10 things to do before you leave for your road trip

This is a collaborative post for the #RoadTripsofEurope Campaign – 10 things to do before you leave for your road trip

10 things to do before you leave for your road trip: When it comes to holidays we are generally are not lying by the pool or on the beach for days on end people. Although since having children we are now going on holidays which tend to involve more of that. We still prefer to include a good amount of sightseeing. Which inevitably means that we need a car. Over the years we have done a number of road trips in Europe. Road trips are also a great way to travel England on a budget.

10 things to do before you leave for your road trip

Our first was a three-week tour of Italy for our honeymoon. We started in Venice and ended up in Rome. We had an amazing time driving the crazy roads of Italy. Some of the highlights included the five lanes of traffic in the centre of Florence that went down to one! Driving up the side of a mountain to avoid a forest fire. On the way back to the Castello we were staying in.  And three-point turns in the pitch black. The only way to get to one of the places we were staying in was to do three-point turn. On a dirt track to get around the corners. The sat nav got rather confused a number of times.

Road trips with kids

The first time we took Monkey on a road trip was when we decided to drive the thirteen hours across Europe to stay on Lake Como. He was fifteen months old at the time and a lot of our friends thought we were slightly mad. We broke the drive up by staying in a hotel in Germany on the way there and way back. The service stations along our route had plenty of open spaces and play areas. Which meant Monkey got a lot of opportunities to stretch his legs.

Travelling by car also meant I had the boot space to fill up with all the stuff I needed for a young toddler. The thought of trying to pack that amount of stuff to go on a plane filled me with dread. It also gave us the flexibility to look at alternative accommodation options because we could take everything with us – including stair gates! We drove through five countries and Hubby was quite impressed by the fact that we also drove through part of the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland. This is now the longest tunnel in Europe only being finished in 2016. Although it was 2014 when we drove through part of it. In case your wondering, on the way back Hubby thought it would be a great idea to drive over the alps. Never again!

Last year we visited Eurocamp and drove twelve hours down to Bordeaux for May half term. Even now Monkey is that bit older and Harry is still tiny it was by far the easiest way to travel. Again giving me the flexibility to pack everything we would need and sharing the driving meant that it wasn’t too onerous. The only thing which we found mildly entertaining was the fact that we couldn’t get the tolls to pick up our little pre-purchased tag. Something we will pay more attention to when we go to the Riverina this May half term.

This time we are staying in Paris on the way down. And then Burgundy on the way back up which will break the driving up and give us the flexibility we need. I am really looking forward to our little adventure. But before we go we need to make sure we are prepared for the journey.

10 things to do before you leave for your road trip:

Know the route

Having not travelled down to the South of France before. We need to plan which motorways and toll roads we will use.

Update the sat nav

Our car has a built-in sat nav so we are lucky that it will help us navigate our route. It will still require a little bit of an update before we leave

Buy a toll tag

We used one of these last year and intend on doing the same again. It means that we can pay for the tolls all at once when we return. And makes life easier the scrambling around for euros or our bank card as we enter and leave.

Think about your vehicle

ou may want to go in your car or you may want something more spacious such as a Mazda Bongo camper. You may also want to get a baby car mirror to see in the back if you have a child in a baby seat.

Check the tyres

Pop down to our local Kwik Fit to make sure the car tyres are suitable for our journey

Stock up on snacks

For the journey for the kids… of course and maybe something for yourself as well!

Charge up the tablets

So that we can play movies to keep them entertained. Plus pack some small games and toys for the back of the car

Ensure we have the required safety kit

Different European countries will have different requirements such as needing a high vis jacket for each of your parties. We will have most of the things we need from last year but I will be checking  The AA website just to make sure

Pack an overnight bag

Since we planning on breaking the trip up by staying overnight in two different locations. I will have one bag that will contain all we need for that night. It will save having to unpack the car completely at each stop.

Check the documents

We will both need to make sure we remember our driving licences and also ensure the car insurance covers us for Europe. From memory, in order to ensure I can take my car abroad, I need to get an additional certificate which I want to do well in advance.

Pre Book the Euro Tunnel

We always opt for a Flexi ticket as although it’s easy to know what time we are likely to want to catch the train over. Coming back can be a bit of a guess. So by having an open ticket it means that it takes the stress away in case we get caught in traffic on the way to the station.

Have you been on a road trip recently? What are your top tips?

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