Taking the Z to Europe...

[M33 LMO]

So, whilst on the plane home from my last trip I decided that I would plan a fully detailed road trip around Germany, the Czech Republic and Belgium for August 2024 in the M40i..

As part of my planning, I have been working out miles between destinations and estimating fuel economy and expected cost which I have broken down in the table below. The goal was to keep the total cost excluding spending money to £2k (£600 ferry, £400 fuel and £1,000 hotels).

I'd love some forum feedback on how realistic my fuel estimate is (bear in mind some of this will be on the autobahnnn... :!: ) and also on any pitstops you would recommend! The last time I was on a road trip around Germany I was 20 (in a z4 ironically too!... ah the memories..).

Germany seems to currently be around 1.80 EUR per litre at the moment so rough coversion would be circa £82 a tank. I've assumed 320 miles out of a tank to be conservative.

 

[plenty]

No need to spend £1,000 on accommodation for seven nights unless you insist on expensive hotels. Cheaper hotels and Airbnbs can be had for considerably less, particularly if you're willing to take a bedroom in someone's home out of town.

 

[M33 LMO]

No need to spend £1,000 on accommodation for seven nights unless you insist on expensive hotels. Cheaper hotels and Airbnbs can be had for considerably less, particularly if you're willing to take a bedroom in someone's home out of town.

I've reached an age where I like comfort so most nights are 5 star, also the cost is being split between two people so £1k each for a 5 star Europe road trip isn't bad when you consider what package holidays cost.

 

[plenty]

Ok that's perfectly understandable!

Like in the UK fuel costs are more expensive on motorways and cheapest in supermarkets. Also don't forget to factor in potential parking costs and/or public transport when visiting cities.

Personally I'd be taking the twisties rather than direct routes between stops, but that of course entails more time and fuel spend.

 

[Argyll Andy]

No need to spend £1,000 on accommodation for seven nights unless you insist on expensive hotels. Cheaper hotels and Airbnbs can be had for considerably less, particularly if you're willing to take a bedroom in someone's home out of town.

I've reached an age where I like comfort so most nights are 5 star, also the cost is being split between two people so £1k each for a 5 star Europe road trip isn't bad when you consider what package holidays cost.

We’re the same for the same reason , 4 or 5 star on our trips and it averaged out about £100 per night.

I know different roads/trip but I averaged 28 mpg and some of those speeds were close to autobahn speeds. We were FULLY utilising the rev range, sports + allows you to hold gear like a manual :evil:

A couple of things that helped overall with the costs was using the “Eco” mode on our motorways, average speed camera areas etc. it boosted the overall greatly. Using Quidco (or suchlike) to book hotels and getting circa 10% cashback, and if deal was right on Quidco also using Hotels.com through them and getting rewards which gave a free night.

This thread may help re mpg

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=141629&hilit=Mpg&start=15

 

[M33 LMO]

No need to spend £1,000 on accommodation for seven nights unless you insist on expensive hotels. Cheaper hotels and Airbnbs can be had for considerably less, particularly if you're willing to take a bedroom in someone's home out of town.

I've reached an age where I like comfort so most nights are 5 star, also the cost is being split between two people so £1k each for a 5 star Europe road trip isn't bad when you consider what package holidays cost.

We’re the same for the same reason , 4 or 5 star on our trips and it averaged out about £100 per night.

I know different roads/trip but I averaged 28 mpg and some of those speeds were close to autobahn speeds. We were FULLY utilising the rev range, sports + allows you to hold gear like a manual :evil:

A couple of things that helped overall with the costs was using the “Eco” mode on our motorways, average speed camera areas etc. it boosted the overall greatly. Using Quidco (or suchlike) to book hotels and getting circa 10% cashback, and if deal was right on Quidco also using Hotels.com through them and getting rewards which gave a free night.

This thread may help re mpg

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=141629&hilit=Mpg&start=15

Very useful, thanks Andy!

And yeah I used booking.com and chose hotels with 20% Genius Discounts and in one of the hotels I actually booked two rooms (my mate snores like a rhino so a room to myself for a night is a must...)

 

[Unitedleeds1919]

I have just driven to Slovenia and Hungary working, regularly saw €2 a litre (diesel) in Germany on motorways, Austria similar
Slovenia €1.40 odd a litre, Hungary similar to Slovenia apparently but I didn’t work the Hungarian currency out it was my customers telling me it was similar to Slovenia this was all diesel by the way….recent driving in Spain you still find cheap fuel but the big players are fairly dear ie repsol and cepsa, France is dear, Italy also…basically I tend to carry 20 litres that I get where it’s cheap and I see a turning off the motorway and head to a town or a supermarket if convenient. it can be very costly at the moment in Europe, plus the vignettes needed and tolls/tunnels it’s well worth researching your route… I’m not presuming I know more than anyone else but I drive in Europe for work so am encountering a lot travel issues …one thing I have found recently that was very worthwhile was the ferry from civitavechia above Rome to Barcelona it save a lot of miles and tolls and hotel etc and cost less than £200 with a cabin and a 7 metre van onboard I could not have done that trip for less than £550 I don’t think and maybe £600 by road…it’s with Grimaldi lines and it’s worth looking into routes in Europe on the boats with a car it can be a no brainer, not always the best of boats I admit but for one night it’s acceptable in my opinion.

Love driving in Europe.