Traveling with a vintage car – the best tips
A trip in a vintage car has its own special appeal. Tips for route planning and preparation.
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Classic cars need a thorough check before the trip
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ADAC tour maps for planning
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In the car train to the starting point
Driving through unique landscapes in vintage cars in the best weather and enjoying carefree holidays – trips like this are very popular. But you have to well prepared will. Especially with individual routes, long tours and trips abroad, there are a few things to consider – the ADAC will help you with this.
Preparation of the classic car
Not all classic cars were developed as long-distance vehicles. It is therefore important not to overwhelm your car or motorcycle. So it can also be useful, possibly needed spare parts and tools take along. For larger breakdowns, all ADAC members throughout Germany have the Yellow Angel available, abroad helps ADAC Plus members of the partner club of the respective country.
In order to prevent possible breakdowns, a thorough technical check is recommended before starting the journey. Helpful is dead Checklist for a carefree classic car tour with all points that YOU should definitely check, have checked or have on board. YOU WILL FIND THIS LIST IN THE ADAC vintage guide 2022/2023 in chapter 21.10 “Travelling with a vintage car”.
Maps, routes and tours
ADAC members are available over a dozen specially designed Touring maps for motorcycles and vintage cars to disposal. Together they cover more than 32,000 kilometers of attractive routes in selected regions of Europe. These maps are aimed at pleasure drivers on two and four wheels who want to travel off the main roads. Club members receive them free of charge in all ADAC offices. As a perfect complement to the tour maps, members can have their individual ADAC TourSet put together free of charge.
On-line Find motorcycle tours in Germany, Austria, Italy and Croatia that are also for vintage cars suit. ADAC regional clubs have tours for bikers and nostalgics of Germany most beautiful regions. Even more European proposals gives it up ADAC cards: Go to “Tours” via the “Show info” tab and tick “Oldtimer & Motorbike Tours”. Then zoom (“Zoom in” and “Zoom out”, the plus and minus signs on the top right) until green circles appear with a motorbike – the tours. They are displayed as a list when YOU scroll down the bar on the right-hand side of the screen.
information about transit route You can get them, for example, from the well-known tourist associations or the national tourist offices in the holiday countries. You should first find out from the ADAC or the websites of the tourism associations whether the planned routes are suitable for your own vintage car. It’s all about Uphill, downhill, tight curves etc.
Classic Car Rental
If you don’t have your own historic vehicle, you can rent a classic car. In Germany and overall there are a number of providers who rent classic vehicles by the hour, day or week. Before starting the journey, it must be clarified, among other things, whether a journey abroad is possible and which ones sums insured have been agreed for any damage. When handing over the vehicle, in addition to a thorough examination of the vehicle, you should also carry out a detailed handover protocol (with details of any previous damage).
Travel abroad
Traditionally, many Germans are still drawn to “Bella Italia”. Above all, Emilia-Romagna and its Adriatic coast are ideal for motor enthusiasts: the region calls itself “Land of Motors” and shines with cultural metropolises worth seeing, lonely mountain roads and a large number of renowned and world-famous car and motorcycle manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, De Tomaso , Maserati and Ducati. Especially beautiful Panoramic roads and natural scenery are also located in the Switzerland and southern england. In addition, many important events and vintage car fairs held abroad.
Regardless of the age of the vehicle soft die traffic regulations in some countries differ from those in Germany. So in some there is Compulsory lights during the day, Smoking ban in the cara different one alcohol limitSpecial regulations regarding safety vests and winter tyres. On this landing page you will find an overview. In addition, there are a number of downright strange traffic rules in Europe. Before driving, find out about the country-specific rules, for example in Austria. You also know which license plate number you can use to drive abroad.
Vintage cars in the car train
For many classic car owners, events in more distant regions are interesting but difficult to reach. Holiday trips with the precious vehicle on excellent Alpine routes or coastal roads on the Mediterranean are therefore often out of the question. Here Autozüge offer an interesting Alternative to getting there and back by vintage car. Overnight, passengers let long distances, traffic jams, bad weather or long waiting times pass them by.
The advantages at a glance
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Protection of the valuable vehicle, so no material wear
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No unnecessary kilometers, because of that no depreciation
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no cost for fuelOil, tolls and extra nights
The providers
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Holiday Express* from Hamburg to Verona, Villach, Innsbruck, Munich and Lörrach, from Dusseldorf to Verona, Villach and Innsbruck and from Munich to Binz on Rügen
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ÖBB* with their Nightjet and partner railway connections from Hamburg to Innsbruckbetween Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia
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BTE AutoReiseZug* between Hamburg and Loerrach
Detailed information, including price advantages for ADAC members, is available from ADAC branches and travel agencies.
Vintage car hiking with the ADAC
Lots of classic car enthusiasts enjoy that group experience on an organized and guided vintage car trip local and linguistically knowledgeable guides As well as mechanics who can carry out repairs right on site. Usually, guided classic car trips are offered both with your own vehicle and with a rental classic car.
A special experience are the ADAC classic car hikes at home and abroad. Stopwatches or special stages don’t count, instead tricky and fun team tasks are solved during the hiking breaks. Here you can find more information about Classic car events and tours organized by ADAC.
More classic car themes
On this landing page for vintage and youngtimers you will find many more tips about technology, care, purchase, events and tours.
* By clicking on the link you will be forwarded to an external website for which the respective website operator is responsible.