Theres no way to really get to grips with a place than by taking the open road. Here are our top tips for a European road trip to make your trip the most successful it can be…

Europe is a destination with so much to see and do and why not discover it on a road trip? After all, there’s nothing more exhilarating than getting behind the wheel and being in charge of where you go. It’s a great chance to see new places, discover new cultures and get off the beaten track. Road tripping around Europe takes travelling to a whole new level – after all, flying can only take you so far, whereas a car can get you everywhere! The diverse scenery you will pick up around Europe alongside all of the quirky things that you will learn will give you memories that you can treasure for a lifetime. Road tripping can often be cheaper, and it’s definitely more fun than flying. Once you’ve been on one road trip, you will capture the travel bug and be booking your next trip to somewhere like the States! This is where our top tips for a European road trip can be utilised no matter where you are heading!

When you decide to go through Europe on your next holiday, you must remember that you are going through different countries, not just cities. You’ll need a passport to get from place to place; you may need to show that your car is clean (especially Germany!), and you can do this by visiting https://duitsemilieusticker.nl/. It would help if you also remember that every time you go through a new country, the laws maybe that little bit different. Due to this, you have a lot of research to do, as this can have an impact as to where you choose to go. So, with that in mind, we’ve put together our top tips for a European road trip to ensure you have the best time…

Step 1: Get Your Research Done

First in our list of top tips for a European road trip is to get your research done before heading out. The biggest surprise to most people on the road who are on their adventures is that there are different laws, highway tolls, and something called a highway vignette. A highway vignette is a pass that you put on the windshield, which allows you to drive on highways in specific countries. The good news is that these are mostly used instead of the tolls on the road, but that’s the point of research! It would be best if you got a highway vignette, but you also need to know what countries are required to have one. It is also going to help you to map out where all the toll roads are going to be, and you can be prepared with change in the car. You want your trip to run without a hitch, and that’s going to mean a big difference between getting fined on the road or not.  

Step 2: Know Where To Get Help

If you are in America, you call 911. If you’re in the United Kingdom, you ring 999. In Europe, the emergency services number is 112; you need to know this so that if you are ever in any trouble on the road, you can get help when you need it. It would help if you didn’t have to feel insecure about safety in foreign countries, which is why it’s so important to be aware of the emergency services in the areas you are planning to tour. Europe is a big place, so understanding how to get police help or an ambulance before you go is going to give you peace of mind on your way!

Step 3: Know your Drinking Laws

One of the essential pieces of information to research if you’re going to get out there on the road with friends is your blood alcohol limit. There is nothing wrong with sampling the wine in Paris or the beer in the Bavarian Alps. However, you should adhere to the laws in Europe about driving and drinking. Ideally, no alcohol is best if you’re the one behind the wheel. However, if you have a glass of wine at lunchtime and wait two hours before you drive once more? You can bet it’ll be the wrong thing to do in one place, but perfectly fine in another. There are countries in Europe that hold a zero tolerance (yes, zero) for alcohol while you are planning to drive. If you have that beautiful glass of Italian wine and get pulled over for any reason, you could be looking at hefty fines with the possibility of arrest, too. However, other places could be totally different, which is why you need to research, research, research!

Step 4: Unlock Your Phone

Another piece of advice in our top tips for a European road trip is to remember to unlock your phone before you head abroad. Before you make tracks and start planning your first day on the road, you need to get your phone unlocked with your smartphone provider. You’re going to be hopping from country to country, which means that you need to ensure you’ve even added a European phone package to your plan. The last thing that you want is to lose your internet connection or your signal as you move through the highways, and if you forget, you can buy SIM cards along the way. As long as you make sure that your phone is unlocked to all providers, you can place any SIM inside it and use what you need as you go. Know what your options are, plan ahead, and you’re going to be able to get where you want to go to Europe without losing your connection.

Step 5: Double Up On The Maps

So, you have our GPS, and you have your smartphone, but what do you do if your power banks run out? What do you do if your charge wire breaks? You need to have double of the maps that you need – paper is not as old as you may think! Having map books marked with your route and choice phrases marked down to ask for directions if you need it is the best thing you could do! However, you can also download Google Maps to your phone for offline use. Printing directions is another method you could use to know where you need to go. No matter which option you choose, you need a backup just in case you lose data or access to a Wi-Fi connection.

Step 6: Be Prepared with your Apps

When you’re busy planning your road trip, you need to know the best navigation apps for while you’re in Europe. You’ll get the right information for speed camera locations, accidents on the road ahead of you, and even what the construction zones may be. You can also get apps that will reroute you based on the traffic in the area. Getting one or two of these navigation apps will really make your trip a good one!

Step 7: Give Yourself Time

You are travelling through countries, going from place to place and city to city. You want to make sure that your itinerary is tight enough to make all the timings that you have in mind. The one thing you really need to ensure? You give yourself enough time to get through the borders. Backed up queues at the border crossings can cause you to miss out on excursions that you’ve added into your itinerary, so you should always plan for waiting at the edges of the borders.

We hope you’ve found our list of top tips for a European road trip useful! Let us know if you have any more we can add to the list!