Hi folks. There isn't a forum for anything off the North American continent, so maybe the administrator will add this. Its seems like many tourists, American and otherwise, tour Europe in travel trailersm motor homes and vans. I'm a US citizen full timing in my fifth wheel now. I'm researching a 6-8 month trip to Europe for two people. Among the components of a trip of this magnitude, such as visa issues, cost, etc., I'm considering vehicle options. A few things I considered were: 1. Ship my 29,000# rig over there. I decided against this cuz it's just too big and would be too limiting on small roads there. 2. Buy a vehicle in Germany, then sell it before returning. This may be an option, but appears to be too much trouble due to some residency requirements involving registration and insurance. 3. Rent an RV from a reputable company, which is an "all in" rate, including insurance. I'm thinking 3 is the best option. I don't need lots of space for 2 people. So, my question is for those who may have RVed in Europe and/or someone who could direct me to a good resource. We plan to visit large cities to see the sights, but also will camp most all the time. Does getting around in cities necessitate a small vehicle, like a 20' camper van, rather than a larger class C? If we did a small van, it would be for added mobility on small roads. Otherwise, we'd get a larger class C and just take trains into town. If we had the van, we'd likely park it in town and stay in hotels. Any thoughts?

Pretty sure that you can only stay in Europe (Schengen Countries) for 90 days in a 180 day period. Your time starts when you enter the first country. There are some exceptions but for a tourist that is the rule.Just use AirBnb in or near cities. All of Europe is only a three day drive from any other place in Europe so maybe pick a few cities to HQ in and then drive around in a rental car.

Interesting idea. Here's a link I came across that looks helpful. Rather than trying to drive downtown and find parking in large cities I think I would use public transportation. It's so good over there. Rick Steves also has some good info.

Fiven the state of affairs in Europe today I would personally think twice about back there again.

Unlike here public transportation is seamless in Europe... Buses connect to the trains on either end or to the subways. Rick Steve's books are good as he likes to use basecamps and then trains to see nearby cities.Now is a good time as the dollar is almost on par with the Euro. We spent three weeks in Southern Europe this past summer and other than one area near our hotel in Rome nowhere else made me concerned.I would rent a small class C in Germany to save the VAT... 19 percent. Distances in Europe is like the distances between our states.

Thanks all. I'm looking at campervans less than 6 meters (19.5-20 feet), which seem to fit into typical parking spaces more easily + cheaper on ferries.

RVing in Europe; planning a 6-8 month adventure

36 Replies

outwestbound
Explorer
Sep 10, 2018
An Update to this post. I decided to do South America first. Europe will be second. I bought a 2006 Dodge Sprinter 3500 in the form of an Itaska Navion 23J (Winnebago) because I want to burn the older style diesel. It's been heavily modified for this trip.

I'm shipping it from Miami, FL to Cartagena, Colombia about 1/1/19 and expect to ship it back on this route about 12-14 months later. I just returned from a two month trip to Cuenca, Ecuador, where I learned some Spanish and did some recon. I'm in Tampa, FL now completing some solar work and having the brakes rebuilt, then I'm off.

I'll learn all I can from the European overlanders that I meet and get ready for Europe.
4runnerguy
Explorer
Dec 11, 2017
I'm glad this was resurrected. I keep hoping to find one or more who have done this and post their experiences.
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2017
outwestbound said, "Oh boy, how boring is this post!" (Referring to his own post.)

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. This is a very interesting thread with some great questions and excellent info. Thanks for starting this topic!
anniesweetiepie
Explorer
Dec 08, 2017
Great idea! I never thought of going away for so long... You are lucky to be able to live your everyday life and start such an adventure! If you ever get to Greece you might want to try Greek Island Hopping. Do that for one month (I suggest July or early September) and you'll get the most out of the Cyclades. Amazing landscapes. Kudos :) Check out more here Hostelbay.com
John___Angela
Explorer
Apr 02, 2017
outwestbound wrote:
Tripalot wrote:
Another thought - would buying something used, instead of renting be an option.
If you did that, maybe you could arrange storage at a reasonable rate and go back another year and continue your adventure. I have read magazine articles about others doing this. I believe one couple left their RV with a farmer and regularly went to Europe to tour around.

This is exactly what I ended up concluding. I'm thinking I'll buy a small motorhome and store it over winter. or, I may winter in Morocco to meet Schengen rules. Buying is the only reasonable alternative.

There are a few decent campgrounds in Morocco and at least one Motorhome tour company. Winter in Morocco is a good choice. Fun country.
outwestbound
Explorer
Apr 02, 2017
Tripalot wrote:
Another thought - would buying something used, instead of renting be an option.
If you did that, maybe you could arrange storage at a reasonable rate and go back another year and continue your adventure. I have read magazine articles about others doing this. I believe one couple left their RV with a farmer and regularly went to Europe to tour around.

This is exactly what I ended up concluding. I'm thinking I'll buy a small motorhome and store it over winter. or, I may winter in Morocco to meet Schengen rules. Buying is the only reasonable alternative.
Searching_Ut
Explorer
Mar 30, 2017
I lived in Europe for over 10 years off and on thanks to Uncle Sam, and go back periodically both for work and fun. Some of my adventures include the rail pass thing for 4 weeks using a backpack, and either campgrounds or hostels as appropriate, also did a fair bit of touring by bicycle, the longest being John O'Groats to lands end in England. One thing worth mentioning is many of the campgrounds are more Holiday camp, which I loved, but you may find loud and crazy if you're more used to American style campgrounds.

For the most part you aren't going to want to drive an RV in any Major city. Most have congestion zones now where you pay extra to drive each day, and you will spend much of your time in crazy traffic. For the most part you'll not be able to camp with an RV in the cities anyway, so use mass transit for your site seeing of the cities, which you'll want to do a lot of. If you're at all into history you'll have the time of your life. Keep the RV you end up with as absolutely small as possible. You'll really appreciate the smaller size if you venture off the main roads at all. Unfortunately, the countryside is hard to explore without a car, and it's well worth exploring so you'll want something you can explore with size wise. Finally, as has been mentioned, fuel, along with just about everything else tends to be quite expensive in most of Europe, even when the exchange rate is good. Plan for it so you don't get caught coming up short.

Good luck, sounds like a trip where lots of memories will be built.
dbob62180
Explorer
Mar 30, 2017
We took a European tour last summer. After looking at all the options, we used a rented 20 foot motorhome. In addition, we actually did a caravan tour with European Motorhome Tours. We decided it would facilitate seeing as much as we could in our 6 week time period.
Yes, you will want the smallest rig possible, especially if you plan to go to the U.K. Or on the ferry. Roads in Ireland are what we would call 'lanes' . In addition, going to any city will make parking a bit easier. One more thought, an American RV would not be compatible with electric in Europe - not sure about fuel options.
When we rented in Germany we left a $1300 deposit to cover damage. Check with your auto insurance to see if you would be covered overseas. BTW, Germany will rent RV's to drivers over 70, many countries will not so be sure to check that.
I applaud your ambitious trip! We started out thinking we would go it alone but in the end we're super happy we took the tour. We saw and did so much more than we would have done on our own. Best wishes to you!
John___Angela
Explorer
Mar 18, 2017
Tripalot wrote:
Another thought - would buying something used, instead of renting be an option.
If you did that, maybe you could arrange storage at a reasonable rate and go back another year and continue your adventure. I have read magazine articles about others doing this. I believe one couple left their RV with a farmer and regularly went to Europe to tour around.

Along this line. Some of the snowbird parks in Spain have long term storage rates as many snowbirds leave their sites set up over the summer and return to them in the winter. It will have to be insured though so you would have to go through one of the RV companies/dealers that keep it partially in their name so it can be registered and insured. But yah. We thought about it as well.
Tripalot
Explorer
Mar 18, 2017
Another thought - would buying something used, instead of renting be an option.
If you did that, maybe you could arrange storage at a reasonable rate and go back another year and continue your adventure. I have read magazine articles about others doing this. I believe one couple left their RV with a farmer and regularly went to Europe to tour around.