The world’s best countries to travel in a campervan…

Let’s be honest. The words ‘Motorhome adventure’ seem about as out of place as a nun and a hunky underwear model holding hands in a cathedral.

The first word in this careless semantic coupling invokes images of house sized monstrosities thundering down miles of god-forsaken tarmac in the middle of nowhere, with pensioners at the wheel giving it their last go – the proverbial last throw of the dice in the game of life before the bucket list gets emptied and a good innings comes to timely end.

Adventure, on the other hand, conjures up images of bold journeys into the heart of lands and cultures where the only thing one can expect is the unexpected. This is where the inexorable pull of new, vibrant experiences and hard, gritty challenges will leave you standing at the end of it all with a much keener appreciation for your life and much more intimate awareness of who you are and what you value as a human being. Danger and delight line the hidden path and courage and curiosity are the fuel that propels your journey.

In the traditional sense, an adventure is undertaken upon horseback, or straddling the well-worn seat of a clapped out motorcycle, or simply on foot. Clambering on board a house on wheels and casting off with cries of ‘All aboard’ is not what one envisions when thinking of an adventure.

So long to the stereotypes

Thankfully, those stereotypes no longer apply, and the motorhomes and campervans of today have come a long, long way from the iconic Winnebago monstrosities most recently brought back into the limelight by that classic opening scene from the hit TV series Breaking Bad – where Walter White wrestles that out of control leviathan in nothing but his signature ‘tighty whities’ through the New Mexican desert.

The motorhome adventure is now something that can be undertaken by budget conscious travelling vagabonds looking for freedom on four wheels to those whose shoestring travel days are behind them and who prefer to step out in true glampervan style and comfort.

The chariot of your choice is there, but the hardest decision to be made remains just where to go. Ruling out war zones, the arctic, and crime-riddled hotspots where after a few hours away from your home on wheels you’re more likely to come back to a chassis on bricks, four obvious choices remain.

1. The USA

The USA is a Winnebago wanderer’s dream. There is so much on offer in this huge country that more often than not the hardest part of the campervan trip deciding just which route to do. We still reckon the classic National Historic Route 66, which stretches from LA to Chicago across some of the most bewildering and awe-inspiring scenery Murica has to offer, is the best way to go.

Glide through the unforgettable hairpin bends in the majestic Black Mountains, hideout in the very secluded cave system that the legendary outlaw Jesse James used to conceal himself from the law in the Meramec Caverns, Stanton, Missouri and be sure to refuel and refresh at the Dixie – Route 66’s most iconic and oldest truck stop which has only been closed 1 day in the near 70 years it has been open.

2. Europe

No other region on earth manages to combine such an alluring fusion of culture, cuisine and dynamic, diverse and startlingly beautiful scenery as Europe – both the west and the east.

Tour the iconic cities of Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and Munich; lose yourself in the endlessly crisscrossing tarmac ribbons that trail through Alps, forests and along pristine lakes. Some of the most enticing coastal driving awaits and for those with a thirst for off the beaten path adventure the whole of Eastern Europe awaits.

3. Australia

Big, bold and beautiful – Australia is a land teeming with an almost unrivalled offering of wild open spaces, first class cities brimming with culture and fine cuisine and a coastline that stretches on and on and on. Australia is a country practically tailor made for campervan travel – It has a great road infrastructure, it is safe and its natural diversity is truly astounding.

Arguably the most noted campervan route is the iconic Adelaide to Darwin route – which will have you coasting along the Lasseter highway past Australia’s most famous natural landmark – Uluru. This route is extremely campervan friendly with a host of very affordable campsites dotted along the way – many of them situated in national parks.

4. New Zealand

The jewel in the campervan hire holiday destination crown. The land of the long white cloud is synonymous with unrivalled natural splendor, vast and dramatic coastline teeming with a rich diversity of wildlife and the kinds of settings that dazzled audiences around the world on the silver screen as Peter Jackson brought J.R.R Tolkien’s masterpiece to life.

A huge part of what drives New Zealand’s economy is tourism, and a big portion of that is driven by campervan adventurers. In keeping with the theme of adventure we would recommend a circuitous route of the South Island which offers a huge range of natural diversity in so small an area of land.

Start off in Queenstown – the adventure capital of the world and head down through the Southern Alps to the majestic Milford sound, and then up the rugged and wild coast past glacier country and the old gold mining towns that dot the coastline. Tour some of the finest wine regions in the world as you head north past Picton and Nelson and then loop back down towards Christchurch.

Campervan hire in New Zealand is extremely easy and budget friendly. The industry and infrastructure is tailor made for these kinds of trips, making NZ the perfect spot for families, couples or even just a group of friends keen on a road trip in some of the most beautiful settings on the planet.

Nige Burton explains how his wondrous continental rail journeys always start with a trusty Eurostar trip from London’s St Pancras

I looked up at the destinations board abstractedly as I shouldered my way across the concourse of Paris’s Gare du Nord, a smirk of delight spreading across my countenance. Zurich, Cologne, Charleroi, Amsterdam… these were places that I used to think of – and I now really don’t know why – as only being feasibly reachable by flying.

In fact, flying had always been my transport of choice, even for a short hop from Manchester to London. I thought it was quicker. I’d never really had a fear of flying, but I also can’t say that I particularly enjoyed it either; it was always a means to an end, a necessary part of travel.

And then came the three dodgy flights, all in a row like so many spiteful buses, to shake my confidence in aeronautics for life. Having never really given it much heed aside from the boredom, I was suddenly and indubitably aware that hurtling through the sky at over 500 miles an hour six miles up, with nothing but a rinkydink aluminium tube, a seatbelt and a laminated safety card for protection, was no longer so de rigueur after all. Sure – the statistics tell us the chances of anything happening are slimmer than slim, and all the ancient Sages advise that ‘if it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go’, but – what if it’s the pilot’s time to go?

Travel to cities such as Maastricht is surprisingly easy by train, and affords a closer exploration of some of the hidden gems of Europe

Anyway, notwithstanding any of this, and from a pure enjoyment-of-the-journey point of view, I had taken the decision to explore alternatives, and thus found myself all aglow with exultation on the Parisienne terminus. In theory, I could get anywhere by train! Well, nearly anywhere. And it was a revelation.

I have since come to call this little adventure my Pan European Odyssey: in short, my exploration of no less than eight European cities – each in a different country – over a two-and-a-half-week period. I had plenty of time in each one, beginning my adventure in London, from where I gained Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava and finally Munich before returning to the United Kingdom.

Chill in laid back Leuven, Belgium’s oldest university seat

All this was undertaken on trains various, each leg revelling in the ever-changing landscape incumbent upon it to be presented with mawkish pride; arriving in the stately Austrian capital with its fine architecture and grandeur; watching the Hungarian countryside melt into the deep blue of the night before settling down in my compact but comfortable sleeper car; slowly sipping a glass of wine whilst dining on the rolling stage of a sunset behind the Transylvanian Alps – all these exquisite moments sparkle in the memory of this behemoth expedition. There was something very special indeed about looking out of window and seeing more than a carpet of clouds whilst holding my breath at every bump or thump, despite the fact that most all of these sounds are perfectly ‘normal’. On a train, I don’t have to look at the flight attendant’s face to see how ‘normal’ the sound was to them; on my dodgy flights, I realised that fear is pretty much fear, and can stare out of the most well-trained and professional visage just as much as the meagre passenger one.

It was at this point I made my decision that, wherever possible, I was going to travel without wings. So many exciting destinations were available to me without my once having to set foot inside an airport terminal – I would just have to plan things a little more carefully.

Time is undoubtedly the biggest single factor you need on your side if you’re going to adopt a similar principle, and it certainly helps that my working life allows me the freedom to operate from most anywhere on the planet. But I still have cats to feed at home, and whilst friends and family will step into the breach and dish out a regular daily bowl of kibbles, for Irma and Gomez that’s no substitute for the first hand company of their Dad. And so I set about experimenting with places and time-scales that would not present a too chronologically challenging undertaking to the vast majority of holidayers who are subject to the vagaries of a more restricted working practice – the 96% of the working population of Great Britain.

The Hague is one of Holland’s best kept secrets and makes for a superb romantic retreat by train

I have since, apart from my eight country extravaganza, taken many wonderful jaunts by train, including a beach holiday in Menorca by rail and ferry. The total trip was completed in exactly two weeks, although just one week was spent on the island. The trick here is to make the journey as much a part of the experience as the destination itself; there was a great satisfaction in hurtling through a vista that slowly, but very perceptibly, changed from the bustling skyline of metropolitan Paris through to the lush, verdant pastures of southern France, and on into the drier, equally impressive Spanish plains. And sailing into Mao harbour at a little before eight on a sunny September Saturday morning is nothing short of sublime, and without a single butterfly in my stomach save for those more welcome ones anticipating the excitement of the week to come. I have also explored those cities which most of us hear of but would never dream of visiting, and I’d surely have been a lesser person without the experiences; the romance of The Hague, the ancient charm of Leuven or the majestic beauty of Maastricht to name but a handful. Oh, and for a true summer break without even the need for a ferry, I became deliciously acquainted with the lazy, hazy, long-shadowed, sun-baked walled city of Avignon; now there is a little corner of perfection.

But, residing on one of our great British islands still seems to present a barrier to some fellow journeymen, psychologically informing thoughts which in turn entertain the notion that one must fly to escape to climes more exotic and meaningful. To these uninitiated creatures, I utter one word of encouragement and hope: Eurostar. That magical conveyance has whisked me tout de suit to either Lille, Paris or Brussels on so many occasions now that I have genuinely lost count. And it is from these three wonderful cities – all worthy of thorough and regular exploration in themselves – that so much more adventure beckons.

Avignon proves that a sun-baked summer holiday doesn’t need a coastline and can still be easily reached from the UK by train

Services are quick and easily undertaken, with journey times shorter than those of many domestic rail trips, Lille being a mere hour and twenty minutes from London’s state-of-the-art international hub of St Pancras, and Paris a very little over two hours away. With eleven daily services from Brussels Midi to St Pancras, and journey times often as swift as a minute over two hours for fares from €88 return, flying seems to make less and less sense. Onward travel is a divine piece of cake, with connections and timetables making planning pretty much as easy as any UK rail journey, allowing the intrepid sojourner a freedom only bound by the limits of his own imagination. But for me, one of the true great advantages of travelling by Eurostar in particular is the generous baggage allowance; each passenger can take on board two suitcases and a single item of hand luggage – after the limitations imposed by airlines, this is extremely liberating.

So, as I plot my next expedition with an eagerness that can be known only to those who have already joined the fold, those fortunate individuals who know that flying is not the only passport to foreign adventure, I oftentimes prepare to simply stick the proverbial pin in the map. I think of the true promise of adventure, and I feel the words building inside me. I can’t stop them, or tell you why I say them, but as I trace imaginary lines across the page, entertaining thoughts of wonder and bliss, these words come to me in a whisper; I say them as prayer, as thanks, as praise; I say… Eurostar… Eurostar…

Tickets are available from eurostar.com or 08432 186 186.

Main image courtesy of Eurostar

Article images by Nige Burton

Exploring a town, city or region for the first time is always great fun, and there are various ways you can go about it, from the conventional to the wacky, weird and wonderful.

Playing it safe and taking the traditional city tour can be great for those of us looking for a dependable, reliable way to make sure we don’t miss out on any highlights.

But for those among us seeking a little spirit and adventure in our voyages of discovery, there are usually fairly inexpensive alternatives to the humdrum, injecting that frisson of excitement into our experience of a destination.

Take a look at these five delicious European mad modes of transport from east and west, to guarantee your sightseeing has an air of eccentricity about it! Click the numbered headings to read more about each quirky conveyance.

1.) Enjoy a city tour of Prague in a shocking pink Škoda Felicia convertible…

Although Prague is culturally and economically on a par with the rest of its European counterparts today, you can still hark back to cold war days with a tour of the city’s hotspots in this iconic communist convertible.

2.) Take the longest trolleybus ride in the world – from Yalta to Simferopol…

Most tourists opt for a plane or taxi, but you can cruise through the Crimean mountains in a genuine old Škoda trolleybus on this epic 86 kilometre journey at the pace of a snail.

3.) Ride the meanest, greenest solar train to see what’s what in Maastricht…

It’s quirky, clean and fun, and will get you round the sights of the Dutch city of Maastricht using nothing but the power of old Phoebus himself.

4.) Drive your own Trabant around Berlin’s east side…

Get behind the wheel of a real, live genuine Trabant and explore Berlin as part of a Trabi Safari. It’s not so bad once you’ve mastered the revolver gear shift…

5.) From the French frontier to the Dutch border, discover the scenic Belgian coastline on the Kusttram…

The De Lijn Belgian Coastal Tramway is a great way to cover the whole of Belgium’s diverse coastline – all 68 kilometres of it!

Some cities tend to rule the roost when it comes to city breaks. They’ve obviously earned their places in our collective hearts, but the sad thing is that they can overshadow some equally wonderful cities – often right on their own doorsteps.

So when planning your next trip, why not take a break from the obvious and try out one of these alternatives – same country, same language, same travel card currency as their more famous neighbours, but offering you a whole new experience…

Hamburg, Germany, may seem like a strange choice with which to start this tour of the lesser known city break destinations. It is no shrinking violet and there is no question over the height of its profile – one of the world’s foremost ports, an important place in the history of The Beatles and the setting for a string of Hollywood movies. BUT… competing for visitors with capital Berlin and its unique west meets east atmosphere, or with Munich and all the oom-pah surrounding Oktoberfest, can’t be easy. There’s no end of things to do in Hamburg, whatever pace you’re looking for – marvel at the stunning architecture of the Rathaus, watch the giraffes being fed at the Tierpark Hagenbeck, or simply relax with a drink overlooking the fountain on the Binnenalster.

When people think of city break and Spanish coast they immediately think of Barcelona and that big church. Valencia’s the place to be though – it too has a golden sandy beach (and a lovely one at that), a cool and cosmopolitan feel, plenty of shops, bars and restaurants and – while Gaudi maybe didn’t make his mark here – it has some eye-catching architecture of its own. Highlights of this bold and bustling town include the Mercado Central, where you can sample some delicious local produce in art nouveau surroundings, and the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences. The latter is a cluster of cutting edge buildings housing museums and exhibitions, including L’Oceanogràfic aquarium – the impressive blue and white structures present an almost cooling sensation in the Spanish heat.

Being capital of the free world should make you the most famous city of all, right? There’s a friendly rivalry between Washington D.C. and its not-so-far-away neighbour New York, and that’s in no small part down to the latter hogging the limelight with its skyscrapers, famous department stores, Broadway shows… But the Big Apple didn’t hog all the good bits – head to D.C. for some truly iconic Americana. There are the landmarks – the White House, the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial to name a few. And it’s not just an open air museum – all these government types need classy stores and cool bars too. And finally, is walking past “her from that thing” on Fifth Avenue a patch on being outside the White House just as the President takes off in his helicopter?

Caxton FX offers the best available exchange rates on both the Euro and US Dollar with its prepaid currency card – the perfect companion for visiting these unsung city break heroes.

Any trip to Switzerland is an ideal opportunity to also visit the tiny settlement of Liechtenstein, enabling you to satisfy that intrepid traveller desire to officially tick off ‘another country’.

Covering a modest area of just over sixty square miles in Western Europe and with a population of around 35,000, this Principality ironically boasts the highest gross domestic product per person in the world. The doubly-landlocked alpine microstate is bordered by Austria to the east and Switzerland to the south and west, and is the only German-speaking country not to share a border with Germany. Unsurprisingly, it’s the smallest country in the world to speak the Teutonic mother-tongue, and yet the richest. Geographically, Liechtenstein is the only alpine country lying entirely in the Alps.

Vaduz Castle, taking its name from and overlooking the capital, is still home to and regularly occupied by the Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II, who has reigned since 1989.

For years considered one of the few remaining unco-operative tax havens, with a basic rate of personal income tax at just 1.2%, in 2009 the country made an agreement with the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs to start exchanging information. It is estimated that around 5,000 British investors have approximately GBP 3 billion squirreled away in accounts and trusts throughout the land.

To the visitor, Liechtenstein has something of a fairy-tale element to it, with its tiny landmass being watched over by one of the few remaining monarchs, from high up in his mountain castle. Resembling more of an English Lakeland village than European capital city, Vaduz is a quietly assertive economic powerhouse, with more registered companies than citizens. The country follows a policy of neutrality, and is in fact one of only a handful in the world that maintains no military. The most recent action was seen during the Austro-Prussian War, however the 80 Liechtensteiners who took part were never involved in any fighting. The last serviceman died in 1939 at the ripe old age of 95.

To browse its handful of bars, restaurants and souvenir shops makes for a pleasantly relaxing afternoon and, while Liechtenstein won’t keep you occupied for days, it is most certainly worth a relatively brief sojourn.

There’s also the ‘KunstMuseum’ (Art Museum), which has an interesting collection on the ground floor, and a changing modern exhibition on the first floor, Tate Modern style.

Wine connoisseurs might want to take a look at the Prince’s collection, which is available to view by a vineyard on the northern edge of Vaduz, just a five minute walk from the central square.

Grab yourself a taste of Eastern Bloc culture with an iconic drive around the sights of Berlin in an authentic two-stroke Trabi

It’s almost twenty-one years since the historic fall of the Berlin wall, that most iconic of all symbols of the iron curtain, liberated the long-oppressed citizens of the German Democratic Republic. The official reunification of east and west Germany on October 3rd, 1990, saw a clashing of cultures, none so conspicuous as that cursory measure of personal success and wealth – the car we drive.

While affluent, capitalistic westerners flounced round in their Mercedes, BMWs, Volkswagens and – if they’d really made it – Porsches, the downtrodden denizens of the ghettoed east end had to make do with Wartburgs and Trabants.

Outside of the GDR, nobody ever really took the Trabant seriously. Come to think of it, neither did anyone inside it, but for a cash-strapped society under communist rule, it meant transport. It may not have been the last word in luxury, but the faithful little Trabi gave wheels to the people, albeit not very fast or stylish ones.

Of all the Eastern Bloc cars that made up the staple of cheap motoring throughout the last decades of the 20th century, the humble Trabant seemed the least likely to survive. Yet while populations of ancient Skodas, Ladas and Moskviches gradually rusted from the face of the earth, the smoky little two-stroke gained itself a cult following that immortalised it as the very essence of the division of Berlin, carving itself a nostalgic niche in the hearts and minds of car enthusiasts throughout the world; not many visitors to Berlin leave without the obligatory model Trabi in their suitcase.

Well now you can go a stage further. Trabi Safari, based in the German capital, actually give you the chance to take the wheel of the minxish motor yourself, as you take an indulgent drive along the site where the infamous wall once stood, absorbing the sights of both east and west Berlin along the way, with a quirky commentary provided via a radio link.

If you just fancy having a stab at driving one, you can opt for a straight-forward twenty minute spin following a driver in a lead Trabi who’ll give you tips and hints along the way. This will set you back €15 per person, but if you fancy venturing €40 each, you’ll get the full-on safari experience, being part of a convoy of six brightly liveried cars all following a leader. This tour lasts an hour, and you can fit up to four people in each car – I’ll stop short of saying ‘in comfort’.

If it’s a gorgeous summer’s day, you might want to select one of the specially modified convertibles. Me, I like my Trabi organic, the way nature intended, so I chose one in Bolshevik beige complete with roof and hubcaps. It’s a feisty little beast to tame, especially with its ‘revolver’ gearshift, and I wouldn’t want to take one very far, but it was great fun and very rewarding.

And when you return your trusty little Trabi? What better souvenir than an ‘authentic’ Trabant driving licence! All part of the service, of course.

Trabi Safari
BallonGarten (at WELT-Ballon)
Zimmerstrasse 97 / corner Wilhelmstrasse
10117 Berlin-Mitte

Visit www.trabi-safari.de

Tel.: +49 3027 592273

Email berlin@trabi-safari.de

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