How We Planned a European Road Trip

What We Learned Traveling Through Multiple Countries in Europe

One of our favorite ways to explore Europe has been by taking road trips between countries and smaller towns instead of only flying from city to city. Some of our best memories came from the unexpected stops along the way — small villages, scenic drives, roadside cafés, and places we never originally planned to visit.

Planning a European road trip can feel overwhelming at first, especially when you’re navigating different countries, languages, toll roads, parking rules, and transportation systems. But once you understand a few basics, it becomes one of the best ways to experience Europe at a slower and more flexible pace.

Here’s how we planned our European road trip and everything we learned along the way

Decide What Type of Trip You Want

Before booking anything, we first decided what kind of experience we wanted. Did we want:

• big cities?
• countryside?
• castles and villages?
• coastal towns?
• mountains?
• museums and history?
• relaxing slower travel?
• fast-paced sightseeing?

Once we figured out what kind of trip we wanted to take, it helped shape the entire route.

Don’t Try to See Too Much

One of the biggest mistakes people make when planning a European road trip is trying to cram too many places into one trip. At first, it’s tempting to think “We’re already in Europe — let’s see everything!” But moving hotels constantly becomes exhausting. This is especially true when traveling with children, who often need downtime just as much as adults.

We learned to:

• stay multiple nights in key locations
• use cities as “home bases”
• allow slower days between site-seeing
• leave time for unplanned or spontaneous discoveries
• build in time to simply enjoy the destination

The more we traveled, the more we realized that seeing fewer places often resulted in a better overall experience. Some of our favorite moments happened when we weren’t rushing.

Choose Countries That Make Sense Together

We tried to create routes that flowed naturally instead of zigzagging across Europe.

Some great combinations:

• Netherlands + Belgium + Germany
• Germany + Austria + Slovenia + Croatia
• France + Belgium + Netherlands
• Spain + Portugal
• Italy + Switzerland + Germany
• Poland + Czech Republic
• Germany + Denmark + Sweden

Driving between neighboring countries is often easier than people expect.

One of the most surreal parts of traveling in Europe is crossing borders so quickly. Sometimes the scenery changes dramatically without much warning.

Research Driving Rules Before You Go

One of the most important parts of planning a European road trip is understanding that driving rules can vary significantly from country to country.

While driving through Europe can be an incredible experience, some destinations are much easier to navigate than others. We found that countries such as Italy, France, and Spain could be particularly challenging, especially in larger cities and historic town centers.

Many European cities were built centuries before cars existed, which means you’ll often encounter:

• Extremely narrow streets
• One-way roads
• Limited parking
• Tiny parking garages
• Tight parking spaces
• Traffic-restricted zones
• Pedestrian-only areas
• Confusing navigation in historic centers

Some parking garages were so narrow that even a compact rental car felt difficult to maneuver. We witnessed far too many cars backing into cement pillars or hitting other cars because they cant make the tight turns in the garages. In many cities, we found ourselves folding mirrors in and carefully inching through garages designed long before modern vehicles existed.

Understand Vignettes Before Crossing Borders

Several European countries require a vignette, which is essentially a prepaid road-use permit for highways and motorways.

Countries that commonly require vignettes include:

• Austria
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• Switzerland
• Czech Republic
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Hungary

Driving without a required vignette can result in significant fines.

When we lived in Germany, I often visited the ADAC (German Automobile Club) before our trips. They made the process easy by helping us purchase the required vignettes and providing information about toll roads and driving requirements for each country on our route.

If you’re already on the road, vignettes can also usually be purchased at gas stations and rest stops near border crossings before entering the next country. Also, some countries have gone to digital vignettes, or vignettes that are tied to your license plate.

Environmental Zones and Emissions Stickers

Several European countries have environmental zones that restrict access to certain vehicles.

France, in particular, requires many vehicles to display a Crit’Air environmental sticker when driving in designated low-emission zones. Depending on your route and destination, you may need to obtain this sticker before your trip.

Germany also has environmental zones in many cities that require an emissions sticker, known as an Umweltplakette.

Before traveling, research:

• Environmental zone requirements
• Emissions stickers
• Low-emission areas
• City driving restrictions

This can save you from unexpected fines and help you avoid restricted areas.

Toll Roads

Many European countries use toll roads, but the systems vary.

Some countries use:

• Traditional toll booths
• Electronic toll systems
• Prepaid road permits (vignettes)

France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia all have toll roads that can quickly add up during a longer road trip. On our trip from Germany to Normandy, France we ended up paying 150 euros in tolls. It’s worth researching expected toll costs ahead of time and carrying a credit card that works easily throughout Europe.

Learn Common Road Signs Before You Go

One thing that often surprises Americans driving in Europe for the first time is how many road signs rely on symbols rather than words.

While many signs are intuitive, others can be confusing if you’ve never seen them before. Taking a few minutes to familiarize yourself with common European road signs before your trip can make driving much less stressful.

Some of the signs we encountered most often included:

• Do Not Enter – A red circle with a horizontal white bar. This sign is extremely important and commonly found on one-way streets.

• No Parking – Typically a blue circle with a red border and a single red diagonal line.

• No Stopping – A blue circle with a red border and a red “X.” This means you cannot stop your vehicle for any reason.

• One-Way Street – Often shown with a directional arrow.

• Pedestrian Zone – Indicates pedestrians have priority, and vehicle speed is at walking speed only 5-10km/h.

• No Car Zone – Motor vehicles are prohibited beyond this point.

• Speed Limit Signs – Most European countries display speed limits in kilometers per hour (km/h), not miles per hour.
• Most Important – Cars yield to the right in Europe on secondary roads, and even parking lots.

When we moved to Germany, I quickly learned that understanding road signs was just as important as understanding the language. Some signs may seem obvious, but others can result in tickets, fines, or accidentally driving into restricted zones if you don’t recognize them.

One of the biggest adjustments for many Americans is driving through roundabouts. They are extremely common throughout Europe and often replace traditional intersections. After a few days of driving, however, they become second nature and can actually keep traffic moving more efficiently than traffic lights.

My Advice

One of the best things we did before a road trip was spend a little time researching the driving requirements for every country we planned to visit. Also downloading the Google translate app was extremely helpful while traveling. We could take pictures of parking signs in different languages and have it translated to know what the rules were before we parked. We learned this the hard way in a Denmark parking garage, where we got a ticket for parking in a space on a weekend.

Understanding tolls, parking rules, driving signs, environmental zones, and vignette requirements ahead of time made the trip far less stressful and allowed us to focus on enjoying the journey instead of worrying about unexpected fines or restrictions or when the last gas station was to pay for a vignette.

Decide When to Use Trains Instead

One thing we quickly learned: Just because you can drive somewhere doesn’t always mean you should. For larger cities, trains were often faster, easier, less stressful than driving and cheaper than paying for parking.

Before your trip, I recommend downloading a few train apps to your phone. These make it easy to search schedules, purchase tickets, track delays, and find train platforms. Some of the apps we used most often include:

DB Navigator (Germany) -DB Navigator is operated by Deutsche Bahn and became one of our most-used travel apps while living in Germany. Even if you’re traveling outside Germany, DB often displays connections throughout Europe and can be surprisingly useful.

ÖBB (Austria) – Austria’s national rail app is excellent and often shows routes throughout neighboring countries as well.

Trenitalia (Italy) – If you’re traveling through Italy, downloading the Trenitalia app is highly recommended. It makes booking Italy’s high-speed trains much easier and allows you to manage reservations directly from your phone.Italy’s rail system is extensive, and trains are often the easiest way to visit cities such as Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and Naples.

Omio – Omio became one of my favorite travel planning tools because it allows you to compare multiple transportation options in one place. With Omio you can compare trains, buses, and flights, compare prices, view travel times, and book tickets directly. It’s particularly helpful when planning multi-country European trips and deciding whether a train, bus, or flight makes the most sense.

SNCF Connect – (France)

SBB Mobile– (Switzerland)

Renfe (Spain)

Book Early for the Best Prices

Just like airfare, train tickets are often less expensive when purchased in advance. For popular routes, especially: high-speed trains, weekend travel, holiday periods, and summer travel booking several weeks ahead can result in significant savings. Many European trains offer optional seat reservations. While not always required, I highly recommend reserving seats for:

• Families
• Long-distance routes
• Busy travel seasons
• High-speed trains

There’s nothing worse than boarding a crowded train and spending the next several hours standing and searching for available seats.

* One important tip for first-time travelers: some train tickets must be validated before boarding. While many digital tickets are automatically validated, paper tickets in certain countries may need to be stamped at a validation machine located near the platform before you board, and when you get off the train. Don’t throw away your tickets or loose them, sometimes you need to scan them again when leaving the train terminal like in France or the Netherlands. Always read the instructions carefully to avoid unnecessary fines.

Our Favorite Approach

When planning European road trips, we often used the car to travel between regions and smaller towns, then switched to trains once we arrived in larger cities. This gave us the flexibility of a road trip while avoiding the headaches of city driving, expensive parking garages, and navigating unfamiliar urban areas. For us, combining trains and road trips created the perfect balance and made exploring Europe much more enjoyable.

Pick Hotels Carefully

One of the biggest lessons we learned while planning European road trips was that hotel location matters just as much as the hotel itself.

Whenever possible, we tried to stay within or very close to historic old towns. Not only did this allow us to experience the charm and character of each destination, but it also made sightseeing much easier.

Our goal was usually to arrive at the hotel, park the car, and not move it again until checkout. Many European old towns are incredibly walkable, and once we settled in, we preferred exploring on foot rather than navigating narrow streets, traffic restrictions, and parking garages.

Some of our favorite travel memories came from stepping out of our hotel and immediately finding ourselves surrounded by cobblestone streets, cafés, bakeries, churches, local shops, and beautiful town squares.

When researching hotels, we looked for:

• On-site parking or nearby public parking
• Walking distance to attractions and restaurants
• Easy access to historic centers
• Breakfast included
• Flexible cancellation policies
• Good reviews regarding parking and location

While hotels in old towns sometimes cost a little more, we often saved money and stress by avoiding daily parking fees, public transportation costs, and time spent driving around unfamiliar cities, which were usually one way streets, and got you lost.

For larger cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, or Munich, we often stayed just outside the city center near a train station and used public transportation instead of driving into crowded urban areas. But for smaller towns and villages, staying directly in the historic center allowed us to fully experience the destination and enjoy leisurely morning and evening walks.

Looking back, location consistently mattered more than luxury. We often chose smaller hotels in historic town centers over larger chain hotels because they allowed us to truly experience the destination. Our goal was usually simple: arrive, park the car, and explore on foot. Some of our favorite memories came from evening walks through cobblestone streets, stopping for gelato, finding a local bakery in the morning, or discovering a hidden square we hadn’t planned to visit. Those experiences became just as memorable as the major attractions themselves.

Build in Extra Time

Travel days in Europe almost always take longer than expected. Things that can slow you down:

• traffic
• toll booths
• border crossings and passport checks
• narrow streets
• finding parking
• road construction
• scenic stops

We learned not to overbook our travel days. Don’t plan tours or dinners on your travel days. You will always run over the expected arrival time. Leaving room for flexibility made the trip feel much more relaxing

What We Packed for a European Road Trip

Packing carry ons or overnight bags was how we traveled. First, because cars are smaller in Europe, and they can’t hold everyones big suitcases. Second, You don’t want to be carrying big, heavy suitcases up and down stairs. A lot of hotels and train stations don’t have elevators, or they are really tiny.

We also tried to pack lighter than we normally would because moving luggage through hotels, train stations, and small elevators in Europe can become tiring quickly. A few things that made travel easier:

• packing cubes
• comfortable walking shoes
• portable chargers
• adapters
• refillable water bottles
• lightweight jackets
• crossbody bags
• snacks for long drives to go in electrical ice chests.
• printed reservation confirmations
• Passports and visas
• Vacuum sealed bags for thicker/ bulkier winter or ski clothes

What Surprised Us Most

One of the biggest surprises was how different each country felt despite being relatively close together. The architecture, food, pace, roads, and even driving styles changed quickly between countries. Another surprise was how much we loved the smaller towns and unexpected stops just as much — sometimes more — than the major tourist attractions. Those quieter moments ended up becoming some of our favorite memories.

Would We Do It Again?

Absolutely! A European road trip allows you to experience places in a completely different way than flying between cities. You notice changing landscapes, local villages, hidden stops, and cultural differences you may otherwise miss flying. It takes more planning, but it also creates the kind of memories that feel more personal and spontaneous.

Planning a European road trip can seem intimidating at first, but it ended up being one of the most rewarding ways we’ve ever traveled. For us, the best parts weren’t always the famous landmarks — they were the scenic drives, the small towns, the unplanned stops, and the feeling of discovering places along the way. Sometimes the journey itself really does become the highlight of the trip.