Few holidays feel as adventurous as the prospect of a road trip, and with the continent just a short ferry trip away, take your own car and explore Europe on your own time, stopping to enjoy all of the sights that Europe has to offer. There is so much to see and do on the continent, which is why we’ve come up with the ultimate European road trip, so you can visit lots of countries and some of Europe’s best sights all within 2 weeks.
Starting Out
We begin the journey in the Netherlands, and Amsterdam to be more specific. You can take the ferry here from Newcastle, or alternatively hop across the Channel and drive over from Calais or Dunkirk. Amsterdam is constantly listed as one of Europe’s best cities, making it a fantastic starting point.
From the Netherlands, we’d recommend going straight down south into Belgium, which is small enough that you can quite easily reach any of the attractions within just a few hours, from the medieval town centre of Bruges, to the Trappist breweries of Flanders. From there, head south to Luxembourg. Though one of the world’s smallest countries, Luxembourg is completely saturated in culture and history, with the dense forestry of the Ardennes as well as a stunning capital.
Crossing Western Europe
Germany is one of the world’s automotive powerhouses, which is why it simply must be included on the trip. Boasting both wonderful scenery, and of course the famed derestricted autobahns, it’s a fantastic place to drive. Coming out of Luxembourg allows you to easily hit some of the major routes that take you through the Black Forest, which is a must see, and then you can work your way over to the exciting and historic city of Munich.
Central Europe and the Alps
Heading south out of Munich, you’ll be able to take in Austria and the Alps, including the city of Innsbruck. At this point, you can either continue the journey in a loop as the next paragraph explains,or extend the trip t by heading over to central Europe. Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest are all reasonably close to one another.
After Austria, we’d recommend heading towards Switzerland through Liechtenstein, though the more adventurous, or those that truly enjoy driving, may wish to take a brief detour to Italy first via the Stelvio pass. Widely regarded as one of the greatest driving roads in Europe, it features a thin road that snakes up the side of the mountains, giving absolutely incredible views.
Switzerland is breathtakingly beautiful and Zurich, Lucerne and Bern are all within a few hours’ drive of Liechtenstein. The major cities, lakes and mountains all have their charms. If you’ve got the time, you can also spend a couple of days driving down to Milan in Italy.
The Final Stretch
Heading back up to the ports will mean coming north out of Switzerland, through Geneva and into France. This gives you the option to visit Lyon. Alternatively, leave further up, heading straight towards Paris. There’s plenty to see and do on this run back up to the ports!
If you’re travelling home via our Amsterdam-Newcastle route, then heading north through Germany means you can stop at the major German cities of Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf.
And there you have it. The potential for visiting around a dozen countries in the space of a fortnight, with all manner of sights to take in. Pick and choose which bits you want to do, and it works just as well anti-clockwise as it does clockwise.
