An Aussie's guide to driving in Europe.

If like me you are from an English speaking country where we drive on the left side of the road, the thought of driving in Europe may just be a bit daunting. Here are a few tips: -

DRIVING ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE - This isn't as difficult as you imagine, but at first you do have to concentrate, and later as you become more comfortable with the idea, you need to guard against a complacent moment when you will take off on the wrong side without thinking. Once on the highway it is quite easy, but around towns and in cities with roundabouts and narrow roads you do need to keep your wits about you.

THE CAR - Europe has many small ancient villages that you really can't explore properly in a large car. Quite often you will only be able to park close to the centre of town and walk, or otherwise large cars just won't be able to negotiate the narrow country lanes or city streets. We tend to use smallish vans like a Renault Scenic that can still easily take 4 adults and their luggage, or if there is just 2 of us a small medium size car is more than sufficient for both highway and city driving. Parking can be difficult in Europe so the smaller the car the better, but not too small otherwise you will feel uncomfortable at speed on the highways.

HIGHWAY DRIVING - Europeans unlike Australians have an unwritten but strict driving code of behavior. On the highway the far left lane is reserved for the fastest vehicles, and it is for overtaking only. The far right lane is for the slowest. It is considered extremely rude to drive in a fast lane and hold up any faster cars. The speed limit is usually 130KPH but many vehicles travel much faster often above 200KPH. Make sure that if you use the fast lane to pass you move promptly back into a slower lane so that traffic flow is not disrupted. Keep as far to the right as practicable. This is important. In fact the only time I have come to the attention of police in Europe was when I was driving at the speed limit in a middle lane when a motorcycle policeman left me in no doubt that he wanted me to move into the slowest lane even though there were no other vehicles around at the time. Police concentrate on traffic flow, not tickets for exceeding the speed limit. Passing is only permitted on the left. Passing on the right is not allowed. I can't help thinking that if Australians drove in the same manner the roads would be much safer, it certainly does assist traffic flow, and as you can't be passed on both side lanes at the same time, changing lanes is much safer. You will in time get used to driving at a greater speed, and it is much safer to drive at the speed that the traffic is flowing at, than at a slower pace. Never drive slowly on the highways in Europe. Traffic in Europe is high volume, fast paced, but it is more civilised, orderly, and overall I think that it is safer once you get used to the pace.

AUTOBAHNS - Just a quick note. When weather conditions permit, some autobahns have no speed limits, however most do have speed limits especially when wet. Speed limits are posted on overhead digital signs regularly placed along the highway. Forget what you have been told about these roads, you cannot do a Peter Brock impersonation and drive flat out on these roads. You can drive fast, but poor or dangerous driving will not be tolerated. I have seen policemen in Europe carrying sub-machine guns, so don't push the limits of their tolerance.

FUEL COSTS - I use turbo diesels in Europe to keep the fuel costs down, but despite that fuel costs quite a bit more in Europe than Australia. Next time I will try a Hybrid vehicle if there is one that suits our needs. It may cost a little more but it will save fuel costs. (Also see navigation below)

TOLL ROADS - All major highways have tolls, so make sure that you travel with plenty of loose change. Some lanes do take Visa etc. but the conversion cost is actually higher than the tolls, so make sure that you take the correct lane and pay cash. They use icons similar to ours, so you will soon get used to that.

NAVIGATION - I have successfully driven around France and Italy twice using road maps, but I add that it is not easy reading maps with street names and places written in a foreign language. We spent some time driving around Rome once looking for a particular street that would take us to the ring road and onto Florence, only to come on it by accident. Otherwise we may still be in Rome lost to this day. You will need someone to read the maps and direct you as it would not really be possible to do both unless you have a reasonable knowledge of the roads. The last time we drove through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany using a satellite navigation system. This worked much better than maps, and had the added bonus of giving pre-warnings of fixed radars and red-light cameras. I will still carry maps, but a GPS will be my preferred navigation system in future. You could buy your own system, or make sure your hire car has one fitted. I think that the GPS system also saved fuel as well. Whenever we made a wrong turn, the system corrected us quickly before we went many kilometers in the wrong direction. I am sure that they pay for themselves and reduce stress when you may otherwise get completely lost. In fact a GPS device could save your marriage if your spouse is the navigator.

LANGUAGE - This is not really the problem that you think it may be. All Hotels and tourist venues have staff who speak English fluently, and in fact most Europeans speak a number of languages usually including English. Even if their grasp of English is modest, it is usually enough to understand your needs. One tip though, you should make an effort to at least greet the locals in their own language when you require some help. If you can communicate even modestly in the local language they will treat you a lot better. Put yourself in their position, the last thing that you would want is some arrogant tourist speaking harshly to you in a foreign language. It really doesn't matter if you murder the local language, they will understand and just laugh at your mistakes, and then they will give you the directions or information that you need. They will appreciate your effort to speak their language. Even in France where locals are known to be rude at times to tourists, launch into your best french pronunciations and they will first laugh, and then assist if they can. We've never had a problem in France or anywhere where we tried to use the local language. Occasionally though you will meet someone who has no knowledge of English. Treat them well and thank them just the same. It is a must that you can say thank you in most major languages (merci, grazie, danke etc.), and throw in a smile, that always helps. You will know which countries you are traveling through, so learn to greet people and say thank you at the minimum. You will open many doors just by being courteous.

FOOD - Continental Europe offers some of the best food in the world. Note that some restaurants are very expensive, but most are quite reasonable. Usually the price will be determined by both the reputation and on whether it is used by locals or tourists. To eat at modest prices use local style restaurants, not lavish tourist traps. Never, never, never eat at Pompeii in Italy. They are geared up to rip tourists off. Go to Pompeii and see the ruins by all means, they are extremely interesting, but eat somewhere else. The food is simply overpriced poor quality rubbish prepared by carpark attendants. Everywhere else in Italy the food is of very good quality and reasonably priced. Cafe's offer snack foods like pizzas which are of high quality. Note that mozzarella cheese in Italy (the real stuff, unlike ours) is quite white. Italian Gelati's are fabulous.

FOOD Part 2 - Ireland deserves a special mention a it is quite unique. Breakfasts are wonderful English style feasts consisting of bacon, eggs, sausages, scrambled eggs, black pudding, toast, marmalade etc etc. After that it is all downhill. Three friends and I bought a simple meal of fish and chips from a chinese chef working in an Italian restaurant in Galway ireland (yes we were asking for trouble with that combination) and three meals went into the bin, and one was returned to the restaurant by one of my very angry friends who demanded (and got) her money back. Even the seagulls didn't like the chips. Still you will need to eat so choose carefully and accept that all meals can't be gourmet delights. I cannot believe that standard is not or will not be better than what we encountered over our week in Ireland, but I will need to see some evidence of it before I change this paragraph. Please let me know what your experience was like. Email peter@rescueme.com.au

VENICE TRAVEL - a quick note as traveling in Venice is different. Use the water bus, not the water Taxi, and don't let one of the locals carry your luggage. They charge a high price for that service. You can walk everywhere in Venice once you are there, and gondolas are just for the tourists nowadays. If possible in Venice you should stay for a few nights at least, and late in the evening listen to the music played by the four piece orchestras in St Marks Square (San Marco) they are fabulous.

TOILETS - Public toilets in Europe are often just unusable, especially for women. When traveling on the highways, use the fuel station/roadhouse toilets which are usually clean. In towns and cities you can use hotel facilities, or as a standby use a Macdonalds outlet. You will have to pay, or you are expected to tip someone who keeps the facilities clean. Just get used to it and pay the money. It isn't much and you will need to go at sometime. Once you see the state of the public toilets you will be more than happy to pay a small sum for a clean one.

The People - Everyone that I have met across Europe has been warm and welcoming. You can see distinct differences in national attitudes, but it is rare to strike a problem unless you have inadvertantly created it. However I re-iterate you do need to attempt the local language. It is not a mortal sin to be very poor at speaking a foreign language, that is expected, but it is rude not to try.

Always travel with an open mind and don't make judgments about other cultures.

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