Hi, me and 3 friends are thinking of going on a road trip in the coming summer. We want it to last approx. 2-3 weeks, we will be either taking a ferry from Dover to Calais, or going through the eurotunnel (we have our own car by the way!). We hope the trip takes us down through France, moving east through Switzerland to Austria, then travelling north through Germany, eventually ending up in Amsterdam. Does this trip sound realistic, given the time frame, the fact that we're all 18, and does anyone have any tips/information they can share? (nb: we can all drive, and the main aims of the trip are to meet new people, experience a variety of cultures and to have a generally awesome time!)
My previous post seems a little vague so here are some further details:
- Without sounding rude, we would like to spend as least time as possible staying in France, using it just as the route down to Switzerland, staying in hostels/b+b's along the way.
-Austria is a priority, as we want to visit places such as Innsbruck, Zellamsee and Salzburg/Vienna. We feel that the former 2 will provide us with the natural landscape (maybe even glacier skiing at Zellamsee), and the latter with some nightlife!
- We have no idea on where we would like to spend time in Germany, therefore advice would be very much appreciated here! We are looking for a mixture of culture, history and nightlife.
- Our final stop will be Amserdam, where we'll be looking to spend around 3 nights.
After seeing an outline of where we would like to visit, adivce on things such as; which hostels/hotels would be best to stay, how much money will we need to take overall (inc. fuel), would be extremely appreciated! Thanks in advance
I would say that you are cramming in far too much into 2-3 weeks. For such a trip 4-6 weeks would be a more realistic timeframe if you want to experience things and not just see them from a car window.
Note that driving in France and Switzerland is expensive, you need to pay tolls. A more cost effective way to get to Austria would be through Belgium and Germany. The drive along the Rhine Valley can be quite scenic and you'd be hitting several nice spots when aiming for Innsbruck (Cologne, Heidelberg, Füssen)
A possible route would thus be Brussels, Cologne, Heidelberg, Füssen, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Wolfgangssee, Vienna. From Vienna you could then make a detour into Hungary or drive to Prague, Dresden and Berlin.
For Germany I would definitely recommend visiting Berlin.
From Berlin you could then make your way across Germany to Amsterdam.
BTW, if you are on a low budget consider taking tents, mattresses and camping gear. You'll be able to save quite a lot of money by camping. It allows you to stop whereever you want and in non-touristy places it is usually possible to pitch a tent roadside for a night. This way you'll pay only for food and petrol.
Thanks for the invaluable advice!
I think that the maximum time we can spend around Europe is 3 weeks due to university/family reasons. Therefore, we won't be spending as much time in most of these places as other people would normally tend to. And as all 4 of us are able to drive, driving for vast amounts of time won't be an obstacle.
How much time do you recommend staying in Berlin?
Would it be safe to camp on a roadside, even if it is in a non-touristy area?
Finally, would £2,000 each (€2,400) be enough to cover everything in the trip inc. fuel?
Hey there,
Im going to copy and paste a post i made on another thread about road trips.
Me and a few mates drove from wales to sardinia last summer.
Was an incredible experience, but VERY expensive.
Im not sure i can be much help with any routes or destinations as we pretty much headed straight down through france, through mont blanc and down to geona for the ferry crossing.
But if you have any questions ill do my best.
Plus id have to agree with t_maia on saying you are cramming way to much in for just 3 weeks! Its all about taking your time and having fun, not rushing around trying to fit everything in!
Dan
Hey Dan, we're from Wales too! 4 weeks would be an absolute maximum, will that be enough time?
Did you venture upon the Stelvip Pass by any chance?
- Stelvio pass rather.
How much money did you spend altogether?
Hahaa where in wales mate..?
I really dont know, it all depends on how long your planning on staying in each place.
Im going travelling this summer so if you are anywhere near me at the same time id be more than happy to meet up with you guys somewhere in europe for a day?
Yeah i think so, to be honest we didnt take much notice of the places we were passing through. Although we had a few stops it was pretty much just a straight drive to geona to get the ferry across. It wasnt so much a road trip as we just wanted to spend as much time in sardinia as possible and we needed the car.
I cant 100% remember the cost of the way over as we won alot of money playing roulette on the ferry and that covered alot of the cost! hahaaa very lucky i know!
But the way home in total cost us around 1000 euro's. Theres alot of tolls through france which kills you and if your looking to travel though the mt blanc tunnell i think it was something like 45 each way.
Ammanford, about half an hour from Swansea! Yourself?
Ah that would be good, where abouts in Europe are you thinking of going?
The main point of our road trip is to get to Amsterdam really, but we definitely have to visit a few places in Austria that we've been before and to Berlin and maybe Prague on the way.
How lucky is that haha! Roulette's been good to me in the past so I probably know how you felt seeing a I've won over £1500 altogether!
Wow thats a lot just for the way back! We're hoping to miss most of France out altogether I think, going east straight to Belgium and down through Germany as soon as we get there. I just hope £2000 each will be enough!
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