Driving to Europe in August

[popsickle555]

We are planning to drive to europe for 4 weeks this August. DC's are 10 and 8 and both good travellers. We have a very comfy and roomy car. The initial plan was to do a week in the Alps and then head down to the French coast but I would really like to hear what trips others do and have enjoyed? We won't be camping as don't have the gear (although could do a week of it if we go to a ready made set up) but my DH will need to work some days so wifi is essential so I was thinking a mixture of Air b&bs and probably cheap hotels and maybe some mobile home type things for the week he is fully 'off'.

We need to do this 'on a budget' excluding the costs of travel / ferry / driving we have about £4000 to spend over the month, could cut it to 3 weeks if it's not possible. Is this realistic or not achievable? Happy not to eat out much at all and we don't drink which helps!

If anyone has anu suggestions of routes / places to go / stay please post :-)

We did a similar trip over three weeks. It was a few years ago - 2018 I think but the cost was nowhere near £4,000.

We live a fair distance from Folkstone so spent the first night in a Folkestone premier inn. Second night was at a hotel Ibis somewhere in France about halfway between the channel and the Alps. We then spent I think four nights in a Yelloh Village in the alps - Ecole de Neige I think it was called.

After that, we spent a week on the coast at Domaine des Naides which is a campsite walking distance from the beach near St Tropez/St Maxime. We rented a mobile home for a week. This was the most expensive part of the trip and we paid extra to have air conditioning which we were very glad to have in August. I think the week there was about £1,200.

On the way back we spent a night in a cheap hotel at Le Puy - an amazing medieval town, a night at Orleans. And then finished with three nights north of Paris, another mobile home at St Leu d'Esserant to visit Parc Asterix.

At most of these parks we spent extra to have WIFI but having the swimming pools on site was lovely when we just wanted a day to relax at the site and not drive anywhere!

Don’t forget to factor in fuel and tolls, but £4,000 is a great budget. French campsites have pre-erected tents with proper beds and cooking facilities, plus great pools. There are also lodges/treehouses etc., and so much cheaper than the equivalent in the U.K.!

Is the 4k including spending / food / activities? France is expensive in August, 1k / week will be very tight if not impossible.

If you do Switzerland have a look at sleeping in straw - Schlaf im Stroh. It’s a step up from camping in price But much cheaper than a BnB/hotel You get a place to sleep on a Farm - usually in the hay loft. Some also have mattresses plus breakfast. Usually stunning scenery, very Family friendly. For Swiss motorways you will need a vignette - sticker - one off cost of 40chf

Thank you, we are in an election car (Tesla) and will have to charge to but the charging doesn’t come out of this budget thankfully. Not sure on tolls and the cost for electric cars but yes they would come out of the 4K.

We could probably stretch a bit higher for food and some extras but I’m hoping the 4k is enough for accommodation and activities. We are happy to all sleep in the same room though. I’ll definitely check out campsites. I think we could probably stretch to two weeks of camping but DH definitely would need wifi access one of those weeks I think and somewhere to sit and work (not all day every day) which complicates it a bit.

@WessexWanderer that sounds like a great trip!

We did a five week road trip last year. Me DH, ds16 and dd14. We drove from London To Istanbul. We did a few nights in Belgium I think the area was called Henglehoff, beautiful scenery, we booked an apartment with a outdoor pool. Few nights in Austria, Croatia, Serbia then Turkey.we also did 3 nights in France on the way back. We just went on air bnb when we felt like stopping driving and booked on the spot. It was amazing. Lots of Toll roads in Europe though. make sure you have the correct vignettes as Austra and Switzerland need a vignette for the car. I think we bought them from the petrol station as we drove through. Also check which cities have Ulez. Can’t remember where it was exactly but a few cities you must have a Ulez compliant car to drive through. We spent about 5k in 5 weeks, including food, toll roads and lovely accommodations. Have fun.

We are doing a road trip with two weeks in the Alps (Austria/Switzerland/France) at the end of August. Cost for ferries/Eurostar and accommodation is around £2200 I think. Bear in mind the last week of August is much cheaper and with more accommodation available because schools have already gone back in many countries. Depends what sort of accommodation you are looking at though - our kids are a bit younger so we tend to go for sites where there is a lot to do on site, which are more pricey.

We did just short of three weeks last August and it probably cost that much partly because Eurocamp in Italy is very expensive. We did Dover Calais with a night in Arras, a night in Baden Baden, a night in Austria, ten days on Lake Garda, a night in Strasbourg, two nights in Bruges then back to Calais. Hotels were ibis variations depending on what was most appropriate in each place. Driving days were chilled with big lunch stops in interesting places. We travelled with ds 14 and dd 12. They absolutely loved it and we talk about it a lot.

We had planned a trip to some of the Capital Cities of the Austria- Hungary Empire. Prague, Vienna and down to the Croatia and Trieste.
That plan was defeated by The Pandemic and other health probs.

If you're wanting Airbnb's for the summer then I'd be looking asap as the cheap and decent ones will get snapped up, we've already booked for the summer. If you get one with a kitchen it means you can make your own food easily which saves a lot of money compared to hotels and eating out.

Thanks these are great tips!

we don’t actually need to be back in the U.K. until the 5th September so we will definitely take advantage of those last 10 days being cheaper as I know most of Europe is back in school by then.

it’s lovely to hear that people’s kids have loved doing this. My parents took us by car all the time to Europe when I was young. I always loved it and have very fond memories.

we all like cycling so I’m going to try and find sites / locations in some flat areas so that we can get around by bike when there. And yes good tips on kitchens.

im not looking for fancy accommodation on this trip. We’ve had holidays like that but for this one basic and in the right location is more the trick I think! And maybe with air con in the very hot spots.

St Tropez can be grid-locked in August - my health insurer was on the hill above and in summer went down to the town first thing or not at all.