Tips For Planning An Epic European Road Trip

As I've alluded to in previous posts and rants, we're planning a road trip through a few countries in a little while. So many things on my bucket list get to finally be checked off and I can't wait!

Our itinerary is half fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants and half planned-out-like-normal-smart-people-do. There's such a balance between planning out every moment and trying to be spontaneous. We don't want to be too held down and on a schedule, but we do have a time limit. So far the things I've learned in making this trip as great as possible are:

Choose Your Route

Unfortunately, we had to cut out some places we were really looking forward to due to time constraints. We were previously planning on going through Switzerland and Liechtenstein but it would've added too much time and driving, so they didn't make the cut. We're still very happy with where we are visiting, and it gives us a little more time in each place. We also cut out a city in Slovakia, but now we have another place on our list to visit in the future :) It helps to prioritize the places that are closer together so you don't have so much driving in between.

Here's a very helpful site I used to find drive times and estimate gas prices. It also shows what kind of equipment or tolls/vignettes you need in each European country. We plan to make a big circle with stops in Stuttgart, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Leipzig, and Berlin. It should equate to at least 40 hours of straight driving, not accounting for rest stops and traffic.

Don't Get Scammed

I've never had a bad Airbnb experience (UPDATE 2020: yes I have), but while booking our rentals for this trip, I almost got scammed. Watch out if the person you're renting from tries to contact you through WhatsApp or tries to change the price of the rental after you've already paid. Thankfully, I was refunded the money but I'm sure other people haven't been so lucky. Read the reviews and trust them... and if they don't have reviews yet, maybe there's a reason!

Plan Ahead

I finished reserving and confirming all of the homes we're staying at! Since we're traveling as a family, I tried to pick spots where we'd have a little privacy and not disturb others with the baby. I also looked through the reviews and tried to find places where the hosts have advice for us and a good amount of communication. It's so much different and better experiencing a city with local recommendations. Try to find places as far in advance as possible because the good ones book up fast! It also is way less stress and worry for me beforehand knowing we have a place to stay each night.

If you're military, don't forget to load up your Esso card to save a little on gas, at least while you're still in Germany. And make sure your international driver's license is valid!

If you do plan on booking an AirBnb soon, I'd love it if you booked through this link and you'll save $40 on your first trip!

Pack Accordingly

We have no idea what to expect weather-wise, so we'll have to plan for any situation. I'm guessing this insanely hot summer will continue while we're traveling, and we'll prepare with clothes for both hot conditions and rain. We plan on bringing both the big, comfy jogging stroller (way better on cobblestones) and the smaller, convenient umbrella stroller since we'll have room in the car.

Do Your Research

I really believe to get the most out of a country or city you need to research a little beforehand. In just doing a little bit of digging, I've found a ton of interesting things to do and even ways to save money while we're on the road. For example, I was planning on doing the Sound of Music tour in Austria because I've always wanted to, but I found out it's possible to do a DIY tour and you even end up seeing more locations without being in a tour group. Plus the tours are very expensive. Win win!

One of my goals in each place is to try the culinary specialty of that particular area. Stay posted :)

For classical music fans: I'm looking forward to seeing the birthplace of Mozart in Salzburg as well as seeing Leipzig where Bach lived for a stretch.

What about you? Do you like to have concrete plans and mapped out travels? Or do you just get somewhere and see what happens? What are some things we can't miss while we're gone?