I wanted some advice on a round Europe drive.

My girlfriend and I are looking to drive round Europe(and Morocco) for up to 9 months to see as much as we can.

The route we plan to take is: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/ed...I.koPd5nIEP3zw

We wanted some advice on things to do along the way.

The plan is to buy a 7 seater van and convert it into a small camper to save money on hotels, and stay at as many campsites as possible.

We have a planned budget of around 15000 euro's (about 1650 euro's a month).

Has anybody got any tips on how to save money along the way?

And what is there along the route to see, that normally only the locals do?

Be sure that you have the ability to stay in Europe for that long. Most of Europe belongs to the Schengen zone which allows you to stay in the schengen zone for 90 out of 180 rolling days. I cant open your map and I dont know your nationality but you may want to keep this in mind.

@jamikins, I see i forgot to mention I am an Irish national and my Girlfriend is Dutch. So we can stay for as long as we like. Only Morocco would be for a shorter period of time.

I have edited the map so you should be able to see it.

And thank you for your information

Assuming you are American (or CDN) this is good information:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_4361.html

They're starting from Cork, Ireland, so I assume it's not a problem.

I would just say, with that budget you'd better calculate tolls and fuel costs carefully.

Perfect - no need to worry then

@StCirq, We have a planned fuel/repairs budget planned in beside our Normal budget to be on the safe side. We have around 5000 euro's saved for the Fuel/repair

Ah, good then.

Regarding your budget:
A van, especially converted will eat the juice. Especially once you have added insulation, kitchen and beds. Maybe an awning to boot.
If you pick large cities you cannot camp in the streets. and in some countries you cannot wild camp.
Ferry crossing will also take a huge chunk out of your budget as you will be driving a larger vehicle.
You will have to purchase Vignettes for some countries.
I would allow for breakdowns in your budget too.

Darks1er - this sounds like a terrific trip and you've obviously given it a good deal of thought already.

i do have a few thoughts/queries.

1. why are you going to go to the expense/trouble of converting a van [which you've got to buy anyway] rather than just buying a 2nd hand camper? a purpose-built vehicle should be less liable to develop faults [you might find that the conversion doesn't work], it will be easier to get parts, and have you thought about insurance? if you get a standard VW camper van they are pretty universal and parts should be reasonably easy to obtain wherever you are. who wants the loo to develop a leak in Novozibirsk?

2. even for 9 months, you are planning to cover a lot of ground, and most of what you have planned seems to be large cities. there are loads of wonderful things to see in smaller cities, towns and the countryside and they will be easier [and cheaper] to stay in than the bigger places you have targeted.

3. you have probably thought about the best time weatherwise to visit all those places, but just in case you haven't, it's an aspect to consider. for example, it might be nice to be in Austria in the winter and do some skiing there; I wouldn't want to be in Russia in the middle of January. equally, i would avoid Morocco and the south of Spain in July and August.

but most of all, I'm just jealous!

god luck!

@ribeirasacra we are only planning on using something like a VW transporter with a 1.9tdi engine to save on cost. And most places we have planned along the route have got campsites on the outskirts of the cities. Most of them only costing around 10 or 15 euros for a night (we worked it out at around 5000 euro's for the camping). And also along the route I have many friends where I can stay. So the budget should defintly be enough. And thank you for the advice on the Vignettes, this is something I will have to look in to

@annhig, The reason why we are choosing to convert a small van is because I have a friend who does conversions and who has a suitable van. The cost of the van is coming out of a seperate budget. We were looking at a camper van but the cost was more expensive that buying the converted VW of my friend.

The route we have planned is a guideline and we also want to stop of along the way at smaller places ( we would rather stop in smaller less known places than go to all the tourist attractions.)

And time wise we want to do Morocco around Jan/Feb so we would be in Russia an Scandinavia for Summer time.

Darks1der - good answers. you HAVE done your homework.

good luck on your travels!

You seem to have done your homework and have 2 questions you would like answers to. So far the thread has been spent on questioning what you have alreadly done.

Tips to save money camping in Europe are not hard to find.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=money+...rp.Ip8TxNA4gXU
Most of course are no secret. There is one that I know that can save you 50% of your total costs, but it's a secret, sorry. ;-)

There are simply far too many things that locals see/do that tourists do not, to list. Ask the locals when you are IN an area.

My primary advice for a road trip of this kind would be to take it slow, spend time IN an area, not just driving through it. The way to see 'as much as possible' is to spend time IN places, not in BETWEEN places. That's one of the two commonest mistakes that travellers make. The other is packing too much.

@Improviser Thank you for the information. You have me very curious about saving 50%. We where looking at maybe Couchsurfing in certain places to save some money on camping spots.

There is one that I know that can save you 50% of your total costs, but it's a secret, sorry. >>

what's the point of saying that, improviser? either let us and the OP in on the secret or keep stum.

Darks1der, google save 50% europe camping - lots of options.

Umm, I could tell you the answer but then I would have to kill you.

Do you guys know what a joke is?

must be the way you tell them, improviser.

I have to say thank you for the advice so far.

We have been able to find many good tips on how to save money.

Hopefully we can acctually get enough money saved to extend our trip a bit, as we where both hoping of going to Turkey aswell if possible.

I will have to do some calculations to see if it is possible to extend our route along that way.