Hi i%26#39;m driving to Kaprun / Zell Am See on 23rd February 2008 from the UK. Is there any high mountain passes I need to be aware of particularly through Baveria on into Austria. I have a 4WD but am always inclined to take the easiest route possible, of course I appreciate at this time of year it could be snowing anywhere. Any advise please?
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Nothing to worry about, despite the last 40 km from the highway exit at St. Johann im Pongau, its all %26quot;Autobahn%26quot; (fastest possible highway) down to Austria, no major passes or anything, its all tunnels now. The only thing you would have to worry about would be an extrem snowfall, like it happend 2 years ago, when hundreds of drivers, one of them beeing me, got stuck right on the highway, between Vienna and Salzburg for hours and could slowly watch how our cars sank into the higher and higher snow over the night and had to be freed by the firebrigade, eventhough we had snowtyres and chains ...
General advice on driving in the alps in winter: Make sure your car is in good condition e.g. your battery will suffer a lot from the deep temperatures, have wintertyres on and snowchains in the trunk, make sure you have enough no-frost aditive in both the cooling-liquid and the window-wash, bring a broom to get the car snowfree in the morning ..., the ice-scraper and the stuff to de-ice your cardoor-lock belongs into your pocket and not inside the car, make sure you have paid your AAA or RAC contributions on time so you will get assistance in case of a breakdown, when driving in really bad weather, make sure you always have warm clothes, something to drink and afew muesli-bars with you, and never let your tankfilling drop below 1/4 full, just in case you might get stuck .... If you obey these rules, you shouldn´t have any problems !
Greets, Fritz
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Thank-you so much Ftitz, your swift response is very professional.
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The prior poster fails to provide some important information to you.
Hopefully you know about the Austrain Vignette or road tax stickers that you must buy to travel on Austrian autobahns and many other major roads.
It costs 7,60 euro for 10 days.
You can buy it a locations including gas stations and at the border crossing.
Large signs are posted to advertise and direct you.
Please purchase a vignette and place it on your windscreen.
The police watch very closely for them .
If at all possible try to avoid travel on the german and austrian autobahns especially in the area Munich- Salzburg.southward on a Saturday and northward on a Sunday.
I see that you schedule your trip for a Saturday.
These weekend days usually find very long stalls of ski vacationers adding many hours and frustration to your trip. These can be many kilometers long with stop and go driving being the fastest you will travel. Not much fun to start or end your vacation.
One place to find travel information from road conditions , construction to the staus ( I think you call them tailbacks?)
www.oeamtc.at
This is an austrian autoclub.
unfortunately most in german but I think you could still find things there.
Also gas ( benzin )and diesel fuel is much less expensive in Austria than in Germany . Please consider this in your filling .
You can save a considerable amount.
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Hi Snow Raider
We are driving to Kaprun from Derbyshire this Christmas - I will let you know how we got on!
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.......... and don%26#39;t forget to buy the Vignette PRIOR to entering the toll roads, the austrian police set-up traps, especially at border crossings and at gas stations. ........
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Is it true that I can buy the Vignette on the cross channel ferry? I have heard them calling all freight to reception to pick up their respective passes, I wondered if those on vacation could do the same?
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While going via St. Johann im Pongau is a shorter drive, in winter I like to stay on the autobahn as long as possible. They do a good job of clearing it if it snows.
Take a look at this routing: Munich-Salzburg Autobahn (A-8 as far as Siegsdorf. From there take the B-305/B306 (they merge after Inzell) to Schneizlreuth. That is part of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Highway) and a nice, wide highway. From Schneizlreuth head west to Lofer (most of tha section is a Schnellstrasse, similar to an Autobahn). From Lofer head to Saalfelden, Zell am See, Kaprun. All good roads.
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I%26#39;m not aware of the option to buy the vignette on the ferry or tunnel terminal but they are on sale at all the service stations in southern Germany so we usually buy shortly before we cross the border.
More generally, I agree with the previous poster, the St Johann road is shorter and quicker if the weather is good but the Lofer road may be worth looking at if snow is forecast or you are travelling at a very busy time. With a 4WD the weather shouldn%26#39;t cause you any problems (barring massive snow fall) and it is almost all motorway whether you go through France or take a northern crossing and down through Germany. The roads particularly south or Munich are very busy on Saturdays in February, mornings are worst, so you may want to time the journey so you get to that section very early or late in the day.
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we drove to Bad Hofgastein last year and this year will be taking a drive also to Kaprun, knackering but quite enjoyable, the hardest part is the drive to Folkstone
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this year going was a nightmare coming back from Munich only twelve hours.
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