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I experienced this in Malaysia and Singapore during my several trips there that booking online always proved expensive.

When you land at the airport the same hotel prices are listed at the booking counters atleast 20%-30% cheaper, not sure about car booking though.

Driving through the streets of Boblingen and Sindelfingen at night through timelapse. This is my first attempt at timelapse photography, and through my point and shoot canon sd800 IS with chdk firmware hack. So sorry for the poor quality.

YouTube - Sindelfingen/Boblingen timelapse

Here are some pictures I took while on the trip.

These are some more images that I couldnt upload earlier because of size restrictions. I had resized the images to upload it.

These are :

1. View from Postplatz in Boblingen at 10:30 at night
2. Long tail porsche from porsche museum which featured in a race winning lemans
3. Some weird wagon from Porsche
4., 5., 6., Picturisque view on the black forrest road
7. Treat for the Gurkha fans in india :),

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no its actually the Mercedes G wagen at the mercedes museum which did a chennai - Munich trip

8. The A class which I had rented during my stay

9. Mclaren 08 car from the museum

10. The museum itself at Stuttgart

Any guesses, on the C88 on the eariler post from anyone ? Not from the ones who visited Stuttgart preferably :)


I didnt have too many photos which had come good, hence posting in the same thread. Mods, if you wish, please move this thread to the travel experiences as applicable.

Hello all

We and our family of 4 are seeing if a trip to Europe is feasible. We want to see Germany and Italy, particularly Italy. We are not too comfortable with the packaged tour types and want to do our own exploring. We plan to arrive in Frankfurt (its the cheapest place to land in Europe) hire a car for 9 days, go to various places and return the car in Frankfurt to get back to India.

Before we get to what are the best places to see in these 2 countries, I just put down a quick budget for the trip, which I am sharing here. The total comes to about 3 lacs. My calculation is based on my little experience in the US. I know it is costlier in Europe, so have tried to make provision for this.

I will greatly appreciate help in:

1. Reviewing the excel to see if these make sense.
2. Advice on how to cut down on expenses as mentioned in the excel.
3. Anything else I am missing out that should be factored in? (apart from shopping, etc)

Please keep in mind that this is a budget trip, therefore we are willing to compromise on stuff, if there is a way to compromise that is.:)

I would like help from Navin, Sam, and anyone who has been to Europe/done similar trips.

Many thanks!

:OT The timelapse video is amazing. How do you make it on a point & shoot camera? I have a canon 870 IS.

The C88 was a low cost car concept developed by Porsche for China except the Chinese did not care for it. Looks better than a Logan IMHO

Hi Proxima,

I happened to come across your post and checked you excel file. But first, let me ask you a few questions:

Germany AND Italy in 9 days? That seems pretty tough, especially as you don't start from the South of Germany but Frankfurt. Depending on where about in Italy you may want to go it will already take you 2 days only to get there - straight driving.

Are you going as a family? Two adults, two children?

When are you going or planning to go? I mean which month approximately.

Now to your calculation. In my honest opinion I think it is a little too tight. I mean, it may be possible to do it but you need to be aware that you will not be able to do anything but absolutely anything out of the line. Depending on the places you go to this may be very difficult as well. Prices in Europe depend heavily on the places you visit! Let me go more into detail.

Air tickets may be done for that price, depending on when you are going.

Overnight stays for that money can be done if you choose simple guest houses or pensions as we call them in Germany but you need to do a good research on that first otherwise you will spend too much time on-site looking for them. They will mostly come without breakfast for that price, unless you are really lucky.

Car rental for 9 days, not sure. Very possible but you need to look at the clauses for free km, allowance to go abroad, insurance matters etc. Check this out before you rely on any figures.

Fuel, I'd say you will need to spend more for 4000 km. When I was in Germany in July, the fuel price was at about 1.25 - 1.30 Euros per litre (changes every day and is different from place to place too). If I calculate an average of 8 litres per 100 km I get a higher figure than you.

Food figures I find unrealistic. Even if you will eat at Mc Donald's etc. it will cost you more than that. I know that a meal costs about 120 Rs. here for example, which is less than 2 Euros. You would pay around 5.50 Euros for the same in Germany already. And don't forget you guys want to drink or eat something in between.
At a restaurant you will mostly not get away with less than 8 Euros per Person and that is already super cheap, you may not find it everywhere. And it does mostly not include drinks. In Europe water does not come for free as here! Add another 2-3 Euros for a soft drink or a water for example. Unless you are planning to go to a supermarket every day and prepare your own food, but how will you do this then? No, I'd say you need to calculate 25-30 Euros per Person and day as you will only be eating out and that is expensive, esp. in Germany.

Entrance fees is possible, depending on what you want to do.

I'd say if you can stock up your budget a little you would be on the safe side. In any case, you may be able to do it but may find it less enjoyable in the end as you will have to restrict yourself to an extent that is very difficult.

I hope I was not too discouraging. I just have my doubts if you will really manage all that and even if if it will meet your expectations that way. If you have any further questions please let me know.

Hello guys,

I understand from the earlier post that we can use the Indian Driving license at Germany if the visit is a short one and to prove thae same we need to carry the passport with us.

I am planning to be at Germany for more than two years. In this case will I be able to use the Indian license for some period. I can prove the arrival date from the passport. Hope the other option for me is to surrender the Indian DL and get a temporary German DL.
How long is it vaild?
Whom should I contact to get this?
While returning to India, is the process to get the Indian DL back a cumbersome one?
Is there a way to retain both the license so that I can drive in India when I come for small vacations..

Highlight all complexities related to the German DL.
If someone can give rough estimate on the used cars at Germany that will also be good.

-Linu

Thanks for the great information here!.

Me and friends ( 4 in number ) are planning to put a short trip starting from Munich -> Prague -> Vienna -> Munich. I have Indian Driving license ( No IDP ). In UK this runs okay and from the information I see that even in Germany I would be able to drive.

Would I be able to drive in Czech and Austria?.

If you have been in the country for less than 6 months, Indian driving license is allowed. They might want to check for the immigration stamp details on the passport.

Yes I would be there only for a week, in the three countries. I got all the tips required in Germany thanks to Sam and theOne. Any tips on driving in Czech or Austria is welcome please:

Great, I have not been to Czech republic so can comment. However, Austria is similar to Germany, seamless border transition and amazing Tarmac. Just make sure you are within speed limit. When in doubt be slow than fast and take your time. GPS devices will be very handy, don't forget it and the charger :)

All the best and make most of it, cheers!

You have to buy a Vignette (a toll sticker) and stick it on your windscreen before you get onto the highways in Austria and in Czech Republic.

You will have to stick them before you cross into the country on highways or you will be liable to fines. Check if the car you are hiring has any valid stickers. If yes, you will not have to stick them again.

Also Austrian highways have a maximum speed limit of 120 or 130 unlike Germany. Single track roads have a limit of about 70. If this road goes through a village the limit will drop to 30.

A net search should give you most of this information.

I take he will rent the car and will let them know of his travel plan route, they provide with pre-paid vignette and inform of pickup, drop points, and service station, emergency stop overs etc.

1. You can get Vignette from any restaurent in Service road before Germany Austria border.
2. GPS is handy in all these journeys.
3. While crossing Czech border,cops may stop you.(They normally wonder all 5 people occupying seats in a car!!Whenever cops have stopped my car,they ask about this.
4. Do not ever get down from car unless cops asked you to do so.Just handover the required docs such as passport,license,Car docs without any arguments and without asking any reasons.Cops are pretty cooperative and will tell you why they have stopped you.Do not act smart and enter their territory.
5. Keep calm while driving and take power nap near service area if you feel tired.A straight roads in Germany (autoBahn) are actually tiring where you tend to drive fast and it becomes monotonous for your eyes causing drowsiness.Lot of us have experienced this as we have travelled to Austria,Italy,Czech many times on weekends from Erlangen-Germany.
6. If you are travelling in snowfall,make sure that you have adequate fuel and information about nearest fuel stations.Ice tyres are advisable,if not drive carefully.We have horrific experience of our negligence during snowfall when our fuel needle was absolutely red and no fuel station was nearby to rescue us.The day was so bad that even our GPS goofed up and we were taking rounds on twisty roads while going to Salzburg
7. In Austria,it is mandatory to keep your lights on all the times,else may be punished.Other drivers remind you of this if you forget this.
8. Never ever 'Drink and drive'.You are spoiling your trip.

Enjoy your car and drive safely.Let me know if you have any questions.