european road trip and no plan?

[slipstream 1985]

wise?? i fancy an adventure, and basicly the idea would be ferry to holland on 10th of x and a return ticket on the 24th of x and just tour round going wherever on whatever day i feel like? is this wise, do-able safe enough with a wee convoy of semi decent cars??

[Davey S2]

If you are planning to go to France, Spain, Italy, Germany then fine.

I would only worry if you were going to the more minor countries

[plenty]

But the planning is a big part of the fun!

[Chris71]

What about parking? Are you likely to be able to find secure parking at a random continental hotel?

[Rothgo Wooft]

From my experiences, somewhere with safe parking can be a pain after long drive, but I've nearly always found somewhere. Parking in the square of smaller villages is a fairly safe bet.

Also, if you find somewhere with a fiesta or something interesting going on, towns can become fully booked. Which is a pain if you want to join in with the party. A tent in the boot is a sensible backup plan. No plan can be pretty useful for dodging the bad weather to.

Also, and most importantly: - plans can go wrong, no plan can't.

Edit to add, this is assuming GPS or internet to track down hotels more quickly.

Edited by Rothgo Wooft on Tuesday 23 March 16:14

[Mutt]

We've had a rough plan or goal both times I've gone to t' Continent. First was "drive to Nice via N85" second was "drive to Carcassonne". We've had places we'd like to visit en route but other than that, it's sling the stuff in the car and go with minimal planning.

Like someone else said, if you've got no plan then you've got nothing to go wrong! It's a holiday, not a military exercise so there's no point putting yourself under pressure to get to X by Y time. Go with the flow, tick off the major things you want to see / do and just relax.

[daveparry]

Like Mutt said!

[Mutt]

I should just add that's not to say don't do some research. You'll kick yourself if, upon your return, you find out you missed some of the greatest driving roads in the world by a few miles...

[plenty]

Interesting to read some of the perspectives. I've got three road trips lined up for the year and am spending countless hours browsing routes, destinations, recommendations. I find so much enjoyment in this process and it builds a glorious sense of anticipation: the trip itself is just the finale.

For me, stress and pressure is having no idea where I am heading; paying over the odds for a walk-in booking; or driving around in circles looking for a place to stay when I could be relaxing in a restaurant with everything sorted.

As they say, the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things.

[Mutt]

plenty said:

For me, stress and pressure is having no idea where I am heading; paying over the odds for a walk-in booking; or driving around in circles looking for a place to stay when I could be relaxing in a restaurant with everything sorted.

Plenty is right.

I may have made it sound a bit too blase. What tends to happen is after we've stayed somewhere for a day or so we get the map book out and the travel guides and work out where we're going next and where we're going to stay. Cue some limited French to find out if the campsite / hotel has a bed and then you're on your way with a day of travelling or sightseeing in hand.

Rocking up at a tourist honeypot at 2230 after being on the road for 12 hours, realising that the road system was devised by the Marquis de Sade and discovering there are no beds would not be fun. However, parking up and going straight to your B&B who sort you out with a restaurant booking and some wine most definitely is! Sarlat-le-Caneda, the weekend before Bastille Day. Happy memories

[skodamanpat]

Depends what time of year you are planning on going, July and August plan and book in advance, June and September better chance of winging it/ booking a room the night before on route via the Net in you room. No point booking hotels now for June (for instance) if the weather might mean your favoured access route between x and y is still under 6' of snow