Ahead of our 2022 road trip around Europe, ranging all the way from Ireland to Croatia, I am here to share our (tentative) general itinerary so that my partner, H, and I can look back at these and that you can follow along. Buckle up, this is going to be a long one!
Our trip officially starts on the 24th of April with a few days in a hotel here Ireland before we, and our car, board a boat in direction to Bilbao, Spain. We have also booked our accommodation for our two weeks in Spain but that is as far as we know for sure. Apart from these initial few weeks, all our plans are subject to change. So, do not come after me if the trip does not happen as I describe here! It is going to morph into whatever we need at the time - it may end up shorter, longer, or just different from what I write below.
After we go through our initial couple of weeks in Spain, we are staying in Portugal for a few months. Portugal is where I grew up and there is a possibility that we will end up living there. However, based on my memories, I much prefer the Irish weather to the Portuguese one. During these few months in Portugal, we are going to scout the country for a location we both like and see if the weather matches my expectations... My best friend is also planning on coming over from the USA to be with us while we are in Portugal!
Then is is time to go back to Spain, but this time exploring its South and East coasts. It should be August by then so we will probably be living the beach life during these weeks back in Spain. Same goes for the South of France and Monaco in September - it should still be warm as per Irish standards!
Italy is our next stop. We could go all the way down to the heel of the boot, but at least for this leg of our trip we are probably going to stick with Northern Italy, from the Alps (including the Dolomites) down to Florence. I am so excited about eating in Italy! We are vegan, so it may be a challenge, but I hope to pick up a few tricks to bring back home.
From Italy we will go down through Slovenia to Croatia. We plan on visiting Dubrovnik due to my parents' raving recommendation, though I am not even sure yet how to travel there by car!
After Zagreb it is time to came back to Slovenia and enjoy that beautiful country before moving on to Austria. We have a few places that we are excited about visiting in both of these but we are a bit weary of the weather at this point of our journey...
Christmas is a big deal for my family, so H and I will be flying back to Portugal in December to enjoy a couple of weeks with those we love. The trip does not end there though!
We will return to Germany to continue our journey. It may happen in January or a couple of months later and we may go right up through Germany or spend some time near the Mediterranean (probably Italy) while it is cold. Either way, the countries we plan on visiting after our December break are Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. We may also add Denmark to the list if we are enjoying the trip, as well as Spain if we end up deciding to just come back to Portugal in the end. More about all of that in a future Plans for Our 2023 Europe Road Trip!
To sum up, this is our general itinerary as of now (remember it can, and most definitely will, change):
- Ireland
- Northern Spain
- Portugal
- Southern and Eastern Spain
- Southern France
- Monaco
- Italy
- Western Slovenia
- Croatia
- Eastern Slovenia
- Austria
- Southern Germany
- Portugal
- (Italy)
- Northern Germany
- (Denmark)
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Northern (and Western) France
- (Spain)
After our trip, I anticipate I will want to settle down and start growing roots and a community around me. We anticipate it to happen in Portugal or in Ireland. But who knows! We will see how the trip goes and then we will decide what is best for us both.
