Germany & Austria

We knew today would be a day just eating up the miles with the huge cities of Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich on our radar as we chugged toward the Austrian border. But first, breakfast! Travelling by camper has so many advantages. You bring your own comforable home with you without having the inconvenience of a giant trailer behind you; you have your own loo which we have chosen to use for “minor” visits only saving “major” visits for any one of the many ultra-high quality facilities on the way; your own bed and bedding to aid your restful night and (most importantly!) your own kitchen. It’s great to have a cuppa in your own cup in the morning and your own choice of cereal, all bought for supermarket prices, aids your preparations for the day.

We hit the road and soon signs for the impressive Frankfurt Airport began looming up on us. Frankfurt, like Heathrow, is one of the main hubs for Europe and there were extensive building works going on when we passed almost a year ago on our way to the UK from the Czech Republic. The enormous construction works were not yet complete but bearing the scale in mind, I’m not too surprised. It seems that the huge building to the left of the motorway as you drive South-East is being built from the centre out. Finally, we cleared Frankfurt and the roads quieten down a little as we left the commuter areas and rush hour behind.

We have a good German friend who, apart from being very switched on, is an endless fountain of knowledge, support and wisdom. He advised us that Germany would likely be the best place to get provisions for our stay in Slovenia. We checked our TomTom for the closest supermarket and found an Aldi within 5km. When we got there, much to our complete indifference, it turned out to be a Lidl. Once you get past the no-frills style, there is some brilliant food available. I’ve never been into a Lidl in the UK and am not sure if it stocks the same foods or not, but here in Germany we found the most wonderful gourmet salami, sausage, cheese, yoghurt, fruit and veg. We left with a huge stock of food for two weeks for far less that our usual weekly food bill and hit the road once again.

Finally, the Austrian border came upon us and we had a choice to make. In Austria, much like the Czech Republic, you must buy a special ticket to use the motorway. This is something like a tax-disc and is available for 10 days, 1 month or a year. We checked the TomTom once again for a non-toll route and were presented with a viable option. The distance was about the same but the time was much, much, much longer time. We decided to use the motorway and buy the toll-disc which was only €7. So far, so good. Crossing this slim part of Austria didn’t take long at all and we soon got close to the border with Slovenia. Before the border were a series of tunnels through the mountains for which an additional toll must be paid. We decided to check the TomTom again for another route and this time decided to give it a try. With the light now gone, these tiny village roads were extremely slow going and, spending most of our time in 3rd gear, we soon realised that this was certainly going to be a false economy. We reversed ourselves and finally made it back onto the motorway and 5th gear. We arrived at the toll to find it was just €9.50 for the tunnel. The tunnel turned out to be over 4km long. If you’ve never driven through a seriously long tunnel, it’s a little odd at first especially if they are more or less straight like this one. The fumes hang in the air as the enormous fans fail spectacularly to vent the exhaust gases and smog sits in the air as the headlights cut creamy cones into the darkness. Another tunnel, this time shorter at only 3km, and it’s time to pull over for the night.