# 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.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/holidays/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.

## USA

- [Fall color: the Kancamagus to Acadia](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/new-england-fall/): 4 d
- [Oregon Coast on US-101](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/oregon-coast/): 5 d
- [North Cascades Highway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/north-cascades/): 3 d
- [Rainier and St. Helens volcano loop](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/volcano-loop-wa/): 4 d
- [Going-to-the-Sun Road, west to east](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/glacier-sun/): 2 d
- [Volcanic Legacy Byway: Mount Shasta to Crater Lake](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-volcanic-legacy/): 4 d
- [Highway 1 south: San Francisco to Santa Cruz and Monterey](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-sf-santa-cruz/): 2 d
- [Sonoma and Mendocino coast on Highway 1](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-sonoma-mendocino/): 3 d
- [Southern Oregon coast: Cape Arago to the Boardman corridor](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-south-oregon-coast/): 3 d
- [Maine’s Route 1](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/maine-route-1/): 4 d
- [Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway via Crater Lake](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-rogue-umpqua/): 3 d
- [Mount Rainier’s east side: Sunrise and Chinook Pass](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-rainier-sunrise/): 2 d
- [Olympic Peninsula loop: ridges, rain forest and wild beaches](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-olympic-loop/): 4 d
- [Chuckanut Drive and the Mount Baker Highway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-mount-baker/): 2 d
- [Grand Teton loop: Mormon Row, Signal Mountain and Jenny Lake](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b18-grand-teton-loop/): 2 d
- [Icebergs, island ferries and puffins – by camper through north-east Newfoundland from Twillingate via Fogo Island to Bonavista](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-379-newfoundland-kittiwake-bonavista/): 8 d
- [Dams, taiga and Basque whalers – by camper along Route 389 and the Trans-Labrador Highway from Baie-Comeau to Red Bay](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-390-trans-labrador-highway/): 7 d
- [Grand Teton, Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/yellowstone-beartooth/): 5 d
- [Vermont Route 100](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/vermont-100/): 3 d
- [Locks, rock carvings and granite lakes – by camper through the Kawarthas and the Haliburton Highlands](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-497-ontario-kawarthas-haliburton/): 7 d
- [Loons, Shaker barns and lobster traps – by camper through New Hampshire’s Lakes Region and down to the coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-530-new-hampshire-lakes-region/): 6 d
- [Waterfalls, wood bison and houseboats – by camper along the Waterfalls Route to Yellowknife](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-548-nwt-waterfalls-route-yellowknife/): 7 d
- [Dinosaur tracks, dams and the thunder of Kinuseo – by camper through the Peace River country of north-eastern British Columbia](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-559-bc-peace-tumbler-ridge-hudsons-hope/): 6 d
- [Islands, wooden bridges and moose tracks – by camper from Burlington across the Champlain Islands into the Northeast Kingdom](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-566-vermont-champlain-islands-northeast-kingdom/): 6 d

## Europe

- [Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-maggiore-orta/): 3 d
- [Bergamo, Lake Iseo and the Valcamonica rock art](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-iseo-valcamonica/): 3 d
- [Brenta Dolomites and the Val di Non](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-brenta-dolomites/): 4 d
- [Friuli: from the Adriatic lagoons to the Julian Alps](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-friuli/): 4 d
- [Palladian villas and the Prosecco hills](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-prosecco-palladio/): 3 d
- [Route des Grandes Alpes: Lake Geneva to the Riviera](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/grandes-alpes/): 5 d
- [Great Dolomite Road: Bolzano to Cortina](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/great-dolomite-road/): 3 d
- [Lake Garda loop](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/lake-garda-loop/): 3 d
- [A loop through the Dolomites](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/dolomites/): 4 d
- [Piedmont’s western valleys: forts and the source of the Po](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-piedmont-valleys/): 4 d
- [Normandy’s D-Day beaches](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-d-day-beaches/): 3 d
- [Finistère: the capes at the end of Brittany](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-finistere-capes/): 3 d
- [South Brittany: menhirs and the Gulf of Morbihan](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-morbihan-megaliths/): 3 d
- [Upper Loire: canal bridges and Sancerre wine](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-upper-loire/): 3 d
- [Chablis, Vézelay and the Morvan](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-burgundy-abbeys/): 4 d
- [Jura: yellow wine, blind valleys and waterfalls](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-jura-waterfalls/): 3 d
- [Route des Crêtes through the Vosges](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-vosges-cretes/): 2 d
- [Lorraine: Metz, Nancy and Verdun](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-lorraine-verdun/): 3 d
- [Champagne: Reims to the Côte des Blancs](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-champagne-slopes/): 2 d
- [Savoy lakes and the Chartreuse massif](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-savoy-lakes-chartreuse/): 3 d
- [Aosta Valley: castles and Gran Paradiso](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/aosta-valley/): 3 d
- [Stelvio and Bernina: two giants of the Alps](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/stelvio-bernina/): 3 d
- [Auvergne volcanoes: Puy de Dôme to Puy Mary](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b2-auvergne-volcanoes/): 4 d
- [Castles of the Rhine and Moselle](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rhine-castles/): 3 d

## Oceania

- [From the Bay of Islands to Cape Reinga and back](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/nzn-bay-of-islands-to-cape-reinga/): 3 d
- [Red gorges, ghost gums and starry skies – by camper along the Red Centre Way to Uluṟu](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-303-red-centre-way/): 8 d
- [Sugar cane, the Coral Sea and cassowaries – up the Queensland coast by camper to Cape Tribulation](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-304-queensland-coast/): 8 d
- [Limestone pillars, shell beaches and whale sharks – the Coral Coast by camper from Perth to Ningaloo](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-306-wa-coral-coast/): 8 d
- [Pelicans, lighthouses and rainforest – up the north coast of New South Wales to Byron Bay by camper](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-315-nsw-north-coast-byron/): 8 d
- [Crater lakes, strangler figs and lava tubes – by camper through the Atherton Tablelands into savannah country](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-318-atherton-tablelands-undara/): 8 d
- [Iron ore, gorges and rock engravings – by campervan through the Pilbara and Karijini National Park](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-386-pilbara-karijini/): 8 d
- [Sapphires, dinosaurs and swagmen – by camper from the Tropic of Capricorn along the Matilda Way into outback Queensland](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-396-queensland-outback-matilda-way/): 8 d
- [Wheat, granite and a pipeline to the gold – by camper from the Perth Hills through the Wheatbelt to Kalgoorlie](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-419-wa-wheatbelt-golden-pipeline/): 8 d
- [Rainforest, granite and frosty nights – by camper through the Scenic Rim and Granite Belt](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-420-qld-scenic-rim-granite-belt/): 8 d
- [Frosty mornings, gorge rims and granite circles – the New England Tablelands by camper](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-450-nsw-new-england-tablelands/): 8 d
- [Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay: Rainforest and Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-coffs-harbour-to-byron-bay/): 4 d
- [Bunya pines, reservoirs and red earth – by camper through the Brisbane Valley to the Bunya Mountains and the South Burnett](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-479-qld-bunya-mountains-south-burnett/): 8 d
- [Goldfields, tidal rivers and an emerald gorge – by camper along the Savannah Way to the Gulf of Carpentaria](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-509-qld-savannah-way-gulf/): 8 d
- [Granite boulders, telegraph stations and outback pubs – by camper along the Explorers Way to Katherine](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-510-nt-explorers-way-tennant-creek/): 7 d
- [Red dunes, bore water and ghost pubs – through the Channel Country to Birdsville by camper](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-529-qld-channel-country-birdsville/): 8 d
- [Sandblow, humpback whales and turtle beach – by camper along the Fraser Coast, K’gari and Bundaberg to the Town of 1770](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-539-qld-fraser-coast-kgari-bundaberg/): 7 d
- [Sugar cane, platypuses and kangaroos in the morning light – by camper through Mackay, Eungella and the Whitsunday hinterland](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-549-qld-mackay-eungella-whitsunday/): 8 d
- [Sapphires, sandstone and stencilled hands – by camper through Queensland's Central Highlands](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-550-qld-central-highlands-carnarvon-gemfields/): 8 d
- [Opal shafts, salt lakes and the old Ghan line – by camper along the Stuart Highway and the Oodnadatta Track](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/rf-558-sa-coober-pedy-oodnadatta-track/): 8 d
- [Gold Coast and Hinterland Rainforests](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-gold-coast-hinterland/): 4 d
- [Sunshine Coast, Hinterland and Noosa](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-sunshine-coast-noosa/): 3 d
- [K’gari and the Fraser Coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-kgari-fraser-coast/): 5 d
- [Bundaberg to Mackay: Southern Reef and Capricorn Coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-bundaberg-to-mackay/): 7 d

## FAQs

**Where is it not too hot to camp in summer?**
Head north or head up. Scandinavia, Scotland, Ireland and the Baltic states have mild summers, and the Alps and other mountain regions stay pleasant thanks to the altitude. On the North Sea and Atlantic coasts, a sea breeze keeps things fresh. In southern Europe, the hottest weeks can make sleeping in a vehicle uncomfortable.

**How far ahead should I book a campground for summer?**
For popular coastal and lake campgrounds, the earlier the better: many fill up months ahead for the peak weeks. Ferries to islands and to Scandinavia are also worth booking early. If you prefer to travel without reservations, choose smaller campgrounds, quieter regions and the edges of the season, and arrive by early afternoon.