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After Heath and I RVed to all 50 states, I set my sights on the remainder of the world. Where else on this planet may we journey by RV? Turns on the market are fairly a number of international locations the place RVing and tenting are WAY extra standard than it’s right here within the States!
But I’ve had a tough time discovering extra details about the place all on this planet we will RV. I’ve seen a number of lists of “all” the international locations on this planet the place you may RV, however most of them checklist not more than 10 international locations! I knew they have been lacking fairly a number of spots. So I sat down and did a LOT of analysis to take advantage of complete checklist of the place you may journey the world in an RV.
This checklist contains practically 60 international locations the place you may RV all over the world! Below I’ll share what I find out about RVing in these international locations, plus sources for studying extra.
What RVing Around the World Is Called
“RVing” encompasses journey by a number of completely different automobiles that go by completely different names on every continent. I consult with car tenting as RVing, however the time period RV is simply used right here in North America!
Here are a number of of the phrases it is best to know:
- In North America, RVing means touring by motorhome, camper, or trailer.
- In Australia and New Zealand, you rent a motorhome to your campervan vacation to go caravanning. (Say that 5 instances quick.)
- In Africa, the phrase motorhome and camper are interchangeable. (Didn’t know RVing was a factor in Africa, did ya?)
- In Europe, you journey by motorhome (equal to American Class C’s or B’s) or by caravan (equal to a journey trailer). The time period campervan can also be used. You could go motorhoming in your campervan.
- In Asia, you lease tenting automobiles, which might vary from a personalized minivan to a small motorhome.
- In South America, you’ll lease a camper (or presumably drive your personal RV throughout the borders). Due to the infrastructure in South America, you extra incessantly hear of individuals overlanding throughout the continent.
- In Antarctica, simply kidding. There aren’t any type of RVs there primarily based on my analysis. You can go to by cruise although or keep in a tent on the ice, if you happen to’re actually into tenting!
Of the six continents the place you may RV, I’ve RVed on 4 on the time of penning this publish. My aim is to in the end camp on each continent, however convincing my husband to camp in a rooftop tent surrounded by lions is proving tough. 🦁
Let’s get into the checklist, in no explicit order.
Iceland
Based on Instagram alone, Iceland is without doubt one of the extra standard locations for RV leases. I’m consistently seeing images of their glaciers, lagoons, and waterfalls!
Iceland has been close to the highest of my bucket checklist for some time and the truth that tenting is big there’s a main plus! Many leases are 4×4 automobiles too, so you may actually get off the crushed path and discover. Although from my analysis, wild tenting is simply permitted for tents, not motorhomes.
And sure, in Iceland you may really lease a camper year-round! Would you need to camp in Iceland in January when the solar rises after 11 AM and units earlier than 4 PM with a excessive of 3º? Probably not. But hey, not less than that’s 3 levels Celsius! And if you happen to go to within the winter, there’s a great opportunity you’ll see the Northern Lights, that are alleged to peak in 2024!
Or you may go to in July and August when the nation’s mountain climbing is at its greatest. This is peak vacationer season so count on crowds and seek for camper leases early.
Japan
Just a few years in the past, somebody who listens to our podcast despatched us a Facebook message and instructed us that he and his spouse reside in Japan and eager about RV life. WHAT?! There are some components of the world the place you count on tenting to be standard, and Japan was positively not one among them! Turns out that just like the US, many retirees take to the open roads to RV across the islands.
We not too long ago took two weeks to tour Japan and located the nation surprisingly straightforward to navigate. There aren’t many sources for planning an RV street journey in Japan, which made planning this journey tough. We shared our expertise in a video sequence on Youtube:
Japan appears to have the smallest motorhomes—and motorhome is a stretch. It’s all #vanlife! (Even in a 16-foot van, my husband nonetheless managed to get us caught!) Motorhome leases additionally don’t come geared up with bathrooms. In my expertise, bathrooms are in all places so this was much less of an issue than I imagined!
Read More About Japan: Should You Rent an RV in Japan? What to Know Before You Go
Japan is a sequence of islands, however you may ferry your van to the 4 main islands: Honshu (the place you’ll discover Tokyo and many of the different Japanese cites you’ve heard of. I like to recommend beginning your journey right here.), Kyushu (scorching springs!!!), Shikoku (the perfect for browsing) and Hokkaido (the northernmost island the place you may’t RV within the winter).
China
I’ve heard the RV market in China in comparison with the US within the 80s. It’s nonetheless very new, but it surely’s booming amongst center and upper-class households. RV leases and campgrounds have gotten extra frequent.
China has not too long ago turn into extra accessible for American vacationers, however not a lot info has been printed about methods to plan an RV journey across the nation as of but.
Mexico
Mexico will get a nasty rap, with many vacationers contemplating it too tough to journey anyplace outdoors of resorts. But over the previous few years, there’s been an insurgence of RVers crossing the border into Mexico—particularly into Baja.
The Baja Peninsula boasts a ton of shoreline and superior seashores. Baja gives boondocking spots and campgrounds (though good electrical energy is tougher to search out and plenty of campers choose to depend on photo voltaic as a substitute). But the most important consideration shall be water. Drinking the water in Mexico nearly ensures you’ll get sick, so that you’ll want to search out purified or bottled water for consumption.
The professional of RVing in Mexico is that it’s proper there so that you can drive throughout the border, so no want to fret about renting an RV. Worried about security? Here’s an ideal weblog publish by Crazy Family Adventure sharing their experiences touring in Mexico.
Norway
When we discuss to anybody about RVing overseas, Norway inevitably comes up as an RVers paradise! Most not too long ago we watched our buddies, the Holcombes, exploring throughout Norway and the surroundings appears unbelievable!
From what I’ve discovered, Norway gives a ton of boondocking choices because of allemannsretten. Translating roughly to “freedom to roam” this Norwegian regulation stems from a Nordic custom giving each man entry to public lands.
France
Perhaps the preferred nation in Western Europe for RVing is France. Between the shoreline and the Alps, there’s a great purpose why this nation retains popping up on our radar for RVing. Of all of the international locations the place I’ve RVed, this one is a prime contender for essentially the most camper-friendly nation on this planet.
France is essentially the most visited nation on this planet and most vacationers flock to the cities. We have been shocked by the great thing about each nook in France! This is one place that lives as much as its fame for beautiful surroundings and phenomenonal meals.
Learn extra about motorhoming in France: What It’s Like RVing in France
Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Basically all of Europe
I’ve singled out a number of European international locations like Norway, Iceland, and France as a result of these are the highest three international locations I hear individuals speaking about when contemplating an RV journey. But you may RV throughout Europe.
Here’s what Anywhere Campers—who we’ve got used twice in Europe—say about the place you may journey in Europe:
“You can move freely between these countries: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Unfortunately we do not allow our campers to be driven to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey as they are excluded from our insurance plan and also for the safety reason[s].”
So practically in all places in Europe.
If you’re questioning what number of choices you might need for tenting in these international locations, right here’s a snapshot of all of the websites listed on Park4Night for Albania: 
I by no means would’ve considered Alabania as a preferred tenting vacation spot, however you may see they positively have choices! This is the app we utilized in Italy and will simply discover parking heaps, boondocking, and campgrounds all around the nation. Camping is much more standard in Europe than it’s within the States, so there’s no scarcity of RV leases and campsites throughout the continent.
That’s 38 international locations in Europe that Anywhere Campers mentions. However, I consider they’re incorrect in mentioning Monaco. The second smallest nation on this planet really prohibits motorhomes and caravans, however after visiting, I did see a motorhome driving down the street. So you may maybe cross via this small nation, however don’t count on to remain in a single day. We share how we legally visited Monaco in our RV on this video:
South Africa, Namibia and Botswana
YES. I by no means would’ve considered southern Africa as being a preferred space for RVing, however it’s. And not simply in response to my Google analysis! I had a pair attain out a number of weeks in the past to inform me that they’ve been RVing in South Africa for years! RVing may not be the proper phrase although, as most motorhomes in Africa are extra like American overlanding automobiles.
While I believe the thought of RVing in southern Africa sounds wonderful, it’s positively an journey reserved for extra campers than glampers. If you’re snug offroading and being surrounded by animals, you may love this journey.
Worldwide Campers additionally simply began providing leases at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, making visiting the Seven Wonders of the World a bit of extra potential!
Morocco
Most of Africa and the Middle East aren’t RV-friendly, however simply throughout the ocean from Europe, you will notice campers! You can ferry over or lease an RV in Morocco.
Of all of the locations the place you may go by motorhome, I used to be most shocked by Morocco. Who would’ve thought? I do know you may camp in tents within the Sahara, however motorhomes I didn’t count on. According to the opinions, motorhome leases are standard with households with younger children.
Belize, Costa Rica, & Panama
If you cross the border into Mexico and need to preserve heading south, you will see beachfront tenting choices all through Central America. Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama have all been singled out as international locations with the infrastructure to help campers (though if you happen to’re heading from nation to nation, you’ll additionally drive via different Central American international locations).
I discovered choices for campervan leases in Belize and Costa Rica, however I couldn’t discover as many in Panama.
As you may see within the video above, campervan is an apt time period. Most of the leases on this space are smaller vans or SUVs which have kitchenettes and rooftop tent beds.
The greatest concern I’ve seen with RVing throughout Central America is border crossings. Some bordering international locations don’t have the perfect relationship which might make crossing the borders a bit of bushy.
Cuba
Cuba appears like an island too small for RVing and some years in the past, this nation wouldn’t make the checklist! RVing is turning into increasingly standard as a novel option to discover a rustic.
You can lease campers from one firm out of Havana. You should reserve any parking spots forward of time as restrictions for in a single day parking are enforced.
Chile
This is the perfect nation in South America for a street journey! Chile is understood for its abundance of nationwide parks and has loads of tenting choices—but it surely’s arduous to search out RV tenting choices. Most campgrounds are for tents or cabins. But that doesn’t imply you may’t RV there, simply that you just received’t have full hookups. Think overlanding!
This is a random picture I discovered on Instagram of somebody who took a street journey in Chile for his or her honeymoon. It appears unbelievable!
World Wide Campers gives leases in Chile, that are all 4×4 automobiles that may deal with the nation’s terrain. The time period camper right here means both an SUV with a rooftop tent or a truck camper.
Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina
World Wide Campers additionally gives leases in Colombia and Argentina, although these aren’t the one South American international locations with tenting and glamping choices.
Mostly, you will discover tour firms that can take you on guided journeys throughout South America. The tour firm I researched recommends a 4×4 car beneath 35 ft lengthy that’s totally self-contained with a observe that claims “expect no hook-up facilities” on the continent. You also needs to journey with model new tires and a potable water air purifier.
Just a few ideas different vacationers shared for RVing in South America that may be useful in these international locations are:
- Do not drive at night time. (This is explicitly said in lots of locations. Partially as a result of street situations, partly for security.)
- Carry an additional fuel can and refill each time you see a fuel station. Stations are few and much between and also you don’t need to get stranded.
- Exercise warning at border crossings. Have all crucial paperwork (car registration, proof of insurance coverage, rental settlement if relevant, and many others.), a global driver’s allow, and your passports prepared.
New Zealand
New Zealand has a fame for being essentially the most campervan-friendly nation for good purpose. The grocery shops even have campervan parking!
There are loads of boondocking choices throughout the nation—generally known as freedom tenting—and plenty of nationwide parks. New Zealand is without doubt one of the most stunning international locations on this planet, with beautiful seashores, staggering mountain peaks, and a TON of mountain climbing.
We have RVed in New Zealand twice and it by no means disappoints. It is a stunningly stunning nation constructed for tenting. We’ve shared a ton of data on what it’s like campervanning in New Zealand on our Youtube channel. You can try all 30 episodes right here.
Australia
If you’re a fan of seashores or deserts, Australia is a good RVing vacation spot! The nation is camper-friendly with many caravan parks or vacation parks (AKA their two names for RV parks).
It’s necessary to notice that Australia is the sixth-largest nation on this planet and that it’s largely inhabited alongside the coast. Venture inland and companies are few and much between.
But if you happen to keep on the coast…
Look how cute! This picture screams Australia.
One main distinction in RVing down beneath? Campgrounds in Australia (and New Zealand) probably received’t supply full hook ups as most vans received’t have a bathroom or motorhomes may have a cassette rest room. Campers outdoors of North America usually don’t have a “city water fill” hook up both. You fill your tank with water an then use the onboard water pump.
Canada
Our neighbors to the north, we’ve RVed solely in western Canada thus far and it’s one among our favourite locations. The Canadian Rockies are beautiful in the summertime, fall, and coated in snow. I can’t suggest it sufficient!
Lake Louise blanketed in snow ❄
We’ve at all times pushed our personal RV throughout the border into Canada, however there are many RV rental firms throughout the nation too. While components of Canada are a bit of extra distant than in America, most of the RVing customs and tradition are the identical. It’s positively the simplest nation for Americans to go to in RV!
USA
And final however not least, our nation. When we began RVing in 2014, there have been method fewer sources accessible to RVers. Now there are apps, blogs and books all about methods to RV right here within the States.
Traveling by RV within the US, you’ll discover that some states are extra RV-friendly than others. States like Arizona and Florida may have an abundance of RV parks and states like California have a fame for being very RV-unfriendly (although it’s nonetheless our favourite state when it comes to magnificence!). You may even lease a van in Hawaii and test off all fifty states by way of RV!
RVing Around the World FAQs
Can you journey the world in an RV?
While you may’t go to each nation on this planet in an RV, you may go to a great chunk of the world by RV if that’s your dream. I personally have discovered it to be the easiest way to jaunt throughout Europe with our household, however continents like Africa or Asia can be harder.
Do different international locations have RVs?
Commonly known as by different names, all the above-listed international locations have RVs of some variety. They are sometimes known as campers, motorhomes, vans, tenting automobiles, auto caravans, caravans, or campervans.
Which nation is greatest for a campervan?
After visiting each, it’s arduous to decide on between France and New Zealand for essentially the most camper-friendly nation. New Zealand has to win for its ample boondocking or “freedom camping.” But France gives RV companies at fuel stations throughout the nation and it’s very straightforward to navigate.
New Zealand is standard with adults and {couples}, however we not too long ago revisited the nation with our younger children and found an entire new facet to the islands.
Can you are taking an RV abroad?
Yes! You can ship your RV overseas.
If you’re trying to spend a month or longer RVing overseas, transport your van or motorhome will be price it.
Our buddies Kathy and Peter not too long ago shipped their Winnebago Revel to Europe for a six-month street journey. The complete price for transport (together with transport, import and export charges, and insurance coverage) was round $3,000. That is lower than a one-month RV rental would price, making transport a horny choice.
However, you will want to contemplate what changes will must be made to your North American RV to be appropriate with European campsites. For instance, you’ll want adapters to your electrical plugs and a composting or cassette rest room. Crossing the oceans to completely different continents means not being provided the identical RV companies. Campgrounds overseas usually shouldn’t have dump stations for black waste such as you see within the US and Canada, so adapting your RV for international conveniences could also be tough. The Winnebago Revel is manufactured with a cassette rest room, making this rig specifically straightforward to ship abroad.
Keep in thoughts that campsites and roads are considerably smaller overseas than within the US and Canada. I wouldn’t suggest transport an RV longer than 28 toes or 8.5 meters at an absolute most. The smaller the RV, the extra locations you may go to.
For firsthand info and extra particulars on transport an RV to Europe, you may learn this detailed publish on methods to ship an RV to Europe right here.
Is an RV the most affordable option to journey?
Travel is at all times as costly as you make it. You can lease an affordable van or an costly one. You can go to glamping resorts or camp in parking heaps! Currency and the worldwide financial system play a big issue, with RV life being dearer or reasonably priced primarily based on the nation.
Related: How Much Does It Cost to Campervan in New Zealand?
All the Countries Where You Can RV
Those are all of the international locations the place RVing is a factor. I didn’t checklist international locations the place you may drive your RV throughout the border (like Nicaragua), however solely international locations the place I may discover info on tenting, RV parks, or RV leases. Technically you may cross many, many borders in an RV. But not all international locations supply the infrastructure to help that sort of journey.
All collectively that involves roughly 58 international locations the place you may RV all over the world. That’s 1 / 4 of the globe! So far we’ve solely RVed in 12…time to plan our subsequent journey!
If you’ve personally traveled by RV abroad (or know of a helpful useful resource by somebody who has), be at liberty to drop hyperlinks under so I can replace this text with extra info on worldwide RV life.