May 2011, we embark on a journey using a rental car to 7 countries in Europe. It is actually an All-In-One trip (business, leisure, others). From Kuala Lumpur to Paris (AirAsia X), Paris > United Kingdom > Belgium > Nederland > Luxembourg > Germany (Mannheim & Stuttgart) > Switzerland (Zurich &lauterbrunnen) > Paris again.
THE CAR
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| Paris, near Eifel (5.30am early morning to avoid the traffic and rush hour) and our rental car. |
A rental unit from Avis France is a newly new (only 1700km+ on the odometer) Renault Laguna III 1.5dci manual. The last time I drove “on the wrong side of the road”is in 2009, in Abu Dhabi & Dubai (a Chevy Aveo Auto). But driving a manual here is much more challenging. I thought several hours would get me accustomed but it actually took about 2 days before I feel ok. Several times especially near a junction or roundabout, I have to think first as it is not natural driving on the right side of the road. Once reaching the UK shores, all feels “normal” again as many years driving that way, even in a left-hand drive car.
WHAT’S GOOD
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| My friend is so happy to reach Paris & the iconic Eifel tower. |
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| resting on the way from UK > Dover (ferry) > Dunkurque > Belgium > Amsterdam |
The car is a significant improvement over the original Laguna (which I owned previously), in terms of engine torque and smoothness. The 1.5 engine (with 4 adults and full luggage) topped 210 kmh on the Germany autobahn. It also go up the Lauterbrunnen mountain village easily, with no signs of struggling for a 1.5diesel engine. It cruises to 180kmh quite effortlessly… that’s impressive. It comes with automatic handbrake, auto lamp, auto wiper, cruise control & speed limiter. The interior and dashboard finishing quality and material is much better than previous versions.
WHAT’S NOT THAT GOOD
The space. Inside, it feels smaller than the previous version. The boot & luggage space is significantly small compared to previous versions (it is more shallow, the previous versions is much deeper). It is quite a shock because the I have problems to load our luggage easily (1 big + 5 medium). I am quite confident the previous version can swallow them much easily. And it is not that beautiful (this is my personal opinion) compared to the Mk1 version.
The NVH (Noise, Vibration and harshness) is also quite average. It don’t have the German quietness at speed I expected and the ride is firmer. It is much a better handling car but not close to the Germans.
IN GENERAL, THE CAR
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| Driving along the fantastic roads with beautiful scenery |
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| See, the bonnet is full. It is actually a little shallow and smaller than the previous generations. |
Very good, but still not good enough or outstanding. Still need to catch up especially the Germans (Audi, BMW) in terms of quietness and quality feel. It is a value for money..in Europe. At about 20,000-22,000 euro compared to an Audi a4, which costs about 20-35% more expensive, we can say it is a value for money car.
THE ROUTE
France > UK > Belgium > Nederland > Luxembourg > Germany > Switzerland > France
FRANCE. We covered about 4000km using about 70% motorway and the rest is city or non motorway roads. Starting from Paris, we go to Dunkurque for the ferry to UK. Why not Calais as usual? Because the alternative Norforlkline ferries have better offers and it is not that busy. Furthermore, the Dunkirk/Dunkurque port is about 10km only from Calais.
UNITED KINGDOM. In UK, due to time constraint because business matters, we only covered London for 3 days. However, accidentally we discovered the beautiful Folkestone. The original plan is to drive direct to the Dover port but due to fatigue, my wife suggested we search a budget hotel near Dover for rest before driving the next day to Belgium and Nederland (Amsterdam), which will consists about 10-12 hours driving. The Grand Burstin Hotel there is quite old (I think it is an 80s hotel), but well maintained and the view is superb, masyaAllah. A small fisherman village is an outstanding way to rest and let loose.
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| Faversham Car Show.. simply superb cars, atmosphere and great people |
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| this car is >100 years and still working.. fabulous |
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| Lots of 30s-60s cars expecially British makes. |
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| in Folkestone UK. Near Dover port. Simply amazing views. |
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| Taken from in front of our hotel in Folkestone UK. |
BELGIUM. Next, Brugge (Belgium) and Amsterdam (Nederland).Brugge is an old town and not that accessible to vehicle. So, it is better to park the vehicle at the numerous underground parking spaces that are available and walk. The best way is to tour using the boat. It is known as “Venice of Europe” and also houses many Belgium chocolate makers. However the price is quite expensive (about 15-20euro per kg) and as Muslims, some of them are not halal as it contains liquor. So, asks them before buying. You can tour the city in ½ to 1 day. Not much interest me except it is a beautiful place and a tourist attraction. So many tourist here from all over the world.
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| Brugge Belgium. A historical city with lots of tourists. |
NEDERLAND. Next is Amsterdam. En route, we stop at Rotterdam to pray and eat. Staying at Zaandam, as Amsterdam is a cycling city (driving and parking there is a costly matter). We went to Volendam the next day for the beautiful small village.
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| Volendam, Nederland. Windmill & bicycles.. lots of it. |
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| near the beautiful & windy Volendam. |
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| at Zaandam Mosque, Amsterdam. |
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| Rotterdam, Nederland. |
LUXEMBOURG. From Volendam, we go to Luxembourg, a small country but with big revenues (from finance sectors). A funny thing is that the town seems like a ghost town after 8pm. As this time is spring, 930pm is when it is dark. So, 8pm seems like 4pm in Malaysia, still shining. I have counted in 1 km, we only saw about 10 people. Most of them maybe sit idle in the house. This is quite an expensive city to live in, but the income is also expensive ( a cleaner earns from 2500euro per month). Originally, we want to go to Villeroy&Boch factory outlet, but it has just closed at 6pm. We arrive a little late. Villeroy&Boch is a premium brand for pottery products in Europe. The take the chinese pottery technologies in early 1880s to Europe (that’s what I heard la).
GERMANY. We eat some kebab and go straight to Mannheim, Germany. This is the longest drive. We arrive in our budget hotel in Mannheim about 1am. Tired and quite sleepy.So many road repairs/construction along the German motorways, so the average speed is only about 60-90kmh.
Mannheim, we visit Sinsheim Auto technik Museum. This is the best, biggest, and most value for money for a car enthusiast. Even the whole day you will not be finished, mesmerised by nearly 500 quality exhibitions from cars, weapons, militaries, locomotives, airplanes. A must go for most guys. Really. My DSLR camera exhausted during the end of the museum, means that about 300+ pictures taken.
Next is Stuttgart. The road is superb quality but many repairs, means that many speed restrictions. The next day we visited Porsche Museum. After the Sinsheim Auto Technik, Porsche Museum seems don’t interest me much even I am a Porsche fan (kind of). Then, we go to Metzingen, a city of factory outlets. When they said city, it is literally a small village and nearly the whole village is factory outlets for nearly 70 europe famous brands at 30-50% cheaper prices.
SWITZERLAND. Due to the shopping frenzy, we moved to Switzerland quite late than originally planned. Arrive at Zurich for pray, eat and some short rest. Then drive to Lauterbrunnen, a beautiful small village as a point to other beautiful scenery in Switzerland. We arrive there very late (about 1am) and their road consists of many long tunnels. On the way back to Paris, there are about 13 tunnels, ranging from 300m to 7km long.
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| see the Laguna? breathtaking view from our chalet in Lauterbrunnen. |
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| me & my 6th daughter & my friend. walking from the chalet to the train station. |
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| the train to Jungfrau (Europe highest peak) will costs you a bomb!! CHF 165 per person.. for 2 hours journey. |
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| at the exchange train station. Simply superb, MasyaAllah. |
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| Snow is new to us.. so a little excited seeing and feeling it.. he he. |
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| Stabbauch hill near our chalet. Subhanallah, very beautiful. |
Back to Paris. We drive to Dijon using some village roads before using the paid motorway. Arrive in Paris quite late evening for a meeting (again), and sleep a little late for next morning flight.
THE ROAD
All of their road is superb (except in UK, quite the same quality in Malaysia). No unwanted undulations, smooth and quiet. Except some part near paris (from Dijon) and some part Belgium to Nederland.
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| topped at 210kmh. Amazing for this 1.5 diesel engine with full load. This is from Stuttgart to Zurich. |
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| The best about driving your own is you create your own itineraries.. visiting small villages is a special experience. |
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| this is a road scene entering Swiss from Germany. |
Drivers discipline is fantastic, follow the rules and they respect each other. The fast lane is normally empty, only used when overtaking. Because all follow the speed restrictions, even at 50kmh in town areas, so if you are overtaking, possibilities are you are driving much faster. Speed Limiter option in the Laguna is very useful here, helping us to maintain to the restrictions most of the time. Most motorway has 80-130kmh speed limit but town areas do have 50kmh speed limits. The police installed a lot of cameras, so you have to drive within the limits.
Going to UK and out of it, checks are made. So make sure you have all the hotel receipt / vouchers, ferry or flight tickets and know where are you going. They even checked your bonnet and luggage. Make sure arrive much earlier if you are going by ferry, as the checks and queue consume time.
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| we use Norfolkline ferry which use the Dunkirk port > Dover > Dunkirk. Better rate & quite the near Calais. |
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| Bye-bye Dover. On the way to Belgium & Amsterdam. |
However, crossing the EU border is like crossing different states (like Johor to Melaka). You only see a sign saying that you are inside what country. Very easy. No border, no tolls, no immigrations or customs. Sometimes, you only realise you are in other country when your phone receiving SMS (operator sends SMS informing that you have entered different countries).
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| superb roads & drivers (and toll free) on nearly 85% of the route. |
TOLLS, FUEL AND OTHER COSTS
Reminder, the fine/ticket here is expensive, so keep your speed and driving as the law permits. Tolls systems (such in Malaysia) only exists in France. The toll from Paris to Calais / Dunkirk is 17.50euro.
In Switzerland, you can buy the Motorway sticker at fuel stations at CHF40 for the whole year (about RM150). Germany, Nederland, Belgium, Luxembourg and UK do not have tolls. Ops, UK only got 2. 1 is when you are going via a tunnel on the way to London, and 2 the congestion charges going inside London during weekdays during 9am-5pm. Congestion charge is GBP8 per entry.
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| Lots of tunnels especially in Switzerland. Some 300m, but some up to 7km long. |
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| Stopping for fuel (diesel) in Swiss and buying the highway sticker at CHF40. |
I spend about RM1500 in diesel (about 350euro) for my 3000+km journey. The Laguna has fantastic fuel consumption, about 6-7l/100km. a full tank (about 70lt) can go up to 1100 km. Diesel prices varies among different stations but motorway stations sells a little expensive. And toilets along the motorway is not free mostly in European countries. It is more cheaper in France, Germany than in UK and Swiss.
NAVIGATIONS
I rely 99% on my trusted Garmin GPS and in France, used the TOM TOM integrated unit came with the car. My Garmin 215 is quite an old unit but I have used it in Malaysia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Europe, with reliable mapping 98% of the time. Just buy the map for the regions and you are good to go. However, do bring a back up unit of GPS or phones with GPS (and it maps) as you never know, it can go “kaput” anytime. The TomTom also very good with Live Traffic feeds.
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| my trusted Garmin Nuvi 215. Old but still kicking.. ha ha. |
THE FOOD, PRAYERS AND ISSUES FOR MUSLIMS
Most of the country do have mosques and halal food outlets. In Carrefour france and ASDA in UK, even have Halal Section. This is due to large populations of Muslims there. In Nederland, they also have many muslims and the communities live nearby mosques areas (and halal foods/groceries). The same in Zurich. However, Luxembourg, Brugge (Belgium) and Lauterbrunnen do not have many muslims (except in Luxembourg, they do have Muslim centre for prayer and activities); so it is quite challenging for halal food. That’s why we bring a rice cooker and some food paste from Malaysia to fill our stomach. It is also much cheaper this way. A kebab or a plate of beriani rice will easily costs about RM20-25. So, to keep our budget within limit, we do cook ourselves when time permits.
at Mahmud Mosque in Zurich, Switzerland.
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| a mosque in Barking, London |
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| with Mustafa, our Muslim brother from Morocco and been living in Luxembourg as IT Consultant. |
Most Europeans do respect Muslims. If they bring along dogs, they will try not to bring it near you.
SUMMARY
Europe is very accessible and easy to explore using a car. I have used speed train but car is a much more sweet experience, but yes, it is more tiring. But if you do love driving, Europe is one of the best place to go with a car. Car rental is not that expensive. A good navigator (or GPS) is a must. A rewarding experience.
