The cost of 11 months travelling around Europe and North Africa in our motorhome

We are back in the UK having spent 329 days travelling around Europe and North Africa in our motorhome - Sonny.  We took the Amsterdam to Newcastle ferry a few days ago and given the time of year, we were fortunate enough to have a smooth and 'sick-free' trip.  Since getting back in the UK we have been mindful to drive on the left-hand side of the road, although there has been one occasion where we drifted to the right!

Waiting in line for the ferry at Amsterdam to take us back to the UK

Our trip started on 27 December 2016, when we left the UK and headed south to Punta Umbria, in the Andalucia region of Spain.  We got there in just under 4 days (1,666miles/ 2665.6kms), as we wanted to see in the New Year with our son and his girlfriend.

Our trip lasted just under 11 months (329 days), in which time we visited 20 countries.  A list below gives you all the countries we visited and the length of time we stopped in them.

COUNTRIES	DAYS/NIGHTS
France	9
Spain	86
Portugal	7
Gibraltar	5
Morocco	39
Andorra	Didn’t stop overnight - (1 day)
Italy	43
Sicily	21
Greece	16
Bulgaria	22
Romania	6
Serbia	3
Croatia	24
Slovenia	7
Hungary	9
Slovakia	3
Austria	4
Czech Republic	4
Germany	16
Holland	5
TOTAL:	329

If you are a fan of facts and figures, below is a breakdown of our travels:

Our Budget

Before setting off we calculated what our daily/weekly spend would be, based on our income received through private pensions and renting out the house.  It gave us a set yearly budget of £16,000, approx €17,900 (€49 a day).  Some days/weeks we went over, and sometimes under but we didn’t let it dictate whether we would eat out, go on campsites or pay to go into places.  After all this was an adventure that might not come around again, and we wanted to make the most out every opportunity we had (within reason!).  Our budget is there as a guide to stop us thinking we could spend on anything and everything, although if needed we are fortunate enough to be able to dip into our savings.

We have met some interesting and inspiring people along the way and like-minded people who travel around for a few months at a time.  However, we didn’t meet anyone who had been out for nearly a year, like us and more often than not Sonny’s sticker map of where we had been became a topic of conversation between us and them.

Before setting off, we set up a spreadsheet to record what we spent daily and the formulas calculate the cost of everything on a weekly basis.  We also log our mileage and places we have stopped, number of nights etc.  Mel manages all of this and has mastered it well, so it only takes a few minutes a day to log.  We didn’t want it to become onerous, but something we could look back at every so often to see what we were spending most of our money on - usually food and alcohol!

The figures don’t include the servicing, insurance and MOT for the motorhome and scooter but purely costs incurred whilst we have been travelling.

Countries Visited

We started off by spending quite a few weeks in Spain with our Son, as we hadn't seen him in a long while.  From here we popped across the border into Portugal – only an hour’s drive from where he lives, and sauntered around the Algarve for a week.  Then it was back into Spain and we headed east around the coast.  We spent a few days in Gibraltar before catching the ferry from Algeciras to Morocco.  We followed the west coast as far south as Essaouira before turning east into the Middle Atlas Mountains and across to the Sahara Dessert and the fantastic dunes of Erg Chebbi (Merzouga) - where we spent an amazing night under the stars!  We then spent another couple of weeks heading north back up to Tangier Med Port.  In total, 39 fabulous days in our favourite country so far visited.

It was then back into Spain and we headed North, across the Andorra pass, into the south of France along the coast and into Italy.  We spent just over 3 weeks following the west coastline down near to Calabria where we caught the ferry to Sicily.  Temperatures in Sicily regularly got to 40°C and became a bit too hot for us, so after 3 weeks we got the ferry back to Italy and made our way around the boot and to Bari.  From here another ferry took us into Greece, where we toured the mainland for a few weeks and made the most of all the wild camping you can do here on the beaches.  We loved Greece and will definitely be back to see more!  Leaving Greece we spent 3 weeks in Bulgaria, including a fantastic week with our daughter and boyfriend on the Black sea.  Then it was across many borders travelling around Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Holland.  A fantastic time was spent in all of these countries (ranging from 3 days to 24 days) and you can click on any of the countries down the right-hand side of the blog (under Labels) if you would like to read more.

In total, we have covered a distance of 12,897 Miles (20635.2 Kilometres). 

Number Crunching

Below is a Pie Chart of where our money went:

As you can see most of it was spent on eating and drinking out and in the supermarket, with fuel a close second.  Our cheapest diesel purchased was in Morocco/Andorra €0.90 a litre, and the most expensive was in Italy at €1.39 per litre.  We averaged 31.8 miles per gallon (too tricky to work out in litres!).

There is a category you will notice as ‘other’, these are expenses that didn’t slot into the other categories, such as purchasing of: cooking utensils (chopping boards, electric whisk, glasses, knives) a few bits of clothing (T-shirts/jumpers), postcards home, haircuts, a couple of sessions of physio and massage (for Mel who suffered in the early days with a trapped nerve in his shoulder) and a couple of other minor bits and pieces.

Where we spent our nights:

The campsites we stayed on were reasonable. as we were able to use our ACSI discount card – prices ranged from €13 a night to €19 plus tourist tax, which varied from country to country.  In Croatia we didn’t have a choice, as wild camping is prohibited and it was mostly campsites in Morocco, as they were so cheap.

And the final cost of our 11 months away was, drum roll please...............
€16,717.90 (£14,926.70) -  £45.37 (€50.81) a day.

Would we do it all again?  You bet we would and we're already planning for year 2!

For now though Sonny is parked up on a friend’s drive, whilst we are living with our daughter and boyfriend.  Everything has been unpacked and Sonny has had a full service and MOT, and is drained down for the British winter.  He has had his repairs assessed and will hopefully get these done early January when the parts arrive and then we will be off again.Until then will busy ourselves with preparing for Christmas and planning our travel destinations for next year.

Thanks for following the blog so far and hopefully I have shared things with you that you have found interesting.  However, there are somethings that have happened in the motorhome on the way that will remain in the motorhome - as our little sign says below!

"What happens in the camper stays in the camper!"

So, all that is left to say for this year is to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and we will blog again next year.

Cheers!

Sally and Mel x