Where to go in the summer holidays

506 routes that our season estimate rates as best for this time of year, in Europe, North America and Oceania.

Wondering where to go on summer vacation by RV or camper? Summer is high season almost everywhere: long days, warm water and every campground open. It’s also the busiest and, in the south, the hottest time of year. The Mediterranean coasts are crowded, so many travelers head north to Scandinavia, Scotland or the Baltic states, or up into the Alps, where the high passes are open and the air stays fresh.

The routes below are the ones our season estimate rates as good in July and August, based on long-term climate averages, terrain and pass seasons. Our tip: book campgrounds and ferries early, especially for coasts, islands and Scandinavia. If you travel spontaneously, avoid the busiest weekends, start driving early in the morning and look for smaller campgrounds inland, a little away from the hotspots.

How we work: data and estimates

USA · 95 routes

The newest 24 are shown here; all routes are in the trip guide catalogue.

Things to do in…

USA · 95 routes

Fall color: the Kancamagus to Acadia

Oregon Coast on US-101

North Cascades Highway

Rainier and St. Helens volcano loop

Going-to-the-Sun Road, west to east

Volcanic Legacy Byway: Mount Shasta to Crater Lake

Highway 1 south: San Francisco to Santa Cruz and Monterey

Sonoma and Mendocino coast on Highway 1

Southern Oregon coast: Cape Arago to the Boardman corridor

Maine’s Route 1

Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway via Crater Lake

Mount Rainier’s east side: Sunrise and Chinook Pass

Olympic Peninsula loop: ridges, rain forest and wild beaches

Chuckanut Drive and the Mount Baker Highway

Grand Teton loop: Mormon Row, Signal Mountain and Jenny Lake

Icebergs, island ferries and puffins – by camper through north-east Newfoundland from Twillingate via Fogo Island to Bonavista

Dams, taiga and Basque whalers – by camper along Route 389 and the Trans-Labrador Highway from Baie-Comeau to Red Bay

Grand Teton, Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway

Vermont Route 100

Locks, rock carvings and granite lakes – by camper through the Kawarthas and the Haliburton Highlands

Loons, Shaker barns and lobster traps – by camper through New Hampshire’s Lakes Region and down to the coast

Waterfalls, wood bison and houseboats – by camper along the Waterfalls Route to Yellowknife

Dinosaur tracks, dams and the thunder of Kinuseo – by camper through the Peace River country of north-eastern British Columbia

Islands, wooden bridges and moose tracks – by camper from Burlington across the Champlain Islands into the Northeast Kingdom

Europe · 365 routes

Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta

Bergamo, Lake Iseo and the Valcamonica rock art

Brenta Dolomites and the Val di Non

Friuli: from the Adriatic lagoons to the Julian Alps

Palladian villas and the Prosecco hills

Route des Grandes Alpes: Lake Geneva to the Riviera

Great Dolomite Road: Bolzano to Cortina

Lake Garda loop

A loop through the Dolomites

Piedmont’s western valleys: forts and the source of the Po

Normandy’s D-Day beaches

Finistère: the capes at the end of Brittany

South Brittany: menhirs and the Gulf of Morbihan

Upper Loire: canal bridges and Sancerre wine

Chablis, Vézelay and the Morvan

Jura: yellow wine, blind valleys and waterfalls

Route des Crêtes through the Vosges

Lorraine: Metz, Nancy and Verdun

Champagne: Reims to the Côte des Blancs

Savoy lakes and the Chartreuse massif

Aosta Valley: castles and Gran Paradiso

Stelvio and Bernina: two giants of the Alps

Auvergne volcanoes: Puy de Dôme to Puy Mary

Castles of the Rhine and Moselle

Oceania · 46 routes

From the Bay of Islands to Cape Reinga and back

Red gorges, ghost gums and starry skies – by camper along the Red Centre Way to Uluṟu

Sugar cane, the Coral Sea and cassowaries – up the Queensland coast by camper to Cape Tribulation

Limestone pillars, shell beaches and whale sharks – the Coral Coast by camper from Perth to Ningaloo

Pelicans, lighthouses and rainforest – up the north coast of New South Wales to Byron Bay by camper

Crater lakes, strangler figs and lava tubes – by camper through the Atherton Tablelands into savannah country

Iron ore, gorges and rock engravings – by campervan through the Pilbara and Karijini National Park

Sapphires, dinosaurs and swagmen – by camper from the Tropic of Capricorn along the Matilda Way into outback Queensland

Wheat, granite and a pipeline to the gold – by camper from the Perth Hills through the Wheatbelt to Kalgoorlie

Rainforest, granite and frosty nights – by camper through the Scenic Rim and Granite Belt

Frosty mornings, gorge rims and granite circles – the New England Tablelands by camper

Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay: Rainforest and Lighthouse

Bunya pines, reservoirs and red earth – by camper through the Brisbane Valley to the Bunya Mountains and the South Burnett

Goldfields, tidal rivers and an emerald gorge – by camper along the Savannah Way to the Gulf of Carpentaria

Granite boulders, telegraph stations and outback pubs – by camper along the Explorers Way to Katherine

Red dunes, bore water and ghost pubs – through the Channel Country to Birdsville by camper

Sandblow, humpback whales and turtle beach – by camper along the Fraser Coast, K’gari and Bundaberg to the Town of 1770

Sugar cane, platypuses and kangaroos in the morning light – by camper through Mackay, Eungella and the Whitsunday hinterland

Sapphires, sandstone and stencilled hands – by camper through Queensland's Central Highlands

Opal shafts, salt lakes and the old Ghan line – by camper along the Stuart Highway and the Oodnadatta Track

Gold Coast and Hinterland Rainforests

Sunshine Coast, Hinterland and Noosa

K’gari and the Fraser Coast

Bundaberg to Mackay: Southern Reef and Capricorn Coast

Other holidays

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