Home
New Tips & Stories
Random Travel Tales
World Travel Tips World Travel Tips
Passports & Visas
Tour Planning List
Custom Tour Planning
When To Go
Free Travel Search
Packing and Preparation Packing Lists & Tips
Carry-on Packing Tips
Packing for Road Trips
Security Packing Guide
Travel Document List
Departure Checklist
Airports & Flights
Health & Safety Tips Travel Vaccinations
Travel Health Tips
Malaria Pills
Pepto-Bismol!
Travel Advisories
Foreign Is Fun Foreign Travel
Foreign Money
 Foreign Language
Foreign Borders
Foreign Rental Cars
Foreign Road Trips
Foreign Toilets!?!
Accommodations and Cruises Hotel / B&B Tips
Adventure Cruises
World Tented Camps
African Tented Camps
Where To Go... What To See World Drive Ideas
Europe Travel Ideas
Africa Calls
Travel in America
Let's List Countries!
A Few Destinations See Country List for More Norway Our Way
Our Scottish Castle
Australia Wine Drive
Borneo
Botswana
Brazil
China
Israel
Jordan
Madagascar
Panama Canal Drive
Rwanda
Please Help Us.... Share Your Ideas Your Travel Tips
Your Travel Stories
Clan McEwen Stories
Your Funny Signs
Nuts and Bolts  Contact Us-Ask Judy!
Our Travel Roots
About Us
Mouse's Travel Links
FAQ
Financial Disclosures
Privacy Policy
Mouse Site Map
MouseMap for Travels
Site Sponsors

[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Subscribe with Bloglines

 

Worldwide Road Trips
Exploring the World By Car -- Easy and Fun!

"Worldwide road trips open up charming villages and interesting back roads. We think we see much more this way. You should tell your readers..." Joe

We couldn't agree more. Road trips are about as American a vacation as.... well as apple pie and baseball. But the USA isn't the only place that road trips are fun. We often make our visits abroad into road trips... and our foreign friends like making road trips in the USA!

Worldwide road trips might seem like they're only for the adventurous, do-it-yourself type, but driving vacations are fun and easier than you probably think... Sounds just like what we say for international travel in general, doesn't it?

At least give it some thought when you're planning your next trip. We love renting a car and just rambling around new countries. Sure gas is expensive... even more expensive in Europe and elsewhere than it is in the USA... and sure you're usually dealing with a foreign language or driving on "the wrong side of the road"...

But taking a road trip will give you freedom to go to small towns.... see the countryside...

Where Should You Drive? And where not to drive...

Sure there are countries and cities where you probably just wouldn't want to drive.

Worldwide road trips in and around Florence Italy Most cities fall into that category, in fact... unless you're on business and need a car or if you're just driving in and parking.

We have driven into and out of Florence, for instance when we've been on a a road trip through Italy. We even got to drive right past the front of the Duomo early one morning because our hotel was right across the corner from it. That was a rare treat!

And we've driven into and out of Rome on different trips. We've driven out of Paris and Madrid too... but we've usually returned the car to the airport.

As a general rule, you're better off without a car in cities.

Worldwide road trips are best when you're getting out into the countryside. A car lets you drive the back roads... see the little villages and towns. There are great drives all over Europe, Canada and the U.S., but don't limit yourself to those choices.

Scottish country road Small town of El Jem Tunisia

We've had great drives in South America and Mexico, exploring ruins and finding wildlife. We have friends that explored all of Costa Rica by car, and enjoyed doing their own touring.

Australia and New Zealand are naturals for worldwide road trips... just remember you have to drive on the "wrong side".

We've also driven in South Africa. One time we picked up our car at the Botswana border and drove through Kruger National Park and on to Johannesburg. We drove around Cape Town and South African wine country too. We've done our own driving safari a couple of times in Namibia. Oh yes, you'll be driving on the wrong side in all those countries. (Remember that half the world does drive on the left!)

We've driven in Turkey and easily found accommodations along the way. We hired a friend-of-a-friend to drive us in Jordan, but we talked to people who were driving themselves, and they had no problems.

Ideas for Worldwide Road Trips

To get ideas for world wide road trips, just think outside of the cities. Use your hobbies or interests to plan your trip. What are some of the things we've done?

  • We like looking for archeological sites.
  • We've done some airplane and steam train spotting.
  • How about visiting gardens or castles?
  • There are spectacular national parks to explore everywhere.
  • We've been birdwatching and wine tasting just exploring spectacular scenic areas like the south of France or the Cinque Terre in Italy or the painted churches in Romania.

Read about some of our worldwide road trips to get ideas for road trips. We haven't found time to write about all of them, but we think we have enough stories to set you to thinking and dreaming about a foreign road trip of your own. Some day we'll find time to post photos on all of these pages too!

Crossing Borders, Safety and Insurance

Driving across the border from Romania to Bulgaria
You do have to check and make sure you can take rental cars from one country to another.

This is up to your rental car company, so be sure you ask them when you're making your reservation.

If one rental car company won't allow it, check with another. It may vary from company to company.

You also want to check advisories and make sure it's safe. Renting a car in Papua New Guinea, we had to chat with the local police to get safety instructions and make sure the road was passable.

Elephant blocks our road in Namibia If you're going on an African safari type road trip, you'll probably have to get "animal collision insurance."

Make sure what kind of insurance you'll need if you must take the car on dirt roads... Your credit card may provide insurance that will cover you adequately if you're driving on "normal" roads, but not if you're heading into the back country.

You're apt to run into dirt roads in Africa for sure, but you may also run into dirt roads if you go to national parks or even wine tasting in the United States, South America, Australia... almost anywhere. Check with your credit card company to see if they will cover you or if you need to buy additional insurance from the rental car company.

Are you going somewhere rugged enough that you need a 4-wheel drive? That will cost you more for sure, but it could be worth it.

Rental cars can add a major expense... but they can also add a major element of adventure.... Share the expense with another couple if you can. You may find that prices are cheaper for food and lodging out in the countryside, and that could offset the expense of the rental car and make that worldwide road trip seem reasonable. We think it's such a great way to travel that you should definitely consider it as one of your options.

Happy travels... even if you don't travel the world... just remember that life is a journey... embrace and enjoy it!   Judy and Mark

Curious about what else we've written about? Search our site for a destination or travel tip.

Go to International Travel Tips l Europe Travel Tips
Hotel and B&B Tips l Packing Lists and Tips
Go from Worldwide Road Trips to MouseToursTravels Home Page
Privacy and Legal Policy

Protected by Copyscape Online Copyright Infringement Tool
But... We'd love to have you share this page on Worldwide Road Trips...
Use one of the handy "share this page" buttons below. Thanks, Judy and Mark


New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Did it help with your travel planning and preparation? Eager to leave on that next vacation? Please leave your tips or comments in the box below.

SBI Made This Site Easy For Us...
Try It For Yourself - Risk Free
Psst... What's BB2? Read the buzz...
SBI! CTPM Process

Search
Search MouseToursTravels
Travel questions or destination info? Find our answers faster...


Translate
We want you to feel comfortable out in the world and on our pages - so surf away in your own language...


Timely Tips
January is past...
Are you planning your travels?
We're planning a custom tour on the TranSiberian train.

We'll travel for a month using our
packing lists.
Jokulsarlon-iceberg-lake-Iceland
Oh yea... Mixed Weather Packing List!

We get great travel clothes and supplies at...
Magellans Travel Supplies
Threads 4 Thought
and
Eco friendly clothing At Exofficio

Do YOU need some ideas?
Europe Travel Ideas
Africa Dream List
Travel In America

Travel Planning
International Travel Planning Tips
Guidebooks can help you plan

What About Your Passport?
Time to get one... or renew...

We'll need visas for Russia and China. What about you?
Answers about Passports and Visas
Get Planning and Get Going!


Find, Compare & Book It!
We always say shop and compare at several sources. Here are some of our favorites...

25+ Million Users Trust TripAdvisor With Their Travel Plans. Shouldn't You?


Cheap airfare, hotels, car rentals, vacations and cruises at Expedia.com!
Expedia.com

All the best hotel sites in one place right here. Hotels Combined...
HotelsCombined logo


We are not travel agents, but we're affiliated with these and other great companies.
Check 'em all out!


Follow Your Passion!
Travel Is Our Passion
What's Yours?

We have lots of fun traveling... and we've had lots of fun creating this website. It earns us money too! No get-rich quick scheme here.... just honest pages about our travels. Is this something you've ever wanted to try?

Are you passionate or knowledgeable about something? An expert even?

Cars ...or... cooking?
Boats ...or... business?
Plants ...or... parenting?
Anything!

Turn it into a web business. Click on the SBI TV icon below and learn how a new life could be yours...

Learn how to build your own profitable web site like we did

Look at it... Think about it...
Why NOT you?

If you're like me, you like to talk to a real person and get answers to your questions... We get that!

Your Questions Answered Here.

Honest answers... honestly ...Promise!


Two Ways To Like Us!
Like Our Site Top Left
Like Our Fanpage Below
Thank You!

What Our Readers Say
"I love your website! It's easy to read, informative and engaging. I will come back and explore it over and over because I know there will be interesting things I missed the first time."
--Dave, California

"Your carry-on packing tips helped me so much. I never thought I could pack light enough, but with your packing tips and your packing lists, I CAN do it. I thank you, and my husband thanks you!"
--Debbie, Florida

"Thanks for this site.... it's great stuff!"
--Jim, Canada

"I just started reading and love your site! I haven't even read much, but I had to stop and tell you 'yeah!' I am excited to pack well for this trip and start planning the next one!"
--Natalie, U.K.