18 days, 2,000 miles and 6 countries

We’re sitting in a traditional German beer garden. The backdrop is Neuschwanstein Castle, the very castle that inspired Walt Disney’s magical creation.

- Ellen Manning

A Bavarian Oompah band is playing in the background to mark someone’s wedding, we’re drinking beers called ‘buckets’ and have just ordered a traditional pork knuckle. “I bet you never did anything like this before,” says our new German friend, a guitarist about to play at the wedding reception, as we toast our one-off experience.

He’s right. When else would you find yourself in a small town in the middle of nowhere, making like a local, whilst on holiday? That’s the joy of campervanning and why a European road trip is now our holiday of choice. That and the fact that you can (currently) take your pets with you thanks to European Pet Passports and the pet-friendly Eurotunnel. In previous years we’ve covered France, Italy, bits of Spain and Andorra. This year we decided to head through Belgium to Germany and the holiday haven of the Bodensee using a combination of aires, stellplatz, wild camping and traditional campsites.