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Driving in Europe - London to Stockholm

jay

built for speed
Madness? Perhaps...

We're been invited to a friends holiday home in the Stockholm archipelago in August and are considering driving rather than flying. We're been 3 times before so are familiar with Sweden and the locale but haven't taken our own car into Europe, usually flying and driving.

It's a 1200 mile journey (one way!), so not for the faint-hearted I expect. We'd be two adults, a crazy 8 year old boy and a more crazy 18 month old Labrador. Cost and adventure wise it's attractive but I am a little apprehensive, it might be easier to kennel the dog, fly and get a rental.

Has someone taken a similar journey and can anyone recommend stops on the way or perhaps some common sense tips for the drive? I think we'd aim at doing it in two nights and my wife and I would share the driving.

Thanks in advance.
Jay
 
Better idea than the train according to the great Lee.


I love this guy. Look at that picture.
 
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It is a pity that there isn't a boat from UK to Norway any more. London to Stockholm is quite doable, we have done Amsterdam-Helsinki in an old small, open and very uncomfortable car.

There is a long boring stretch of lakes, forests, lakes, forests... in central Sweden. And watch out for elk and deer on the highways at dawn and dusk (ok, in the summer those two almost coincide...).
 
Thanks Julf (and Rich!), big time shame there's no ferry anymore. When I have discussed the journey with friends that's their recommendation but it hasn't run for a few years now...
 
I'd do it at the drop of a hat, but not with a kid and a Labrador. You deserve a medal if you go for it.
 
I'd do it at the drop of a hat, but not with a kid and a Labrador. You deserve a medal if you go for it.

Same. I'd love it too but I am beginning to chicken out even now. I think the fuel's going to cost me about £380 there and back at least...that's more than the cost of air fares...

35 mpg at Euro1.42/litre (Sweden) of diesel x 2400 miles = Euro 443
 
Yep, I've driven to Norway several times so it's a similar journey. (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark etc) but you'll have a quicker crossing in to Sweden, I took the longer one over to Norway.

I tend to hit these journeys fairly hard through the boring bits and then take smaller roads in countries I want to spend more time in. The best thing to do is have a look at a couple of maps and then see what sort of places are scattered about along the way which aren't too far off your heading that might be of interest to you and your family's particular interests.

So for example, I did London to Hamburg in one stint, then met up with some friends there for dinner and stay overnight and then the rest through Denmark to Norway the next day. I'd say London to Hamburg is probably a stretch with younger people in the car, I tend to do it on my own or with one other adult.

In terms of preparation, just make sure you've got the normal safety equipment for your car, make sure it's packed conveniently, headlights are legal etc. Obviously some break down cover, insurance, medical cover etc. Whilst I have a dog, I've never taken him on a journey like that, mainly just three hours and stop every hour with him, he doesn't like lying down in the car. But I think you'd need very regular stops so that's going to slow you down a fair bit. Maybe look at something like a max of 400 miles a day and take it from there.
 
Maybe teaching granny to suck eggs but you'll need:

1. European car insurance.
2. European breakdown cover (not legally required, but for peace of mind).
3. Decent European map (again, not legally required, but very useful as backup, even if also using sat-nav).
4. Stick-on adjusters for your headlights so they point the European way, unless your car is swanky enough to have a built-in way to adjust or doesn't need adjustment.
5. First aid kit.
6. Emergency kit including warning triangle and hi-viz jacket. If I recall right, this has to go in the main cabin, not the boot.
7. Spare bulb kit. No idea what you do if your car has LEDs.
8. Disposable breathalyser if going through France. (Last I heard they had the bizarre situation that it was illegal not to have one, but there was no actual penalty if you didn't. But still, don't get on the wrong side of les flics.)

Most of the above, except where noted, are legal requirements in various European countries.

To avoid hairy moments, I got a blank postcard sized card:
- On one side: DRIVE ON RIGHT ==>
- On other side : <== DRIVE ON LEFT
and stuck it somewhere prominent on the dash. (The second side might seem redundant, but apparently a lot of accidents occur in the UK after visiting the continent.) Remember to turn as appropriate.

Also, swot up on speed limits and any weird differences in rules of the road like French priorité a droite (learn when this applies and when not e.g. not on autoroutes). And expect to pay tolls.

Hope this helps. I think you are very brave to take an 8 year old!

Kind regards

- Garry
 
Sounds like an adventure, doubly so with child and dog. If you live in the N of England then Hull-Zeebrugge is a good crossing. Show up about 4, have a snooze, sail about 6, dinner, go to bed, wake up in Belgium. About 730 you're ashore. A mate of mine did it pretty well every week for work in Belgium, he lives quite near Hull and has an office there. He could work in the Hull office until about 3, then sail and drive to the Belgium site and be there before 9 the next day after a decent night's kip. Same again on the return leg, very often he'd be home on Saturday morning before the kids had finished breakfast.

If you live further south than say the Wash then Dover is better because it's a short, cheap crossing and Calais is only about an hour or so from places like Brugge.

If you plan your stops around interesting things and have plenty of stops for child and dog to run about and regain sanity then it just might work. Good luck.
 
Sounds like an adventure, doubly so with child and dog. If you live in the N of England then Hull-Zeebrugge is a good crossing.

Steve, pretty sure that doesn't run anymore.

IGNORE...P&O run one of course...
 
Is there no longer a ferry from Felixstowe?

Edit: as far as I know, North Sea Ferries from Hull still runs, and also goes to Rotterdam, which might be a better bet than Zeebrugge?
 
Thanks all, really great advice there.

I'm not so worried about Thomas, the 8 yo, he's always been a great traveler and has been dragging everywhere with us. The dog however is a bit more of a worry. She's quite happy in the car once settled, I did London to Stroud return in a day once with her and she was fine. But she'll need regular stops and exercise and that'll make for a long long journey I fear...

Still, we could leave her behind :)
 
Same. I'd love it too but I am beginning to chicken out even now. I think the fuel's going to cost me about £380 there and back at least...that's more than the cost of air fares...

35 mpg at Euro1.42/litre (Sweden) of diesel x 2400 miles = Euro 443

Your car only doing 35mpg of diesel is not helping, is it?
 
Is there no longer a ferry from Felixstowe?

Edit: as far as I know, North Sea Ferries from Hull still runs, and also goes to Rotterdam, which might be a better bet than Zeebrugge?

Yes, yes, it does Steve. We'd take the Eurotunnel probably...
 
Sounds like an adventure, doubly so with child and dog. If you live in the N of England then Hull-Zeebrugge is a good crossing. Show up about 4, have a snooze, sail about 6, dinner, go to bed, wake up in Belgium. About 730 you're ashore. A mate of mine did it pretty well every week for work in Belgium, he lives quite near Hull and has an office there. He could work in the Hull office until about 3, then sail and drive to the Belgium site and be there before 9 the next day after a decent night's kip. Same again on the return leg, very often he'd be home on Saturday morning before the kids had finished breakfast.

If you live further south than say the Wash then Dover is better because it's a short, cheap crossing and Calais is only about an hour or so from places like Brugge.

If you plan your stops around interesting things and have plenty of stops for child and dog to run about and regain sanity then it just might work. Good luck.

Something tells me he is in that there London.
 
We have a lab (our third) and all have travelled in the car on some fairly lengthy trips. Two hours non-stop was fairly common, five or six at a stretch, with comfort and exercise breaks every couple of hours was also fine. I'd say the tolerance of a lab to car travel is probably similar to that for your average 8 year old.

I used to drive extensively for work, and tended to set a personal limit of 500 miles in a day (but that took into account that I'd also be doing work during the day, and had an early start). For a leisure trip, I'd say that was still a sensible limit, not least because at much more than that sort of mileage, you're not going to be spending much time outside the car, apart from comfort breaks, and part of the adventure ought to be stopping off at interesting places en-route.

On that basis, I'd allow 3 days for each leg, not 2. Not sure what that does to the economics (2 more night stops).

If your car is comfortable and roomy enough for the dog and kid to stretch out, I'd not worry overmuch, and it sounds like a great idea to me. I'd love to do something like that, myself. An 18 month old lab is still a puppy, but past the worst of that stage by now (I'd hope).
 
We have a lab (our third) and all have travelled in the car on some fairly lengthy trips. Two hours non-stop was fairly common, five or six at a stretch, with comfort and exercise breaks every couple of hours was also fine. I'd say the tolerance of a lab to car travel is probably similar to that for your average 8 year old.

I used to drive extensively for work, and tended to set a personal limit of 500 miles in a day (but that took into account that I'd also be doing work during the day, and had an early start). For a leisure trip, I'd say that was still a sensible limit, not least because at that sort of mileage, you're not going to be spending much time outside the car, apart from comfort breaks, and part of the adventure ought to be stopping off at interesting places en-route.

On that basis, I'd allow 3 days for each leg, not 2. Not sure what that does to the economics (2 more night stops).

If your car is comfortable and roomy enough for the dog and kid to stretch out, I'd not worry overmuch, and it sounds like a great idea to me. I'd love to do something like that, myself. An 18 month old lab is still a puppy, but past the worst of that stage by now (I'd hope).

That's what I was thinking too Steve, 3 days travelling and 2 nights somewhere interesting. Good to know your experience with your dogs. I think she's pretty good in the car overall and it's definitely doable. Perhaps I just need to find some nice dog friendly stops of interest...
 
Thanks all, really great advice there.

I'm not so worried about Thomas, the 8 yo, he's always been a great traveler and has been dragging everywhere with us. The dog however is a bit more of a worry. She's quite happy in the car once settled, I did London to Stroud return in a day once with her and she was fine. But she'll need regular stops and exercise and that'll make for a long long journey I fear...

Still, we could leave her behind :)

No you can't. She will love running around the Swedish countryside. You will feel terribly guilty if you don't take her.
 
Maybe teaching granny to suck eggs but you'll need:
<snip very sensible list>
Kind regards

- Garry

Just another thought, no doubt the OP is on top of, but you'll probably need some sort of paperwork for the dog, at a guess the chipping details and some sort of doggy passport and evidence for inoculations being up to date? Worth also checking out what you'll need for bringing the dog back in to the UK, you don't want to risk quarantine for the want of a bit of paperwork, or a couple of jabs.
 


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