Why Alsace Should Be Your Next Campervan Destination

[@kenbradshaw8983]

Alas, the end of a superlative seies. Brought back all the memories of the Dolomites, Austria and Alsace. Much better than anything on the television. May, many thanks for a wonderful journey.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Ah thank you - I am glad you have enjoyed the videos - I can't believe the 6 weeks are over! To be fair, all the areas we have visited are so beautiful and unique in their own ways that it is not hard to make interesting videos and we have really enjoyed doing them on this trip 😊 🚐 Lets hope the Shetlands are just as good!

[@aej4510]

Even if it was very painful to hear you both mispronounce ‘Eguisheim’ every single time, I’m happy that you enjoyed the Alsace area. I just found your channel today and I’m binge watching your videos. I’m really enjoying your content.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

😂😬 We are so bad at pronouncing place names - you should hear us with some of the Slovenian place names - glad you are enjoying the travel videos 🚐

[@minervabird1967]

The wine in the Alsace is great. I like Cremant d' Alsace better than champagne! You will love Orkney. Thanks for a great video.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

I agree the Crement is definitely nicer than champagne! And better value 🤣 One of my favourite white wines has always been a dry muscat is I was in heaven. We are really looking forward to the Shetlands and the Orkneys - I am hoping we will catch the puffins before they disappear for the season.

[@gillianh]

You will love Orkney & Shetland, they are so beautiful. 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We are getting really excited - it seems a big adventure before we even get there with a 12 hour ferry from Aberdeen. Richard loves the history aspect and I am desperate to see the puffins before they move on for the winter. We have got our waterproofs packed 🤣🚐🥾

[@gillianh]

We were there for a number of weeks in 2016 never had any rain. The best place to see dozens of puffins & Artic Terns literally a hand away is the Farne Islands. Mid April - Mid/ late July boat trip from Seahouses Northumberland, we’ve done it a couple of times, fabulous experience. 😊

[@BigAlontheloose]

Really enjoyed this video. Mayrofhen is one of our favourite places so the Alsace region looks beautiful to explore more of so thank you 🙏🏻 x

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The Alsace was a great contrast to being in the mountains and the architecture was very pretty. The wine was also very good 😊 🍷

[@sida7855]

Alsace is great and not flat. The Grand Ballon and Petit Ballon area, Markstein are some of our favourite places, Staying at the Markstein and watching the sun set/rise is one of our favourite things. Thanks for vid.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Sid- glad that you are enjoying the stuff we are doing. We definitely only scratched the surface of the Alsace and we firmly intend to be back to explore further in the future. We loved being in the vineyards at sunset looking over the village silhouettes. A beautiful place. Have a great week. 👍

[@juliehill5938]

New to your channel and we are really enjoying it ! Love your honesty and attitudes 😊. Just watched your Dales walk, very well done !

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you so much. The Dales Way was quite a hike for Richard - but he really enjoyed it and is already thinking about the next one 😊

[@ITbod]

Enjoyed the trip, thanks both..

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@marklister5519]

Looking forward to the northern trip.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

So are we 🚐😊

[@Mikeandtheboys]

We’re currently away in the lakes, I find myself now playing rate my shower, specifically counting hooks.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣 how funny - hope it did well 😊

[@SharonMcMillan]

I really enjoyed your European vacation! These last few villages of the Alsace region were picture perfect. Congratulations to your son and his fiancée on their engagement! I’m looking forward to your next journey up north!!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you enjoyed it! We have loved exploring both the mountains and the towns. The Alsace is such a unique and beautiful places - I love the style of the architecture and the bright colour of the buildings. The storks fascinate me and they are just something that you don't see very often - although we did come across a nest in Slovenia. We had a lovely weekend at Luke and Charottes engagement party - a great sign being there was not a single photo taken as we were all so busy enjoying ourselves and catching up with everyone!! The Northern Isles should be pretty amazing although have packed full winter kit and waterproofs as the UK summer has not really kicked in yet 🤣🚐

[@rojoontour]

thanks for sharing, we love to see your content !!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@alanbenham4139]

Thank you for sharing your superb trip. I've added a lot of destinations and ideas to my wish list. Also, I am loving the rate my shower segment.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks as ever Alan for your encouraging comments. As you have probably realised the rate my shower "pilot" is just a bit of light hearted irony that makes me smile too. Never ones to take ourselves too seriously😉

[@alegna4132]

Some lovely scenery and places thanks for sharing

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Many thanks Alenga- we really loved it for so many reasons. It was a great end to our roadtrip. Thanks for the comment. 👍

[@FrugalMrB]

Welcome back home 😀

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It’s good to be back!

[@motorroamingaround]

Another fab video guys. The Alsace region looks beautiful and those flights of wine would be right up our street. You have had a fabulous trip touring around Europe. Thanks for sharing with us. Looking forward to Orkney & Shetland. Keep safe. Irvine & Karen.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

WE do like a good wine flight 😊 🍷 And we loved the Alsace region - a very beautiful place. Looking forward to the Shetlands and Orkneys - hoping to see the puffins before they flee for the season 🚐

[@beverleyfisher935]

One of our favourite places. We're lucky enough to have family there, making many visits over the years. Love camping in France, so easy. Really enjoy watching your travels.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Beverley- wow how lucky to have family in such a stunning area! We agree about camping in France- after 6 weeks in different countries- it felt a little like coming home to reasonable campsites at a reasonable price! We love France, but are forcing ourselves to get out and explore elsewhere...Jackie would happily return to Chamonix every year😂 There is still a lifetime of France to discover for us...which is a good thing👍

[@fionaridley5011]

totally agree...we enjoyed Alsace for a few days last year, was in high 30s after a week in Lorraine in the teens so a bit too hot! Unlike this year. Meandering on the vignoblke paths is great. We camped at Ribeauville, which was very similar. Fascinated by the storks, but agreed Colmar was too touristy. Ironic I know as we're all tourists. Great to combine with a visit to Vosges. A great 6 weeks adventuring, thank you for documenting.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It's lovely isn't it? A nice contrast after the few weeks up in the rugged mountains. The weather wasn't great but most of our day out cycling was dry with the odd shower. I will have a look at Ribeauville for next time as we will probably go back to the area at some point as we only did that small area. We contemplated going into Strasbourg but couldn't face a big city - I lose patience really quickly 🤣 Glad you have enjoyed the Vlogs - it has been a strange summer for weather in the area which I know disrupted some of your plans. Just got fingers crossed that summer finally arrives in the UK and we get semi decent weather on the Shetlands - however we will be packed for almost winter conditions anyway!

[@user-qo1sx8jf8m]

Thanks for another great video, really enjoy following your travel Random request, you seem to have a great systematic way of folding your windscreen cover…rather than my roll and hope approach! Can you show your method in a future video?! 😁

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Yep - we can do that if we remember - after nearly 750 nights in the van we have perfected the art of rolling it up in the wind, snow, frost and rain!! Thanks for watching the travel vlogs and glad you are enjoying them 🚐

[@pt712]

Very good video. Colmar has a great municipal camp site within easy reach of the part of the town you visited. We did see the big birds on the roof nest s you mentioned. Good to find out that they are in this region. 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

That's worth noting for the future, as we are sure that we will be back to explore this area further. There was just something magical about the region that we struggled to put our finger on...but we just loved it. Many thanks for the comment and the tip off. 👍

[@shapneil9862]

The last few episodes have been exceptional. I particularly like the rate my shower segment… We have just returned from a brilliant trip to Lake Annacy, lake Garda (wonderful) a few nights in the Dolomites (mind blowing) then a slow return mirroring a bit of your journey. Passed through Austria, Lichtenstein, a night in Switzerland and then The Alsace region of France. Loved every bit of it and can’t wait to go back. Now back in North Shropshire. You have given us a few ideas for Alsace again thank you and thanks for your vlogs they get better and better..

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Many thanks for the lovely feedback. Glad that you had a fab trip. Just like you, we have come back with more ideas and places to revisit than when we set off! I guess that is the beauty of campervan adventures. Hope that Shropshire is treating you well- a lovely part of the world that we dropped into regularly when we were living in Cheshire. Has the summer weather started for you yet...it seems to be sadly missing in Yorkshire😂 Thanks again for the comment. Have a great week. 👍

[@jeffnewbery9414]

Northern Isles! High on the bucket list!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Very excited for the Northern Isles - we have been doing lots of reading since we came home planning where we want to go and what we want to do. Puffins are high on my list 🚐😊

[@adventureswithangelaandwayne]

We are loving 'rate my shower' we like to give people reviews of the campsites, so really loving your reviews too thanks guys

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣 Richard is pretty obsessed by how the facilities can vary at campsites - Scotland could be interesting compared to Austria

[@adventureswithangelaandwayne]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust looking forward to your Scotland ones.... We did the NC500 on the whole pretty good but one or two sites I wouldn't go back too. Have fun ,👏

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@adventureswithangelaandwayne thank you - we will 🚐😊

[@allisonbennett641]

Ah lovely, another inspiring travel video. Looking forward to the cost breakdown for your trio. Really useful for a novice like myself. Also very much looking forward to your next adventure northwards. Safe travels guys 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊 I kept a black book of every penny we spent including postcards home to Richards mum and we were pleasantly surprised how much the 6 weeks cost - petrol and campsite fees taking up most of the expenses which are pretty unavoidable 🚐 We are really looking forward to the Shetlands - I am in search of the puffins before the disappear for the season.

[@George-sp9vu]

Thanks for great video s,i really enjoy them.Considering early-ish retirement also.Have a Transporter (swb)not sure if its large enough to convert to camper van .I imagine a larger vehicle might be no fun to drive on narrow roads though . Cheers

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for watching and glad you enjoy some of our content. Ours is a short wheel base VW and we have absolutely loved our 6+ years we have had travelling in it - we even lived in it for 14 weeks when we were houseless - but that was over a summer and autumn where we could just travel a lot. We will swap it for a slightly bigger van with a toilet and shower next time as it will give us a little more freedom to wild camp in the winter and to use more of the European aires - but it is not something that has hindered our travels particularly at the moment.

[@gies5383]

Always enjoy your video 's, thx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Many thanks Gies- always nice to hear👍

[@jillchew-tetlaw3388]

Welcome home. Our summer seems to have disappeared never to return. We are at our caravan about half an hour from your home base and it is miserable today so I am thinking it’s the same with you. Looking forward to your Shetland trip.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hope the weather bucked up a little for you today? We were down in Cheshire for the weekend which was bit overcast - I wonder if summer will ever start? We are looking forward to the Shetlands and hopefully catching sight of the puffins before they fly off for the winter

[@alannorman1773]

Awesome series of films guys thank you. We’re off to Shetland and Orkney soon too so looking forward to catching those vlogs. Safe travels ❤❤.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we are really looking forward to the Scottish islands - it is a trip we had booked the summer Richards dad and brother were poorly so we had to cancel and we have wanted to get up there ever since. 🚐

[@graemeroberts5730]

Another excellent vlog. Alsace is a great region. 🥂🍷🥂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - the Alsace is just so pretty - both the architecture and the landscape of the vineyards - it was a nice contrast to the mountains we had descended from!

[@davidhopkirk2455]

Another great video guys. Just more places to add to our list for early retirement next year. Just back from 3 weeks in Germany which was fantastic. On the window covers why not use internal ones in the summer especially if rain is forecast.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi David- you obviously missed the floods in Germany- they had a tough start to the summer from what we believe. Germany is on our bucket list for the future. We do have internal blinds that we use in the winter storms when the winds get too high for the external covers, but with a summer trip our storage space is very limited in the T6 so we live with the compromise of only taking the external set that we generally prefer. I have got quite use to doing the morning dance with the screen to avoid getting soaked- as you may have seen from the video😂 Thanks for the comment.👍

[@phil.cowling]

You should do a mini series on cooking. I really enjoyed the half video on cooking to a budget. Some for the van would be fantastic tpp

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

cheers - we have planned to do a couple of videos on outdoor cooking on the safari chef BBQ while we are away on this trip 😊

[@charcro]

Gorgeous part of the world isn't it? We stayed at a campsite in Turkheim and visited Colmar and Strasbourg. Definitely a favourite part of our tour this year.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It was really beautiful- we will have to return as there are still so many towns we need to explore 🚐

[@meredithfc]

Thank you for the amazing locations and content!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have definitely enjoyed our roadtrip - there are so many wonderful places to find 🚐

[@janetbowen7854]

Lovely, I feel like I have been on your road trip with you. Alsace region looks amazing. Your dinner cooked on the cadac looked gorgeous (senza bacon for me). It would have been rude not to participate in the wine tasting 😍🚐🚿 Love the " rate my shower" feature. Welcome home, looking forward to the northern isles. We hope to go there one day. ❤️🥖🍾

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you Janet - hope you enjoyed the road trip! The Austrian spätzle dish was lovely - made better by my idea to brown it off in the ridge monkey 😊 It has been lovely being at home although I am not sure what has happened to the summer! We are really looking forward to the Shetlands and Orkneys and will be prepared for the colder, breezier and wetter weather for the 4 weeks 🤣 I am in search of the puffins who should be around for the first 2 weeks x

[@janetbowen7854]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust yes, finishing it off in the Ridge Monkey was the perfect end to the meal. Summer is very disappointing, let's hope it improves. Enjoy some rest at home before your next trip north 😄🚐 xx

[@joannesaunderson4506]

Thanks for sharing your trip. Enjoyed watching. Was history your subject richsrd ? Love hearing a about other countries 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you enjoyed it - we have had an absolute blast on this trip -our longest to date. Richard was a PE teacher for most of his career swapping to maths and a deputy head in charge of behaviour! He does have a real love of history though so enjoys researching places we visit.

[@joannesaunderson4506]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust from PE to maths wow. My son has just started teaching history so any behaviour tips are welcome 🙏 🤗

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

That's a big question! Even with 30 years in the bank it's never easy and there is no miracle answer. One thing is for certain however- it's never personal and remember that kids will inevitably make mistakes- its in their job description and that's ok. 👍

[@thelifeofreillytravels]

Thanks for the video. Interesting to hear about the free park-up you found in Leichtenstein, we're looking for places to stay there on our upcoming Europe trip! Do you think a 15yo VW campervan could make it up that hill??

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi & thanks for the comment! It was quite a climb, but it was more the narrowness than the steepness that concerned us. It is a long climb, but Nelson is 7 years old and coped with it fine. It was so out of the way, and really peaceful! Hope this helps? Have a great weekend👍

[@thelifeofreillytravels]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust thanks for the extra info, will keep that in mind! ☺️

[@craigfrood7710]

Hi Any chance you could consider using what3words on your blogs to pin your overnight locations? Great planning tool. This

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It’s not an App we use but I can have a look 😊

[@craigfrood7710]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust It’s fantastic and you can save it to their route planner. Well worth considering. Keep up the good work.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Cheers - will down load it and have a look

[@vemcintyre]

You pronounce the place E- guis- heim !! No sheim !!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣 there will be many places along the way that we mis pronounce!