[EURO2012] Ask Poland & Ukraine

[GROBIN]

Originally Posted by Rombi

I think it's obvious that ChrisMuenchen tooks way through Austria and Hungary from Munich to reach Lviv. Section from Cracow to border is terrible in terms huge number of lorries. I would choose Hungary.

It depends. As far as Poland is concerned, remember A4 from Kraków to the border shall be ready on most sections, except 2 (Bochnia-Tarnów, and Rzeszów-Jarosław). Moreover, the A1 section from the Czech D1 to Gliwice shall be ready at the time too. & East of Miskolc (H) (through Nyíregyháza), there's no motorway...

Anyway, 3 solutions, with advantages & inconveniences:
A) Drive as most suggest - through Salzburg, Linz, Vienna (A), Győr, Budapest, Nyíregyháza (H) & Chop (UA). It's the most straight way, but not the shortest (1268 km & 13h15 according to Google Maps), although the difference with the other possibilities isn't big at all. Moreover, remember about:
- both the Austrian & Hungarian vignettes.
- The fact that refuelling & eating is really expensive in Austria, a bit less in Hungary. Half of your way will be done through Austria ...
- I heard (but here other people will put at stake my statement) that there are a lot of speed traps on Austrian motorways & fines are quite expensive.

B) Drive through Regensburg (D), Plzeň, Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava (CZ), Gliwice, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów (PL), (1243 km & 13h15 according to Google Maps) which may be the cheapest & will be the shortest in distance. Remember this:
- you must buy the Czech vignette & pay for both tolls on Polish A4 between Katowice and Kraków (which is not expensive though - 2x8PLN = 16PLN in total, which is less than 4 EUR)
- You'll have cheaper fuel and cheaper food in the Czech Republic & especially in Poland
- You may have a lot of speed traps in the Czech Republic. In Poland, the speed limit on motorways is 140 km/h with an official tolerance of 10 km/h. But you can do more... & fines are not that expensive
- According to this website, there's an avtomahistral' between Krakovec' (PL/UA border) and L'viv. If other forumers confirm this, take this in account (I hope some of our Ukrainian SSC users will write something ...)

C) Drive through Ingoldstadt, Nürnberg, Chemnitz, Dresden, Görlitz (D), Legnica, Wrocław, Gliwice, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów (PL) (1298 km, 14h00 according to Google Maps). Take in account this:
- A lot of km on German motorways, which means better driving for you for a longer time but also more expensive in fuel & food.
- You'll drive through the whole Polish A4, which means: cheaper refuelling & cheaper eating for a long time. The rest is just like on the B) solution.

Anyway, I hope the waiting time at any of the borders with Ukraine will be much shorter than now ...

Aha: one map that can help you a lot: the Polish map of motorway & expressway construction, which is always up-to-date :

[/

[rakcancer]

▃ existing
▃ under construction
▃ project & bulid
▃ tender
▃ tender for project & bulid
▃ enviromental decision (DSU)

[ChrisMuenchen]

First of all, thank you for you kind and helpful answers, videos etc. Despite all, it seems to me that the M06 is in a very good condition. Toll etc. doesn't play a remarkable role for me. Fuel in Austria for example is cheaper than in germany, but i have to admit that i don't know the prices in hungary and ukraine.

What about the density of the filling stations at the M06. I suppose there are enough...
Has anyone an idea about the truck density on the M06 at weekends?

[BND]

E95 petrol in Hungary is now around 400 HUF, which is around 1,27 EUR. Diesel is about 25 HUF more expensive. The filling stations on motorways are the most expensive ones, though.

AFAIK petrol in Ukraine is much cheaper, below 1 EUR.

[ChrisMuenchen]

thank you. AFAIK you have to pay cash at the ukrainian petrolstations??? As I saw on the maß above, the polish motorway from Rzesow to the border will bei ready till EURO 2012...

Because I returun immediately after the match, I will choose Lwiw - Rzesow than the via Dukla pass in direction to Kosice and then furter Miskolc-Budapest...

I heart that it should be dangerous to travel during the night by car.....but I don't know why....safety or road conditions maybe both...or is it just a fairytale??

[MajKeR_]

If we're taking into account Poland - it's just a fairytale.

[ChrisMuenchen]

Sorry, I heard that about travelling on ukrainian roads during the night...

[maciekph]

Originally Posted by ChrisMuenchen

Sorry, I heard that about travelling on ukrainian roads during the night...

As for Poland - you can drive during the night without any issues at all. No worry. As for Ukraine - I have no idea. :-)

You can go to Kiev through Hungary and go back via Poland - just to see something new and don't be bored to much

Btw. I'm driving Munich-Krakow and Krakow-Munich couple times during the year each time taking another road Just for fun and curiosity.

[GROBIN]

Originally Posted by maciekph

As for Poland - you can drive during the night without any issues at all. No worry. As for Ukraine - I have no idea. :-)

You can go to Kiev through Hungary and go back via Poland - just to see something new and don't be bored to much

Btw. I'm driving Munich-Krakow and Krakow-Munich couple times during the year each time taking another road Just for fun and curiosity.

If you're not in a hurry, that's the best thing to do & it's the best way to know which road is in better shape, less stressful, etc.

Driving in Ukraine during the night (this statement excludes Kyiv) is VERY tiring & stressful. You can't see any potholes in advance & out of the main roads there, you can have such BIG surprises. I highly recommend you to drive during the day in Ukraine.

[ChrisMuenchen]

Can anybody confirm, that you can only pay cash at ukrainian filling stations?

[GROBIN]

False ! When I was in Ukraine by car in 2005, I could already pay by credit card. In 2010, I went by plane, but - as far as I remember, my father (whom I visited) paid sometimes by card ... Who told you that ?

[ChrisMuenchen]

I think that I read it in a traveller guide or something comparable, can't remember the exact source.....

[GROBIN]

Oyoyoy ! Never trust 100% traveller guides ! There are so many inaccurate & stupid things written about each country ! I once had the surprise - talking to 2 Québec tourists - that some tourist guide told them not to bring their shaving machine to France because there's no electricity here ! & it was back in 2004 ! They made me read the statement on their book, & it was in French !

A similar case with an American tourist in Poland (back in 2002, when Poland wasn't even in the EU & the unemployment rate was around 20%), the guide of which stated that the MINIMUM salary in Poland was of 2,000 USD !!!!

[italystf]

Originally Posted by GROBIN

Oyoyoy ! Never trust 100% traveller guides ! There are so many inaccurate & stupid things written about each country ! I once had the surprise - talking to 2 Québec tourists - that some tourist guide told them not to bring their shaving machine to France because there's no electricity here ! & it was back in 2004 ! They made me read the statement on their book, & it was in French !

Maybe they mean that in France they have different voltage (220V vs 110V) and you can't use North American electrical equipments without adapter.

Originally Posted by GROBIN

A similar case with an American tourist in Poland (back in 2002, when Poland wasn't even in the EU & the unemployment rate was around 20%), the guide of which stated that the MINIMUM salary in Poland was of 2,000 USD !!!!

Maybe they put a 0 more.

[TheFlyPL]

Originally Posted by italystf

Maybe they put a 0 more.

The minimum Salary was around 250$ in 2000. Now it's 500$ so still very low.

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by TheFlyPL

The minimum Salary was around 250$ in 2000. Now it's 500$ so still very low.

The only effect of a minimum salary is to make it illegal for anyone whose skills are worth less than the minimum to work. Governments enact minimum salary laws in order to keep the poorest people from supporting themselves.

[GROBIN]

Hard to say which system is the worst ...

[ChrisMuenchen]

Hi everyone,

first of all thank you for your kind regards. Has somebody of you experience with entering the ukraine with a rental car??...are some special documents necessary except that one that the rental company allows you to enter the ukraine........

[GROBIN]

I know no rental car companies that would let you go with a EU car into Russia, Belarus or Ukraine so far ...

You'd better take your personal car. As far as your own name & surname is on the documents, no problems !

[ChrisMuenchen]

oh yes there is. I reserved a car in the international reservation center of Avis in Germany. There must be a so-called "Travel-East-Tarif", so far so good, but you can't find it in their homepage :-). I asked directly via the customers hotline. But I don't know if the local agency in munich has enough experience with the documents that would be necessary. But you are right as far as the normal contract conditions are concerned. "normally" Belarus, russia, etc is forbidden.