After 3 European road trips you’d have thought we’d have some experience with planning right? Well, we’d like to think so. See what we think are must do’s.
Plan your route.
Planning a route is generally a good start.
This can help to avoid unnecessary stress, or added stress if driving on the wrong side of the road is new to you. Having a route planned can also mean you can book your accommodation in advance.
Take it from us and our previous trips, you do no wanting to be driving 3000 miles over 10 days. We would probably say driving 2 hours a day is a decent plan, but some days its worth just grinding on and covering some miles so you can explore places that might be further apart. Either way just make sure to enjoy the views.
Delays can be a pain and there ain’t no way to avoid them, so just suck it up and expect that travel isn’t all rainbows and butterflies.
Planning in advance will mean you can download maps in case of crap signal. Don’t rely on GPS alone. Be old fashioned and buy a map just in case.
Prepare your vehicle.
The first tip we’re gonna give to you before you drive abroad is important to remember. Change your speedo to km/h. This would be better to do before you set off instead of faffing on the road. Safety first.
Most European countries require you to have certain things in your car for legal reasons. Boring stuff like high-vis vests and a warning triangle. Find the full list below on the RAC website.
Driving in Europe.
Having spare change, in the right currency, will be helpful when paying for things like tolls. Yes you can often pay these on card, but if you use your spare change then they’re basically free right?
Don’t be a middle lane hogger. Europeans are better drivers than the UK especially on motorways. You will need to pull back over once you’ve passed someone otherwise you’ll have someone inside your boot. All the above does not apply in Italy. That place is a free for all and no rules or speed limits apply. Gods race track.
Oh, and remember to drive on the right side of the road.
Know your budget.
Knowing your budget will help when planning your route. Some countries in Europe are more expensive than others, like Switzerland and Norway. There are ways and means to save money in places like this. (Tips coming soon). When budgeting, take into account the cost of fuel, accommodation, and food. Be prepared for stuff going wrong, don’t get caught with no money and a massive bill.
As we are in the modern world, you can take a travel card. We take 2, one from our bank (Halifax) which has 0% fees when abroad, and a Wise card. Which is wise for you to take ;). Other travel cards do very similar but Wise offered the best rates when we were looking at getting a travel card.
Tight Travellers 