Four Reasons Why A Road Trip Throughout Europe Will Give You Life

I recently came back from my European excursion, and I’m eager to share with you all the details of my itinerary, but before that, you need to know why a road trip throughout Europe will give you life!

1. You are on your own time.

In our day-to-day lives, most of us have to follow strict deadlines and time crunches. I’m not about that life on vacation! Vacation is meant to be eventful, not stressful. That’s the beauty of driving; you follow the time and general mood of the group versus a train, bus, or flight schedule. 

2. You can see more.

Driving maximized our ability to see a lot in a short time. Overall, we visited 12 cities in 6 countries! Our drives* between destinations ranged from 2 to 6 hours. The ride never felt terrible because we made stops in different places during the longer routes.  

* I must note that Jacek is the real MVP and did all the driving during the trip! Driving stick shift isn’t Jess and my thing. 

3. You save money.

Our 1,586-mile excursion cost us $170 per person for gas, parking, and tolls. Parking was easier than I anticipated (well, anything is better than my hometown, NYC, parking!). We could park on the street in most of the places we visited. Budapest was the only place we had to park in a garage. We used local transportation (an additional $70 pp) or walked around when we arrived in the cities. 

Pro Tip: When abroad, try withdrawing money from ATMs connected to a bank. They will give you less trouble.

4. It’s a unique experience.

Between blasting Jacek’s early 2000s Hip-Hop and R&B CD, hours-long car karaoke, and Jacek’s Eastern Europe history lessons, there was never a dull moment in the car! As I mentioned in my last post, Jacek and I met 8 years ago in NYC. He was visiting with his best friend and approached my friends and me looking for a club, but we were too young to get in then. We probably talked for about 20 minutes during our interaction and exchanged FB information. We’ve been good at keeping in contact over the years. Even though it’s been 8 years since our first 20-minute interaction, the most beautiful part of our friendship is that we naturally picked up where we left off. Sharing this experience with Jessica, one of my favorite people in the world and the first person I traveled to Europe with, made this trip even better!

Are you considering going on a road trip throughout Europe? Check out this list of European road trip itineraries!