Tentbox European Road Trip (2023) // The Ultimate Adventure Vacation In Our Roof Tent

This is our summer road trip adventure around Europe sleeping in our Tentbox Lite XL roof tent. On this trip we visited the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France over a 12 day period.
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If this video has left you feeling inspired to buy a Tentbox and enjoy your own adventures, you can click the link below and use my exclusive code to grab yourself a discount when ordering from the Tentbox website.
🇬🇧 UK TENTBOX DISCOUNT CODE below 🇬🇧
tentbox.pxf.io/uk-tentbox
🇺🇸 US TENTBOX DISCOUNT CODE below 🇺🇸
tentboxus.pxf.io/tentbox
Click the relevant link above to access my Tentbox Discount Code and grab yourself a discount when ordering from the Tentbox website.
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Once you’ve clicked the linked above, click the second link below to copy my discount code to your clipboard. Then paste it at Tentbox checkout.
chocchiptravels.com/tb-code/
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Feel free to leave a comment and I am happy to answer any questions you might have about this tent and my experience with it.
Links below to some of the items I use regularly:
✅ Stepladder - amzn.to/43S7fPK
✅ Camping chairs - amzn.to/3Q03kvy
✅ Camping table - amzn.to/44r9olt
✅ Smokin Midge - www.thesmokinmidge.com/shop
✅ Outbacker Stove - amzn.to/3XVvHgw
✅ Carabiner Clips - amzn.to/44O076x
✅ iPad Mount - amzn.to/3ruqbp0
✅ Mud Daddy - www.muddaddy.co.uk/?ref=42lvr1oa
✅ Levelling Blocks - amzn.to/3OjTdkj
✅ Microfibre Towel - amzn.to/46WcAH9
✅ Power hookup cable - amzn.to/3NV7D94
The highlights of this video are below:
00:00 - Intro
01:47 - Netherlands to Germany
02:25 - Phantasialand, Baden-Baden and Titisee-Neustadt
06:22 - Switzerland - Interlaken / Swiss Alps
10:37 - France / Paris
** Be sure to LIKE our video and SUBSCRIBE to our channel if you enjoy watching. **
Where you can find us:
Choc Chip Travels Website - chocchiptravels.com/
Choc Chip Travels Insta - / chocchiptravels
Choc Chip Insta - / chocolatechipphotography

[@tkdleeds]

Drove from Leeds to Turkey and stayed and drove in many cities there and then back to UK. Road is fun. But make sure you have everything in hand as they can be very useful.

[@wilko160]

Looks a great trip. Thanks for the tent reviews etc aswell. I luckily travel around europe for a living taking people on holiday on coaches, but we want to tour ourselves without a load of people, being able to stop in quiet spots like that would be ideal. found tentbox's and now im almost sold. Im leaning to the XL but need to check out the classic 2.0 first.

[@ChocChipTravels]

Thank you. Yeah XL’s a great tent, but the classic does have it’s pro’s. Decisions decisions 😊😊

[@mapsandnavigation433]

I bought the same colour last summer after seeing your videos. Did a trip to Romania and back. Had very strong rain in Germany. Very good tent.

[@ChocChipTravels]

Amazing. Glad to hear it. Where else did you visit on your trip?

[@mapsandnavigation433]

Just seen now your reply. Stopped in all the countries but also took a detour through Dolomiti. Going this summer again, more prepared.

[@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521]

Chris have you tried out the Tentbox Living Pod yet... still waiting to see it on your Tentbox XL 🤟😉 myself and Julia did the NC500 hit rain and strong winds every day, but the Tentbox Lite 1 held up well, we had one strap where the stitching had broke away, but sorted it out temporally till we got home, took it to our tailor shop round the corner and got them to double stitch each strap to make it stronger, tackled 40mph gust but at one point did think it was going to fold over, with us in it 😅 luckily the ladder was pegged down 😁👍😉

[@ChocChipTravels]

Not yet. I’ve been so busy with weddings since it arrived in August that i’ve not had chance. I’m going to go camping for a week in a week or so’s time and i’ll set it up then and film my review video. I’ve been reading people’s comments on issues they’ve had with it but i’ll see how it is when i use it and roll from there 👍🏻

[@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521]

Great trip, myself and Julia we stayed at lauterbrunnen in a Tentbox, stayed there for 5 nights then stayed at Lake Annecy for 7 nights ... Tentbox is definitely a game changer, we also used a decathlon Arpenaz base at the rear of the car and used a electric hookup... Was perfect for a fridge and lights and charging our phones ... Great vid 👍

[@ChocChipTravels]

Annecy is lovely. Only did one night there years ago on the motorbike but i remember it being beautiful. Big question is… where you off to next? 😊

[@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521]

@@ChocChipTravels NC 500 16th September 😁🤟🌄 for 7 days

[@MichaelYarde]

Finding this video might just have saved our trip we’re planning for Summer 2024! I’d been looking at camping Kandersteg and Lauterbrunnen for 1-2 nights each, but when researching, seen they only accept 5 nights minimum, so was very disheartened! Hadn’t came across Interlaken as choice of a base, and completely discounted public transport thanks to the woeful British systems completely forgetting the legendary nature of the Swiss counterpart! So with the Jungfrau Pass, staying in Interlaken, it looks like we could do everything we want (thanks to your video!) I’d just need to check if we could get to Kandersteg to do Oeschinen Lake ! 🤞🏻

[@ChocChipTravels]

That's great, i'm glad the video could help. The site we used in Interlaken was great, just a short walk into the centre and easy access to everything. The swiss transport was fantastic and on time. The Jangfrau pass does cost quite a bit but it is worth it and we're both glad we did it. PS. Apologies for the delayed reply, i'm in the middle of a busy summer of work.

[@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521]

They'll let you stay for 2 days or 3 at Lauterbrunnen, just show up, as we mentioned this and they were fine, just let them know you couldn't book for 2 nights or 3... we turned up to stay for 3 nights, but ended up staying for 5 instead, it's a great campsite and definitely worth going.. get there before 5.30pm as they close the office after that.. we got there at 4.30pm and they were great, they have guys on mountain bikes looking for spots for you to camp , once you get a spot, you go back to reception and pay, and you can pay by card to ... there's other campsite around that area but no way good as the Lauterbrunnen campsite... hope this helps ... we did it in July this year..

[@MichaelYarde]

Than k you so much! @@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521

[@ChocChipTravels]

@@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521 Do you remember the name of the site pal?

[@waynerenshaw-multi-outdoor4521]

@@ChocChipTravels www.campingjungfrau.swiss/?

[@sologamer99]

We bought ours in the sale and I am so looking forward to mirroring you journey, it looks like so much fun, but will eurotunnel it to begin with .

[@ChocChipTravels]

Yeah it was great! If your journey back up north takes you near that little farm in France i’d highly recommend a night there. It was one of our favourite nights on the trip 😊

[@markplenty2631]

I’ve got everything ready, when I phoned up to insure my tentbox though the guy made it sound like if I left it unattended for 5 mins, I wouldn’t see it again.. so I’ve bought the alarm and the smart water type thing.. I’ve gotta try this route one year, prob next year now lol I’m skint 😂😂

[@ChocChipTravels]

Haha 😂 To be honest, a European road trip isn’t that much money. You most expensive items will be your ferry and Switzerland (if you do it). It’s mainly fuel beyond that as campsite and food are cheap enough 👍🏻

[@markplenty2631]

@@ChocChipTravels that’s true.. thanks for the reply!

[@arekmarta]

Hi, great video. Lucky you 😊 Please could you swnd link to place where you got your chairs and table. Thank yoy

[@ChocChipTravels]

Hey 👋🏻 Thanks for watching. Sure thing.. Chairs: amzn.to/3Q03kvy Table: amzn.to/44r9olt

[@lukebagshaw859]

Great video looks like you had a fab time! Recently bought a lite Xl 2.0 for the top of my modified Shogun. My partner an I are looking at a similar route ending in the south of France for a few days. What was the total duration of your trip? The Switzerland part look incredible with amazing scenery! 100 be adding that onto my route! Will consider the app you mention for over night stays. Again, good job with the vid, if decide to document ours ill drop you a link with new areas 😁

[@SniffingGlue]

Amazing! What a trip. Very inspired to do something similar next year. How many miles and how much fuel did you use? All the best!

[@ChocChipTravels]

Thank you 🙏🏻 So I didn’t keep track of mileage or fuel (I should have done really) but i’ve just worked out the mileage as approx 1700-1800 miles. I’ve also just checked and we spent approx £400 on fuel. Fuel was quite pricey compared to over here. I had to put some in just outside of Paris and it was €2/ltr and the lowest we found was €1.75/ltr in Germany. I just topped up outside of Paris enough to get me to dover which was then £1.45/ltr. I think i left the UK with about 1/2-2/3 of a tank and arrives home with about half in👍🏻

[@SniffingGlue]

@@ChocChipTravels that’s amazing! Sounds totally doable. Properly handy info to know. Need to get the road map out and plot a course for spring next year! All the best. Looking forward to the next video!

[@holsteincowboy]

Was the Navara truck comfortable to drive long distance..Don’t drive one but they have a reputation for a bouncy ride if the bed is empty.

[@ChocChipTravels]

Yeah i’ll be honest i’ve had it for 5 years and never felt that. The bed was also packed full of stuff for this trip so whether that helped or not I’m not sure

[@robwilliams2028]

Great vlog of your trip, the places look amazing. I have a similar vehicle but with a rear roll bar fitted. Im looking at getting a tentbox soon . Any idea which tent box would fit the roof area. (Bigger the better) Many thanks

[@ChocChipTravels]

@@robwilliams2028 Yeah XL would be fine as that’s the biggest. The main issue on the navara is when you have a cargo or classic model. They’re quite long and because those tents run run down the truck, there’s quite a lot of overhang off the bars on the either end, so we noticed a bit of creaking when we were moving around at the ends. Solid, but still creaking. With the lite models, it’s different. They’re not as wide which means there’s not as much overhang off the bars, but because they fall off the side of the truck, the overhang / creaking thing isn’t an issue. Not sure i explained that well. Does that make sense? For roof bars, I have the cruz airo bars for my navara and they’ve been great

[@AC-xw5tj]

Great video. Have watched your others also. Totally new to camping. How did you know about the sites in europe and where to stop?

[@ChocChipTravels]

Hello! Thank you for watching 🙏🏻 A bit of a mix to be honest but mainly Google and the Park4Night app. For places like Switzerland, I did a lot of research on Google beforehand, mainly figuring out where we could launch the kayaks to access the lake and also looking at how close we were to the town centre. For the theme park in Germany, I looked on Google to see what sites were nearby. Most of the other places were booked or found on Google, apart from the farm in France which we found on the app and just showed up 👍🏻

[@AC-xw5tj]

Brilliant. thanks for the reply 🙂@@ChocChipTravels

[@peterneale1142]

Hi, I am wondering how much wind noise comes from the tentbox and was there any difference to the Cargo you previously owned?

[@ChocChipTravels]

Hello!! Do you mean wind noise while driving or just wind noise in general while set up? Now, the big difference between the Cargo and XL is mainly the space inside and the price. We’ve got a lot more room now. We’ve also space to hang things under the tent now which we utilise quite a bit a bit. There was a big jump in mattress quality but the Cargo 2.0 has the same mattress now as the XL so no different. A lot of the things that were different about the XL from my Cargo have gone now. There’s now a living pod coming for the cargo 2.0, mattress is now the same. There’s better storage in the new cargo and several colour options. I think now it mainly comes down to space inside the tent, budget, set up time (if that bothers you) and if you want to carry anything on top of the tent. Oh and roof load limit of your vehicle and if you’re able to carry a classic/cargo. Everything else (materials etc) is the same now 👍🏻

[@peterneale1142]

I'm touring to southern Spain so it was more about the wind noise while driving@@ChocChipTravels

[@ChocChipTravels]

@@peterneale1142 Ah okay, so it’s not an issue with either tent model as long as you get the wing style roof bars. If you get the square steel bars you’ll hear the wind noise more

[@jordytips]

What precautions have you made to prevent the tentbox being stolen off your roof as ive heard they are easily stolen? Thanks!

[@ChocChipTravels]

Hey 😊 So i’ve always said… they’re as easily stolen as someone is committed to taking it… which is the same with anything. If someone wants it they’ll find a way to take it. There are several security options that will make it harder for them to do so. 1. You can get special security nuts which need a special tool to remove. 2. They make special straps that go round the tent and they’re made from a special material that’s difficult to cut. 3. Tentbox sell an alarm that you attach with to your tent or to your roof bars. It’s motion activated and VERY loud, so if someone tries to move your tent while the alarm is activated, the alarm will kick out a noise which is something awful. 4. You could fit a GPS tracker. 5. As a fail safe, I always advise that everyone simply insures their tent. You can use companies like Shield or Club Care. This means that worst case scenario, if they get past all your security, you’ve got the peace of mind that it’s insured. For an XL it’s about £80 a year to insure. Hope that helps

[@jordytips]

What a reply! Thankyou very much for taking the time as this has helped massively!@@ChocChipTravels

[@ChocChipTravels]

@@jordytips Not a problem 😊

[@untidytuber567]

How did you find the campsites in the country’s im struggling to find and book places

[@ChocChipTravels]

It was a mix of Google and the Park 4 Night app. For destinations we knew we wanted to go to, I searched on Google and generally booked the same day or the day before. When we just needed a stopover (but it didn’t matter where) we used the Park 4 Night app 👍🏻

[@untidytuber567]

Perfect thanks for your reply I appreciate the response