We're off in the Superb soon for three weeks when we go to Lithuania and Belarus.  We'll take the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, then we go through Belgium, The Nertherlands, Germany and Poland to reach Lithuania.  We'll stay overnight a couple of nights each way to break up the journey.  SWIMBO doesn't drive, but I am more than happy to do all the driving.

We stay with relatives in Klaipeda, Lithuania for most of our time, then we'll spend a few nights in Lida, Belarus before heading home.

This will be the longest journey we've undertaken in this car.  In previous years, we've been to places such as Croatia, Hungary and Italy, but this is going to be further.

We've navigation discs for all the countries we go through except for Lithuania and Belarus and I don't think there is one available for these countries.  I'm not bothered about Lithuania as I've driven here several times before in hire cars and I know the roads pretty well.  However, I've no experience of Belarus and have never driven here before.  All the road signs are in Russian, which doesn't help, but SWIMBO speaks fluent Russian, so we should be OK!

There is camera in Belarus showing vehicles approaching the border to Poland on the motorway from Minsk. A cigar for anyone who spots us here on our way home!

http://www.brest.cus...=view&id=ID_132

I'll let you know how we get on and post a few pictures when we get back.

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to fly?!

Probably, but the car will be packed full, including on the back seats, with various things SWIMBO wants to take to her parents and she'll want to bring as much back! However, it's not cheap to hire a decent car for three weeks and it's not easy to get a hire car that can be taken into Belarus.

Anyway, I love driving and I prefer this to flying any day!

Good point about luggage. good road trip but expensive in a V6!!

Ah, but but diesel is about £0.75 per litre in Belarus!

Longest trip I took was last year to Greece via Italy, 1500 miles + ferry one way, main leg from Calais to Brindisi (ferry) was 1250miles. On the return trip a few weeks later we visited Venice, Vienna, and some technical museums in Germany, staying overnight in each location, plus brought back a decent hub geared town bicycle for my kids (24in wheels, yet still fitted in the boot after taking them off). Quite OK in a Superb, and yes, we also do not use planes much because of excess luggage and air fare + car rental costs/uncertainity.

However, most driving per weekend occured when flights were grounded in Europe due to the volcano in Iceland. I did 900+ miles on Friday/Saturday night, 200miles on Saturday, 1100+ miles on Sunday/Monday night, oil change and brake pad service at 4am on Monday, and 900+ miles on Monday afternoon. Suffice to say I really appreciated the comfort Superb offers on long trips.

Re fuel costs, V6 offers a lot more comfort, though I still prefer manual V6 over auto. I recently did 2500m half term round trip in a Roomster, 1.6TDI 4cyl 105bhp and while overally it is a great kids bus, you do notice the difference in engine flexibility even on motorway, and certainly notice the difference in power at any motorway speed. Won't retire my Superb any time soon from autobahn duty...

You can fuel up at Carrefour, in Calais or in Marck in France, then at Tango in Venlo. Google locations. Both take UK credit cards and tend to be cheaper 10cents per litre than the motorway stations, and are under 1min from motorway. Diesel fuel in France and the Netherlands is 25% less expensive than in the UK. Germany is 5%-10% more, and Poland is now getting pricey, but still 10% cheaper than Germany so best not to take fuel in Germany unles you are in a hurry. Refill in Netherlands is enough to reach Poland at ~110mph-115mph, and leaves enough reserve to reach Michendorf services near Berlin at 140mph-145mph

If you travel on (paid) A2 motorway across Poland, be prepared to stop 7+ times to pay road tolls. This is due to using 2 disjoint toll charging systems, I guess it'll take another 5-10 years before you can do the trip with just entry/exit ticket. I stopped using that motorway whenever going in that direction as the constant stopping every 50km is annoying, tend to plan my trips either from South West or from North (by ferry from Sweden).

Edited 14 June, 201213 yr by dieselV6

We're going to Dunkirk on the ferry rather than Calais, but I know where to find Carrefour in Dunkirk (and so does SWMBO as she'll spend an hour or two in there if she gets a chance!)

Even in Germany, I cruise at about 70-80mph. OK, why have the V6, but it is smooth at speed and has loads of torque to sail up the hills when we have a full load.

When I was younger, I never thought I'd want an automatic, but your ideas change when you're on the wrong side of 60!

Should be a great journey and you have just the right car for it too!

This year we are driving down to Montenegro via northern Italy (the Dolomites) and Slovenia, then Croatia. Then up through Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, a stop over in Prague, then Nuremberg and back to the Channel Tunnel. 3000+ miles round trip. Last year we drove to Strasbourg, stayed there for a while, then across (non-motorways - tolls, and boring! so took normal roads) Switzerland to northern Italy - stayed in Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, then down to Florence for a few days of sightseeing and shopping, then across to Ancona and a ferry across the Adriatic. The year before we drove to Cannes, spent some time there as well as Nice, then via Monaco to northern Italy, and spent some time in Venice and Trieste.

Oh this car has been on some epic journeys. Next year we plan to drive to Barcelona, then south of France, Rome, and maybe a ferry to Sardinia.

I also fill up at a French unmanned supermarket pump in Calais not too far from the Tunnel.

Problem with the V6 is I cannot get to the Ort-im-Innkreis services just on the other side of German-Austrian border, from Calais that's dead on 620 miles. I have to top up 20 litres in Germany (expensive). Always tempted to bring along my 20 litre military can - but never have the space in the boot for it!!

I have lost patience with the ferries so tunnel every time for me. A screaming kid soon makes you want to just get on with the journey. For us the fact we can load up the car and take a lot of stuff with us, gifts, luggage, etc, is a big bonus - and an even bigger bogus is that we can bring a lot of stuff back with us - mostly food/savoury delicacies!

I have not visited Poland and that part of the world but must be great venturing that far "east"! Good luck on the journey!

Edited 14 June, 201213 yr by oh_superb

Thanks oh_superb!

You have had some great trips abroad as well. This is where the car is at its best! I live and work in Brecon and driving through the narrow streets every day it's a bit of a barge, but once you're on the open road....

As we have a 5 hour drive to get to Dover, we prefer the ferry to have a break in the journey and something to eat. It's also different for us as there is just the two of us travelling.

The last time I drove through Poland was 1974, so I expect things have changed a bit since then! At that time, you had to get a visa for Poland and East Germany, but now you drive straight through the border without stopping! But we still need a visa for Belarus and I'm expecting the border there to be like the old eastern Europe borders as regards checks on your documents and the invariable delays.

Just make sure you have a valid Green Card, in paper form, on a green piece of paper! Some of those eastern block countries are still very much bureaucratic in the worst kinds of ways!

We are 2.5 hrs to Folkestone/Dover so no need for any long breaks - but in your case I can understand, 5 hrs is just about enough, especially on UK roads.

It is a barge, but the auto box helps round town. By far the most claustrophobic experience was driving through the heart of old Florence, all those narrow streets, satnav hopeless as the streets are narrow and most are one-way, and you have all those scooters coming out of nowhere!

I had to stop at some point, get out and take a deep breath!

These cars just eat up the miles.

I've already got the green card for all the countries we're going to visit, except for Belarus, as nobody in this country will insure your vehicle in that country. We'll have to buy it on the border and I hope we can get adequate cover and not just third party!

Problem with the V6 is I cannot get to the Ort-im-Innkreis services just on the other side of German-Austrian border, from Calais that's dead on 620 miles. I have to top up 20 litres in Germany (expensive). Always tempted to bring along my 20 litre military can - but never have the space in the boot for it!!

Consider going via Luxembourg and filling up there. 40miles more, but fuel is yet another 10cents cheaper than in France (EUR1.21 Luxembourg vs. EUR1.31 France vs. EUR 1.61 your local station). Plus you will be going across some more picturesque parts of Germany, including several breathtaking mountain passes.

If you go via Mons rather than Brussels, you will also avoid a lot of traffic jams across Belgium too, though this mostly makes difference in daytime (e.g. Jabbeke).

We usually go via Luxembourg and have stayed there a couple of times as we can reach it with a comfortable day's driving from Brecon and ferry. We have stayed at the Luxembourg Hilton as we have been able to get a night's stay and breakfast for about £60.

However, we'll be going further north this through Holland this year as we've already booked overnight stays. We're going through Antwerp as Brussels is always very busy.

Consider going via Luxembourg and filling up there. 40miles more, but fuel is yet another 10cents cheaper than in France (EUR1.21 Luxembourg vs. EUR1.31 France vs. EUR 1.61 your local station). Plus you will be going across some more picturesque parts of Germany, including several breathtaking mountain passes.

If you go via Mons rather than Brussels, you will also avoid a lot of traffic jams across Belgium too, though this mostly makes difference in daytime (e.g. Jabbeke).

I have gone via Lux before, bit longer journey yes, and with my tiny fuel tank I have to plan fill-ups appropriately so I get to Lux on vapours so to speak to make it just about worthwhile with the 10cent or so saving per liter. So last couple of trips I have just gone via Frankfurt and Cologne and Brussels.

When I did, however, go via Lux, one advantage was taking the A6 through Germany, via Heilbronn, very nice section of the autobahn, with relatively few 100km/h restrictions, where I almost maxxed the car out in fact (GPS recorded max 140mph in its memory - but I missed the actual moment when it happened - was probably too busy looking ahead!).

I do look forward to my next drive in August. Just need approval from my boss and booking the train asap. Planning a trip via Slovenia and the Italian Dolomites, down to Croatia and MOntenegro then back up through Serbia and spend a day or two in the Czech Republic in Prague. From there, Calais is reachable within 8-9 hours, so planning to cover this overnight after a nice dinner in Prague before saying farewell to the Superb's country of birth.

Now that I have just completed my front suspension project (new upper arms and on your recommendation new shocks and springs at the front), it should be better than ever before

Well, we've made it to Klaipeda, Lithuania without any problems with the car. It's showing on the computer 1,560 miles from home, 29 3/4 hours driving and average fuel consumption 46.9 mpg. The return home in a couple of weeks is via Belarus, so will be a bit longer.

We arrived on Monday evening , but today is the first day since then that I've been out in the car as I had a high temperature and brochitus as soon as we got here and I've been confined to bed! It's very hot and dry (it was still 33 degrees at 7 pm)! A spell of UK weather would be a nice relief from the heat!

A spell of UK weather would be a nice relief from the heat!

Hum, I'm not to sure about that right now (quack quack)!

Back to the UK?? Hope it all went well.

I've just been to Moscow: diesel 60p/litre. Unbelievable.

Edited 22 July, 201213 yr by oh_superb

Yes, I'm back and all was Ok thanks. I'll write a bit more when I've got a few minutes and post a couple of photos.

Did you drive all the way to Moscow?

It may be easier to fly but god, is there anything more thrilling than driving across the continent?

Sent from my iPhone using klatapaT.

This thread really makes me want to do some continental driving!

Have a nice trip!

Gaz

Yes, I'm back and all was Ok thanks. I'll write a bit more when I've got a few minutes and post a couple of photos.

Did you drive all the way to Moscow?

Oh no, I flew business class - much quicker and more comfy ;-) But I do have a dream of driving to Moscow - if I can bear going through the pain of getting a Russian visa again!!!

Off for another big trip soon! Overnight Luxembourg, Southern Germany, to Garmisch Partenkirchen. Then onwards to Lake Garda. Then Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Edited 27 July, 201213 yr by oh_superb

if only i would have an opportunity like that i would of join you with my 2.5 v6 tdi

love driving and awesome way to cruse with one more superb

...

done it to Poland 5 times due to polish missus

and loved it

Oh no, I flew business class - much quicker and more comfy ;-) But I do have a dream of driving to Moscow - if I can bear going through the pain of getting a Russian visa again!!!

Off for another big trip soon! Overnight Luxembourg, Southern Germany, to Garmisch Partenkirchen. Then onwards to Lake Garda. Then Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

I'm very jealous as that trip sounds great and I can't wait to get back on the road abroad again! It'll have to be next year now though!

if only i would have an opportunity like that i would of join you with my 2.5 v6 tdi

love driving and awesome way to cruse with one more superb

...

done it to Poland 5 times due to polish missus

and loved it

My missus is Russian, but comes from Klaipeda, Lithuania and this was the first year we've driven there. She was worried about driving across Poland which is why we hadn't done it before, but she is fine now we've done it and is already planning to do the same trip again next year!

You'd probably get bored cruising with me as I don't rush and stick to about 70-80 mph!

Our trip to Lithuania and Belarus was for three weeks and we covered 3,467 miles and averaged 44 mpg (computer), though that does include driving around the towns of Klaipeda and Lida in Lithuania and Belarus respectively whilst we were staying there. The weather was mostly good and very hot at times (we saw 34 degrees!). There were a few thunderstorms, but these were mostly at night and we didn't have much wet weather driving. The car went without any problems and this is what it does best - long journeys on motorways.

The motorway in Poland has just been completed to Warsaw, which now makes the journey much easier, though from Warsaw to Lithuania is on 2 way roads through many towns and villages which can be slow and a bit hairy with some of the overtaking you see!

This is Klaipeda outside the wife's parent's flat where we were staying:-

And we complain of potholes!:-

And the pavements are no better!:-

We went on to Belarus to visit more of the wife's relatives for three nights before we went home . It took about 2 1/2 hours to cross the border in both directions and they were very keen on checking all the car documents, engine number, etc.

The road to the Belarus border in Lithuania was being rebuilt, but they had ripped up all the old carriageway and left you to drive over a rough track with very long one way sections controlled by lights:-

There were miles of trucks queuing to get over the border:-

I was very surprised about Belarus and liked it very much. Everywhere is very clean and well maintained and the people are friendly. A lot of people were looking at the car as I don't think they have many tourists, especially where we were. Some were asking why the steering wheel is on the right and are all cars like that in the UK! Some younger people would give us the thumbs up and shout Top Gear (its popular over there and is dubbed in Russian). There are not many cars and there are lots of older machinery that has long disappeared from the UK, such as this Moskvitch:-

And this Volga:-

Here we're visiting relatives at their flat in Lida and parked with Belarus cars:-

All the signs are in Cyrillic in Belarus:-

As we left the country, we went along this motorway, which is easy driving as there is very little traffic, though the speed limit is only 100 kph. However, it is nothing like what we think of as a motorway as it has pedestrian crossings, bus stops and left turns across oncoming traffic as in this photo:-

We're planning next year's trip to Lithuania already and if it's as good as this one, I can't wait!