One of the most challenging aspects of our move from the UK to Italy so far has been working out how to get our belongings 1,832km across Europe. In the short term we are renting a fully furnished apartment while we search for a property to buy, so we have let go of all the big ticket items – sofas, beds etc. We were left then with our ‘stuff’ – clothes, toys, other miscellaneous belongings and one small sofa. We also have to drive our dog, Olivo; across, so we decided on hiring a van and going on a 19 hour road trip. Not for the faint hearted.

Here are some of the obstacles we encountered:

1. Living in the UK means that a ‘one-way rental’ is out of the question. Many large car rental businesses advertise this service, but our experience is that it is almost impossible to find, unless you want to pay a huge premium. By this I mean that it’s tough to find a van or car you can pick up in the UK and leave in Europe. You can however pick up a vehicle at one point in the UK and leave in another, usually for a reasonable fee.
2. We were a little bit scared of driving a massive van. Is that silly as a couple in their 30s and 40s? Are we real grown ups now?
3. You can rent a van, but it doesn’t come with the 239454 additional ‘safety’ things that you are required to carry to drive through France. Excellent. You can buy a complete kit on the link below.

European driving safety kit: Man, woman, dog and a van.

TOP TIPS ON DRIVING THROUGH EUROPE

1. Either take your time over several days to a week for a long journey like the one we took – 19 hours each way, or take an additional driver with you. Ideally do both!
2. If you happen to book through Enterprise, I learned that they offer great discounts to RAC members and Costco members and you usually get an additional driver added for free too! This could well be the case for other large international businesses like Hertz, Avis etc, so it’s worth asking them.
3. Remember that rentals rarely guarantee the make or model of the vehicle you’ll be allocated on pick up day, but you can specify that you want certain features such as automatic, or in our case, absolutely NOT an electric vehicle – we didn’t need the additional mental strain of calculating where charging points were and how long it would take to charge.
4. If you ask nicely, most rental companies will allow you to look at the vans to gauge the size you need. It helped us massively to see the inside of the vans to determine whether we needed an extra large van such as a Mercedes Sprinter, or a large van like a Ford Transit.
5. Pick your van up the day or evening before your travel day at the latest – don’t forget you’ll need to load it – van Tetris is a skill in itself.
6. On that note – make sure all of your things are packed and that boxes are labelled – one for ease of unpacking, but more importantly for customs checks. More on this in a separate post – this time we didn’t encounter any issues but preparation is key.
7. Be aware of restricted items. See a full list here: Volume and value based customer allowances France
8. Make sure that your passports get stamped when entering France – if you don’t get this stamp there is no ‘official’ evidence of your arrival date which will cause you issues if you are making a return journey. They do this as you go through British and French passport control at the channel tunnel.
9. Be prepared with cash and card in case your route takes you through a toll road. A lot of European motorway systems have tolls and although you could in theory avoid the motorways, it would also take you forever to arrive at your destination. RAC to the rescue again with this handy guide to French toll roads: A complete guide to French toll roads. We spent around 350-400 Euros on tolls between England and Italy and back.
10. If you ask nicely there are certain things that large rental companies can offer for free/ waive including: additional driver cost, return to different drop off point fee etc. They can also partially refund you if you return the vehicle early. We weren’t sure how many days we’d need it for so booked for longer and returned a day early. You’ll be refunded: vehicle hire, driver insurance and extra daily covers. It’ll probably save you around £80 give or take.
11. PLEASE take out all the cover. Especially the excess cover – it reduces your excess in case of an accident from £2000 to £100. I think we can all agree that this £25/day cover is worth its weight in gold. As well as this there is a roadside assistance cover for tires and windscreens at £10/ day. We didn’t need it, but peace of mind is priceless. Please note that these are prices in Sept 2024 with Enterprise for a van – prices will likely vary but it gives you an idea.
12. Take lots of water and snacks, don’t forget to pack your changes of clothes and keep them within reach.
13. Consider where you will stop for the night. We drove at off peak times and days and booked stops as we went via our old favourite Air BnB – I will say though that on our second day, places to stay were limited but we still appreciated the flexibility booking on the go allowed us.
14. Enjoy the journey!!!