Europe by Campervan

Hello Simone,
I have traveled in Europe with a VW campervan for six months and am planning another trip for one year staring in 2009. How long will your trip be?

Here are some of my experiences:
London is very expensive and we preferred the countryside of England, esp. out towards and including Cornwall. Wonderful farm like campgrounds with lots of beautiful areas to walk. France was wonderful. The best campsite for Paris is http://www.campint.com/ (Camping International, Maisons-Lafitte). It's right on the Seine, has a grocery and delivers fresh croissants in the morning. It's a short walk to the train station and into Paris in about 15 or 20 minutes. The small town of Maisons-Lafitte is also very nice to walk to and wander around. France has Aires which are free or cheap stops for overnight http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Aires. Most of the campgrounds in France are wonderful. Another favorite was in the town of Vence above Nice. They had fresh Croissants as well. You will have no trouble finding campgrounds. There are signs everywhere but it's a good idea to pick up a camping guide book.

The rest of your itinerary is much the same in terms of finding campgrounds. Do a Google search for camping and then the name of the town you're interested in. You'll be amazed at how many wonderful sites there are. Prices range from 20-40 Euros per night.

Ferry's are expensive from Italy to Greece but in my opinion, worth it. I preferred Greece to Spain and Portugal but that's just my own experience. Crete was my favorite island and there are several really fantastic campgrounds. There is also the Samaria Gorge you can hike (can you tell I like to walk and hike?). We left our camper in Hania then took a bus to the trail head of the gorge, hiked it down to the Libyan sea, went for a swim then took a boat to the next town, Chora Sfakion, where we stayed the night while the other hikers left on the bus. We had the place to ourselves then caught a bus the next day back to Hania. Turkey is another favorite and less expensive. Wonderful people, food, sites, etc. There is a national park in Croatia that is gorgeous and has some great hiking if you're interested. It's Plitvice National Park and has campgrounds. Also, Lake Bled in Slovenia is beautiful. Dubrovnik is very beautiful but has changed a lot and is very touristy as is Prague. It all depends on what you want to see and do and how much time you have.

I hope this helps.
Claire Reply to this

Simone,

We travelled across Europe by motorhome for around 12 months in chunks of 13 -14 weeks, returning to the UK for short periods in between to check on family affairs. As we live in the UK, that bit wasn't included!
Do take in France, Spain, Portugal, back to Spain, across S of France into Italy, Austria and Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden & Finland. Properly organised you will have time for Belgium and Holland too. Greece is a long ferry ride, suggest you take a cheap flight from somewhere en route for a week. (We did that to Majorca from Valencia)
Do not take your motorhome into any major city in Spain or Italy (take the train or bus from your campsite) and watch your wallet in both - but don't miss either!
Sorry, no experience of E Europe (as yet), but we have just returned from 11 weeks touring your lovely country!

If you want to check our Europe itinerary and perhaps find a few tips, go to: www.ghnomadslog.blogspot.com
Also 18 months full-time circumnavigating N America at: travelblog.org/bloggers/grey-haired-nomads (Where you'll also find New Zealand blogs!) Reply to this