Traveling in your own car is a very responsible matter and requires a serious, balanced approach. You cannot simply decide to go to the sea, get into the car, and rush off. Or rather, that is possible, but only if you know the road thoroughly, the car is in perfect technical condition, and you have enough money in your wallet to pay for good hotels, restaurants, and possible car repairs.
Most car owners, however, need to prepare for the trip at least a week in advance: check the car's technical condition, finally repair the spare tire that had been unnecessary cargo until then, buy a road atlas, borrow a gasoline can from acquaintances (if going abroad, it is better to take at least 20 liters of fuel at a price lower than the European one), a tow rope, and a first aid kit.
Where to go
The choice of travel destinations outside the homeland is quite wide. Our compatriots are usually interested in Europe, the Baltic states, and the CIS – in general, those countries whose distance does not exceed 2-2.5 thousand km, since long-distance travel takes a lot of time and energy, and therefore there will be neither time nor energy left for sightseeing. It would be a trip for the sake of looking at roadsides from the car window, which is quite tiresome.
To cross the border of a European state by car, you first need a valid foreign passport with a visa. Keep in mind that in EU countries you need a visa from the country in which you will stay the longest. A visa from the country through which you are traveling in transit is not required in most cases. For example, if you are going through Poland to any Schengen country or an EU country bordering Poland - the Czech Republic, Slovakia - then you do not need a Polish visa. One caveat: you have the right to stay on Polish territory for no more than five days.
When crossing the border, the driver will be required to provide a filled customs declaration for the export of cash currency - for amounts over $1,500 up to $10,000, as well as for the export of items subject to mandatory declaration. The list of the latter can be seen on the websites of consular offices of the countries you will be entering. If you do not have any items subject to declaration with you, you can cross the border through the "green corridor" - a much more convenient and faster option.
"Green Card"
An obligatory condition for driving on European roads is that the driver has car insurance – the so-called "green card". Its cost can safely be recorded as necessary and unavoidable expenses. A green card for two weeks will cost a motor tourist $20-40. You can purchase it from large insurance companies or directly at the border. If you forgot to buy the insurance at home, abroad you can run into an unobtrusive "tourist service", paying three to four times more for the "green card".
The "green card" is an analogue of OSAGO for citizens traveling by car through European countries. That is, insurance only for the case when the person at fault in an accident needs to compensate the victim for damage. In the event of theft, damage to the car by vandals, earthquake, flood, and so on, the insurance company is not obliged to compensate for the damage. Of course, you can also insure against these risks - several insurers offer such services - but it is an expensive pleasure. For example, CASCO for ten days abroad for a car worth $30 thousand will cost $300.
Before crossing the border of another country, you need to spend at least half an hour studying the rules and procedures adopted in the country you are heading to. As you know, ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility.
We already mentioned the road atlas. So, when traveling abroad, it is better to buy it at any gas station after crossing the border. First, the "local" map will be more accurate than a translated analogue, and second, it is much easier to ask a native for directions by pointing your finger at the destination on a map written in his language and get a clear answer on how to get there. Third, a map of "abroad" will be cheaper precisely abroad, while here it will be sold as an expensive curiosity.
Toll roads
After buying a map, you can plan your travel route, taking into account not only the scenic nature of the highway, but also the cost of traveling through the country, because toll roads have become a harsh reality in Europe, and if a person wants to drive on a good highway or is in a hurry and has to drive fast, he will have to pay to drive on a high-speed motorway. Toll road interchanges are arranged in such a way that it is impossible to enter or leave the highway without passing a checkpoint, which is a series of turnstiles. If there is no need for high-speed movement, you can choose a free road that runs parallel to the toll road. But, as a rule, it is narrow and congested with cars of economical drivers. Sometimes it may turn out that the amount saved on the toll road is less than the cost of quite expensive gasoline that the car will consume while moving in a dense flow on a detour road.
In general, the toll road system turns out to be quite amusing for the motor tourist. The fact is that in most countries, when paying for driving on a motorway, you receive a special sticker (decal) on the windshield that gives you the right to drive on the toll road freely for a certain period. As a result, after traveling through several countries, the car's windshield becomes like a traveler's suitcase from the first half of the twentieth century, covered with stickers with the names of airports and airlines.
Prices for using toll roads vary everywhere. So, in Italy, France and Spain, a per-kilometer payment system is in effect, and one trip on a toll highway costs on average from $1.5 to $6. In Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, paying once from $5 to $50, you can travel throughout the country from 15 days to a year, depending on the cost of the "vignette" (toll pass). It should be remembered that payment is always made in local currency; at exchange offices (if they exist at all) at checkpoints the rate is poor, so it is better to exchange money in advance.
Fuel
An ordinary motorist rightly believes that the cost of gasoline in our country is inflated. When our people see fuel prices in Europe, their eyes widen. On average in Europe, the price of Super gasoline (analog of AI-95) is €1.1-1.3 per liter. In the Baltic countries the price is slightly lower - €0.8-0.9 for the same liter of AI-95. You will have to forget about an analog of our AI-92 in Europe, since theoretically it should exist, because nobody has banned it, but in reality almost nobody sells it. But there are no problems with diesel fuel in Europe. Europeans mostly prefer diesel cars. But here too you need to be careful: in addition to ordinary diesel fuel, which is sold on average for €0.8 per liter, European gas stations also sell diesel fuel made from rapeseed oil. This biofuel is slightly cheaper than petroleum fuel, but experts say that to use alternative fuel, the engine needs further tuning, otherwise the car may stall on the road, and the minimum damage in this case will be about €100 - the cost of flushing the fuel system, including the tank.
Given that our automobile fuel is significantly cheaper than abroad, it is better to fill the tank to full before crossing our border and additionally put a full 20-liter canister in the trunk. The border guards will not allow you to take more fuel out of the country.
Speed limits
Crossing their homeland border, every motorist must remember that they are entering the zone of operation of other laws and other measures of punishment and crime suppression, including those committed on the road. The treasury of European states is annually replenished with tens of thousands of dollars from foreigners, fined mainly for speeding.
Good roads and the apparent absence of police lull our drivers into a sense of security, and they, without realizing it, drive faster and faster until they are stopped by traffic police officers, who present photographs of the car showing the license plate number and speed as indisputable evidence of the violation. European traffic cops rarely set up ambushes with "speed guns" - video cameras with built-in radars are installed along highways.
In Germany, the situation is further aggravated by civic duty… Citizens believe that calling the police and reporting that a certain car has violated traffic rules is a sacred duty of every citizen. Here we practically have no difference between speeds of 60 and 80 km/h, but in Europe, if police prove that you were driving 20 km/h faster than the established limit, you will have to lighten your wallet by an amount from €50 to €150, depending on the rates adopted in the country of stay. It is good if you have such money with you; if you don't have money for the fine, the car will be seized and taken to an impound lot, and the driver will be detained.
It is much easier in Eastern Europe. Poles and Czechs, for example, love fast driving, so there is always someone to follow. There are still few surveillance cameras in these countries, and ordinary patrol cars watch the road. By the way, Poles always warn of ambushes by double flashing their high beams. One more thing: if you have yielded the road to an overtaking car, you should not hit the brakes when you see the "hazard lights" turned on in the car ahead - in many European countries this is just a sign of gratitude.