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On this publish, I share our sincere expertise doing a one-way RV rental in Europe. We weren’t requested to jot down this publish by the corporate we rented from, nor are we being paid to take action.
When individuals consider visiting Europe, RVing in all probability isn’t the very first thing that involves thoughts.
Hopping trains or buses or different public transport? Undoubtedly.
Motorhomes? Not a lot.
And whereas RVing is simply as well-liked for Europeans as it’s for Americas—if no more!—you don’t typically hear of Individuals “motorhoming” overseas. Nevertheless, we simply accomplished our second prolonged RV rental in Europe and it was probably the greatest experiences!
On this weblog, I wish to share a few of what we’ve realized about renting an RV in Europe.
Why Lease an RV in Europe?
Why would I wish to drive an RV on tiny European roads?
This was one in every of my first ideas when Alyssa introduced up the thought of RVing in Europe. Additionally, whereas I’ve received you right here I’ll allow you to in on a not-so-little secret: no person truly says RVing in Europe. It’s also known as motorhoming or hiring a campervan, however by no means RVing. Nevertheless, when you’re from the States then you definitely’re in all probability used to the time period RVing. Similar idea, totally different use of phrases.
Shifting on. 🚐
So, why lease an RV in Europe? The norm when visiting main cities in Europe is to remain in an Airbnb or lodge. This makes complete sense when you’re solely visiting for a couple of days. Nevertheless, when you’re planning an prolonged journey overseas (two weeks or extra) and wish to spend a while meandering by smaller villages and backroads, renting an RV is a good choice.
For us, we favor to remain in walkable Airbnbs in main cities after which lease an RV for visiting the countryside. 2019 was the primary time we’d rented an RV in Europe and the expertise hooked us a lot in order that we went again once more and for twice as lengthy.
Why we’ve cherished touring by motorhome overseas:
1. How else would we discover hidden gems?
One of many first days of our Italian RV journey, we had been driving over a mountain cross and stumbled upon probably the most epic gondola. We had no thought it was there. If left to our personal planning, we’d by no means have seen it. Touring by RV provides us an opportunity to randomly come upon gems like this (you possibly can see our reactions under within the video).
2. We favor sleeping in the identical mattress each evening—particularly with youngsters!
Motorhome leases are small, however they’ve all of the conveniences of a house (besides air-con) and even with the tiny European roads, we are able to drive virtually wherever and all the time have the whole lot we’d like. Touring with youngsters who nonetheless take naps on daily basis, having a mattress with us always is priceless. Plus we all the time have snacks + a toilet + a kitchen + a bathe for when somebody inevitably will get lined in mud and filth.
We stayed in Airbnbs whereas in Europe and used public transport as effectively, which is one of the simplest ways to see European cities for positive. However when you’re trying to actually discover a rustic exterior of simply the vacationer stops, you’ll need a automobile. We favor the motorhome as a result of it lets us see extra locations and nonetheless have the consolation of sleeping in the identical mattress each evening.
3. Hi there million greenback views that value $0 😍
The most effective a part of renting an RV in Europe is the gorgeous locations it takes you—like tenting on the sting of a mountain within the Pyrenees watching the dawn.
We’ve camped on mountainsides, on seashores, in nationwide parks, and in among the most lovely elements of southern Europe due to our motorhome rental. In distant locations particularly, you don’t have the choice of resorts or Airbnbs, making campsites just like the one above accessible just for RVers.
4. You get to truly go to a rustic.
Hear me out.
After spending two months in Tuscany this yr, we spent two nights at a lodge in Florence earlier than flying to London. Strolling round Florence we noticed lovely historic buildings, ate scrumptious pizza, and savored one closing gelato. However we additionally a) didn’t discuss to any precise Italian individuals, b) didn’t want to talk any Italian as a result of everybody spoke English flawlessly, and c) had been surrounded by vacationers the entire time.
Florence is one in every of our favourite cities on the planet—however after exploring extra of the nation of Italy, being within the metropolis didn’t actually really feel like Italy anymore. It was extra industrial and catered to Individuals like us.
To essentially expertise a rustic—see the individuals, expertise the tradition, eat the meals—you’ll must get out of the cities someway. For us, a motorhome is one of the simplest ways to do this.
What It’s Like Driving an RV in Europe
Nearly all of autos in Europe are handbook transmissions. And my first day of driving ANY handbook automobile was our RV rental in Europe (circa 2019).
I’d practiced for all of ten minutes earlier than departing to Italy and determined I’d gotten the dangle of it (in all probability not my greatest thought). To say I used to be nervous was an understatement. My actual phrases whereas driving within the Italian Dolomites had been “I’m going to crap my pants”.
However, after that extremely nerve-racking first day, I received the dangle of driving a stick. Sure, the roads are small — nonetheless, extra stress truly got here from my lack of expertise driving a handbook than the roads themselves.
Flash ahead to at this time, I’ve pushed a motorhome in Switzerland, France, Andorra, Italy, and Spain. Listed below are my two cents.
Are the roads considerably smaller than what I’m used to within the US? Sure.
Do they generally appear like I’m driving on a golf cart path? Sure.
However it’s actually not been that unhealthy. For one, the motorhomes and vans are a lot smaller in Europe. Second, you someway modify to the roads. Just like the film Santa Clause the place Tim Allen contorts a chimney to enter a home and ship presents.
Okay, so the RV doesn’t get smaller however you do change into accustomed to smaller roads.
Plus, solely as soon as did we run right into a street that was actually too slim for us to navigate.
We had been heading to a campground in Italy and the street abruptly received slim proper in entrance of us. I needed to again up 100 yards and make an 846-point u-turn whereas my spouse strategically moved the world’s largest assortment of garbage bins—all of which had been chained to the fence and solely moved a couple of inches in both course.
Towards all odds, we escaped unscathed (and promptly walked one block over and dove into the Mediterranean).
A significant cause I don’t stress an excessive amount of over driving in Europe is that we use an app known as Park4Night. It not solely lists out free campsites however top and size restrictions. Earlier than longer drive days or visiting a brand new city, I’ll analysis to search out one of the best locations to park or drive our motorhome. If there’s going to be some sort of restriction on parking or roads, we sometimes study it upfront. Park4Night is $30 for an annual membership and 100% paid for itself throughout our monthlong journey.
Why We Determined to Do a One-Manner RV Rental
There are fairly a couple of choices for corporations who do RV leases in Europe . We’ve opted for a one-way RV rental on each of our journeys to offer us the flexibleness to cowl extra floor versus having to loop again to the identical drop-off level.
Our first RV journey in Europe was a bit over two weeks from Venice to Rome.
The second rental was from Paris to Barcelona and we rented for 30 days. With the one-way rental, we had been in a position to discover six totally different international locations throughout this journey!
What RV Rental Firm We Used
Each instances we did an RV rental in Europe we used the identical firm, Wherever Campers.
They’re one of many few RV rental corporations that do one-way RV leases in Europe and embody sheets. They’ve 4.9 stars on Google critiques and most of their RVs are lower than one yr outdated.
We had an awesome expertise (that I’ll discuss extra under) on our first journey, so we opted to lease from them once more on our final RV journey.
Just a few highlights for why we’ve loved utilizing Wherever Campers:
- They do one-way leases.
- Easy reserving course of. The Wherever Campers employees we spoke to had been skilled and straightforward to speak with, even with time variations and language limitations.
- The RVs come absolutely stocked with what we wanted, together with linens, espresso maker, towels, bikes, grill, roadside help package, and many others.
- The floorplan of the motorhomes might match our household of 4 simply.
- Automotive seats! I didn’t need to haul a automobile seat by airports and practice stations as a result of our rental included them.
- They’ve taken care of us when small service points have popped up.
As a bonus, Wherever Campers has just lately added computerized motorhomes to their fleet! Yay for Individuals like me who can perhaps drive a handbook, however really feel 100% extra assured with out having to recollect how the clutch works.
What Does It Price to Lease an RV in Europe?
In 2019 we rented a motorhome in Italy for 16 days and paid roughly $162 USD per day. In 2022 our RV rental was 30 days and we paid $158/day. Wherever Campers consists of the entire add-ons and there are not any further charges for mileage. We traveled in September and October for each leases, which is shoulder season for RVing. Leases might be dearer throughout peak summer time months.
Outdoors of anticipated journey prices, campground charges are very affordable (particularly within the low season) and not less than in France, Spain, and Italy we discovered loads of free tenting choices. Our costliest campsite value $45/evening in Andorra, however most campgrounds charged $30 max per evening for a household of 4.
One of many greatest surprising bills we bumped into in France was the toll roads. We break up our time between the quicker toll roads and the winding nation roads and nonetheless spent effectively over $300 in tolls over the course of a month. In case you aren’t on a decent timeframe, avoiding these will prevent a lot of cash. Plus, you’ll see some superb French villages you’d doubtless miss on the freeway. (The most important offender was a $60 toll tunnel connecting France and Italy within the Alps…however it was that or a three-hour mountain terrain detour by Switzerland!)
What International locations in Europe Can You Do a One-Manner Rental?
Wherever Campers particularly covers 35 international locations and so they function year-round.
(However you possibly can see a extra complete record of which international locations provide RVing right here.)
What if the RV breaks down?
Whereas there are undoubtedly cheaper options to Wherever Campers, a significant consideration for us was assist for service points. RVs break. We full-time RVed for years and that’s one fixed we’ve all the time skilled. RVs break.
We wished peace of thoughts to know we might have assist if we broke down someplace in Europe.
On our first two-week journey by Italy, we had a difficulty with our AdBlue sensor. Though we’d added extra AdBlue within the diesel engine, it wasn’t registering. We had a message on our dashboard that mentioned in 50KM we might not be capable to activate the engine. We went forwards and backwards with Wherever Campers to assist us discover a service station that would assist however to no avail.
Finally, Wherever Campers allowed us to depart the RV parked at a campground a couple of hours from our drop-off level the place they got here to retrieve it (fortunately, this was on our final day of the journey and we had been in a position to carpool in our pal’s RV rental).
Right here’s a video that exhibits our expertise trying to find a service station whereas speaking with Wherever Campers.
On our most up-to-date journey, our mates skilled a difficulty with their RV brakes. Wherever Campers made an appointment for them and so they had been out and in in a few hours.
A significant cause we’ve loved renting with Wherever Campers is their responsiveness to those issues once they pop up. Along with being obtainable for assist, they offered us with three emergency numbers in case of a breakdown (fortunately by no means wanted them). In case you’re going to spend the money and time to guide a global street journey, it’s good to know the corporate you’re renting from will maintain you.
Renting an RV In Europe
If we hadn’t began RVing in America, we in all probability by no means would’ve realized about RVing in Europe. However now it’s our de facto mode of journey after we go overseas. We’ve received 4 extra international locations we’re hoping to RV throughout throughout 2023 (throughout three continents!).
There are a number of questions in relation to renting a motorhome overseas and hopefully this weblog publish answered a couple of of them. For extra info on RVing in Europe, see under 🙂
Creator’s Notice: In case you’re thinking about an RV rental in Europe and attain out to Wherever Campers, allow them to know we despatched you and we’ll get a couple of {dollars} in direction of our subsequent RV journey overseas.
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