When most people in America think of an adventure in their RV, they imagine beautiful national monuments like the Grand Canyon, traveling to distant cities like Seattle, and maybe even heading north into Canada and British Columbia. However, few people imagine the possibility of taking an RV to see the waterways of Venice, Italy or the lights of Paris, France.
This is actually possible, albeit potentially challenging and expensive.
Getting There
If you’re in love with your RV and insist that it goes to Europe, then you’ll have to ship the thing over. This could cost thousands of Euro and will require careful coordination with a shipping company. In addition, you’ll need to consider marine insurance and additional deposit fees. Finally, you’ll need to consider European regulations on cars, including emissions, to ensure your American motorhome is driving legally. This whole process will require a lot of research and work.
Alternatively, you can rent an RV while you’re in Europe. Some campers have reported favorably of finding camper rentals in Germany. However, you’ll need new European insurance and registration.
The Cost
Regardless of how you arrive in Europe, you’ll have to budget the trip. Travelers speak positively of inexpensive camping locations across West Europe, including France and Italy, where you can often find annual memberships at a low cost to provide free access for your motorhome to campsites across the country of choice. However, it’s important to remember that the U.S. dollar is not favorable to the Euro, and so you must expect to pay a fraction more with every purchase.
Challenges
There are a couple of important factoids that American campers in Europe should be aware of. The first is the existence of tolls in many big European highways that can become very costly after a while. However it’s possible to find specialty maps and GPS routes to avoid certain tolls and lighten some of this burden.
The second challenge is that some European cities are not outfitted for motorhomes. Examples include French Riviera towns like Nice or Aix en Provence, or small but densely populated countries like Monaco. In these ‘medieval’ style towns where the streets are narrow it becomes hard to squeeze in a normal-sized car, let alone an RV. So it’s important to plan your route, and you may have to camp outside of the city and then rent a separate vehicle or scooter.
Benefits
There are many nuggets of information that can be found across the motorhome community among others who have taken the voyage. For instance, the company French Passion provides inexpensive RV parking across French wineries so you can plan a complete wine-tour of France in your motorhome. Such services will allow a European road-trip to become a remarkable experience, and for many it’s worth every penny and extra bit of planning.
In Summary
It’s not impossible to take an adventure into Europe. In fact, for an RV enthusiast it’s a “must-do” experience. However, to truly explore the sights of these ancient lands, it’s important to reserve a considerable amount of time on your itinerary. For such a big excursion, some would argue that anything less than 18 weeks would be a waste of money. So, if you have the fortitude and adventurous spirit, perhaps Europe can become your next RV destination.
Jay Allen writes for Lazydays, a RV Superstore which offers recreational vehicle enthusiasts a place to search motorhomes for sale, stay at a campground, or service their RV.
Fascinating read. Not sure if I would ever do this but I am sure many people take their motorhomes to Europe and this would be very useful to them!
Wow now this is something I would LOVE to do!! Thanks for writing this up!