travel through parts of Europe – Germany, Switzerland, Austria

[bobngaz]

Hi We’ve just bought a brand-new VWT2 bay Campervan and my husband and I are taking it over to our villa in Portugal setting off early September, but on route want to do quite a gradual trip through parts of Europe rather then heading straight there. I have looked on a map to try to cover as many countries/places as poss in about 4/5 weeks and this is what looks obvious:

Ferry Dover to Calais driving up to Belgium, touching on Netherlands then into Germany, down to Luxembourg carrying on to bottom of Germany to western edge of Austria, Then through Switzerland to the top of Italy (Milan, Turin) coast of south of France through Andora into Spain across to Madrid then over to Portugal.

It will be our first journey in the VW and we wondered if anyone had done any similar route and have any advice,tips -how easy or safe it is. We want to avoid steep climbs with sheer cliff drops! Is it ok to drive through the Alps? We would really appreciate Any advice or info you can give us. thanks v much
Bobngaz

[Darren]

Hi
I would consider the the
Hi

I would consider the the Dover to Dunkirk ferry, as it’s cheaper, gets you closer to Belgium, and is quieter in terms of traffic.
Do investigate Aires, designated motorhome stop areas where you can camp for free or a small fee overnight. Especially in France and Italy, as they are popular there.
I’m not sure about the Alpine routes, but definitely have some maps to avoid the big peaks and aim for the tunnels.

[Darren]

Hi
I would consider the the
Hi

I would consider the the Dover to Dunkirk ferry, as it’s cheaper, gets you closer to Belgium, and is quieter in terms of traffic.
Do investigate Aires, designated motorhome stop areas where you can camp for free or a small fee overnight. Especially in France and Italy, as they are popular there.
I’m not sure about the Alpine routes, but definitely have some maps to avoid the big peaks and aim for the tunnels.

[lauraJonathan]

Hi Bobngaz
We have just
Hi Bobngaz

We have just returned from 5months in Europe. Included in our trip we did Germany, into Switzerland, Austria, then Italy, then into France.

It was our first trip too and it has been fantastic! You will love it. We tended to wild camp and just use campsites when we needed a good clean! ha! We had no trouble anywhere, felt completely safe. We did hear that Italy and France we needed to have our wits about us, more than other places but we didnt encounter any trouble. It was a worry of mine before we went but it went amazingly.

We came into Germany by ferry from Sweden so cant really help with that. We did the east side of Germany then down the middle, then into Switzerland, then Austria from the West. We then entered Italy through the bottom of Austria, through the Dolomites, down the east coast, came across to the west at Florence etc then up along the west coast into the south of france.

I have wrote a journal with every place we stayed on the whole trip so could go into alot more detail if you needed. 🙂

Feel free to ask questions. I know how much this site/forums helped me before so im happy to help if i can 🙂

[lauraJonathan]

Hi Bobngaz
We have just
Hi Bobngaz

We have just returned from 5months in Europe. Included in our trip we did Germany, into Switzerland, Austria, then Italy, then into France.

It was our first trip too and it has been fantastic! You will love it. We tended to wild camp and just use campsites when we needed a good clean! ha! We had no trouble anywhere, felt completely safe. We did hear that Italy and France we needed to have our wits about us, more than other places but we didnt encounter any trouble. It was a worry of mine before we went but it went amazingly.

We came into Germany by ferry from Sweden so cant really help with that. We did the east side of Germany then down the middle, then into Switzerland, then Austria from the West. We then entered Italy through the bottom of Austria, through the Dolomites, down the east coast, came across to the west at Florence etc then up along the west coast into the south of france.

I have wrote a journal with every place we stayed on the whole trip so could go into alot more detail if you needed. 🙂

Feel free to ask questions. I know how much this site/forums helped me before so im happy to help if i can 🙂

[Author]

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