That's a good summary, but I'd add: Driving into and parking in the centre of any major city in the UK is a hassle and an expense. I suggest planning where t park (e.g. park and ride) in advance. Also pollution stickers in France now extend to some other cities, but only if you go right in.

For an example of "likely be quicker", London Kings Cross to York Station by rail is about 2 hours, and here is what you see when you leave York Station. The same journey would be about 4 hours by car, and you would still have to find somewhere to park in central York.

Thanks both, I've implemented both of your suggestions in my answer :)

If you are driving, use park and ride for York.

Foreign registered vehicles need to be registered with Transport for London if they want to drive within the low emission zone.

@DiegoSánchez added a note about that :)

Another one: light deflectors are mandatory, not just a courtesy. Some cars have dual lights that can be flipped with an option, though, and that would be enough

Excellent answer, btw, but I miss a reference to roundabouts. In the UK you signal what direction you intend to go after you leave the roundabout, and people may drive into it if they think your paths won't collide. That's different from continental Europe in which you don't signal until you reach the point of exit.

Also missing is the different parking rules. Crossing the road to park (facing against the direction of the traffic flow), which is not done elsewhere. (Not sure how to discribe this propery). For peaple unaware of this, it can be very unnerving.

@MarkJohnson technically not allowed (highway code 239) but never enforced in the UK.

@Muzer Has that changed? When living in England in the 1970's it was very common place. (The crossing over the other lane to park)

@DiegoSánchez cheers, didn't know the roundabout indicator rules were different in mainland Europe!

@MarkJohnson and it still is commonplace, but it's technically not allowed as I said :)

@Muzer More reason to add a paragraph about that topic, for those that are completely unaware that it could happen, to make this summary compleate.

@Muzer at the risk of going off-topic, parking against the traffic flow isn't actually prohibited according to rule 239, but is discouraged (due to the wording "do not park facing against the traffic flow"; a legal prohibition would use "You MUST NOT" as in e.g. rule 240).

@TomRevell it's not specifically legally prohibited, but in general if they want to make an example out of people police will generally charge you under a generic driving law (eg "driving without due care and attention") if you are not driving in accordance with the Highway Code. Hence I said "not allowed by the Highway Code" rather than "illegal" which is what "MUST NOT" means.

On the breathalizer topic, it seems that you are technically required to have one but there are no fines for not having one. drive-france.com/faqs/france-breathalyzer-law And as far as I know, those throwaway breathalizers were quite useless due to a strong variation of up to 0.2 permille, effectively only indicating if you had any alcohol at all

Given the general level of UK disorganisation and the likelihood of their having lost any previous cooperation from EU governments, I would not worry overly about any fines you might attract. The chances of them ever catching up with you back home in Austria would be negligible. Just don't get towed.

"and a couple of breathalysers, as well as a pollution sticker if you're driving in Paris" - actually, you don't, in accordance to the Vienna convention. All you need is a car that is legal in your own country. See this answer

"While in this post-Brexit-vote world there certainly is increased publicly-expressed xenophobia" - citation needed

@Diego Sánchez Your description of signalling when exiting a roundabout is incorrect. highwaycodeuk.co.uk/roundabouts.html# The basic principle of signalling before making any manoeuvre applies. You signal (and move into the appropriate lane, if relevant) before you leave the roundabout, NOT after. The only time you’d signal afterwards would be if you intended to make a left or right turn after leaving the roundabout, but that doesn’t mean you don’t signal before leaving the roundabout.

@Rich You’re basically saying ‘don’t worry if you break the law because you’re not likely to be caught’. That might be more or less likely post-Brexit but it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable from either a safety or morality point of view. Presumably then, the reverse applies to any U.K. citizens driving in Europe?

@Muzer The description of roundabout rules Diego Sánchez gives us incorrect highwaycodeuk.co.uk/roundabouts.html#

@Traveller I think you've just misinterpreted what he meant - I took it to mean "you indicate in the direction you intend to exit the roundabout from where you started" which is broadly correct (though I've obviously clarified it in the paragraph I wrote).