3 months Europe suggestions
Hi all
We are planning a long trip next year through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and France. We are trying to make a rough plan of a route through Ghent, Luxembourg, the Mosel, Rhine, romantic road and Black Forest in Germany. We aim to visit Lake Geneva and Annecy, then cross over to Grenoble aiming for Lyon and the Loire Valley heading back via Dieppe.
We would appreciate any suggestions for the above trip please, especially on the route from Freiburg to Geneva and places to stop. We will be away for nearly 3 months.
Thank you very much
Helene
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Hi Helene, your trip sounds like a wonderful odyssey and I have covered all the places you mention, but not all in one go, even on a 3 month trip.
There is so much to see just travelling down the Mosel and up the Rhine, let alone taking in Ghent, Luxembourg, the Black Forest, Annecy and Geneva. Plus the Romantische Straße, Grenoble, Lyon and the Loire valley
Wow, I have taken nearly 40 years to cover that lot - maybe save some for another year ? That way you may actually be able to remember where you have been.
If you would like to tell us what time of year you're planning to go, that will help with suggestions.
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From Freiburg to Geneva we called at Mulhouse because I wanted to visit the national railway museum and the navigator wanted to visit the textile museum. There are hundreds of Bugatti cars there too but we skipped those.
Then we both wanted to visit Besancon because a friend whose home was there said it was a fine old city. It is.Geneva is a tiresome place inhabited by financiers and lawyers and I was never tempted to go again. If you are crossing Switzerland then Bern and Lucerne are more attractive than Geneva.
Envious! But like Jim I would go slower .
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Given you have so long its seems a pity you are missing out Austria and Italy? Where do you wish to stay, do you prefer campsites or Aires or perhaps a mix of both?
David
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Your proposed route is certainly doable in 3 months if you’re happy to spend a couple of nights here and a couple of nights there but the time of the year is critical. In ‘normal’ times pre-booking sites in Europe was never necessary apart from the most popular sites in August but in the last two years things have changed and site occupancy has increased, similar to that in the UK in some areas. However, that may change again in 2022 as more Europeans return to flying. As ET has implied, Geneva is pretty bland in my opinion as are many of the towns and villages around the lake. Get back to us with when you plan to go. If you can answer the other questions posed in the replies above we can give you more detailed information. Whatever happens I’m sure you’ll enjoy your European tour.
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If you’re a petrol head don’t skip the Bugatti collection (Cite de l’Automobile), at Mulhouse - there are other marques as well. A sensational collection of motor cars in the kind of classy way the French do best.
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Don't plan too much where to stay. You have a motorhome which means you can move along at will, stopping longer in the places that interest you and moving on away from those that don't. Germany in particular has a very good system of motorhome stopping places (Stellplatz) and the Mosel and Rhine are particularly well endowed with these. There are also plenty of campsites in these tourist areas. I would make sure you have access to plenty of site guides and go with the flow. I tend to use Apps on my smart phone or tablet these days and buy the ACSI camping card to obtain discount camping and their guide book.
I am a bit out of touch with the latest Apps but Here are some I have used in the past :
>Campingcar Info< a French site but a very good source of POIs for sat navs
>Motorhome parking and campsites in Europe<
If you want paper guides have a look at the selection from >Vicarious Books< and don't forget the >Club's European guides< when the 2022 versions become available.
You also might like to read my blog >here< of a trip I did in 2013 ( how time flies) which takes in some of the places you want to go to.
peedee
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Ghent is certainly an interesting place to visit. Moving on, for a quick stopover en route the car park at Petit Coo is good for a freebie night. Le Baron restaurant adjacent does a reasonable meal. You are quite close to Spa F1 track if you're a petrolhead.
Metz Municipal camping is a reasonable site on the banks of the Moselle
Camping Indigo at Strasbourg is conveniently situated with a bus stop to the city centre.
Sandbanks camping on Lake Titisee in the Black Forest is another spot for a few days/week
A bit off your projected track but Lake Konstanz is a great spot. We stayed at Friedrichshafen Cap-Rotach. Pitches a bit cramped but we were parked overlooking the lake. Interesting Zeppelin museum.
Planning is half the fun.
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Hi all,
many thanks for taking the trouble to reply, we are planning on going in April and back mid July. We are looking to have a basic route planned with some highlighted stops for must sees but realise we may go off track if we change our minds.
Given your comments about Geneva I think we may give that a miss. I have started looking at Lucerne so that’s helpful, thanks.We are planning to travel along the north coast of Lake Konstanz.
We had thought that the campsites in popular areas will need booking but until we are on our way we may not be able to book ahead more than a week or so as we won’t know exactly how long it will take us to meander around. But I think we need to consider booking in June and July.
Thank you all
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We did a loop around the Alps, starting in Zeebrugge and North East France, Italy, Slovenia , Austria, Germany and home. We had a few places we were aiming for including a Muse gig in Graz, the only place we prebooked !
A lot of the fun was deciding where to go next and seeing what sites were available, really easy with the Internet.
We took a month and it didn't feel rushed!
The only thing we didn't take which would have been useful was a second hook up cable as some EHU points can be a long way from your van!
Enjoy the trip!
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I think given that you are in a MH then 3 months is a good time span to achieve your plans.
We have recently returned from 9 weeks away in our MH. Our journey started at Calais crossing northern France to the Alsace, then going down the east along the alps into the Provence, along the Med and Pyrenees to the west coast of France at Cap Breton.
Crossing into Spain, half way along the north coast of Spain, down to Burgos, Aranjuez then across to the Med coast and down to the Mar Menor. This is where we turned round and came back through Spain and crossed into France via the Bielsa tunnel, back up to Calais and home.
We covered just on 5000 mls, some places we stopped just for the night mid journey, others for 3/4 nights, the longest stay was 10 nts.
Enjoy your trip and keep it flexible.
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Here are a few suggestions from my experience :
A good site to stay at when visiting Ghent is Camping Blaarmeersen; there is a regular bus service into the city.
Vianden in Luxembourg is a pleasant stop for a day or two. The new riverside camperpark is an easy stroll into the town.
If you are interested in Roman history, a visit to see the Porta Nigra in Trier is well worth it. Camping Treviris or the adjoining stellplatz is a short walk or bike ride away.
When travelling the Romantische Straße, a convenient place to park for the night to visit Rothenburg-ob-der-tauber is Stellplatz P2 Nördlinger Straße. It's just outside the city walls.
If your MH is over 3.5 tons and you are travelling via Switzerland, the Via App makes paying the charge for using the motorways and roads so much easier. I like the any 10 days in 12 months option.
On the way home via the Loire, a stay at Flower Camping in Saumur is a good way to see a very interesting town with a good market.
Finally, to help keep track of your travels, try keeping a log of your journey. Polarsteps is a very user-friendly way of tracking your travels complete with a map and space for lots of photos. Give it a try.
Wherever you end up, have a great trip.
Jim
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Don’t get to Switzerland too soon - it’s June before the high passes reopen , the chair lifts and cable cars start their summer season and the cows go up in procession from the villages to the summer pastures.
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You have all been so kind, thank you.
I will give your suggestion to try Polarsteps, Jim. We already keep a running diary of our trips but that sounds good.
We have Porta Nigra in our plans and the stellplatz for Rothenburg and we like the sound of Saumur in the Loire which we hope to explore.
Hope you all get to to travel safely too. Take care all.
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