I’m off on my first euro trip soon. The route is:
Dover
Calais
Dunkerque
Lille
Aachen
Koln
Frankfurt
Wurzburg
Nurnberg
Plzen
Prague
Brno
Bratislava
Budapest
Any advice you could give on places to stop/eat or anything else would be greatly appreciated 
HI MR FIBBLE, i would go over AUSTRIA via PASAU/SUBEN to
NICKLESDORF/HEGYESSHALOM this is the border crossing with HUNGARY; Yes the road tax is 27cents (20P) A kilometer but the distance is about 400kms=80POUNDS ONE WAY, but the roads are better and it is a shorter route as over CEZCH look it up on your route planner
IF you go CALAIS–via JABBKKE (OSTEND)–GENT–BRUSSELS–on the brussels ring road-- DIRECTION --liege/namur— TAKE— exit for LIEGE/AACHEN ( leige/aken) — LIEGE— AACHEN (AKEN)— KÖLN----
–FRANKFURT— WÃœRZBURG---- NURENBURG;
it may be that you only get as far as GEILSILWIND (tonis-truck-stop)
here is a good place to stop and eat if you are hungry ,(ENGLISH is
spoken here),
ANother route would be to go via LUXEMBURG to take advantage of the cheaper fuel which if you have large tanks makes a big saveing about
20p a liter(30CENTS) plus the VAT as well,
HOW ARE YOU PAYING THE ROAD TAX in GERMANY; BELGIUM;
CEZCH; AND if you go through AUSTRIA this as well,
RIGHT;SOME SUGGESTIONs
WHEN YOU GO VIA austria ;from the truckstop at GEILSIWIND—BUDAPEST
it will take you about 10hrs+/- IT IS ROUGHLY 880+KMS :
THE border crossing is a no problem now just make sure that you have loaded correctly as if they do a weight check it is also per axle.
The vingette for the lorry you can buy at the next garage also there is
a change office where you can get folorinits , Fuel is very exspensive so ensure that youhave full tanks before you get into HUNGARY, also
try to use SECURE parking AREAS why because they organised fuel theives at work,lookat the IRU site for secure parking,yes you do have to pay butit is worth it,
where are you delivering to in BUDAPEST; if you are haveing to go through the city,there is a LOW-BRIDGE with a 3:80 HEIGHT; THEDIVERSION IS POSTED:
RIGHT the vingette for HUNGARY IF YOU ARE STAYING MORE THAN ONE DAY IT WILL BE BETTER TO GET A WEEKS TICKET: SAVES ALL THE HASSEL IF YOU CAN;T FIND A PLACE WHERE THEY SELL THE TICKETS;[/url]
right i have startedthe suggestions off lets have some one else now,
Good luck MrFlibble it sounds a good run that 
brit pete:
HI MR FIBBLE, i would go over AUSTRIA via PASAU/SUBEN to
NICKLESDORF/HEGYESSHALOM this is the border crossing with HUNGARY; Yes the road tax is 27cents (20P) A kilometer but the distance is about 400kms=80POUNDS ONE WAY, but the roads are better and it is a shorter route as over CEZCH look it up on your route planner
IF you go CALAIS–via JABBKKE (OSTEND)–GENT–BRUSSELS–on the brussels ring road-- DIRECTION --liege/namur— TAKE— exit for LIEGE/AACHEN ( leige/aken) — LIEGE— AACHEN (AKEN)— KÖLN----
–FRANKFURT— WÃœRZBURG---- NURENBURG;
The route’s already defined, so that’s the way I’m going.
brit pete:
it may be that you only get as far as GEILSILWIND (tonis-truck-stop)
here is a good place to stop and eat if you are hungry ,(ENGLISH is
spoken here),
Thanks, I’ll look out for it
brit pete:
ANother route would be to go via LUXEMBURG to take advantage of the cheaper fuel which if you have large tanks makes a big saveing about
20p a liter(30CENTS) plus the VAT as well,
HOW ARE YOU PAYING THE ROAD TAX in GERMANY; BELGIUM;
CEZCH; AND if you go through AUSTRIA this as well,
I believe that we’re going to be given a fuel card to pay for all that stuff.
brit pete:
where are you delivering to in BUDAPEST; if you are haveing to go through the city,there is a LOW-BRIDGE with a 3:80 HEIGHT;
We’re not delivering in Budapest; we’re actually going on to Kosovo, but we’ll be meeting up with other drivers in Hungary and going on in convoy.
I have done that route many a time, Mr F but driving a coach 
(
Be very wary of the no overtaking rules on the German stretch!! Also on some of the climbs, the second lane has a MINIMUM speed limit!!
Once you leave Aachen, prepare for a long drag, it used to take us 16 hours from there!!
I would suggest that when you come off the ferry, look out for the first exit signed “Transmarck” once you join the A16. Its a Total garage and you can get your Vignette for Benelux in there at a cost of €8 a day. Then when you cross the German border near Aachen, stop and get your Maut tickets there!! If you have not used this before, there are normally “helpers” at the border crossing. They are handy as you HAVE to know which motorway exits you want ( each one has a name )
When we used to go down, we only stopped twice after leaving Calais.once at Aachen and then again at Passau down near the Austrian border. Thenagain, of course, at the Hungarian border which has changed now they are in the EU. So I cannot help you as regards stopping places though I have always liked Aachen Services!
Have a good trip, take the camera and do a diary!!
Hi MrFlibble,
When you get to Aachen services at the German border, you will see a yellow building with the words MAUT, if you want to pay cash, drive past this building and park near the Restaurant. Just inside the restaurant door is the Maut machine,
The first screen on the machine contains 4 flags… Touch the Union flag
You will then be asked if you are booking or cancelling…Touch Book
The next screen asks for your country…using the keypad type GB
Then you will be asked your registration again using the keypad
The following 2 screens need you emission class and number of axles
Now comes the important bit, your start point, Which in this case would be Aachen Bundesgrenge (spelling), and you Autobahn leaving point. You will have the option of a map and if you touch the map on the area you are intending to leave it will zoom in, keep touching the map in the area you are leaving and it will keep zooming in until you are presented with an exit point you require, touch this and you will then be shown a screen with the route. If you agree with the route touch continue, if not you will be allowed to change the route.
Once you agree the route you will be presented with methods of payment if paying by cash touch this on the screen. After a few seconds a card will be printed and issued take this card from the machine but wait another few seconds and you will get another printed card. Take both these cards to the cash desk and they keep one and hand you the other in return for payment.
The card will show the route and how long it is valid and the cost, Keep this safe.
It took me about 4 Hours to get from Dunkerque to Aachen so I combined getting the Maut with some food and had a 45.
I hope your trip goes well, Antwerp ring road can be a bit daunting especially with all the road works at present. Try to avoid the rush hour but just follow the signs for the RING 2 and Eindoven and you will be fine. Believe me it is easier than it sounds.
Good luck
Westie
You should make Geiselwind Autohof (Truckstop) in a 10 hr drive from Calais. The Wertheim Autohof (just before Wurzburg) is about 9hrs. Places to stop East of the border, I’m afraid are out of the area I’ve covered. In Germany the Autohofs are signposted well before the junctions and are then signed from the exit. They don’t tell you how far the next one is though. There is a small handbook, listing almost all of the Autohofs, with a map on the centre pages showing them. The site http://www.autohof-guide.de might help,
If you have a laptop with Autoroute on it, there is an MS Excel file of western european truckstops posted by Ossie. This is a link to the post in TruckNet UK, and Here is a direct link to the thread on the forum with the file.
I don’t have Excel, or any other MS office programmes, but used Open Office to open and read the file and then add other Truckstops to it. Once I’ve updated the file as much as I can, I’ll pass it back to Ossie. Hopefully he’ll be able to update the on-line file.
Although you say the route is already defined, is there a reason for this or is it the way it has to be done, because we have always done it that way.
That route was the old route for many Greek, Turkey and Romanian bound trucks when red diesel and belly tanks were used as you could get on the cherry sooner 
The DDR was even quicker to drink the rouge Another reason was the cost, weight limits, emissions and trainee Hitler youth in Austria. Now it is the quickest and most economical route
I don’t know why that route has been chosen; However, I’m going with a couple of other trucks, and then a few more are going to follow us and catch up in Hungary; if we go a different route and something goes wrong, then the following trucks won’t be able to catch us up and help.
The others have done it a number of times before, and I don’t feel particularly inclined to “rock the boat” and tell everyone that they should be going a different route (at least not the first time).
it does seem a strange route.
i cant add anything more than what ppl have put on here realy. I used to drivet hat way to Sibiu in Romania alot the only problem i ever had was gettin through customs with the carnet or TIR. I think that may have changed now though? I used dueschkruetz as my austrian hungry boreder crossing as it was never as busy as the mian ones and is has a great little shell station just before the crossing and there is also a nice little spar there to top up on the grub.
Just take added care of your fuel in hungry and watch the the half clad women jumping out of the bushesw on the TIR routes 