Driving to Warsaw from UK

Does anybody know the quickest way from Nottingham to Warsaw by car?

Probably the best way is -

1. Drive down the M1 to the A14/M6 junction.
2. A14 down to Harwich
3. Ferry to Hoek van Holland
4. some small roads near Hoek until you reach the A12 in Den Haag (following the E30)
5. A12, A27, A28, A1 to the Dutch/German border. (again, all E30)
6. BAB (autobahn) 30, 2, 10, 12 in Germany to the German/Polish border. (all E30)
7. DK2/A2 in Poland to Warsaw (all E30).

Don't bother wasting your time going via Dover. The above route is almost all motorway in Holland and Germany, apart from a tiny section near Hoek van Holland.

Dover - Calais
then head towards lille, Antwerpe, turnhout, venlo, on the E30 through the ruhr area get on the e34 towards hannover, then berlin and then cross at frankfurt oder and plough on through poland.

Should take you around 17 hours in total.

Up the M1 to Donny airport,then wizz air to Warsaw.

thanx.

From Nottingham? Harwich-Hook would be about the same time, except you won't have to drive on the utterly long drag through Belgium.

Much nicer boats too, and you can take a car and get a cabin on a day crossing for peanuts!

What ever route you take be sure to pick up the A2, its a major German autobhan. You can stay on this road for 290 miles, theres an alternative with the A4 but its slightly longer and you need to keep an eye for merging lanes and generally mess around a lot more.

Here it is exactly from Googlemaps. 19 Hours 24 minutes, thats a hefty drive. 1163 miles.

1. Head west on A6008/Upper Parliament St toward King St 0.2 mi
2. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto A610/Derby Rd
Continue to follow Derby Rd 1.8 mi
3. At A6200, take the 2nd exit onto A52/Derby Rd
Continue to follow A52
Go through 1 roundabout 4.0 mi
4. Turn left to stay on A52 (signs for M1/Derby) 1.2 mi
5. Take the exit toward Sandiacre/Risley/M1/Long Eaton 0.2 mi
6. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto the M1 ramp 0.3 mi
7. Merge onto M1 99.3 mi
8. At junction 6a, exit onto M25 toward M11/M20/Dartford
Partial toll road 40.7 mi
9. Continue on A282
Partial toll road 3.1 mi
10. Continue on M25 4.2 mi
11. At junction 3, exit onto M20 toward Dover/Maidstone 48.0 mi
12. Exit at junction 11a 0.4 mi
13. Continue straight 0.7 mi
14. Continue straight 0.6 mi
15. Slight left 0.5 mi
16. Take the Folkestone - Calais train to Fréthun
Entering France 36.4 mi
17. Continue straight 0.2 mi
18. Turn left 1.5 mi
19. Merge onto A16/E402 via the ramp to E15/Lille/A26/Reims/Calais/Paris/Bruxelles
Continue to follow A16
Speed camera in 22.6 mi
Entering Belgium 35.6 mi
20. Continue on A18 26.1 mi
21. Continue on A10 30.3 mi
22. Take exit Zwijnaarde for E17 toward Antwerpen/Gent 1.2 mi
23. Follow signs for Antwerpen and merge onto A14/E17 31.1 mi
24. Continue on R1 5.4 mi
25. Take exit Antwerpen-Oost to merge onto A13/E313/E34 toward Turnhout/Hasselt/Eindhoven/Luik 5.8 mi
26. Take exit Ranst toward Eindhoven/Turnhout 1.1 mi
27. Merge onto A21
Entering The Netherlands 29.1 mi
28. Continue on A67
Entering Germany 46.5 mi
29. Continue on A40 26.4 mi
30. Take exit 14-Kreuz Kaiserberg to merge onto A3 toward Hannover/Arnheim 7.6 mi
31. Continue on A2 (signs for Bottrop/A2/Hannover) 294 mi
32. Continue on A10 4.4 mi
33. Take exit 19-Potsdam to merge onto A10 toward Berlin-Zentrum/Frankfurt (Oder) 35.9 mi
34. Take exit 1-Dreieck Spreeau toward Warszawa (Ger)/Warschau (Ger)/A12/Frankfurt (Oder) 0.9 mi
35. Merge onto E30 0.2 mi
36. Continue on A12
Entering Poland 35.5 mi
37. Continue on Route 2/E30 70.2 mi
38. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Route 305/E30 1.4 mi
39. Turn left at E30
Partial toll road 166 mi
40. Slight right at £owicka 1.2 mi
41. Continue on Route 14/E30 10.5 mi
42. Slight left at Prymasowska 1.4 mi
43. Continue on Podgrodzie 0.6 mi
44. Continue on Zamkowa 0.5 mi
45. Turn right at Poznańska 1.9 mi
46. Continue on Route 2/E30 12.4 mi
47. Slight right to stay on Route 2/E30
Go through 1 roundabout 20.4 mi
48. Slight right to stay on Route 2/E30 12.3 mi
49. Slight right at Route 2/Route 719/E30
Continue to follow Route 719
Go through 3 roundabouts 3.0 mi
50. Turn right at Marszałkowska 0.4 mi
51. Enter Rondo Romana Dmowskiego

The route through Germany is easy, the Polish stretch is dull and, depending on traffic reports, not worth taking the Autostrada (A2) from Poznan to Strykow - your 33zl you pay in tolls won't get you any faster than the old E30 that runs parallel to it, if there's traffic.

If you do want to drive through the UK, a little-known route is go take the Transeuropa ferry from Ramsgate to Belgium (Zebrugge?) Four hours for 30 quid, and the M2 motorway gets you to Ramsgate very quickly. The Speedferries catamaran from Dover to Bourlogne-sur-mer is faster, but then you have to get out of that port, past Calais and into Belgium, which takes about the same time as it would have taken on the Transeuropa ferry.

If the roads are clear and you're feeling perky, you can JUST get from the English channel (be it France, Belgium or the Neths) to Warsaw in one day, but it's knackering and from a safety perspective, not recommended.

No no no, I don't recommend this at all. The section from Nowy Tomysl to Poznan is always busy with Polish trucks, and if you hit Poznan at any point between 6am and 10pm at night, it's going to be a drag through the city on DK92. The road surface is also absolutely shocking on the Poznan-Wresznia stretch - and is littered with traffic lights and 70/90 speed limits. For the sake of 33zl, it really isn't worth taking the old road - especially as it's got narrow lanes and is mostly single carriageway for the most part.

There's also the fact that (for the time being) the Kutno-Strykow section is free. The tolled part of the Autostrada is also quite empty and police rarely are seen on it - unlike on DK92.

The only bad thing about the A2 is the way that you'll have to stop every 40km or so for toll barriers, but there's never any queues at the toll stations.

Ive taken that autostrada three times, and twice there was some sort of accident that had reduced the thing to a standstill. As I said, it depends on the traffic reports. The Autostrada is either completely clear and you can do 160km/h as much as you like, or it's completely static for two hours and you have to park up and eat the sandwiches your mother-in-law prepared for you.

is it 33zl toll for the whole stretch of A2 to Warsaw?

Yep. Although the A2 doesn't make it to either Swiecko or Warsaw, so ;)

i see :-)