Is there anything better than taking a road trip? Driving down the open road with your friends and endless possibilities. And where better for it than Germany? Well, nowhere, according to a recent study.

Road Trip Index 2022

With airports so busy at the moment, you might be thinking twice about going abroad for your holidays. If you're stumped about what to do, what about considering a road trip? The folks at KAYAK have put together the Road Trip Index 2022 to find the best places for road trips in Europe, so you pick the best places to explore.

The Road Trip Index ranks 33 European countries according to 24 factors under five categories: Weather, Camping, Safety and Infrastructure, Pricing, Traffic and Sustainability, Car Hire and Nature and Landmarks. This year, with prices at the pump on the rise, the study makes fuel prices one of its priorities. The Camping category is a new addition to this year’s ranking; having been added to reflect its recent rise in popularity.

The study also considered five different types of road trips: Sustainability, Camping and Outdoors, Nature and Landmarks, Budget and Safety and Comfort. Each road trip type gave different weight to different factors depending on the aim of the trip. So, a Nature and Landmarks road trip would assign more weight to the number of heritage sites per 100 square kilometres, while factors such as campervan hire price would have more weight for a Camping road trip.

Germany ranked as the best place for road trips

The study ranked Germany as the best place for road trips in Europe. Germany performed well in a variety of factors, like having the second highest number of heritage sites per 100 square kilometres, only coming behind Italy. It also had the second-highest number of EV stations and some of the cheapest prices for campervans.

On the downside, Germany does have the most expensive prices for its EV stations. The federal republic also has the highest speed limits in Europe, although don’t let that worry you as the German autobahn sees relatively few accidents.

Weirdly enough, Germany does not come out on top for any of the different road trip types. The federal republic ranked fourth in the Comfort and Infrastructure type, behind Switzerland, Denmark and Austria. It also came in fifth in the Nature and Landmarks type, behind France, Italy, Iceland and Spain. Germany was not featured in the top 10 for Budget trips, or trips focused on Sustainability and Camping.

The best countries in Europe for road trips

According to the Road Trip Index 2022, these are the top 10 countries for road trips in Europe:

1. Germany
2. Spain
3. Lithuania
4. Cyprus
5. France
6. Sweden
7. Portugal
8. Estonia
9. Italy
10. Switzerland

For the full list, and a rundown of the study’s methodology, you can visit KAYAK’s website.