Resources-Truck Camping across Europe

We are by no means the experts but in our first month in Europe living in our truck we have found a number of helpful sites and sources for information that we thought we would pass on. Some are specific to Europe, some carried over from the US. We also planned ahead for some differences we knew we would encounter.

Propane

Our stove, hot water and heating system runs on propane. As required, we shipped the truck with empty containers. Andy researched and purchased fittings for most of the areas we would be visiting so that we can self fill the tanks.

Andy filling the tanks in Germany

The variety of fittings that will get us through most of Europe

Different countries have different regulations on this - Germany, France, Denmark, and The Netherlands allow you to refill your bottle. The UK and Italy do not. Most of Europe relies a swapping bottle system, but since we have a unique fittings this does not work for us. We downloaded an app called MyLPG which gives locations of stations with propane, or as it is sometimes known as “Autogas.” We are planning ahead as we know this will not be available in Finland. Luckily we only fill up about every 6 weeks.

For more technical information on how we prepared for propane tank filling internationally, Andy has written a post on Tacoma World here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/taking-a-tacoma-around-the-world-need-advice.585792/page-53 Post #1049

Water

Filling water tank from a potable water hose on the outside of a restroom facility in Denmark.

Water is more readily available at no cost here than in the US. There are often refill stations at roadside rest areas, free RV parking areas or picnic areas. We have never had an issue finding a tap.

Camping Apps

In the US we relied heavily on iOverlander to find both paid and free camping spots. To date in Europe, we have not found it to be populated with much data. Here, Park4Night is much more common. The concept is similar, a free downloadable app with site descriptions and reviews populated by users. As we have moved away from reserving paid camping sites the app has become invaluable. Regulations for wild camping vary across countries but the app has great information for free and paid camping sites that will not get you into trouble. As we head north in Scandanavia, it is becoming easier to find legal wild sites. We head to a campground when we need to do laundry, as dedicated laundrymats are scarce.

Great site we found by a lake in Sweden through Park4Night

Hiking

Our daily routine is to try to drive less than three hours and always walk for 5-8 miles. Our preference is to find a great hike, but sometimes we just stop in a town and find the community park or walk the streets. Our two favorite resources in the US work great here.

Gaia - free downloadable app which shows trail networks. Gaia is a terrific program - it works in real time while you are hiking, or you can download a route while you have coverage and it will track you offline. It will give you distances, elevations, and even maps special interest features along the way (lookouts, restrooms etc.) We can be driving down the road, feel the need to stretch during a sunny moment and open the app and see what trails are nearby.

Great coastal hike found on Gaia

There are Nature Reserves with public walking trails scattered throughout Scandanavia and they are well sign posted and mapped. In nature there's no blemish but the mind. None can be called the deformed but the unkind.

AllTrails - also a free app for the basic version. The feature of AllTrails that Gaia is missing is a review and rating system. Gaia simply shows you the trails. But AllTrails allows you to search for the best hikes in a specific area and read peoples’ reviews of them. There are times in urban areas when it doesn’t work as well for us - as it is crowdsourced it can rate as number one simply the one that the most people have done - but it is generally an excellent resource.

Free Walking Tours

We love these in cities. The concept is that anyone should be able to access a tour and learn from a local person. You pay what you can and what you think the tour is worth. In the past these were known as the umbrella tours and typcially the guides still have the umbrellas at the meeting point. You can easily find them by searching online in any urban area. The guides are typically passionate about their cities, entertaining and knowledgeable about the history, architecture art and culture. In two hours we always come away with new stories, perspective and an education about the city and people.

Wandering the streets of old town Stockholm with our walking tour guide

Travel Guides

In general we are big fans of Lonely Planet and typically read up on the region in general and choose the areas we want to go to and the attractions we want to focus on.

We also use the Crazy Tourist website as a quick easy resource to get a list of the top things to do in a specific country or town. It is not that crazy, and they are more focused on urban and cultural experiences over outdoor ones, but it is still helpful and often easier than trying to break out the Lonely Planet book