Help with planning a road-trip in Europe: Croatia or Norway?

We want to explore some places while we drive to Croatia or Norway. If there is a 3rd place someone could recommend, that would be amazing.

BHPian humyum recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have just landed in Netherlands 2 days back and my girlfriend and me are planning a roadtrip from Amsterdam to either Croatia or Norway from this Friday 28th to 5th Saturday. She has her holidays starting from Friday in the 2nd half and we would want to leave right then.

I have never driven in Netherlands before but I have driven in India for 20 years around of my life and have lived in Uk for a couple of years where I have driven a few times.

We want to explore some places while we drive to Croatia or Norway. If there is a 3rd place someone could recommend, that would be amazing.

I saw car rentals online and most of them for a small hatchback with unlimited mileage are coming to 28 to 30 thousand rupees for 8 days.

Can you please help me plan this trip as I left from India with such a hectic work month that I never got a chance to plan this out.

Here's what BHPian NomadSK had to say on the matter:

That's around 7 days road trip and Norway is quite a big country to explore, from South to North. It took me 5 weeks to explore a bit of Norway+Sweden.

Both Croatia and Norway are quite far from Netherlands for a 7 day road trip.

If at all you want to explore, Germany, particularly South Bavaria (Fussen - Neuschwanstein castle) is an amazing place to visit. In addition, can plan for nearby Austrian alps for salt mines and lovely village at Hallstatt.

It will give you good enough "drive time" and exploring few exciting places within the duration.

But if you are hellbound for Norway, Then,

Head straight to Port Hirtshals, Book a Ferry and cross over to Norway, Drive to Stavanger/Bergen/Voss and head back to Netherlands. I guess that would be possible in 7 days.

Here's what BHPian dileepcm had to say on the matter:

I have been to both of the destinations from Netherlands by road. Honestly 7 days is just not enough to have a good trip. If I have to make a recommendation out of the two, South of Norway would be my pick. Here is my travelogue on Norway (A glimpse of Norway - a week on the roads).

I don't have a write up for Croatia but if you have any questions, pls let me know.

Alternatively, South of Germany (Black Forest area) or North of Italy are good alternatives.

Austria (Road trip during Corona times - Netherlands to Austria) is also a good destination for a week.

Here's what BHPian libranof1987 had to say on the matter:

To be honest: looks like you have a lot going on, and you want to accomplish a further lot in this short time. Understandable  But it doesn't seem practical.

First, forget Italy. It is a good way across the continent, and you'll spend your time to and fro, rather than in Italy. I suspect the main objective is for you two to spend time together, rather than go on a whirlwind sightseeing tour?

How about focussing on nearby cities / countries? Perhaps Belgium and north-eastern Germany? Or even the UK - if your visa allows entry. You've specifically said road-trip; if that isn't a hard criteria - train / bus / flight travel will open up all of Europe!

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