The cop didn't seem very happy and sounded as if we should be feeling guilty about something (perhaps that he was in a bad mood). After checking the documents he wished us good journey and suggested we change the headlight









339.









340.









341.
A roundabout... finally there should be directions to Vilnius... or maybe not.









342.
The road is reasonably good and... empty


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

343.









344.
Near Druskininkai (it's a rether important SPA town in Southern Lithuania). This is where we join the Lithuanian *A4* which for most part is an excellent road with relatively low traffic volumes









345.









346.
Speed camera









347.
Going towards Vilnius


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

348.
Driving in Lithuania after all other countries seemed like driving on the moon: traffic was virtually nonexistent with only occasional cars passing by.









349.









350.
It was getting too dark... we made it to Vilnius at about 22:00 hours which was precisely as planned.









If anyone's interested how the *A4* route from Druskininkai to Vilnius (i.e. one that we used to get to Vilnius) in Lithuania looks like, can do it here in my last year's report on the same road.


Thank you very much all who were patient enough to watch and comment! It was the greatest road-trip experience of my life to date and I'm happy if anyone found it interesting.


For the end, two bonus pictures of driving in Vilnius (entering the city via A14 road)



















P.S. for those who are interested, many new reports (including video) are coming to the Lithuanian road thread very soon.


----------



## CrazySerb (Aug 22, 2007)

Very interesting! Great photos and descriptions, as we've come to expect from youkay:
While the roads are pretty much great throughout, I have to say that i'm a little disappointed with the natural settings/ scenery - it looks pretty ordinary.


----------



## zvir (Aug 19, 2009)

*Thanks very much! one of the furum best posts.*

This is one of the best. see a large portion of Europe roads west and east!
Thanks .
Zvir
Tel-aviv


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

CrazySerb said:


> Very interesting! Great photos and descriptions, as we've come to expect from youkay:
> While the roads are pretty much great throughout, I have to say that i'm a little disappointed with the natural settings/ scenery - it looks pretty ordinary.


Thanks!

True, the only view that I would describe as scenic was that nice bit in Germany... other than that it was rather boring. You can't expect mountains or huge valleys in Northern part of Europe though 

Beauty-wise nothing can beat Austria, Northern Italy, Switzerland and similar locations.


----------



## Uppsala (Feb 26, 2010)

Pansori said:


> Thanks!
> 
> True, the only view that I would describe as scenic was that nice bit in Germany... other than that it was rather boring. You can't expect mountains or huge valleys in Northern part of Europe though
> 
> Beauty-wise nothing can beat Austria, Northern Italy, Switzerland and similar locations.


Did you have a car with British platses and built for left-hand traffic?


----------



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Uppsala said:


> Did you have a car with British platses and built for left-hand traffic?


Yes


----------



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

CrazySerb said:


> While the roads are pretty much great throughout, I have to say that i'm a little disappointed with the natural settings/ scenery - it looks pretty ordinary.


Pansori and Bleetz basically crossed the great European plains... No real mountains for hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers.


----------



## Fuzzy Llama (Jan 24, 2009)

Pansori said:


> 348.
> Driving in Lithuania after all other countries seemed like driving on the moon: traffic was virtually nonexistent with only occasional cars passing by.


That's why I've made a cycling trip through the Baltics twice, and I may go there again this summer 



> After the end of A2 driving towards Warsaw became much slower and more stressful.


If I were you, I'd go from the end of A2 to Warsaw through Rawa Mazowiecka, like this. You'd join the DK8 in Rawa Mazowiecka, which is 2+2 road. Although its constant stop-and-go due to numerous traffic lights and the pavement is not-so-great, it is certainly faster and less stressful than DK14+DK2 variant.

Concerning the whole thread - Pansori, great work. You can really feel the atmosphere of international road trip here.


----------



## Czas na Żywiec (Jan 17, 2005)

Again, great job Pansori! Although I do have to admit that not signing Kaunas or Vilnius but just small villages along the road does seem rather odd. What do you do if you don't know the area, have no GPS or map and don't speak the language? Just keep driving and hope for the best?  Then again, I'm sure most international transit from Poland goes through the Budzisko/Kalvarija crossing where you join the A5 where they (hopefully ) sign the bigger cities.


----------



## hofburg (Jun 27, 2009)

nice police car btw.


----------



## GrimFadango (Dec 14, 2008)

Great job, thumbs up! Pansori, you're my favourite baltic guy now


----------



## katia72 (Mar 1, 2009)

Good photos .. great job!
This summer I will drive from Oslo via Sweden to Poland, Bielsko-Biala. If someone is interested I can take pictures and post them here on the forum


----------



## delfin_pl (Mar 11, 2004)

Pansori said:


> 287.


You were asking about those solar panels on Polish roads, they provide energy for those yellow sign poles - they blink at night.
But most of them use regular electricity, we call them "aktywny znak drogowy" (active traffic sign)


















also pedestrian crossings use similar system



























dude on the sign walks after dawn.


----------



## fredis (Apr 29, 2009)

Nice job Pansori  
Strangely I am unable to see trucks in your photos, maybe that’s because you didn't go to Suwalki towards Kaunas and maybe the day time for truck drivers isn't the best time. As I was driving recently from Kaunas to Suwalki, I was furious, because I had too many trucks in front of me. I hope that one day, Poland will make the highway till PL/LT border. Nice job again. I will take pictures now for your thread about Lithuanian roads 

Overtaking cars like in that video is a common thing in A5 road from Kaunas. I hate drivers who are driving on 70 km/h very near middle, as he has plenty space on the right side.


----------



## earth intruder (Apr 4, 2006)

katia72 said:


> Good photos .. great job!
> This summer I will drive from Oslo via Sweden to Poland, Bielsko-Biala. If someone is interested I can take pictures and post them here on the forum


sure!


----------

