Motoring Holidays .

THE first thing that should be done by those intending to spend a motor holiday on the Continent is to join the Automo- bile Association;- New Coventry. Street, London, if they are not already members, and put themselves in touch with the foreign touring department.

*• * Roughly speaking, on the Calais-Dover crossing the cost of a small car is £4, while for larger cars the rate varies according to the Wheel-ba-se, on the following scale Motor Cars having Permanent Tops. -

Owner's Co.'s Risk. - Sisk.

Wheelbase not exceeding .. 6 ft. 6 in £7 £9 £10 £11 £12

•

29 VI 22 .. 8 ft. 6 in. £8 1.9 92 .. 10 ft. 6 in. £9

exceeding .. 10 ft. 6 in. £10 Motor Cars having Collapsible Tops.

Wheelbase not exceeding .. 6 ft. 6 in. £5 £6

22 97 . . 8 ft. 6 in. £6 £7

„ .. 10 ft. 6 in. £7 £8 exceeding 10 ft. .6 in. £8 £9 Cabriolets and some types of Coupes can be shipped (at Company's option) as open cars, if hood is folded.

* * * * • - -

The Automobile Association issue a, series of excellent booklets with regard to motoring on the. Continent, covering._ -SWitzerhind, BelginninItaly, France and the. Riviera ; also a , list of agents -at foreign ports and return shipping arrange. Meats. A.warning_ in one of these booklets, nforms motorists toV Holland that members of the AA. ,have had difficulty in entering and leaving . Holland with their ears -because the _ Dutch customs irrsist on; the chassisInurkher of a car being stamped outhechassis itself and_not merely marked on a plate attached to the car. _

* * * Preparations for a Motor Tour on the Continent, issued by the A.A., is an invaluable—indeed an indispensable—booklet for the intending tourist. Passports, &c., should be arranged for well in advance as well as.. the other two requisite docu- ments, namely : (A) an International Travelling Pass ; (B) a Triptyque or Customs Carnet: -

A.—The International Travelling Pass is a general licence for car (or motor cycle) and driver, available for most European countries. It avoids the necessity for having one's vehicle registered and obtaining a driving licence in each country— thus saving its holder a. great deal of time and trouble. In

e

order to obtain this an- examination of vehicle and driver is necessary. The chief point as regards the ear (or motor cycle) is that there must be two brakes in good order, acting inde- pendently _of each other., and each ,able to stop the car (or naotor':eyele) within a reasonable distance. As regards the tkriVer the Examiner must certify that he is reasonably corn- ketent. ' Two Tian unmounted photogiaphs of the driver are required for the International Travelling Pass. The examina- tion of car and driver can be carried out -at the Chief Offices of the Automobile Association in London, or by arrangement at any of the Branch Offices, -or at Folkestone, Newhaven, Southampton, 'Bournemouth, Carlisle, Darlington, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, Llandrindod Wells, Oxford, Reading, Swindon, Middlesbrough, West Hartlepool, Cambridge, New- port, I. of W., Plymouth, Barnstaple, Sheffield, Swansea, Weymouth and Bradford, also at Aberdeen' and-Dundee.

The International Travelling Pass obviates the necessity of taking out driving licences and of registering the car in the following countries :, France (and Algeria and Tunis), Monaco, Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland; Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark; Sweden, Russia; Greece, Roumania, Austria,' Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, iNkrtilvay, Finland, Poland, Ciecho-Slovakia-, the Free City of Dantzig, Morocco (French Zone), British India, Gibraltar, Malta, Guernsey, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Irish Free State, Saar Basin, French Colonies in India, Lithuania. In accordance with the re- quirements of the International Convention, an oval plate bga,ring the letters, " G.B." must be carried at the rear of every British registered car (plate supplied by A.A.). fi.—ATriptyque is a customs ,perrnit for the temporary im- portation of "a car (or motor cycle) -into -one' edurrtrr.• A

separate Triptyque is required for each country. A Customs Carnet is an international customs permit for the temporary importation of a motor vehicle into nine of the most important touring countries. It thus takes the place of nine distinct Triptyques. It has- the advantages of being very simple in use and of greatly reducing the amount to be covered by a deposit or by a banker's indemnity.

The A.A. issues Triptyques or Carnets to its members, covering the customs duty by one of the three following methods :— (a) Taking a deposit of £50 from the member (in case of a motor cycle £10) and covering the remainder of the duty (which varies, of course, with the make of car) by a banker's indemnity, for which a fee of 10s. 6d. is charged.

(b) A deposit of £50 as above and an insurance guarantee for the remainder of the duty, for which a premium of 5s. per cent. is charged.

(c) A deposit of the full amount of duty in cash. Customs Carnets are available at present for France, Italy, "Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Denmark. - - ==”

Separate Triptyques can be supplied for any of the above countries and also for the- 'following : The Irish Free State, 'Norway, Spain, Austria, Czecho-Slovakia, Portugal, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Roumania, Yugo-Slavia- and Germany.

All necessary application forms and arrangements for shipping can be made by the Foreign Touring Department of the A.A.

Members driving on the Mediterranean Coast of France should bear in mind that not only are roads almost invariably winding and mountainous, but furthermore, during the winter months, traffic is ex2eedingly heavy. Large charabancs, sometimes none too carefully driven, are often to be met with in the Maritime Alps, and the need for great caution cannot be-ever-emphasized. - -- - - - _ * * * *

A word of warning should be given with regard to carrying firearms in Italy. A friend of mine was imprisoned in Turin for having an automatic pistol in his possession. This was before the War, but I understand from the A.A. booklet on Italy that the penalties are no different now. Alio it should be remembered that Italy under Facismo is a very different country from what" it 'was under the Giolitti regime, and if there was little need to carry- lethal weapons in old Italy there is even less excuse now.

* * *

For those who do not contemplate taking their own cars Continental Motor Ways make a speciality of comfortable motor travel throughout Europe. More than twelve people are never taken in one car and each passenger has his own armchair and table and window. The ears have miniature kitchens, io that tea can be served en mite, and 'a lavatory in rear of each vehicle. The average cost of a tour is 21 to 3 guineas a day, everything found. A specimen trip (on May 8th and every three weeks) is from London to Basle by first- class train, thence by car through the Black Forest to Munich, Prague, Vienna, Buda Pest, and back to Basle by the Tyrol. The round trip from London, which takes a month, costs 89 guineas and makes* really delightful holiday.

* * * *

How many of those who return from the Riviera, one wonders, really know the resorts of their own country ? There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and Bath, as 'well as Bordighera, can be very beautiful in the spring. Its beauty will be English, of course, and the blossom will be apple, for Bath is decidedly West Country, and rich in flowering trees, almond and peach and nectarine. By Easter the bathing establishment will be working at full pressure, and the extensions carried out last autumn will all be needed to meet the demand. Although the natural hot mineral waters are, and will remain, the basis of the Bath cure, one of the most complete electro-therapeutic departments in the world has been iriktalled near the famous old Pump --Room: —

Sweden, and