Have Europeans ever embarked on road trips from Europe to Asia or Africa? 🚗✈️ #EuropeanTravel #RoadTripGoals #TravelInspiration
Exploring Uncharted Roads: Possible Routes from Europe to Asia or Africa
Curious about whether Europeans have ever considered driving to Asia or Africa from Europe? Let’s delve into the possibilities and logistics of such an adventurous journey.
Feasibility of Driving from Europe to Asia or Africa
1. Crossing two continents in one epic road trip
2. Journeying through diverse landscapes and cultures
3. Challenges and considerations of long-distance driving
Tips for Planning an Epic Road Trip from Europe to Asia or Africa
1. Choosing the best route for your adventure
2. Ensuring necessary documentation and permits
3. Preparing your vehicle for long-distance travel
4. Budgeting for fuel, accommodations, and other expenses
Join the Discussion: Share Your Thoughts and Experiences
Have you ever considered embarking on a road trip from Europe to Asia or Africa? Share your insights, tips, and experiences in the comments below! Let’s inspire each other to explore the world beyond borders. 🌍🗺️ #WanderlustDreams #CrossContinentsAdventure #TravelCommunity
While those trips are technically possible, they aren’t practical. The routes are insanely long and pass through some very underdeveloped and/or dangerous parts of the world.
Assuming of course you don’t just take a ferry to Algiers or something and then count that as “Europe to Africa”
While that’s possible, only enthusiasts (such as some bikers) do. Cost of food and lodging alone makes it cheaper to just fly and then rent a car locally.
Hell, how many people actually take the opportunity to drive from New York to LA?
Do people in the US ever drive to South America?
You could google the “hippie trail” and the “magic bus Amsterdam” to check out the good old days.
Göran Kropp biked from Sweden to Mount Everest and then climbed it, but he was a bit extreme
There literally used to be buses doing this route in the1950s/60/70s, popular with beatniks and hippies, until the Iranian Revolution and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan blocked the route through those countries.
My family drove from Mexico City to Niagara Falls
I think you should be very careful about either of these routes right about now.
There is a fair bit of carry on in the middle east at the moment that might make any overland trip from Europe to Africa quite lively.
There was that one Indian guy who biked from India to Sweden to hook up with his swedish pen pal in the 70s. So cases exist, but they are very rare. The area in the middle east, middle of Asia and northern Africa have become really dangerous in recent times.
But maybe one day.
My uncle and aunt (who are in their 90s now) drove from Germany to India in their youth . They still have stories about it and it sounds like they had some adventures.
– it is cool
– it’s not done in any statistically relevant numbers today (afaik)
– too many f**ing conflicts going everywhere. I can imagine in practice some are still safer for travelers than some of the drug war ridden areas in south america but still
– going by public transport is easier than driving on such long distance trips (no permits needed for the vehicle, you can fly back). You can practically get anywhere – assuming you have the visa ready beforehand or a lot of time.
– Africa is harder than SE Asia on land and also massively big (middle east is a conflict zone and a geographic bottleneck).
TLDR: rather not
Some people drive from Eastern Europe to Turkey so technically it is Asia (depends on which side of Instambul you will park 😉 as for other destinations I don’t think road trip through Ukraine, Russia or Belarus to get further would be fun nowadays
I live near the northern tip of mainland Europe, and I’ve seen Asian license plates. North Cape draws a lot of tourists, I’ve seen Arab plates too.
I highly recommend checking out ‘Long Way Round’ where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode motorcycles from London to New York going through Europe, Asia and then to Alaska. It released in 2004 and it’s brilliant.
They also did a second one ‘Long Way Down’ where they rode from John o’ Groats (northernmost part of Scotland) to the southernmost point in South Africa.
Driving through Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, & Afghanistan or the northern ‘stans or Russia. Great road trip
On Instagram Right now it seems to be a popular thing to drive/run/hitchhike from Europe to South Africa or vice versa.
There was a documentary Ewan McGregor did where he and a buddy rode motorcycles from Scotland to China IIRC. I remember the Mongolian stop being really funny. They got to some village on their “castration festival.” They had castrated all the horses, sheep, cattle, etc and made a giant stew. Ewan was a guest of course and got the first bowl.
Edit: it was to New York and it was called “the long way round” and it was a movie
A distant relative of mine walked out the door one day, got in his car, and drove from Norway to Thailand. Didn’t even tell anyone he left. I don’t think it’s a very common thing to do. It’s not like an american driving to Alaska or just coast to coast. The border between europe and asia is mostly a total wasteland with very little infrastructure.
Do you ever take the opportunity to drive to fucking Peru
There was a [London-Calcutta bus service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London%E2%80%93Calcutta_bus_service) from 1957 to 1976.
Look into something called the [Mongol Rally](https://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally/) You take a cheap used car and drive it to Mongolia (actually Russia now). I have a friend who did it and I think she started in Britain, but the website says it starts outside of Prague.
My husband hitchhiked from the Netherlands to India with his best friend when they were both 18. Late 80’s. Pre internet and cell phones.
Passed through many many countries, some of which are off limits now: Iran, they said the people were amazingly hospitable and friendly, Afghanistan, they have photos of themselves with the (now destroyed) giant Buddhas in the background, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, so many fantastic places, people and experiences. They slept in fields, under bridges, locals houses.
They offered and did manual work in many places in return for food, and were away for 10 months. They did run out of money on the way back and my husbands family gave him a loan (which he paid back).
Both were healthy fit guys before they left, they arrived back in the Netherlands at least 10 kg (20 lb ??) lighter, and apparently hubby ate and ate and ate prolific amounts for several weeks once he got home.
His mother complained about all the food “going missing“ (she knew he was eating it all, he just was so skinny that she realized his body needed extra calories) but was at the same time both horrified and amazed about just how hungry a 6’4” tall 19 year old could consume. His insane hunger leveled off once he was back to “normal” weight for his height and age. (Except when he did sports).
Between all of his travels he’s been to over 60 countries.Amazing experiences but so many of the countries have had political issues and his trip just isn’t possible today.
A friend of mine once hitchhiked from Thailand to Moscow
Paris-Dakar was real
A British teacher of mine drove from Kuwait to Britain with his wife (I suppose he took the ferry from France) around 1999.
1:Visas
2:Visas
3:Visas
4:Visas
5:It’s not easy
Driving? Try cycling
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/21/cycling-from-europe-to-asia-this-pair-biked-from-finland-to-singapore.html
Wow, 25 miles, 40 kilometers is a long drive to me now that I retired. I drove a semi for a year saw enough roads through the windshield.
The Wanderimg Wasp (FB-Instagram- YouTube) Went from Singapore-Malaysia-and all countries between there and E
Centrl Europe on an old 175cc Vespa.
Iv heard stories of people in my family who drove from UK to Pakistan and vice versa!
Not driving, but taking the train, Paul Theroux has some excellent travel writing traversing continents in the 1970s and onwards. The Great Railway Bazaar is a fantastic read
You could drive through turkey and hit Europe and Asia in a couple hours. Heading south into Egypt is short enough, but probably not safe
You’re testing the name of this sub son.
Do Europeans take several thousand mile road-trips through Russia or the war torn Middle East, through Pakistan’s mountainous non-roads to Thailand’s half roads… no obviously not.
A quick and simple google search tells me a flight from London to Bangkok is almost 14 hours. So it’s much longer by car.
This is similar to asking if Canadians road trip to Uruguay dude.
I’m living in Bangkok. Every 5 years or so i see an adventure car or motorbike with European plates. So it does happen but it’s rare. Obviously time consuming and the coordination for visa and permits is a headache. You can find tons of videos on YouTube of those that have attempted it.
Some people cycle from Europe to Singapore.