Europe's famous road trips: which ones a car + caravan may drive [OC]

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

20 famous European road trips, each coloured by whether a car towing a caravan may drive it: 10 the whole road, 7 with a bypass, 3 not at all (Stelvio, the Amalfi coast road, the Lake District’s Hardknott/Wrynose loop).

A few things that surprised me while reading the rules:

Amalfi coast road (SS163): campers and caravans are banned 06:30–24:00, while motorbikes are exempt from the odd/even number-plate days cars get in summer.
Grossglockner: a motorcycle’s day ticket is €36.50 against €46.50 for a car — and a car with a caravan pays the car rate.
Geiranger–Hellesylt ferry: about €76 for a car with its driver, €187 for a car + caravan (10–14 m), €61 for a motorbike.

Rules read on 5 Nov from the road authorities and operators (where only a secondary source says it, the page says so). Each road is priced for car, car + caravan, motorhome and motorcycle: https://copilot.travel/maps/famous-road-trips Corrections welcome.

Eggymatrix@sh.itjust.works · 4 days

A car towing a caravan should not go on alpine passes. Or at least if it does it should take care in letting people pass. Too many times I am stuck behind such individuals from britain or netherlands which have never seen a mountain and the road is too narrow to pass.

You decided to climb this mountain for pleasure with this thing, I did not and this is the only road for me to reach my family, move outta my way.

rmuk@feddit.uk · 2 days

There’s no road user more entitled than a British driver of a Land Rover Discovery towing a caravan. I live very close to one of these routes and they are a fucking nightmare.

Usually running on slick summer tyres and with no clue how to approach turns or inclines (but it’s okay! - the engine is powerful enough for them not to care and they pressed the little “inclines” button which magically fixes everything), they’re convinced they’re invincible, absolutely will not wait their turn or give way, will insist they everyone else get off their road, all the time outraged that we’d dare to exist in their presence. That five hundred year old wall they just knocked over? It came out of nowhere! And, besides it shouldn’t have been there anyway - the countryside should have taken them into account.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

You have a good point, and I have been on the other side of it too. The map only shows what’s legally allowed “yes” doesnt mean it is a good idea, and on the narrow passes its often better to leave the caravan in the valley and do the pass as a day trip.

If you do tow over one, the decent thing is to pull into the next lay by whenever a queue builds behind you. Locals on their way to work or family didnt choose to be part of someone’s holiday that understandable. I will add that to the caravan notes for the mountain routes!

OwOarchist@pawb.social · 4 days

If you do tow over one, the decent thing is to pull into the next lay by whenever a queue builds behind you.

In some places, this is legally required.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

True, like Germany has it in the traffic code: StVO §5(6) says the driver of a slower vehicle must slow down at a suitable place, and wait if necessary, when that’s the only way several vehicles right behind can overtake.

In the UK it’s in the Highway Code (rule 169: “Do not hold up a long queue of traffic… pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass”), though there it’s guidance rather than law. Thanks I will put the German rule on the German Alpine Road’s caravan row.

KatherinaReichelt@feddit.org · 2 days

German here: That really is not enforced.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 2 days

Fair point, its in the StVO (§ 5(6)), but I believe you that quite nobody gets fined for it. I put it on the map because caravan drivers asked whether pulling over on mountain roads is just good manners or actually expected; legally its the second, in practice its the first.

Do you know any stretch where its actually checked?

Skua@kbin.earth · 4 days

The North Coast 500 (the one in Scotland) is due to a pass called the Bealach na Bà. There’s a big sign warning about the danger of taking large vehicles along it, but it’s not strictly banned or impossible, and as such people absolutely do take caravans on it. They really shouldn’t, but they do

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Yes thats why its amber (“with a bypass”) rather than red on the map.

The sign at the Tornapress end says the road isnt advised for learner drivers, very large vehicles or caravans after the first mile, and the official NC500 site tells anything bigger than a VW T5-size camper to take the low road via Shieldaig instead (same for the B869 Drumbeg road). Not banned, just a bad idea and the low road is lovely too.

tales_origin@feddit.org · 4 days

Where did you get these prices and basically the whole data from? Seems like AI just queried a few websites and put it together or did you manually check it?

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Fair question!

Every fare and rule comes from the road authority’s or operator’s own page,each row on the page links to its source. I used tools to collect and compare them, and I re-checked the three figures in this post against the sources today: Grossglockner’s €46.50 / €36.50 is on grossglockner.at, and the Geiranger–Hellesylt fares are Fjord1’s 2026 price list (NOK 810 car, NOK 2,000 for 10–14 m, NOK 650 motorcycle, converted to euros).

Fuel is calculated, not looked up: the EU’s weekly pump prices for each country on the route times a typical consumption. If you spot anything off, tell me and I’ll fix it, database is on the copilot.travel site that holds quite a lot of information.

tales_origin@feddit.org · 4 days

Sounds good, I have a website that could need such data, but I have strict requirements for availability, costs and privacy. So best would be to self host or have a open api, do you offer something like that or is your code open source?

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Thanks! There’s no public API at the moment and the code isn’t open source, but most of the data is open: each map page has a CSV download under CC BY 4.0 (free to use, self-host and change, with a credit to copilot.travel) winter tyres, low-emission zones, compulsory equipment, caravan speed limits, licence rules, gas bottles on ferries and more, with every rows source.

A CSV for these famous roads is coming in the next few days. Everything is listed at https://copilot.travel/press. If you need something specific, fields, countries, how often it is updated, tell me at a private message what you have on your mind, and lets see what we can do!

OwOarchist@pawb.social · 4 days

What is this, a road trip for ants?

(Just joking. But from an American perspective, most of these are very short road trips. And some of the shorter ones wouldn’t really be considered a ‘road trip’ at all. Barely longer than a commute.)

bstix@feddit.dk · 2 days

They’re more like destinations that are fun to drive, as in, the road itself is the attraction.

Like the Big Sur in California or something.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Hehe, I think your right, from the page you can choose where to start your own trip and these “Road Trips” are the one highlight of the trip, the short ones are “a day for 50 km” roads - Stelvio is 46 km with 48 hairpins on one side, Grossglockner 48 km and you’ll still stop every few bends.

Most Europeans string them into a longer trip: the Route des Grandes Alpes is ~700 km (435 mi) over 17 passes, the North Coast 500 is 516 miles, the Wild Atlantic Way 2,500 km (1,550 mi), and Iceland’s Ring Road 1,322 km. And getting there is half of it: from Amsterdam to Stelvio is already ~900 km (560 mi) before the first hairpin.

Zombie@feddit.uk · 4 days

Until you get onto the road.

American roads are generally modern, built exclusively for cars and are therefore straight and wide. Often carving their way through the landscape. Long distances can be covered in short periods of time.

European roads are often old, built where horse tracks would have been previously. Some roads aren’t much wider than a horse track either. They tend to wind and weave their way around landscapes instead of through.

70 miles may be a 1h drive for most Americans, to Europeans that distance could take twice as long.

Here’s an example of an A road in northern Scotland which is part of the NC500 route. An A road is deemed one step down from a motorway (or highway in America). Notice the coach in the distance. You don’t want to meet that coach on a corner while going at speed.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/D85dqddYvT9g2S1r6

CackNClap@infosec.pub · 3 days

Absolutely. I’ve done the Wild Atlantic Way (11) and while you could probably drive it in a day or two it would not be an enjoyable trip for the driver. It’s not straight, flat, or wide enough for a relaxing drive. The speed limit goes down as you drive through each village, and back up again, often right before a sudden bend or roundabout before the next stretch. In shorter segments you can settle your nerves, enjoy the views, and do the touristy things at each stop.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Well put and thats the trap with planning these from a map.

The NC500 is 516 miles, but on the single-track west coast you’re doing 20–30 mph between passing places, so “a day” on Google becomes three or four.

Thats also why I list days rather than hours for these roads. And yes, meeting that coach on a blind bend is a rite of passage, reverse to the last passing place and wave. Altought like in Germany theres autobahns with no speed limit and I can drive in night time 100mph for long distances

KatherinaReichelt@feddit.org · 4 days

Amalfi coast road (SS163): campers and caravans are banned 06:30–24:00, while motorbikes are exempt from the odd/even number-plate days cars get in summer

That is actually a good way of reducing tourist congestion of such places.

Heikki@sopuli.xyz · 4 days

Agreed, and it seems to be spreading. In the Picos de Europa the road up to the Covadonga lakes is closed to private cars on set dates (most of June to mid-October) and a shuttle bus takes you up instead, and South Tyrol has been testing access limits on the Passo Gardena with possible measures from summer 2027.

The Amalfi rule is a bit odd in one way though: the plate days apply only 10:00–18:00, so the early birds still get the road to themselves.