Topic · 06 / 06 4 pages No affiliate links
Planning a European motorhome trip
Tolls, LPG, ferries, driving rules and timing. The practical starter before a first trip.
01 · Where to start
What is the next thing to sort?
A first European trip is mostly admin: tolls, gas, water, insurance and a route that does not assume motorway speeds on a mountain road.
01 · Timing Everyone goes in the same three months, and the aires fill up accordingly 67% of EU camping nights fall in June to August, per Eurostat 02 · Borders Tolls, vignettes, and the ones you have to buy before you cross A fine at the border is the usual alternative 03 · Fuel LPG across Europe, and the adapter you will wish you had packed Four connector standards, one gas 04 · Driving Driving rules change at the border, and so does what you must carry Vests, triangles, breathalysers and headlight rules
Start here The practical starter for UK and US drivers
Every pick here is chosen on what it does for your trip.
02 · Planning
Sort these before you leave.
Guide Driving rules that catch out visitors Priorité à droite, required equipment that differs by country, winter tire dates, and the fact that 3.5 tonnes changes your speed limit and your toll class. What France, Germany and Austria actually require, from the official text. Jul 20 Read Guide Ferries with a motorhome or van You are priced by a length and height band, not by the number of passengers, and gas bottles have to be declared. What three operators publish on bands and bottles, and what to measure before you book. Jul 20 Read Guide Motorhome travel in Europe for Americans and Brits: the practical starter Tolls, vignettes, gas bottle adapters, service points, height barriers and low emission zones. What a first-time visitor from the US, UK, Australia or Canada actually has to sort out before crossing a border. Jul 20 Read
All 4 planning pages
Guide Driving rules that catch out visitors Priorité à droite, required equipment that differs by country, winter tire dates, and the fact that 3.5 tonnes changes your speed limit and your toll class. What France, Germany and Austria actually require, from the official text. Jul 20 Guide Ferries with a motorhome or van You are priced by a length and height band, not by the number of passengers, and gas bottles have to be declared. What three operators publish on bands and bottles, and what to measure before you book. Jul 20 Guide Motorhome travel in Europe for Americans and Brits: the practical starter Tolls, vignettes, gas bottle adapters, service points, height barriers and low emission zones. What a first-time visitor from the US, UK, Australia or Canada actually has to sort out before crossing a border. Jul 20 Guide When to go: seasons for free camping in Europe Two thirds of EU camping nights fall between June and August, which is the argument for going in May or September instead. What closes in winter, why the water gets switched off, and why southern Spain and the Nordics run on different calendars. Jul 2003 · From the blog
Latest in planning.
Blog Denmark by motorhome: where you can sleep, and what the bridges cost Sleeping in a motorhome in Denmark is a parking question, not a camping one. What a kommune can restrict and how it has to tell you, why the free shelters never reach you in a vehicle, and the 2026 Storebaelt and Oresund prices. Sep 3 Read Blog Motorhome in Sweden: where you can park for the night once the right to roam runs out Allemansrätten covers people and tents, not vehicles. What the off-road driving act bans, how long you can stand beside a road or at a Trafikverket rest area, what a ställplats costs in three towns, and what the Øresund Bridge charges a motorhome. Aug 26 Read Blog Where a motorhome can legally spend the night in Switzerland Switzerland has no national rule on sleeping in a motorhome. Federal law regulates parking, the cantons write the camping rule, and they disagree with each other. Obwalden allows one night without a permit, Ticino allows none outside a campsite. Aug 24 Read
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Next step
Build the route around real places
A route planned on scenery alone tends to collapse on night three, when the pretty village turns out to ban overnight parking. Sketch the trip on the map first and the rest of the plan follows the stopovers.