road trips
epic journeys across Europe
a selection of road trips across Europe
Embracing the open road as a metaphor for life: unpredictable and filled with possibilities and surprises, but also setbacks and challenges. Road trips can be supremely rewarding as they force you to live in the moment, to cherish the detours, to immerse yourself in a form of travelling that values purpose and curiosity: a quirky museum, a conversation with a stranger, a jazz gig in some hidden dive, a magical sunset…
And of course, all your gear, and all the souvenirs and mementos that you have picked up along the way always find space in the back of your car. Here are some of the trips I have done.
Miles of sandy beaches, dense forests, medieval towns – the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have much to offer to the independent traveller. Yet, the gentle beauty of their topography masks a brutal recent past, which independence in the 1990s at last confined to the dustbin of history. A story of oppression and subservience which finally gave way to hope, recovery and aspiration.
185 miles, 10 causeways, 4 ferries and 10 islands: Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Berneray, Harris Lewis and Bernera. If you can brace the elements, a wild adventure awaits.
500 miles (well, 700 in my experience, taking in a number of side excursions) across the top of Scotland through a rugged, wild and isolated landscape. Camera at the ready, this one’s for the cinematographers (should the weather play along).
Green Spain. The Basque country, Asturias, Cantabria, Galicia: the places to which Spaniards escape to once the summer heat hits the parts of the country further south. And so should you: mountains, beaches, excellent wine, scrumptious food and even cider (if that’s your sort of thing).
A road trip through Denmark and southern Sweden. Skagen in Jutland, Gothenburg on the Bohuslan coast, the lake lands around Vastergotland, Bornholm, Copenhagen: Coasts, wilderness, islands, metropoles; a rather impressive list by anyone’s standards (and yes, even a luxury treehouse in which you can spend the night).
