European road trips
November 12, 2010 8:04 PM Subscribe
Where do Europeans stay when traveling overnight? What is the typical agenda during a long-haul road trip?
Here in the US, a stereotypical auto traveler on a trip that exceeds 800 miles / 1200 km will tend to pull into a Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, Days Inn, or whichever motel chain is advertised on the brightly-lit Interstate billboards.
How does this work in Europe? Are there familiar hotel/motel chains positioned alongside the highway? How do most Europeans pick where to stay when travelling from, say, Berlin to Madrid or from Rome to Amsterdam? Are there hotel chains that are near the highways and tend to be favorited? Where do most Europeans prefer to get supper -- is a trip to the supermarket in order? Do hotels/motels tend to have a restaurant, or is there plenty of "fast food" near the hotels?
I know there is some danger of stereotyping here, but my understanding is that Europe road trips differ somewhat compared to in the U.S.
Here in the US, a stereotypical auto traveler on a trip that exceeds 800 miles / 1200 km will tend to pull into a Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, Days Inn, or whichever motel chain is advertised on the brightly-lit Interstate billboards.
How does this work in Europe? Are there familiar hotel/motel chains positioned alongside the highway? How do most Europeans pick where to stay when travelling from, say, Berlin to Madrid or from Rome to Amsterdam? Are there hotel chains that are near the highways and tend to be favorited? Where do most Europeans prefer to get supper -- is a trip to the supermarket in order? Do hotels/motels tend to have a restaurant, or is there plenty of "fast food" near the hotels?
I know there is some danger of stereotyping here, but my understanding is that Europe road trips differ somewhat compared to in the U.S.
in germany you would look to something like an etap or ibis location. they're quite often at autobahn exits and they're dirt cheap. you often wouldn't be able to find a restaurant (or sometimes even a human being, etap is machine check-in at nights) at these places but there is plenty of fast food and the occasional supermarket around. be aware that opening times are shorter in europe. no shopping at 3am and in places like germany you will find most places closed on sundays.
berlin to madrid is something I would do by plane. it would probably cost me just shy of a hundred bucks return trip (all in!), so why take a car? rome to amsterdam is similar. trains are something I would use for distances between 300 and 500km - they're about the same cost as driving and much more comfortable. I always found amsterdam to be tricky to reach by train since there is no high-speed rail link between amsterdam and northern germany but anywhere else this is pretty much how travel would be from here.
the autobahn on the other hand is congested like any other freeway and that makes travel more stressful. I take it when I'm going somewhere outside of peak hours, absolutely need the car there or am not going to a major city. other than that it's just too frustratring and expensive. do keep in mind that we're paying significantly more for fuel here - currently my local gas station wants € 1,37 per liter, which comes out to be around € 5,19 per gallon, if I'm not mistaken. you tend to think twice about long car trips with that kind of money involved, even if you don't have a speed limit.
posted by krautland at 9:39 PM on November 12, 2010
berlin to madrid is something I would do by plane. it would probably cost me just shy of a hundred bucks return trip (all in!), so why take a car? rome to amsterdam is similar. trains are something I would use for distances between 300 and 500km - they're about the same cost as driving and much more comfortable. I always found amsterdam to be tricky to reach by train since there is no high-speed rail link between amsterdam and northern germany but anywhere else this is pretty much how travel would be from here.
the autobahn on the other hand is congested like any other freeway and that makes travel more stressful. I take it when I'm going somewhere outside of peak hours, absolutely need the car there or am not going to a major city. other than that it's just too frustratring and expensive. do keep in mind that we're paying significantly more for fuel here - currently my local gas station wants € 1,37 per liter, which comes out to be around € 5,19 per gallon, if I'm not mistaken. you tend to think twice about long car trips with that kind of money involved, even if you don't have a speed limit.
posted by krautland at 9:39 PM on November 12, 2010
In the UK certainly, probably bed and breakfasts are a popular option.
An observation (and I may be wrong but here is is anyway) - there seems to be more in the main of midrange (affordable but ok) bed and breakfast-type places in Europe than in the US. In the US, hotels tend to be either cheapish motels or luxury hotels. I have a theory (but no real evidence apart from travelling experience) that this is something to do with Europeans tending to have longer vacation times - when Americans travel somewhere, say, there's more of an incentive to really splash out over a few days, whereas in Europe, more of an incentive to spread it out a little bit. Also, a road trip across the US would probably be more popular than the equivalent in Europe. In Europe, more people would travel by long-distance trains I think.
Big cities like London or Paris are as expensive as New York though. So it really depends on where you are going and why.
posted by plep at 11:02 PM on November 12, 2010
An observation (and I may be wrong but here is is anyway) - there seems to be more in the main of midrange (affordable but ok) bed and breakfast-type places in Europe than in the US. In the US, hotels tend to be either cheapish motels or luxury hotels. I have a theory (but no real evidence apart from travelling experience) that this is something to do with Europeans tending to have longer vacation times - when Americans travel somewhere, say, there's more of an incentive to really splash out over a few days, whereas in Europe, more of an incentive to spread it out a little bit. Also, a road trip across the US would probably be more popular than the equivalent in Europe. In Europe, more people would travel by long-distance trains I think.
Big cities like London or Paris are as expensive as New York though. So it really depends on where you are going and why.
posted by plep at 11:02 PM on November 12, 2010
In short, the motorist overnight and fast food oases don't exist here so much. You don't have as many places with towns and hotels right along the autoroute, but there are some. Once you do need to stop, you will get signs directing you to options at the nearest small town. A lot of them will be no-name bed and breakfast type places. There isn't really a Motel 6 culture or whatever; Etap is the closest you'll get to that. Ibis is more like a Holiday Inn Express. In my experience, small independents will cook for you. Ibis usually has restaurants, and Etap has absolutely nothing.
Another aspect missing in the comments so far is that European road trips are often done by "camping car" - that's right they still travel by RV - so you pull off the highway on an empty road, or hit a camping site. For around EUR10/night you park, get electricity, a shower, toilet, and sometimes a place to cook. People making a long road trip for fun often travel in campers or in a normal car with a tent to pitch at these places. But yeah, train or airplane. Woo!
posted by whatzit at 1:38 AM on November 13, 2010
Another aspect missing in the comments so far is that European road trips are often done by "camping car" - that's right they still travel by RV - so you pull off the highway on an empty road, or hit a camping site. For around EUR10/night you park, get electricity, a shower, toilet, and sometimes a place to cook. People making a long road trip for fun often travel in campers or in a normal car with a tent to pitch at these places. But yeah, train or airplane. Woo!
posted by whatzit at 1:38 AM on November 13, 2010
in germany you would look to something like an etap or ibis location. they're quite often at autobahn exits and they're dirt cheap. you often wouldn't be able to find a restaurant (or sometimes even a human being, etap is machine check-in at nights) at these places but there is plenty of fast food and the occasional supermarket around. be aware that opening times are shorter in europe. no shopping at 3am and in places like germany you will find most places closed on sundays.
Yep, the etap and ibis are all over Europe. My wife and I often do European roadtrips. She's been doing them since she was a teenager. We usually book at an Etap or Ibis.
To give you an example, the last Etap we stayed in was near Amberie-en-Bugey and by the side of the highway. We had booked in advance. It was manned 24 hours. Breakfast was included although there was a huge supermarket down the road where we bought some snacks. Other travellers were downstairs in the common area eating take-out pizza.
posted by vacapinta at 2:16 AM on November 13, 2010
Yep, the etap and ibis are all over Europe. My wife and I often do European roadtrips. She's been doing them since she was a teenager. We usually book at an Etap or Ibis.
To give you an example, the last Etap we stayed in was near Amberie-en-Bugey and by the side of the highway. We had booked in advance. It was manned 24 hours. Breakfast was included although there was a huge supermarket down the road where we bought some snacks. Other travellers were downstairs in the common area eating take-out pizza.
posted by vacapinta at 2:16 AM on November 13, 2010
I have traveled several times from Scandinavia to southern France with a caravan, and driving through Germany and France you see a lot of people doing the same. You typically stop for the night at a rest stop off the highway, which is illuminated, has access to bathroom facilities and places to eat, and occasionally patrolling guards.
Not directly addressing the question, I would guess that most Europeans would rather go either by train (especially if they live on the continent) or by plane, though - there is handful of well-known budget airlines (like Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz Air) that will take you anywhere in Europe for the same price as a tank of gas.
posted by Bukvoed at 2:18 AM on November 13, 2010
Not directly addressing the question, I would guess that most Europeans would rather go either by train (especially if they live on the continent) or by plane, though - there is handful of well-known budget airlines (like Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz Air) that will take you anywhere in Europe for the same price as a tank of gas.
posted by Bukvoed at 2:18 AM on November 13, 2010
I think part of it is that road trip travel is still cost-effective/necessary in the U.S. because rail is either very expensive or doesn't go to the desired destination, and air travel is very expensive in the U.S. In Europe, many destinations are extremely cheap by air (think $50-60 bucks including taxes) and the costs of parking and gas will make train travel far more appealing if air travel is not an option. That said, I did see places with motel-like features here and there when traveling around Europe. It isn't all Beds and Breakfasts.
posted by Deathalicious at 8:37 AM on November 13, 2010
posted by Deathalicious at 8:37 AM on November 13, 2010
I've hardly ever heard of anyone going on a road trip, other than in the US.
When people I know have done it, it's usually because they want to go car camping somewhere specific, and they have too much gear for a train or a plane. In this case (I'm in the UK), they drive to the ferry terminal, get an overnight ferry, sleep on the ferry and then drive the rest of the trip the next day.
I never met anyone who did a longer road trip than that.
Driving is something most of us here try to do as little of as possible, and we think it's a little odd that in the US people apparently drive around for days and call it a holiday (or vacation, rather!).
posted by emilyw at 9:50 AM on November 13, 2010
When people I know have done it, it's usually because they want to go car camping somewhere specific, and they have too much gear for a train or a plane. In this case (I'm in the UK), they drive to the ferry terminal, get an overnight ferry, sleep on the ferry and then drive the rest of the trip the next day.
I never met anyone who did a longer road trip than that.
Driving is something most of us here try to do as little of as possible, and we think it's a little odd that in the US people apparently drive around for days and call it a holiday (or vacation, rather!).
posted by emilyw at 9:50 AM on November 13, 2010
emilyw, I've done several longer European road trips than that. My experience is that mainland Europeans are even keener.
Often, due to a lack of drivers, even short trips (say, London to Berlin) have required an overnight stopover (it's impossible to sleep on the Dover ferries). What I've done is one or more of the following: (a) sleep in the car (very uncomfortable, even with few people and especially if you drive all night then need rest during the daytime); (b) wild camp; (c) couchsurf; (d) convert a van into a camper; (e) stay at hostels; (f) camp at campsites.
Food is almost always supermarket fare either pre-made or cooked on a trangia/host kitchen. Train travel is still much more expensive than driving in Europe if you have more than a couple of people and planes are expensive during peak times too not to mention the environmental cost.
posted by turkeyphant at 5:44 PM on November 13, 2010
Often, due to a lack of drivers, even short trips (say, London to Berlin) have required an overnight stopover (it's impossible to sleep on the Dover ferries). What I've done is one or more of the following: (a) sleep in the car (very uncomfortable, even with few people and especially if you drive all night then need rest during the daytime); (b) wild camp; (c) couchsurf; (d) convert a van into a camper; (e) stay at hostels; (f) camp at campsites.
Food is almost always supermarket fare either pre-made or cooked on a trangia/host kitchen. Train travel is still much more expensive than driving in Europe if you have more than a couple of people and planes are expensive during peak times too not to mention the environmental cost.
posted by turkeyphant at 5:44 PM on November 13, 2010
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