Please sign in to post.

11 days road trip from Berlin and back to Berlin

Hi everyone,

We’re a group of 5 traveling by motorhome in August 2026 and would love some feedback on our itinerary to see if it makes sense or if we should adjust anything.

11/08/2026 – Arrival in Berlin

Land in Berlin
Pick up motorhome / car
Drive to Amsterdam

11–14/08 – Amsterdam

Stay in Amsterdam for a few days

14/08 – Amsterdam → Europa Park

Morning departure from Amsterdam
Stop in Cologne for a walk / food / city visit
Continue to Europa Park and arrive in the afternoon

15–16/08 – Europa Park

Full days at the park

16/08 (afternoon) – Europa Park → Bavarian Alps

Drive to Bavarian Alps
Overnight stay

17/08 – Alps → Munich

Morning hike in the Alps, And then drive to Neuschwanstein Castle just to see
Drive to Munich and arrive later that day

17–18/08 – Munich

Explore Munich and spend a full day there

19/08 – Munich → Berlin

Drive back to Berlin
Optional stop on the way (thinking Leipzig or a scenic hike / old town visit)
Arrive in Berlin in the afternoon or evening

19–21/08 – Berlin

Final days in Berlin
Return motorhome / prepare for flight back on 21/08/2026

Posted by
4767 posts

Welcome to the forum.

Long way with a motorhome, especially in August which is main vacation time (temperatures and more traffic). For my taste too much driving for too little experience.

Info: wild camping is not allowed in most German states.

Some tips to make your Berlin - Amsterdam trip shorter and minimum same level enjoyable:

  • Heide Park Soltau (on the way and nearly same size) instead of Europa Park a few hundred kilometer away
  • Schwerin Castle (World Heritage) instead of Neuschwanstein plus dragon boat festival (Aug 14-16, Saturday is best) plus swimming in Schwerin lake
  • Add Hamburg on the way with port cruise and Miniatur Wunderland
  • Add Lübeck on the way for red brick old town (World Heritage)
  • Harz Mountains instead of Bavarian Alps, check Goslar and Wernigerode (World Heritage)
  • Special tip: add Wismar for annual Swedish festival (Aug 20-23) on the market (World Heritage)
  • Whatever you want to do in Munich ...we can find something on the way, also a Bavarian beer garden or a hidden Caribbean feeling beer garden with a good sausage and relax chairs
  • Optional: tank museum in Munster, Ludwigslust palace, WW2 submarine in Laboe ... just share your interests
  • Food tips on the way are available

Saves tons of driving time and money, fuel price is between 8 and 9 USD per gallon (2 EUR per liter) .

Posted by
8203 posts

Welcome to the forum.

There are many possibilities for your motor-home journey, but I'd call the current plan an impossibility. It would be wise to inform yourself on the sightseeing options within a much smaller radius of Berlin, if that's where you will start and end. Mark's suggestions are a good starting point. The Harz Mountains are a good idea. Perhaps you visit Wartburg Castle (a real Castle) in Eisenach. I would definitely not just hop in a motor-home and start driving all the way to Amsterdam if you are arriving in Germany after an overnight flight, as many people on this forum do. See Berlin first while you adjust to the new time zone.

Posted by
212 posts

Berlin airport to Amsterdam is well over 7 hours driving. Assuming the motorhome is waiting at the airport, which is probably won't be. In reality you will have to travel to the rental location first, do the paperwork, and be shown how everything works. This is getting closer to 9 hours after landing, at what time and from where? Doesn't sound safe after a long flight.

Amsterdam-Europa Park is a solid 8 hours driving in a motorhome. If you expect to spend any amount of time in Cologne and still arrive in the afternoon you'll be starting at 05:00!

The Bavarian Alps cover a large area, not a pin on a map so where to stay needs a lot more research. But from Europa Park to Füssen would be close to 5 hours driving so doesn't fit the plan for spending most of that day at Europa Park.

And what is the point of going to the Alps if you leave next morning?

Munich- Berlin is at least 7 hours solid driving so with a stop in Leipzig you won't arrive in the afternoon.

Posted by
12319 posts

Hi, aekkara, first, Mark mentioned that wild camping is not allowed. You probably don't know what that is, but basically it's camping wherever you want to, regardless of whether it's a legal camping place or not. I'm sure you had no intention of doing that, but I'm just explaining what it means.

Second, I'm wondering why you're flying into Berlin if you're leaving there right away. If you haven't already booked your tickets, I would strongly suggest that you fly into Amsterdam instead and then fly home from Berlin. That way you won't have to deal with a vehicle while you're in Amsterdam and you'll avoid having to pay for a motor vehicle that you really can't use that much for several days while you're in that area. You could pick up the car in Cologne or even in Baden-Württemberg. Yes, there will be an extra charge because you're picking it up in one place and dropping it off in another, but as long as it's in the same country, it shouldn't be that much. You'll more than make up for the savings of not having that extra three days at the beginning to pay for.

I also agree with Mark in that you are doing a lot of driving and not spending very much time in each place. I think the most you've got is two days in Berlin and then your time in Amsterdam. If it were me, I would cut out Amsterdam. I like the city a lot, but it's a bit out of your way and this way you could focus just on Germany. I find it interesting that you're spending more time at Europa Park than you are in Munich. Munich is a lovely city and very iconic and well worth more than a day. I don't think you need much more than a day, maybe two or three days, but leaving Amsterdam off would allow that. It's a shame that you only have a couple of days in Berlin as well.

But ultimately, this is your trip, so if you're good with this itinerary, then you should hang on to it. There are problems you might face with this itinerary, but nothing is insurmountable. That said, I really would suggest not picking up your car in Berlin but waiting until you get back to Germany from Amsterdam. You do not want to deal with a camper van in Amsterdam. I can definitely tell you that.

Edit:. I'm adding this because I just realized that you said camper van. Of course I read that, and it just hit me. So you are planning on sleeping in this camper van? All five of you? Have you plotted out your places to stay yet? If you are sleeping there, I guess that would avoid a little bit of the problem with Amsterdam, although I'm not sure where you would park a camper van in Amsterdam.

If you haven't yet figured out where you're going to sleep, I would focus on that. If you decide to stick with Amsterdam, I would post something on the Netherlands forum separately and ask about where you can park your camper van and where you can stay and so on.

Posted by
1897 posts

Berlin and Amsterdam are not the type of city where I think "camper van." Can you fly into and out of Munich instead of Berlin? It's much closer to your main interest, Europa Park. There is also a Legoland (with campground) between Munich and Stuttgart. My recollection is that it is a short, relatively easy drive to start out your trip. I can recommend some excellent campgrounds near Lucerne, Innsbruck and Salzburg if you decide to shift your itinerary to the south. I can also halfheartedly recommend one that is within walking distance of the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

Posted by
8203 posts

Where does the OP mention "camper van"???

I saw "motorhome" and "motorhome / car" in the first post but have no idea what that actually means - maybe a camper van, maybe something else...

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you very much for your answers.
We are flying from cyprus so it will not be a long flight and we will arrive 8am and the motorhome will wait for us at the airport at 8:30 am so thats not a problem. We will sleep in motorhome all the days. From what you suggested i think we will leave out Amsterdam and add something else or add more days to the places i all ready said We really want europa park and we cant change the airport because we all ready booked the tickets and the motorhome. So i think our main destinations are Berlin Munich Bavarian alps we were thinking Garmisch-Partenkirchen and europa park anything else can be changed or added

Posted by
12319 posts

Where does the OP mention "camper van"???

Russ, he didn't. I saw motorhome and immediately converted it to camper van in my head. I think I've been spending too much time on the UK forum 😂

Posted by
8203 posts

Or you have camper-van dreams that don't quite escape your subconscious mind. I'm pretty sure I have those.

Posted by
4 posts

Btw is not created by an ai we put the places that we want to visit and thats why i asked for a better opinion. I didnt add that the trip is a bachelor party hahahah. The guy that is getting married wanted to add Amsterdam to the trip, thats why is in there, but by what you guys said i thing he will not have Amsterdam in the trip hahaha. So yes the other places i think will stay, just change the days and add days to places like Munich and alps how that sounds ?

Posted by
12319 posts

Or you have camper-van dreams that don't quite escape your subconscious mind.

😂 😂 😂 That could be true!!

Posted by
12319 posts

Btw is not created by an ai we put the places that we want to visit and thats why i asked for a better opinion. I didnt add that the trip is a bachelor party hahahah. The guy that is getting married wanted to add Amsterdam to the trip, thats why is in there, but by what you guys said i thing he will not have Amsterdam in the trip hahaha. So yes the other places i think will stay, just change the days and add days to places like Munich and alps how that sounds ?

aekkara, don't worry about the AI reference. I think that was a joke that went wrong. And it's gone now. But that's pretty funny that this is a bachelor party!

I have heard that Amsterdam is a thing for bridal parties to go to and have parties. In fact, when I was at Schiphol Airport a few years ago, there was a groom that was there with his friends, and he was dressed up in a bride's gown. I couldn't figure out what was going on, and somebody next to me who was Dutch explained that a lot of people from the UK come to Amsterdam and have this whole ritual where they dress up like this and have parties and so on. He didn't seem too amused by it, so I refrained from comment. 😂

Regardless, whatever route you choose and whatever places you go to, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

Posted by
1897 posts

I assumed you were a family with young children. If the groom-to-be wants to go to Amsterdam, then you should go to Amsterdam. You're locked in to Berlin and the motorhome, so go with that. I would maybe add a stop along the way. The same with the Amsterdam to Europa Park leg. Driving a motorhome is a lot more work than driving a car. This might require you to drop your days in either Munich or Berlin.

Posted by
4 posts

Okay thank you very much
I didnt know that most of the questions in here comes from USA hahahaha so i didnt say anything that im from Cyprus from the beginning. For sure we drive on the correct side of the road but we drove many time in Europe so thats fine hahaha. And yes because there is no Cyprus forum if anyone wants anything i got you ask me. Anw thanks we will change some thing for our trip to get a bit easier.

Posted by
12319 posts

aekkara, you're allowed to put together whatever itinerary you like. It's your trip. Some people get itineraries from guidebooks, some get them from online blogs, some use AI, and some make up their own. There's no right or wrong way to do it. 😊

Regardless, I think you will have a wonderful trip and congratulations to the happy couple!