Topic · 07 / 07 6 pages No affiliate links
Planning a European motorhome trip
Tolls, LPG, ferries, driving rules and timing. The practical starter before a first trip.
01 · Where to start
What is the next thing to sort?
A first European trip is mostly admin: tolls, gas, water, insurance and a route that does not assume motorway speeds on a mountain road.
01 · Timing Everyone goes in the same three months, and the aires fill up accordingly 67% of EU camping nights fall in June to August, per Eurostat 02 · Borders Tolls, vignettes, and the ones you have to buy before you cross A fine at the border is the usual alternative 03 · Fuel LPG across Europe, and the adapter you will wish you had packed Four connector standards, one gas 04 · Driving Driving rules change at the border, and so does what you must carry Vests, triangles, breathalysers and headlight rules
Start here The practical starter for UK and US drivers
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02 · Planning
Sort these before you leave.
Guide Driving rules that catch out visitors Priorité à droite, required equipment that differs by country, winter tire dates, and the fact that 3.5 tonnes changes your speed limit and your toll class. What France, Germany and Austria actually require, from the official text. Jul 20 Read → Guide Ferries with a motorhome or van You are priced by a length and height band, not by the number of passengers, and gas bottles have to be declared. What three operators publish on bands and bottles, and what to measure before you book. Jul 20 Read → Guide Motorhome travel in Europe for Americans and Brits: the practical starter Tolls, vignettes, gas bottle adapters, service points, height barriers and low emission zones. What a first-time visitor from the US, UK, Australia or Canada actually has to sort out before crossing a border. Jul 20 Read →
All 6 planning pages
Guide Driving rules that catch out visitors Priorité à droite, required equipment that differs by country, winter tire dates, and the fact that 3.5 tonnes changes your speed limit and your toll class. What France, Germany and Austria actually require, from the official text. Jul 20 Guide Ferries with a motorhome or van You are priced by a length and height band, not by the number of passengers, and gas bottles have to be declared. What three operators publish on bands and bottles, and what to measure before you book. Jul 20 Guide Motorhome travel in Europe for Americans and Brits: the practical starter Tolls, vignettes, gas bottle adapters, service points, height barriers and low emission zones. What a first-time visitor from the US, UK, Australia or Canada actually has to sort out before crossing a border. Jul 20 Guide Renting an RV in the USA as a visitor Vehicle classes, one-way fees, mileage caps, generator charges and insurance, plus the clause that matters most for free camping: rental agreements commonly restrict unpaved roads, and most dispersed camping is down one. Jul 20 Guide US driving distances for European visitors European distance intuition fails in the American West. What the National Park Service actually says about driving times, fuel, cell coverage and water, and why a short drive between two parks can take most of a day. Jul 20 Guide When to go: seasons for free camping in Europe Two thirds of EU camping nights fall between June and August, which is the argument for going in May or September instead. What closes in winter, why the water gets switched off, and why southern Spain and the Nordics run on different calendars. Jul 2003 · From the blog
Latest in planning.
Blog Free aires in France: how to find them and how to use the map How to read the French free aires map, what its 2,066 records will and will not tell you, how to narrow it to a region, and the four checks to run before you drive to a pin. Jul 20 Read → Blog When to book nothing: a free camping France itinerary A French route built to work without reservations, because most aires have nothing to reserve. Which regions to string together, when the no-booking plan holds, and the month it stops working. Jul 20 Read →
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Next step
Build the route around real places
A route planned on scenery alone tends to collapse on night three, when the pretty village turns out to ban overnight parking. Sketch the trip on the map first and the rest of the plan follows the stopovers.