11543 Calais to Puglia - Any up to date tips??

We are driving with loaded Mercedes Sprinter from Calais to Puglia in April. Having read most of the recommendations I have decided on a route but just want to know if there are any up to date tips out there, new things to avoid etc.

As we have a valuable cargo and have two drivers we will be driving non stop but will probably stop for 3/4 hours to grab some sleep. We will avoid Switzerland as the value of the load is in excess of the vat limit. We want to avoid tolls as much as possible. We are setting off Saturday Night or early Sunday morning (probably the latter so that we arrive in Puglia Midday Monday)

Route will be Calais/into belgium/skirt around Brussels/around Liege/Trier/Karlsruhe/Stuttgart/Olm/Innsbruck/Brenner Pass/Bolzano/Verona/Bologna/Rimini/Pescara/Bari

Any updates/tips would be much appreciated and if anyone knows the toll charges for vans in Austria it would be a big help.

Thanks

P.S. Just been advised that vans can be stopped in Austria and if considered to be importing goods, tax will be payable. Is this true?

Category

Travel & Holiday Advice

thats the way i would go.when tired you can come off the autobahn very easily in germany and rest /eat etc,i don't think you'll have any problem with the austrian police just say you're gb holiday people it should be ok.if the van's not to heavy its a great drive thru germany...fast.

From the Brenner pass there is toll road. Ends at Bari and last year I paid ca. € 65 (I think). But the road is good and not to much traffic. Mind you, I drove evening and night. If the van is over 3,5 tons one must have a GO-box on Austrian Highways. The lovest rate is then 15,8 cent per kilometer. And you have to pay € 80 for the box. Of this € 5 is an adminstration fee.
If under 3,5 tons you must have a vignet and for ten days it cost € 7,70

Read about it here; [url=http://www.go-maut.at/go/default.asp?cookie_test=1]GO Mautsystem fr LKW und Bus[/url]

Since Austria is a full member of the EC, I can't see how they can impose any duty.

[quote=Neil T;109343]Since Austria is a full member of the EC, I can't see how they can impose any duty.[/quote]

Does not matter if you can't see how. If you don't pay there is a hefty fine. And they will catch you.
And a lot of EC countries that have tolls on motorways. (Slovenia - Italy - France, just to mention a few)

[quote=livarandsofie;109348]Does not matter if you can't see how. If you don't pay there is a hefty fine. And they will catch you.
And a lot of EC countries that have tolls on motorways. (Slovenia - Italy - France, just to mention a few)[/quote]

I think Neil T wasn't referring to your info on road tolls, rather he was responding to the P.S. on the end of the initial post, viz;

[COLOR="blue"]"P.S. Just been advised that vans can be stopped in Austria and if considered to be importing goods, tax will be payable. Is this true?"[/COLOR]

FWIW I agree with Neil, but hey, what do I know. Just wanted the thread to make sense, that's all.

[quote=livarandsofie;109348]Does not matter if you can't see how. If you don't pay there is a hefty fine. And they will catch you.
And a lot of EC countries that have tolls on motorways. (Slovenia - Italy - France, just to mention a few)[/quote]

I was talking about duty on the contents, not road tolls 8o)

[QUOTE=Luce Dell'Amore;109287]We are driving with loaded Mercedes Sprinter from Calais to Puglia in April. .................

Route will be Calais/into belgium/skirt around Brussels/around Liege/Trier/Karlsruhe/Stuttgart/Olm/Innsbruck/Brenner Pass/Bolzano/Verona/Bologna/Rimini/Pescara/Bari

Any updates/tips would be much appreciated .............QUOTE]

If you look at [url=http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/eupetrolprices/]AA Roadwatch : European Petrol Prices[/url] you'll see that diesel is much cheaper in Luxembourg than elsewhere. Therefore, it would probably pay you to drop in to Luxembourg, [your proposed route passes just North of it]. I'd suggest Calais, Lille, Namur, Luxembourg, and on to Stuttgart via Saarbrucken. [Easy to use petrol stations is just inside the border after leaving Belgium, or just before France on the road to Metz]

Have a good trip

.

Good idea Alan, thank you. I didn't realise that Luxembourg was so much less

Alan
Quick question, in Luxembourg I presume you need to come off the motorway to get the cheaper petrol or do they not rip you off like in the UK where the price differential can be massive.

[quote=Luce Dell'Amore;109619]Alan
Quick question, in Luxembourg I presume you need to come off the motorway to get the cheaper petrol or do they not rip you off like in the UK where the price differential can be massive.[/quote]

I don't know if you can get cheaper fuel 'off of the motorways' - the stuff at the service stations on the motorway is so [relatively] cheap compared to other countries that I've never bothered to search elsewhere

.

Just found this in [url=http://www.luxembourg.co.uk]Luxembourg Tourist Office in London[/url]

"Please note that petrol (/gasoline if you prefer) prices are the same across the country, as they are fixed by government decree, and hence there's no difference in cost whether you get your fuel at a tiny filling station in the middle of nowhere, or on the motorway."

I assume it also applies to Diesel

.

I don't know if this helpful or not but as a northerner ( adopted) I am going to try the Hull Rotterdam ferry I know there are more costs but I get a rest at night and I avoid the M6 and the M25. Good enough reason to research it.