road trip to Cologne

[stooz]

Hi all,
im looking for some guidance for a trip in April.
Im going to drive to cologne for a long weekend and go via the tunnel.

I plan to stop over night near Bruge the first day.

My questions are:
how quick is customs these days for the tunnel (never been )
I cross netherlands for about 30 mins, is it better to go round than 2 custom stops?

car wise - Ive seen some suggestion of a green sticker for the car in germany - do I need anything else on route with france etc? but I have yet to find where to purchase one.

thanks for any tips

[swill453]

I cross netherlands for about 30 mins, is it better to go round than 2 custom stops?

Huh? This is EU/Schengen. No such thing as custom stops, just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it road sign.

car wise - Ive seen some suggestion of a green sticker for the car in germany - do I need anything else on route with france etc? but I have yet to find where to purchase one.

It's called a "crit air" sticker in France. You can get it from the French government web site for a few euros, I got one without a problem for my campervan. Only needed in certain cities though, if you're just transiting France you can probably avoid the need.

Scott.

[Gerry557]

Never had any problems. Slightly longer coming the other way back to blighty. "Are you British?" was asked, with a yes in our own accents. We were then on our merry way.

I do look innocent though and a lot different to a terrorist.

I suppose they could randomly pick you out for further checks but even that shouldn't be more than a half hour unless you are up to something.

[stooz]

Thanks both.

I was hoping to cripple the suspension with 200 bottles of wine, but I hear it's limited to 24 bottles now.

That's barely enough for a long lunch...

[BigB]

Never had any problems. Slightly longer coming the other way back to blighty. "Are you British?" was asked, with a yes in our own accents. We were then on our merry way.

I do look innocent though and a lot different to a terrorist.

I suppose they could randomly pick you out for further checks but even that shouldn't be more than a half hour unless you are up to something.

The routine further checks are generally on the English side, and take about 2-3 mins. You pull to the side, about 4 cars at a time in a bay, and they come and check your doorhandles and steering wheel for substances. The French side is much better organised in the last couple of years. Can't remember extra checks on that side for several trips now.

What could impact your timings are when you are traveling, how busy the tunnel is, and whether it's a weekend in a British school holiday for example. Could take an extra 30-45 mins to get through, either end.

New biometric security is coming in this year, after a few delays - Jul '25 maybe (?) - new infrastructure on both sides. I'm sure there will be a couple of days/weeks of newsworthy delays when it starts.

Edit; Worth checking what you need in the car for travel for each country (FR, BE, NL, DE). For example in France you will need a one-use breath test, maybe a warning triangle, and a high vis vest (?). In Germany, I think from mid-Oct to mid-April you might need winter tyres (all season will do). AA use to have a website page with a matrix showing what you need. Can't find the old page, but follow the link below and navigate a little.
https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdow ... -do-i-need

[swill453]

in France you will need a one-use breath test

No, that requirement was dropped a while back. I don't think it was ever enforced anyway.

Scott.

[Lootman]

In 1970 a bunch of us from school drove from London to Cologne in an old A30 van.

After we crossed the border from Luxembourg to Germany, and approaching the first major city (Aachen?), my northern friend exclaimed "It's must be a big city, this Ausfahrt".

[BigB]

in France you will need a one-use breath test

No, that requirement was dropped a while back. I don't think it was ever enforced anyway.

Scott.

Ah apologies, my mistake, had missed that.

[stooz]

To update I got my green sticker from berlin.de and it covers all the German cities that have a clean air policy - only 5.95 euros. Turned up in the post after a week.

[Arborbridge]

To update I got my green sticker from berlin.de and it covers all the German cities that have a clean air policy - only 5.95 euros. Turned up in the post after a week.

What is it and what is it for?

[stooz]

When driving in Germany, it’s a legal requirement for cars to feature emissions stickers (Umweltplakette) for entering some of the country’s major cities which detail their emissions standard.

Most modern cars will get a green sticker and that says you are ok to enter the city.

There are no cameras, it just relies on parking officials, who I imagine in Germany are very efficient.

I spent a while trying to find one for cologne but it seems Berlin issue them all.
There are plenty of sites that will do it for you for £16 but considering they just fill in the form for you, why bother.
The only thing I did was photograph my v5 for the section on its co2 and engine and reg.
Very easy to do with some help from Google translate.

[jaizan]

They have a lovely train service right to the centre of Cologne.

Personally, I'd only take the car if planning to visit rural areas not covered by efficient public transport.

[stooz]

They have a lovely train service right to the centre of Cologne.

Personally, I'd only take the car if planning to visit rural areas not covered by efficient public transport.

One for a future visit, thanks
I would need to find kind term out of town parking as well to do that, but I'm sure it would exist.
I have parking in my hotel so it's not a big issue