Most common and frequently spotted foreign license plates in your countries

[NordikNerd]

Originally Posted by Alqaszar

The fact that it was midst-holiday-season, many cars from far away weren't suprising me, but so many Italians travelling in the cold and rainy northwestern parts of the continen were surprising.

I also thought about that. If you live along the italian riviera, why drive to the rainy and cold north? doesn't make sense.

[Kevin_01]

1 : CH (Genève and Vaud)
2 : I
3 : D

[Road_UK]

Originally Posted by Kevin_01

1 : CH (Genève and Vaud)
2 : I
3 : D

4: GB

I drive past Bourg-en-Bresse all the time. It's a major hub for the Brits to the ski-resorts and Italy.

[Penn's Woods]

Originally Posted by NordikNerd

I also thought about that. If you live along the italian riviera, why drive to the rainy and cold north? doesn't make sense.

Because you want to see something different?

[Satyricon84]

Originally Posted by Penn's Woods

Because you want to see something different?

I don't like the summer here, I don't bear so hot climate... I prefere spend my summer in Northern Europe than along the italian riviera. I have more fun to visit the cities of the north, drink good cold beer, meet nice girls then to stay on a crowded italian beach to roast under the sun (especially after I already visited my country)... it's also cheaper...last year for a week in Prague I spent for for the journey and hotel with breakfast only 180 € (could have been less if I would have reserved earlier) in the middle of August. Here in the same period, you get nothing. However, de gustibus non disputandum est....(one must not dispute about tastes)

[g.spinoza]

Originally Posted by NordikNerd

I also thought about that. If you live along the italian riviera, why drive to the rainy and cold north? doesn't make sense.

I am Italian and I hate Italian weather, especially in the summer. It's too freakingly hot to be bearable, and I'm really glad I'm spending my summer here in Germany.

[Satyricon84]

Originally Posted by g.spinoza

I am Italian and I hate Italian weather, especially in the summer. It's too freakingly hot to be bearable, and I'm really glad I'm spending my summer here in Germany.

You're lucky, I had to leave Germany not for my choice and go back to Italy, but I hope to go there again as soon as possible. At least I won't have to bear this weather anymore and I can restart to enjoy german autobahn

[g.spinoza]

Originally Posted by Satyricon84

You're lucky, I had to leave Germany not for my choice and go back to Italy, but I hope to go there again as soon as possible. At least I won't have to bear this weather anymore and I can restart to enjoy german autobahn

Unfortunately I will go back to Italy soon, at the end of september

[Road_UK]

I can't believe what I'm reading! Sad faces because people have to exchange Germany for Italy! What is this world coming to!

[Satyricon84]

Italy maybe could be nice with the eyes of the tourist, but living here it's another thing (as long as you don't have much money, also this is a horse of a very different colour). Unfortunately, the life is not made only of sun, beaches, old towns to visit....

[Road_UK]

Yes, I know. I never went to Italy as a tourist. I know it can be hard. But folks, we're talking about Germany here...

[Satyricon84]

What's wrong with Germany? Salaries are higher than italy, rents are lower then italy (I got in Gießen a 80 meter square flat in the first floor of a single house for 420 € warm - in italy for such house in a town of the north with at least 80.000 inhabitants is 550/600 € kalt), you don't pay autobahn (if you have to take it for to go to work, is saved money - here, for to go to Milan from my town which is 25 km far away from it, you have to take the tangenziale payng toll 1,50 € for go and 1,50 € for go back. At least 60 euro for month. In alternative, you can take the normal streets, but in the rush hour this means 1 hour and more for to arrive). The insurance of the car is one of the most expansive in Europe, I pay for my car, a 2006 Fiat Stilo 1.9 120 HP 1100 € for year, just for the basic cover (and I never had accidents, I'm in the top class) plus 220 € yearly for the car tax. For to enter in the umweltzone in Germany i payed 5 € for the umweltplakette. For the whole Germany. In Italy, for to enter in Milan you have to pay 5 € everytime you go. If you go to Florence, you have to pay there too. And so on... Fuel, is little bit higher than in Germany, but the "funny" thing is that we still pay on it excise tax for the Ethiopia war in 1935, Suez Crisis in 1956 and many others (for the total of around 0.6 €/liter for green fuel and 0.4/liter for diesel). Maybe one day we will win that war... Fines: I got a fine near Siegen, I was driving 67 Km/h on 50 Km/h outside the town. 25 € (I was so much surprised that I said "only???"). In Italy, the same fine would have been around 100/150€ (the cheapest fine here is for parking prohibited, around 38 €) And this is just the point of the iceberg, I don't want to go further off-topic, but as I said, IMHO life in Germany is much better

[DanielFigFoz]

God those rents are cheap!

[Satyricon84]

If you think that in the whole house there where three flats, one for each floor, with a private garden which you could use as you want...yes it was. The "bad" thing was that there were no furnitures inside, just the kitchen. But I was living with my girlfriend so we got them from her house... i just bought the sofa.

[DanielFigFoz]

And in Portugal you couldn't have been fined in that situation, only at 70km/h, in the UK I don't know what the fine would have been

[Satyricon84]

that was weird, cause it was outside the town (in Germany outside the town the speed limit is 100 km/h) and it was near a crossroad (so in this case the speed is reduced to 70 Km/h) but in that part it was still 50 Km/h. So at 67 Km/h I thought I was right...instead I didn't have notice of the road signal... well nevermind, just for 25 €... fortunately it wasn't in Italy, otherwise besides the fine, I would have also lost points on my drive license

[Tincap]

Ontario Canada:

Besides the myriad of Canadian and US plates, it's a toss up between the Dutch and Germans. They have dropped over the years, as many Europeans now take advantage of companies renting out campers (CanaDream, Cruise America, etc).
Having said that...just saw a Fiat Ducato Camper, with German plates, along the 401 yesterday...

~BG

[g.spinoza]

Originally Posted by Satyricon84

What's wrong with Germany? Salaries are higher than italy, rents are lower then italy (I got in Gießen a 80 meter square flat in the first floor of a single house for 420 € warm - in italy for such house in a town of the north with at least 80.000 inhabitants is 550/600 € kalt), you don't pay autobahn (if you have to take it for to go to work, is saved money - here, for to go to Milan from my town which is 25 km far away from it, you have to take the tangenziale payng toll 1,50 € for go and 1,50 € for go back.

Funny, I have the opposite impression. Salaries are higher, but rents in Munich are freakingly high (I pay 690 for a 30 square meter flat, and I'm not even in the city centre. In Italy I payed the same amount for an apartment which was 2 times larger, and when I go back to Italy in 2 months I will pay 450 for a 70 square meter apartment). Autobahn is free but the bus/metro ticket prices are simply absurd (2.5euro for 1 trip is ridiculous).
Tickets for speeding are too low here: who's going to worry if he has to pay 25euro for speeding when he makes 3000 a month?

[Satyricon84]

Originally Posted by g.spinoza

Funny, I have the opposite impression. Salaries are higher, but rents in Munich are freakingly high

Maybe depends from the Land... in Gießen, Hessen comparating to rents in Milan, Monza and other towns here in the centre of Lombardy were really lower. Ok that Gießen isn't München, but I've seen also in Offenbach were not so much high for to be a city next to Frankfurt (Here where I live, 25 Km far away from Milan, you find nothing less of 500 € kalt in horrible apartment houses). Maybe in München and Bavaria in general is different, I don't know. In Italy were are you going to pay that amount, which city? 450 € Kalt i guess, in Italy extras like water, gas, light you have to pay on your own so in the end you are going to much in my opinion. For me such things were included in rent contract, I have never seen a bill in one year (I just had to pay little bit more for the electricity because I have the vice to never switch off the pc, so I overtaken the electricity's amount).
For the tickets, we have also to say that germans respect the speed limit more then we italians. In the town they go 50 Km/h, when there's speed limit 120 Km/h in autobahn, they go 120 Km/h. At least the major part of them. In Italy we "interpret" speed limit signals (even because we have so absurd limits sometimes). In my opinion, isn't Germany which has too low tickets, but in Italy has too much higher! 150€ euro of fine with salaries around 1200 € it's not fair. Yes, when I went to München I had notice metro is more expansive than in Milan (and some trains look very old). About public transport I can't say much, I don't use them often, I prefere to use the car. But one thing which impressed me has been that I saw in the rural areas of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (Ansbach, Taubertal...) a shuttle service in the night for the people which go and come back from discos. It costs 1 € if I remember well, and passes through the main villages. A clever thing if you don't want people drive after drunk. In Italy I have never seen it.

However, this is the pic of the my flat which I had in Gießen, first floor was mine. Here in Lombardy you can find such flats in single house maybe only in the mountains (but i'm not even sure). So for me was great.

[italystf]

Only in Italy they cut off some point on your driving licence for speeding or other violations?