Why Road Trips Rock

Road trips - mountain road with snow

 Want to see a great load of sights in one trip? Want an adventure and stories to tell, without sleeping in the slums? Road tripping is the way to go!
Frozen lake in Arctic Scandinavia
Views high up away from the resorts in a very rural Gran Canaria

Driving the famous racing route in Monte Carlo



  • Road trips take away the time spent waiting for public transport on holiday and working out timetables - that really adds up. We have spent most of the day on a bus from Cannes to Nice before now... then we went back, but in the car and oh boy! The day we saw Michaelangelo's David, the Leaning tower of Pisa, and beautiful medieval San Gimignano in one day, I was particularly grateful for the variety a road trip affords. 

  • You can still get exposed to a bit of local culture on a road trip holiday - in addition to stopping at funny little places off the beaten track - just turn on the radio, you might be lucky enough to hear some great local tracks that stay with you forever! Richard and I call these 'holiday songs' and man do they evoke some powerful memories! 
Panoramic views high up on rural mountain passes in the Alps
  • Road trip holidays give you the freedom and flexibilty (those words were bound to come up eventually) to arrive and move on as you please. The weather's great? Stay longer! You've seen something else you want to do in the next place? Get going sooner! Just use your smartphone to book the next hotel that morning and download the route using the current hotel's wifi. Booking.com is great as you often only pay on arrival!

  • Take the backroads! Some of cutest villages we have seen were when we were lost or exploring the backroads, or places inaccessible by tours or public transport. Places we would never have seen if we were staying in one place, staying in a resort or taking a guided tour. People staring at our car in Corsican hilltop villages, finding a traditional Swiss auberge in the Alps where no one spoke English, and getting free wine in an Italian cafe just for making an appearance in a car all the way from the UK, are all experiences pretty much unique to flexible holidays made possible by road trips.

The view when changing a snow chain on the roadside in the Swiss Alps
  • You can stop when you like, have better naps, and generally more privacy. Especially great with kids! 

  • It's cheaper! Seeing and doing all the things you can fit in on a road trip, would individually cost an incredible amount more without a car. Road trips are especially economical if you are in a place where transport is expensive and/or technical, such as the Norwegian fjords, or the Swiss Alps. 

  • You can combine road trips with public transport and take your pick when it suits you. Park the car once you're in a busy city and get the metro - its greener. Park the car in the Swiss valley and get the cable car up the mountain - also greener...

  • Care hire options are manyfold. Winter destinations either have winter studs or winter tyres on their hire cars. Take a car across borders easily, sometimes with a small extra fee. Drop off and pick up at separate locations - also easy enough to do, and most websites allow this in the search. Even take your own car for the most epic road trip! The furthest we have driven from home (Lincolnshire, UK) is the city of Split and the remote island of Vis in Croatia. Also Corsica and Amalfi. Road trips simply rock! 



 If you have questions, or any experiences to share, write a comment. I'm interested to know other road trip experiences - good and bad! 

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