Cheapish RV living in Eastern Europe and Scandinavian Countries.

[HalfShadows]

I have been following a couple of Nomad YouTube channels on van life in Europe. I have been giving it a lot of thought since I retired Just over a year ago. I still have research to do on insurance coverage for auto and health. Right now I am considering traveling June through September in Europe and Scandinavia yearly. Then October through May in the U.S. I am just at the beginning stages of research. I will probably buy a good used rig in Europe and store it there when not traveling. Poland and the Baltic states are inexpensive for fuel and grocery needs. Spain is somewhat inexpensive as well. Traveled Scandinavia Countries 2 years ago, but was only able to get a glimpse at life there. Norway is spectacular but very expensive for food and fuel. Would have to load up and fill every nook and cranny in the rig with food in one of the Baltic states before taking a ferry to Norway. Lots of planning to do to bring this desire to fruition without overextending financially.

 

[skyl4rk]

The prime destinations for cheap boondock style van camping are Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Poland can be expensive, they seem to charge high prices for what you get.

Germany has relatively low prices for food, and overnight legal parking reserved for campers is available in some towns. I think that Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic would be good for van living but I don't know.

The prime countries for vandwelling are Portugal, Spain and Italy, but they may be better as winter destinations.

 

[ZoNiE]

Czech is cheap to eat and live. Great food.

 

[WillfulWanderer]

Hi Halfshadows I was just wondering what you consider inexpensive, what are you looking at per month? I'd be interested in hearing more as your planning/research progresses. Good luck, Bill

 

[maki2]

I did a month long car camping trip in France in 2008. I mostly stayed at local RV parks and set up a tent. You obviously need something with good MPG. The RV parks were not at all expensive, less than the USA rates, the most I paid was 11 euros a night for an RV park that was on an island in the Seine only a short train ride into Paris. There were a lot of municipal parks on the outskirts of small towns.
This is a link to one of my favorite spots I was there just before the prime season started. It was in a beautiful little valley with a river below the ancient walls of the town and my view was looking up the hill at a castle. The facility was lovely, green grass, trees, river but not in the least overdone like the standard stack them in USA RV parks. In fact none of the places I stayed was one of those asphalt parking lot situations with tons of big RVs since no one drives a big RV there.
http://www.camping-falaise.com/

 

[HalfShadows]

I have been following a family on you tube that has been traveling the world and homeschooling their children. Recently they bought a RV in Spain and is traveling Europe and Scandinavia. In 2018 they started online courses via skype. They cover all aspects of Travelling different countries with most legalities of visas etc..., universal health insurance etc... They claim to avoid 6 months of headaches researching traveling abroad and provide ongoing support for tailoring your needs.  I have communicated with them on 2 occasions and received responses in short time. 

The name of their channel is World Towning. For the most part they live on the cheap.

 

[winterwanderer]

Isn't the relative cost of RV living is higher over there than it is here in the States? As in, contrasting RV life expenses with the cost of renting a small city apartment or rural cottage.

 

[HalfShadows]

Isn't the relative cost of RV living is higher over there than it is here in the States? As in, contrasting RV life expenses with the cost of renting a small city apartment or rural cottage.

I am still researching. So far what I have found is that there are a lot of boon docking areas throughout Europe and Scandinavia. I am more interested in eastern Europe where fuel and food prices are cheaper. If traveling through a more expensive European country the idea is to stock up on food to last you while your adventuring through. There is a large network of rural businesses that encourage stays in RV's that coincide with a program similar to Harvest Host here in the US. There are Universal Healthcare plans that can cover you while in Europe. My plans for doing this are 1 and a half years down the road. I will weigh the costs when all research of options are completed and see if it is doable. So far it looks promising.

 

[skyl4rk]

Fuel prices are much higher than in the US. You have to plan your route carefully, and if you are trying to not spend much money, stay in one area without moving much.

 

[skyl4rk]

Here is a vandweller in Europe who posts frequently on youtube.  Currently in France on the way to Spain for the winter.