How to Plan a Road Trip

I am a planner!

Yes, owning a campervan means freedom and flexibility to explore new places but in order for us to see the best an area has to offer, I like to do some of my own research and planning. Planning more than one option also gives us flexibility with the British weather and the option to have a choice.

Following the #vanfamtribe hashtag on Instagram will give you access to lots of fabulous family run accounts that share their camping adventures in and around the UK. I also use Instagram to research new places! I look up specific locations or tourism boards. If you are new to exploring the UK or you want to focus solely on the areas of outstanding beauty then keep to the UK National Parks to begin with. There are 15 of them in total and 10 of them are in England, 3 in Wales and 2 in Scotland. 

Once I’ve found somewhere I love, I pin places that I think would be suitable for my family on a Google map. I have lots of different Google Maps saved for different locations and trips on my phone.

We are National Trust and English Heritage members so I also look to see if there is anywhere of interest in that same area. I like to ensure there is a good mixture of things specifically for the girls (5&7) and some more adventurous hikes that hubby and I will enjoy. (I search for family friendly routes to ensure they are within the girls' capabilities.)

Norfolk Road Trip

After I have plotted everything on Google maps, I try to group places together and then look for a campsite in that specific area. For this I either have campsite recommendations already pinned to my map, I look at the #vanfamtribe recommendations on Instagram or I search online. Depending on how much I want to explore in each area, depends on how many nights I book on the campsite. Then I repeat the process depending on how long we are away for in total, all the time considering how far we are travelling with the girls and what we can all manage.