Itinerary Advice - Buying a camper/van and traveling for 9-12 months through Europe (1 Viewer)

[Paulil]

Hello everyone!

My partner and I are looking at buying a van (with space for us to sleep inside it) and taking 12 months to travel through Europe. We will buy a retrofitted regular van and not a very large RV (research pending).

We have come up with this comprehensive driving itinerary and I was curious if anyone could give us some advice on the route we have selected. We are assuming that we will be reliant on campsites and will try keep our stays in lodgings to a minimum for our journey. Absolutely any insight or advice is very welcome!

The link to our route plan can be found here: https://trips.furkot.com/board/2LUEgs

We really appreciate all advice, thank you!

 

[Jim]

Hi Paulil

Just to let you know that you aren't being ignored. Your post has only just this minute gone live. We manually check and approve new members first posts that have links within to ensure they are not spammers. Your post was just approved; people can see it now Thanks.

 

[jollyrodger]

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[mitzimad]

expensive ferry just to visit ibiza and a lot of miles to cover why not just go and see where the wind takes you

 

[Riverbankannie]

Wow, that’s a lot of dots. It’s a bit tricky to work out identify places without tapping on each dot.
My advice would be to kit out your van to be reasonably self sufficient, and consider ones already converted. You would save money in the long term by being able to stop overnight on aires and wild camping spots.
Download some apps such as CamperContact and SearchforSites. They are best for finding places to stay overnight. Using campsites in high season will get very expensive, up to 50 euros per night depending on location and popularity.

Good luck on your adventure.

 

[Riverbankannie]

expensive ferry just to visit ibiza and a lot of miles to cover why not just go and see where the wind takes you

Yes, I meant to add about ferry costs, quite a few including the ones to Norway even the bridge is expensive.

Have a plan but get ready to make it up as you go along.

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[Figaro]

Have a search for our tour.co.uk
Jason and Julie have travelled extensively in Europe in a motorhome and have a blog with masses of useful information.
Good luck with your plans

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[MisterB]

there are motorhomes for sale on this site LOL

seriously, the more you can save by staying overnight for free, the more tolls and fuel you can afford to pay for and the further you can travel and visit

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[pappajohn]

My partner and I are looking at buying a van (with space for us to sleep inside it) and taking 12 months to travel through Europe.

If that means what it sounds like you will have serious problems getting on campsites using a basic builders van with a mattress in the back.

 

[Paulil]

Thank you all for your replies! I will look into what you have all so kindly advised in a bit more detail shortly, but first I have got a better link for the itinerary: https://trips.furkot.com/ts/OhBXgq?...A9_3h9RMSUqdVkwR12v6QTGgmucI5_IRjOuDNLhX8AlEU

I hope this is a little clearer now. Thank you all once again!

 

[mitzimad]

200 miles a day for 210 days that will be fun have you considered how your going to avoid bad weather as your going to some very cold places and you cant do them all in summer

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[Just smiffy]

Think I would need a holiday after all that ....

Knowing what I know of 35,000 miles around Europe in 3-4 yrs you would need to double the time frame of that trip...

You need to take into account problems that come up (and they will) to just plain liking a place so much that you’ll stay there for a few weeks...

Lots will tell you on here from centuries of experience that the best way to travel Europe is to turn up at Calais and think, Hmmm where shall we go today..

Welcome.....

 

[Minxy]

Hi and welcome to the fun house.

That's one heck of a trip your planning and your route, IMV, doesn't make a lot of sense as you seem to be driving up/down and all over the place.

Don't try to do everything in one trip, not even a long one, travelling take a LONG time in some places as they roads aren't always good so you could end up with lots and lots of driving to places to just spend a short length of time there, you need to include quite a few days just to chill, do chores etc (washing, cleaning). We used to do lots of 'must be off and see this, that etc' in the past and it's tiring and you get to the point where you're just going for the sake of it as that's what you do ... much better to cover less miles and look at the things around you in more detail than just whizz through them.

 

[Riverbankannie]

What a shame to just keep driving every day and not take time to explore.
For example on Day 36 you leave Oslo at 9am to drive to beautiful Stockholm arriving 8pm. Yes I’ve done that drive in a nice comfy BMW and it’s a long day.
However on day 37 by 9 am you are on the ferry to Helsinki via Mariehamn. I’ve done that trip too and certainly that will give you a nice rest day. However the logistics of finding your campsite for night and then getting up early to get to ferry Terminal in morning Stockholm rush hour without once having at least a walk around the city?
Then from Helsinki you drive direct to Tallin then on to Riga.
So that’s 5 capital cities in 5 days. I’m afraid you will only make memories of your driving seat.

However, I think you will soon start changing your plans once on the road and hopefully you will get to all the places on your map, just not all in one go.
Good Luck!

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[ceejayt]

Currently you may be faced with having to return to the UK after 90 days as Brexit may mean you can only stay 90 out of every 180 days. I believe this also means (but stand too be corrected) that exiting Europe for a day and reentering will not restart the clock (this is the case with the USA) so just be aware

 

[Riverbankannie]

Currently you may be faced with having to return to the UK after 90 days as Brexit may mean you can only stay 90 out of every 180 days. I believe this also means (but stand too be corrected) that exiting Europe for a day and reentering will not restart the clock (this is the case with the USA) so just be aware

I believe the OP lives in Amsterdam so no Brexit worries there!

 

[tacr2man]

Doing that sort of distance in the time frame , you would be better off getting a truck driving job , and making money instead of spending it , as you will get a similar impression of each place, doing either . Your vehicle will also need downtime for service/repair factored in as well . Welcome to the forum

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[Lot lover]

@Paulil - why? Imho what you are proposing is little better than driving around the M25 for 9 - 12 months, you would see just as much of mainland Europe.

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[busby]

Sounds exciting but to hectic for me but i am retired..Been touring Europe now for 20 years and have not yet stuck to my original plan and still have only seen a small part of it..Best of luck,,Be nice if you keep a blog. BUSBY.

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