Driving to Poland from England - any tips?

Theoretically the last border control you will face will be when you leave the station, then you can drive straight to Ustron.

I've been getting pulled over a lot lately crossing from Poland to Germany. And with UK plates, you might draw some attention crossing from Holland to Germany. They're like mobile passport checking huts :)

Make sure that you stay out of the Ruhr area during rush hour, and you should be good to go as far as traffic is concerned. The highways in eastern Germany and Poland are nice, and there usually isn't any problem with traffic.

Me too - they said they're checking for stolen cars and smuggled cigarettes.

It's all about those ukrainian cigarettes...

I usually do it in one go overnight and 16-17 hours seems about right, Theres also no border controls either, Make sure you have all the correct stuff in the car ie reflective jacket, spare bulbs, triangle, etc and adequate break down cover as its really expensive if something goes wrong.

Its also worth noting when driving through Germany that all your tyres must have a minimum of 3mm tread and all be the same type and brand. If the police stop you and you don't comply you will have to replace the defective tyres.

Fill up in the UK before you leave as fuel in Germany or anywhere with the euro is really really expensive.

Thanks DNZ for the info

could you just tell me if its safe to stop for petrol and pee breaks and stuff, i will have my wife and mother with me and i want to make sure that they are both safe?

Its definately safe to stop for fuel, They charge in Germany for using the toilets but there are rest areas with CCTV, Showers and picnic facilities all over the place,I've slept in the car there for a few hours on occasions and its perfectly safe. Also bear in mind its actually illegal to run out of fuel in Ze Fazzerland too.

Use common sense and dont park too far away from the public eye.


Got me to Polish border no problem, after that I know the route.


70 - 90 mph, again use your sense.


Used 2.0litre toyota, it cost between 180 -200 pounds depending on how fast you like driving.


If youre the sole driver, get a good nights sleep prior to leaving, hopefully a morning start. Aim to get as far as Berlin, then stop and kip for an hour. Any longer and you tend to feel more tired than before you stopped. ( people are different and you may need extra stops, this is only my recommendation based on me personally ). After this you are approx. 2hrs from the Polish border. Central Polish cities ie. Gdansk, Warsaw, Krakow, a further 5hrs.

If you are able to share - drive, the journey should be quicker.

DONT FORGET CLUNK - CLICK..... HAVE A SAFE TRIP.

Just read on here that you need to have all 4 tyres the same brand. Is that true?

Fcuk, we should of taking the plane its costing me a fortune and i haven't even left,
tomtom £200,
breakdown cover £60,
Parrott bluetooth music kit £220 (thought id treat myself),
first aid boxes and all the other shite??maybe £40
ferry £180
I reckon £160 fuel
and to top it all off i might need to change some tyres!

It would of been cheaper taking a black cab!!!

Cheer up, the answer is no.
4 tyres the same only applies to Polish registered cars.

Yes unfortunately in Germany its the law but you will probably get away with it if you have matching pairs on each axle:( You need at least 3mm of tread on the tyres too.

180 for the ferry seems a bit excessive, which ferry are you taking? I normally get the norfolkline dover - dunkirk for 25 quid each way.

Not sure about fuel but fill up before you leave the UK as fuel within the Euro zone is silly money but cheap in PL

Phewwww!

Thanks for the fast reply!

Dover to Calais over Easter, Thursday - Tuesday. Not cheap!!

So do u reckon i need to change tyres, I think its just one i have changed recently the other 3 are the same i think/ hope

As long as we are on the subject: I drove from Landstuhl to Krakow 10 months ago and the main highway crossing the polish border shortly after Dresden was closed for construction and there is no way to find out if it is still closed when I went back so I had to assume it was. I even emailed the motel I stayed at last time; no response. No answer. but, my point is that the detour was horrible; miles and miles of terrible, holey roads through small villages in the dark. this wasn't an official detour by the way. I had a map and used my gps, which was fair on directions for more rural areas. Not always right. gps was good for cities.

Its up to you mate, I've overlooked changing the tyres a few times and i'm not sure what the penalties are but for peace of mind i personally would, even just change one so you have 2 matching pairs on the car, Make sure they are on the same axle.

If you don't, make sure your car is clean and displaying a clear GB sticker and you shouldn't have any issues.

What the hell? Is that just a weird Deutsch-rule designed around their need for everything to be neat and ordinary, or is there actually a good reason?

If you try breaking from 150 + mph (in fact from 70mph you will notice it) in an emergency and you have 2 differing brands of tyre then one wheel could break quicker than the other causing the car to pull to one side or one wheel to lock up, Also different brands of tyre dissipate water differently so it could make the car handle strangely in the wet.

Having different brands and tread pattern on the same axle is dangerous but a difference front to rear is fine.

There is an amazing difference to how different tyres perform so its safer to have identical ones on the same axle with the same amount of wear.

I run soft compound toyo's on the front to iron out any excessive understeer and uniroyal rain tyres on the rear driving wheels to aid stability in the wet, Its a setup i've used for years.

The Germans don't tend to make up unnecessary rules when it comes to driving etc but they are big on safety.

Hey,

ok 2 months till i go. 4th june.

i have a eurotunnel ticket booked for 5am. i am aiming to be in ustron for no later then 9pm polish time. is it better to go early?

yesterday i brought my tomtom go 750 and got a years free live service which was awesome.

we have all tires the same brand, does that have to include the spare?

got the first aid kit, im getting the light converters in the next week or two and the rest of the little things for the car.

also brought a really nice electric cool box for the car to keep drinks in :O)

anything i missed out that i need to know, oh and if your interested in the route goto tomtom.com and calais to ustron and your will see the route :O)

Good luck, its really not a bad journey i've driven it loads without any problem. Don't worry about the spare wheel nobody will check and don't break the speed limit until you get out of France as the french police are quite hot on UK cars speeding.

Make sure you have breakdown cover, do it through your insurance as opposed to the AA etc its much cheaper.

yah i have breakdown coverage with my insurance company already done that.

i dont suppose you know of a site that i can get the speed limits for the places im passing through, just to be safe.

the route the tomtom take say its about 16 hours 30mins, is that about how long it will take? thats from my house to the town im going to. do you think it would be less time then that, as i believe you can legally drive up to 90mph in Germany?

im going the route that take me near Berlin i believe, have you been that route?

The speed limit on motorways is usually 140 kmh as a rule but your sat nav should tell you as you cross the borders,

For the most part the speed limit in Germany is as fast as your car will go, The majority of German Autobahns are derestricted although there is an unofficial limit of 155 mph. (kill joys :) )

The Berlin leg isn't bad at all but after Berlin up until the Polish border theres quite major roadworks and really narrow lanes so take it easy.

From the Polish border to near Poznan you will be on a road with 1 lane each way and fhuck loads of trucks. (you'll find this bit quite daunting as theres often lorries overtaking lorries whilst avoiding prostitutes)

Don't change your currency at the border wait until you get to a "Plock" fuel station on your left the Kantor there gives a good rate.

I normally take 16/17 hours from Cornwall but thats going some through Germany at night.

Take a plane :-)

About half of the autobahn is now limited to 130kph because apparently going faster will hurt the earth and cause people to kill school children or something.

Haven't the Froggies brought in something where you have to have a hi-vis jacket/vest in your breakdown kit? I may be wrong but i think i read it somewhere.

The Speed Limit is 130 km/h in Germany and Poland. 120 km/h in Holland. Its true parts of Germany are de-restricted but they are applying speed limits more and more.

There are lots of 120 km/h sections of the A2 towards Berlin. My advice is don't drive faster than 130km/h so you can see the signs for the slower speeds. Most junctions have 100km/h speed limits!!

Don't drive as fast as your car will go, stay at a reasonable speed. There are lots of Police on the A12, the section Berlin to Frankfurt Oder. All the road works are finished so you should have no delays through there, its 120 km/h on this road too.

There are numerous rest stops through Germany and Poland, they are all safe. I've slept in my car numerous times in Germany. Note!! Don't sleep in your car in Belgium, its illegal. By Law you must carry enough funds to be able to pay for a hotel room.

The Poles are building a new Motorway from Frankfurt oder to Poznan. Add about 2 hours to your journey time for this section as its full of road works.

Just drive sensibly and you will be ok, Germany Autobahns can be quite scary if you have never driven them before.

I'll vouch for that, the first time i ever drove in germany was in a battered 91 bmw 325i sat at 140 + mph with loads of funky noises coming from the diff and wondering why there was porsches etc flashing me to get over so they could pass at 170 odd mph. It sounds crazy but their roads seem to work like clockwork.

I was sat on the A2 / A7 Junction for 1 hour this morning.

Not always clockwork :D

The autobahn is amazing, it has the ability to transform from a race track to the worlds largest parking lot in a matter of hours.

And then pop down to the local garage to have a well hidden tap inserted in your fuel line. Off you go, get to France and then turn the tap: the rest of your journey is now free of charge.

Do you actually do that? I might give that a crack later this month

I think they would get wise if i tried it every week :D

I can most certainly confirm that it works. A mate of mine was at uni in Edinburgh and got towed up there (in his long-wheelbase petrol Land Rover) at the start of each term and then home at the end of each. He did have to change companies though. I personally got towed from just outside Szczecin to Gdansk but that wasn't a fuel line issue: that was both offside wheels having their rims dented by those potholes Poland specialises in.