Saturday, June 18, 2016

An Idiot's Guide to (Left-Handed) Self-Drive Holiday in Europe





Before the invention of GPS, not many would have imagined driving around in Europe. (Yes it is possible with a physical map. But it means stopping by the side of the road very often when we get lost.) 

However, the advent of smart phones, GPS, map applications and Internet bookings have made it so much easier for us to realise our dream holidays. And that is to go on a self-drive holiday trip in Europe! 

While it is now achievable, do bear in mind that Europe is left-hand drive (and when you are on escalators, please keep to the right.) 

It can be very challenging for first timers because everything is mirror image and our habits with right-hand drive may compromise our safety. 

So here are a few tips to make your journey in Europe so much easier. 


Tip #1: Booking a Car



economybookings.com
Car rental website

Here's a great website to book a car:

http://economybookings.com

This website partners with brands such as Budget Car, Hertz, Avis and Europe Car etc. We booked for an Opel Astra via Budget Car for 12 days in Czech Republic at price of roughly S$320.  


Tip #2: Type of Car and Insurance


You may be a lover of SUVs and may be thinking this is a good time to try out that car that you have always wanted. 

However, this may not be the wisest thing to do, and you will see why.  


spain alleys, self-drive in europe
Lovely Spain Alleys

Europe's alleys can be very narrow. 

Try to rent a car that is small and comfortable enough to get past those narrow lanes. 




While you are at the car rental counter at the airport, you can also pay a little more for full insurance coverage since we are driving in an unfamiliar territory for peace of mind. 



Tip #3: Find a Map App




sygic app
Sygic


We have tried using GPS from Garmin  and ended up lost because of poor satellite reception. Do take note that in remote areas, Google maps may not work as there will be no network as well. 

Garmin's rental is S$2/day. For a 12 day trip, we spent about S$24. However, if we were to go on 5 separate trips to Europe, we would have spent S$120. 

That is until we came across this app called Sygic. 

We bought this app for about S$50. The map may occupy some space in your smart phone. But that means it works offline. 

The 3D graphics and many other smart additional features makes it such a great app to use for our Czech Republic trip. 


sygic map, direction
Map direction


Sygic Map
Sygic Map

































Tip #4: One driver + One Navigator. 

Ask someone to navigate for you when u drive.

If you are driving left-handed for the first time, using a car that is new to you, driving at a new place and using a new GPS app, the last thing you would want is to distract yourself further by doing your own navigation. 

If possible, ask a passenger to help u with navigation so that you can focus on driving safely. 


Tip #5: Overtaking Lane and Lane Discipline. 

Coming from Singapore, I was very humbled at the level of lane discipline practiced by drivers in countries such as Spain, Holland, Germany and Czech Republic. 

There is only one lane in the countryside. 

However, along the way, another lane will be created intermittently for faster drivers to overtake. When that happens, remember to keep right (slower lane) so as not to hog the road. 




The end of overtaking lane

Tip #6: How Not to Drive Your Car into a Drain or onto On-Coming Lane. (This is not a joke)

I used to think left-hand drive was easy. What's so difficult? After all, I have been a driver in Singapore for coming to 10 years. However, going behind the wheels for the first time in Europe made me feel like a student all over again. Why? Because I couldn't even keep my car in lane. 

Unlike my husband, I do not have a natural spatial sense. 

I do not know when my car will scratch into another car on my right, nor do I know if my right side mirror is in danger of being knocked off. I also have a tendency to veer into the left lane. (On-coming traffic) This will never happen in Singapore. 

The fear of driving my car too far right and landing in a drain, or falling onto a gentle slope is very real. 

However, fear is not a good enough reason to stop me from enjoying the liberation that comes with self-drive holidays. 

Hence this is a technique I used as a benchmark, to keep my car exactly in the middle of my lane. 



Driving in Europe countryside, left-hand drive alignment
Driving in Europe Countryside

Firstly, park your car when it is comfortably in lane. From the driver seat's perspective, you will notice that the edge of the road will align itself to around the center of your windscreen. My car happens to have huge rectangle plastic in the middle. So anytime I felt like I was veering away, I would align it back using this technique. 

My husband find my (lack of) spatial sense unbelievable. But you never know until you tried it for the first time. If you were to find yourself in a similar situation, try this out. :) 


Driving in Europe Countryside, left-hand drive alignment




Tip #7: Prepare Small Notes and Coins in Advance

There may be toll gantries along the highway that are manned by automatic machines, and there may not be people/machines around to break your change into smaller notes. Don't get stuck at the highway just because you come into the country with big notes. 


Try to break your change at the airport. 



Tip #8: Buy Local SIM Card 


Buy local SIM card with free talk time. This is because the owners of hotels and B&B may contact your Singapore number to check out your arrival time. 

If you do not want to chalk up your bill, you can use the local SIM card number to stay in touch. 


Tip #9: Download a translation app such as Google Translate before your trip. 

The further you drive away from the city, the lesser you will find people who speaks English. In order to communicate with the locals, translation app such as Google Translate has been of immense help to me. The translation may be broken, but they get it. And nothing is more connected than to see their face lit up when they get it. 

Download a translation app in Singapore first.  



Car battery down in Germany, locals helping to recharge car battery
Germany 2015. We forgot to switch off our headlights the evening before. There are not one, but two kind souls who passed us by and purposely drove back home and came back with the wire connector to re-charge our car battery. I am eternally grateful to them for making my trip to Germany so memorable. 










Stay Chill  



   







Stay Safe











Have a Good Trip!













You may also like:



Czech Republic:

A Self-Drive Day by Day Itinerary. 

Click here to find your way there. 



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