Behind the Scenes: Planning Our European Campervan Road Trip

It's nearly SUMMER and we are about to embark on an epic, 6 week road trip in our VW campervan around Europe. We often get asked how do we plan and organise our adventures and yet build in the flexibility to change our plans when we are on the road.
In this video we will take you through all our thinking and planning that has gone into our next road trip. From looking at time blocking, to keeping flexibility and prioritising key areas of the trip. As a cheeky bonus, we will take you through many of the administrative tasks that have to be completed for an extended road trip to be a successful and safe trip.
Discover our favorite tools and resources for planning a seamless and enjoyable campervan trip across Europe. Whether you're a seasoned vanlifer or planning your first extended road trip, this video is packed with valuable insights and inspiration to help you embark on your own European adventure.
So, grab a notebook and pen, and join us as we dive into the details of planning our 6-week European campervan road trip.
We are Richard and Jackie and we live in the UK. We retired from teaching at the age of 51 in the summer of 2022. Our plans for early requirement include relocating to the Yorkshire Dales, developing our forever home and travelling the UK, Europe and eventually the world in our VW campervan Nelson.
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Check out our blog earlyretirementwanderlust.com
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Many thanks,
Richard & Jackie
Timeline:
00:00 How we plan our 6 week campervan road trips
00:45 Our previous campervan road trips to Europe
02:44 The planning steps we take for our extended road trip adventures
03:04 The immovables to consider
03:31 Key destinations for our 6 week campervan road trip
05:34 Route priorities to consider
06:15 Planning vs Flexibility for our campervan road trip
07:10 Making a plan and in what order
11:55 Our top tips for campervan road trip administration

[@jeffnewbery7376]

Looking forward to the trip. Slovenia and Croatia are high on our list as well, maybe even early fall or next spring. Being Canadian, it is a little different in terms of planning. We are currently in Iceland and it is incredible. There truly are no words for it. This land is not of this planet.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Iceland is on our bucket list but not in the van 🚐 unless we tie it in with our Norway trip in a few years. Have a great trip. We are enjoying the Italian lakes at the moment 😊

[@helenvwalker7919]

We loved Tre Cime and Plitvice last year. We were there and on the Croatian coast in June. We didn't have any problems with finding accommodation. Slow driving in France is fantastic.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Helen- that's really reassuring. We are looking forward to finding a side of rural France that we have never seen before. R

[@michellechapman6961]

My goodness me very jealous. Looking forward to the trip. Jackie you will be fine driving in Europe. I was worried to death, nothing to be worried about at all. We used to do 2 hours each. Have a great time and stay safe.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - every year I say I will have a go and then never do 😬 We are getting very excited 🚐

[@NicoVeenkamp]

Planning, the bane of all holidays 😂 As you said, everyone is different. I used to be the ultimate holiday planner when I was traveling on my own, mostly due to time restrictions as you were. Now that We are retired we can let it all go. I usually book the first few nights, have a list of places and commitments during the travel and then see where we would end up and when. This time we’re revisiting various places in the UK and visiting a few new ones. I have one commitment in Glasgow in the beginning of august, so that is the anchor point for the travel. With the advantage of access to the internet and having a BritStop subscription this year, eases the whole overnight staying in our travels.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The thing that has made a big difference to us as ex teachers is that we can now travel out of peak season so we don't really have the worry of everywhere being full. I like that we can now have a vague idea of the direction we want to go in, we have researched a few places we definitely want to visit and we can go as fast or as slow as we want. The Plitvice National Park in Croatia is our turn around point which I am very excited about. Hope you have a great time on your UK trip 🚐

[@joea4234]

Never understood pre-booking personally. We have never booked in 32 years of European travel and have never had a problem. If you are flexible this leads to the best holidays..

[@DanKeeley]

Did you not watch the video. Everyone's different.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It very much depends on where we are going and what time of year we are travelling. This time we have not prebooked anything apart from the ferries but wanted an idea of where we wanted to travel but it is low season so no worries really. When we were teachers travelling in July and August we would find many places fully booked. As we said in the video, the one year we did pre book everything we found it really constricting as we had to move on when we would have liked more time in some places. We are really excited for this trip as we have wanted to return to Slovenia since our trip there in 2019 and it was stunning. 🚐

[@paulkaye6053]

I know you are fans of the Wild Guides. We used the Wild Swimming Alps book and some of our favourites were Toplitzsee (you have to go to the fish restaurant here) and Grundlsee, Altausseersee, Hallstattersee (in camper carpark, then ride your bikes 2km or so into the very busy, but pretty Hallstatt and then lovely little lake of Odensee. All these are in the same area (Styria, I think), not too far between then. There's lots of hiking and traditional villages and towns all very clean and well-kept. It can get busy in the summer especially at weekends but pick your times and be flexible. Have a great trip.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for all the top tips Paul...this is one of the things we love about the KZbin community. They will all get added into our notes for the trip.👍

[@garethwalters2909]

I've heard Lake Bled in Slovenia is amazing for a day trip if you're going near there. Have a great trip and thanks for the video's, my Wife and I are planning some European road trips in a few years once the kids have flown the nest!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Lake Bled and Bohinj are both on our list for when we are in Slovenia, I have seen so many gorgeous photos of them. We are really excited to get going 🚐

[@wanderingsofalanandcaz]

@@earlyretirementwanderlustLake Bled and Ljubljana are amazing. Ljubljana is a real hidden European gem. We have a video on our channel about our visit there. It’s gorgeous. ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Brilliant thank you - I will take a look - lots of people have said to visit the capital. On our last trip in 2019 - it was mid August and we could not get a camping spot within about 30 miles of Lake Bled as it was so busy so we are really excited to go there on this trip and to Bohinj 🚐

[@commuterbranchline8132]

When traveling with our 4 children in high season, we needed every thing booked and buttoned down. Flexible options for a family of 6, in high season,,within budget, are few and far between. Traveling as a couple will be night and day different.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

If we were travelling with children I would definitely be more paranoid and want to have everything booked and preplanned!! Especially as it would be high season - its not too bad having to try 2 or 3 campsites to get a pitch when its just us 2 but our kids would have had no patience

[@beverleyfisher935]

Our sat nav took us home from Alsace to Calais using non toll roads last year and it was just so beautiful and relaxed. We saw more of the real France instead of tarmac. Would definitely do it again. I'm so envious of your retirement 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️ We have seen some fabulous little villages and the drive over the Jura alps was stunning - it did cut out that middle France flat farming belt of doom as at least we got to see some of the pretty places 🚐

[@stevepowell5921]

As newby campervaners, we found this very informative. Thanks, have a great time.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you found some of our ramblings helpful and have a great first summer of campervan adventures 🚐

[@se3059]

I do look forward to getting your content in my feed....I get so much current affairs/politics stuff it's so refreshing to get yours. I agree a little bit of planning, but not too much, with lots of flexibility is best. Sometimes one comes across somewhere/something where just stopping for several more days is in order. I'm so looking forward to seeing the followup videos of yours as you embark on this tour. Thank you for today's "uplifting" content 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you for your kind comment 😊 We are getting really excited, I have wanted to return to Slovenia for 5 years as we loved it so much last time. We have found lots of exciting places to explore in our research 🚐

[@user-ln2gd2kg3w]

We are also planning our 6 weeks trip to Europe in our camper van and we try to avoid The French toll roads because of the cost and we now go toll free whenever travelling throughout France,there are occasions where have to and bite the bullet and pay the tolls but generally we find the roads really good .

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We will see how we go - for most trips we tend to blast down as quick as we can through France to the start of where we want to explore so this will be interesting. The forecast is not good for our first 3 days so we are not going to Chamonix - instead heading straight to the Italian Lakes 😬🚐

[@user-ye1ym4sf9v]

Being stingy Yorkshire folks We’ve never used toll roads in France 😂 the roads are great so we’ve never found the need. Langres is a good stop off heading south the aire is a bit utilitarian but fine, but the campsite is right on the ramparts with stunning views and if you are going anywhere near Trieste there is an amazing cave to visit there. Loved Luxembourg, public transport is free which is a huge bonus too. Enjoy your trip 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣 just sat down planning route I think we might stay somewhere near Reims in champagne region then colmar and Lucerne before dropping to Lake Maggiorre. We really wanted to go through Chamonix but the weather forecast is heavy rain 😬 where are you off to for a summer trip?

[@user-ye1ym4sf9v]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Reims is stunning we stayed just north and caught the train in for the day and did a champagne house tour. We are sailing to Santander in a couple of weeks then making our way north, no plan really apart from following the best weather we can.

[@susanmusgrave7885]

Oh gosh I smiled when I saw your spreadsheet! I've just come back from 8 weeks driving down to and round Crete & other places in Greece & I did my planning in just the same way, not too rigid but got me to the places i wanted. I printed the page so I could scribble on it as I went will keep it as a souvenir among other memories 😂 Best of luck with your trip! 😊🐶🐶🚐

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Richard loves a spreadsheet and a chart! Wow I bet you had a great time getting as far a Greece and Crete! We are very excited to get going now - keeping fingers crossed that the weather improves over the Alps for us 😊🚐

[@Lilrom2003]

Try checking for events in areas you go to and try hit those. In France check for need of new CritAir stickers ( typically center of cities…)

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

CritAir stickers all sorted from our winter travels 😊 Thanks for the tip checking for events - I will have a look 🚐

[@clairewilliams3549]

Currently 3 months into a long slow trip but the Dolomites, Slovenia and Croatia are currently the plan for the Autumn so I’ll be following your trip with interest. I’ve also seen the Herdy and Extreme Motorhome Adventure vids and they are inspiring. As for planning, I have a little notebook, sound familiar…. However, ultimately it’s the weather that makes part of the decision too, currently stalled for a few days until the weather in the S Pyrenees improves a little!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We watched extreme motorhomes new video last night - the scenery looks stunning in the Dolomites. We are so excited to get going - the forecast is not great for our first few days so may change our route a little getting to the Italian lakes - like you say - we can follow the weather. Hope you are enjoying your road trip in the Pyrenees - somewhere still on our bucket list. Fingers crossed the weather improves for you 🚐

[@beverleyfisher935]

Do you have a link or full name of 'Hardy' please as I cant find them.

[@clairewilliams3549]

@@beverleyfisher935 google Herdy Travels

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@beverleyfisher935 hi it is a couple called herdytravels- they post mostly on instagram and do have a KZbin channel 😊 they had an epic trip to Norway over the past 6 weeks 🚐

[@DeansGoTravelling]

Thanks for this. I've picked up some good tips and things I need to think about. We've often driven through France on non-toll roads (is that the phrase?!) and we've found that you will see a lot of real villages that are non-touristy and very sleepy, and the roads are generally not in as good condition as the toll roads. I love seeing 'real' France but it takes quite a bit longer and more tiring navigating the junctions, roundabouts and villages etc. Sometimes we've started off on the non-toll route and after a few hours have given up and headed to the motorway 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are right, the non toll roads are really pretty and some of the villages you stumble across are fab - we will see how we go! We have 3 nights to get down to the Italian Lakes. Once we get there we will only do about 2 hours between each destination 🚐

[@valeriewhyte5955]

Great video thanks you

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@philbull818]

We love Austria. We have visited nearly every year, either by train, plane or camper van. If you want to go to the Dolomites, you will probably want to use the Brenner Pass, which can get very busy at peak times! The Tirol around Innsbruck is also popular, but we have travelled to every corner of Austria. It is easy to find some great places away from the crowds. We often cross into Austria from Bavaria using the Fernpass or the Achenpass. There is a Stellplatz in Bad Tolz,, which is a lovely town before you cross into Austria. The motorway through Kufstein is very busy with lorries - best avoided. Carinthia and Steiermark in southern Austria are beautiful and lead you into Slovenia which is also a great place to tour. If you want to stay next to Lake Garda in Italy it is best to book. It gets busy during holiday times, but is still a great place to visit. Phil

[@bluemanchester4344]

Trucks over 7.5ton banned on Sundays and public holidays throughout Germany so the A12 (no vignettes required) from Bavaria into Worgl is pretty quiet. Can't get a space in the services and rest areas though! Although the vignette is only €12.50 for two weeks. And you can't avoid tolls into Italy. Tolls are additional to the vignette.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@bluemanchester4344 cheers for the info 🚐

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for all the information - lots to think about. - we will look up the places from Slovenia and I think probably around Innsbruck. We have only had a couple of nights in Austria in Zem all Zee which we loved 🚐

[@bluemanchester4344]

Don't know about camping but often there's a tourist tax in the Tyrol. We're here for 5 weeks and we're paying €7 a day for the two of us. Free local bus, two gondolas, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts plus other stuff. Innsbruck's close to Seefeld and the Leutasch valley which is very close to Mittenwald and Garmisch Partenkirchen and the Zugspitz.

[@DeansGoTravelling]

Those pink budgie smugglers!! Bravo! 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣

[@sr6001]

Great video. Can’t wait until when we can plan our trips for that length of time. Besancon and Dole are both lovely towns to have a wander around if you have time near the Jura mountains and Colmar is an absolutely beautiful town on the Franco German border to visit en route if you decide to drive that way. Have a fantastic trip. 🥰

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

thank you for the tips - Besancon and Colmar or one of the Alsace towns were two places we had looked at so that is good to hear and I will have a look at Dole. We have about 3 days to get to the Italian Lakes area.

[@KarenConnolly-mf1hc]

I smiled too as our three week trip in June to Europe is already on a spreadsheet. We have 3 fixed points -the two ferry journeys and seeing Swan Lake in the Vienna Opera House. The rest is pencilled in so to speak…@2ontour4x4

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You cannot beat a good spreadsheet😉 On a serious note, we do like the more flexible approach of blocking, with a bit of structure at the same time. We decided that we just couldn't keep drifting with no plans at all😂 Thanks for the comment. 👍 R

[@denisescally7090]

That was helpful thanks. It’s been a while since we did a long drive through Europe and it seems to be getting more difficult especially for basic level planners like me! I like to leave space for some ‘surprises’ as long as they aren’t fines 😅 Bon voyage!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊 Once we have set off, we really like chatting to other travellers we meet about recommendations of places to visit. We would never have discovered the Triglav national park in Slovenia if we had not been flexible and abandoned the Dolomites when the weather was bad! We are so excited to get going 🚐

[@MickSnr]

Fantastic advice, I was overthinking our first trip to Europe, your video has reassured me it’s not as complicated as we first imagined. Enjoy your 6 weeks away, sounds amazing 💙

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - one thing we meant to mention was that we try and stay for 3 nights in most places as that gives you 2 full days to explore otherwise we feel like we are constantly travelling. And we usually try and blast quickly to the start of where we want to be - this time the Italian lakes. Happy travels 🚐

[@MickSnr]

Hope you don’t mind me reaching out again, a couple of quick questions, what do you use to navigate, I use Google Maps at home & phone signal/wifi how do you combat that problem? TIA Mike

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@MickSnr hi we use google maps anywhere we travel in the world which in Europe in a T6 is fine as it will go pretty much anywhere. We swapped to EE 18 months ago as they do a monthly roaming package - at the time it was £10 but has now gone upto £25 each a month but we can use our 100gb of data as we do in the Uk with no hassle so for us it is worth it 😊

[@MickSnr]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Thank you 😍

[@wessexevents]

I think I fall into the 'sort of a plan" kind of plan. nice to be in one place for a while too we find clever use of bus or public transport handy too. Have fun on your travels if you are around for August BH then Vanlife Eats Big Picnic is a great event Hampshire

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Yes I think we are in the ‘sort of have a plan’ category. We are really looking forward to getting back into Slovenia 🚐 the big picnic sounds great - we are doing the Yorkshire Dales 3 peaks in that week with our son and a few of his friends 🥾

[@leannearnold8326]

We are off on a 5 week family adventure down to croatia - hubby working on the road for some of it so campsites booked - we did a trip to last year and it was so busy and parking up was stressful 😢 - its a holiday and travelling with kids means you need safety sbd and peace of mind 👌 we now book sites as its peak travel times.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We were in Croatia in August on a trip and the campsites were all full and turning people away - luckily it was one spot we had prebooked as we needed over a week there as Richard flew home for exam results day at his school. I think if we travelled with children we would also be more cautious 😊 hope you have a great trip - I can’t believe we are getting so close to the summer holiday period again!

[@leannearnold8326]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust yep 👍 my twins are just doing their GCSEs and then we are off on that Chunnel the day after prom ❤️..can't wait for it all to be over 😂😂

[@charcro]

Your trip sounds fantastic! We are also heading out to Europe soon too. (France, Germany and Austria). If you are searching for another Italian lake then Lake Maggiore is great.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - Lake Maggiore or Orta are the 2 we are probably deciding between. Hope you have a great trip, Germany is another place we want to explore at some point but we know that we can't pack everything into one trip. 🚐

[@alannorman1773]

Very informative thank you. Looking forward to the future vlogs for this trip, it will no doubt bring back happy memories of my own campervan trip to Croatia. Safe travels guys ❤❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we can't wait to get going! Where about did you go in Croatia? Any recommendations for us? We visited Trogir last time, which was stunning, as Richard had to fly home from Split for exam results week and I stayed out there on my own for 3 days! (It was tough sipping cold wine by the beach while he was at work😂)

[@alannorman1773]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust we took about three and a half weeks because our kids were still in school then so we were limited to their summer holidays. Wonderful drive down through Germany, Austria and Slovenia where we stayed at the beautiful Kamp Koren before heading to Croatia. We stayed there in the Pula area with its amazing amphitheater. The highlight though apart from the coast was Rovinj, an amazing town, so beautiful. Unfortunately we had to then head back via Italy and France for the new school term. Lake Iseo in Italy was a great stop over. I’d love to go further south and spend more time now that both mine are grown up!! Have a great time and as I said, can’t wait to see the vlogs.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for the tips Alan...you may be seeing something on Rovinj in the next few videos- it was stunning. 👍

[@leannearnold8326]

Great - no sticker required for Italy (unless Pompeii area and campsite does this for you) and Germany has an emissions sticker the same system as France

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Ah thank you - I will look up Germany - we will probably not drive through there but would like the flexibility if needed 🚐

[@alanbenham4139]

🙏

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

😊

[@janetbowen7854]

I struggled driving a hire car un Italy, but I think I would be ok in Europe driving our campervan because at least the gears, hand brake etc are in the correct place 😄

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Every year I say I will drive but then chicken out - I worry about having to think about everything in the opposite direction Richard just worries about his van when I am driving - my special awareness is pretty shocking 🤣

[@janetbowen7854]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust I drive our campervan in the UK just as much as Chris, it helps to drive regularly to maintain confidence when driving a campervan instead of a car😊🚐

[@seeanda1]

Going off on a tangent here, is that a 'Mousey Thompson' bread board behind the toaster 🤔

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is indeed- top observation skills! We love a bit of Robert Thompson's work- it all stems from my Dad and his carpentry work. When-ever and where ever I see the mice...I always think of Dad❤️ You obviously have a shared interest in all things mice? R

[@seeanda1]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust I have a few pieces, proud Yorkshireman so had to have something, gifted a sideboard as a wedding present and found an old chair in a house clearance, other few small pieces, doorstop and an old ‘ash tray’ which I keep cuff links in.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have the cheese board and I inherited a fruit bowl and nut bowl from dad - a great legacy

[@denisescally7090]

First!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

😊

[@ScottishVanTrips]

Really good vlog! How about phones and Internet?

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We are both on EE and pay the £25 a month roaming abroad charge each but can use our full 100gb data allowance

[@ScottishVanTrips]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust that's excellent! I moved to three years ago because of their amazing European cover but they don't do that anymore.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We were with 3 for years because they were one of the few companies that did roaming packages. We were gutted when it went, but EE seem good ATM...although their roaming package price keeps going up!

[@susanharkema2888]

My husband and I are retiring early in two months and our first big European trip will be in 2025. Would you think our first trip should be Greece, Austria, or the Riviera/coast, lakes of Italy or something else??

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Wow - you are almost there now! How exciting. Our first European road trip was to The French Alps and Lake Annecy, then into the Jungfrau region of Switzerland and the Italian Lakes which was a nice mixture and plenty of beautiful places to visit. Slovenia is our favourite Alpine country and Austria was lovely. We have not ventured as far as Greece yet but it is on our bucket list - It is much trickier to get to as you need to drive down either through Albania or get the ferry across from Italy. It would also depend on if you prefer mountains and lakes or the coast. We also loved our trip driving up from Santander along the French Atlantic coast. You will have lots of time to plan where you want to go after July!