Hi there,
my boyfriend and i are planning on driving around some of europe between mid august to mid september. we'll be getting the eurotunnel from dover-calais and have 5 weeks starting from here.
we're not sure how long it'll take to get to places so don't know how many places we'll be able to see; has anyone done a similar trip or have any suggestions for places we should go?
we'll be camping on our way round
x
Reply to this Hello Catriona, and welcome to the Forum!
If you are camping, it will give you options not available to most people. I camped around the continent for over 2 months many years ago.
The big bonus of camping is evident in the European Alps such as Switzerland and Austria where you can pitch your tent in camping grounds with views that are spectacular. I remember camping in Grindelwald, Switzerland and crawling out of my tent one morning and looming above me were the magnificent looking peaks of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau - my favourite camping spot ever!
The minus of camping is that you will find any of the major cities difficult to stay in as you will be far from the action, so I'd stay to the rural trail.
Reply to this Hi..18 years ago my wife and I plus 4 year old son drove around europe for 5 weeks starting from Paris and stayed at campgrounds..it was great. We used eurocamp so it was more upmaket but ther are still great places to see.
We did a big loop... Paris,dordogne, carcasonne, st tropez, nice, monaco, montecarlo, pisa rome florence venice,innsbruck salzburg, interlaken, susten zermatt, lichenstein,outh germany luxembourg and back up to calais. Took 35days..we wanted to get as many passport stamps as possible lol. Loved south of france, florence and switzerland the most but it was a combo of history and beaches and mountains.
Depends what u want to see..u could of course head east eg as far as poland and then south and across and back up..I think u need to work out what rocks your boat and then lok at what u can do without too much driving..I think we did 3500kms which was too myuch in truth. If u can go back in a few years then chunk it...
PS Im a kiwi so have that wonderlust spirit...
Reply to this thanks to travel camel, we're really excited about camping in switzerland someone else had said that about the campsites too!
we were thinking of doing a loop as well t rev but not as big as yours and the other way around....! we were thinking going from calais along the north of france into germany then down through germany and switzerland, then down to monaco and along the south until northen spain, then joining up at calais again to go home...obviously just a rough route so far......
what do you guys think of that? also, would it be best to do it that way round or the opposite way in terms of getting the best weather?
thanks for your help! x
Reply to this The camping grounds on the northern coast of Spain are spectacular. It is my favourite part of Europe, the most beautiful part of Spain and it is not so crowded in August as the rest of Spain, southern France or Italy.
I can recommend places like Llanes (Asturias), Valle de Liebana (Cantabria), San Vicente (Cantabria).
The National park of Picos de Europa is fantastic (Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y Leon). I would spend a week (out of five) in Valle de Liebana (Potes, Cantabria) or some other place close to Picos de Europa.
Picos de Europa is a small scale Alps. It is often referred to as "little switzerland". And, it is much easier, cheaper, the food is better, nice people ... I prefer Spain to Switzerland.
But, I am a big fan of Spain, especially the north coast :-)
Reply to this When staying in Switzerland during the end of September, one of the locals told me that the mountain air is clearest during that month.
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