Summer road travel boom:
Top European countries to explore behind the wheel, revealed by KAYAK

Road trips in Europe are set to boom this summer. According to KAYAK, the world’s leading travel search engine, car hire searches are surpassing 2019 levels for this year’s summer period with a sharp 162% rise on average throughout Europe and about 259% in Serbia alone. The dramatic increase in fuel prices, growing concerns over climate change and a lingering preference for privacy over mingling with the crowds all shape this year’s travel trends – leaving many travellers pondering the best destination for their 2022 personal road trip adventure.

Fuelled by these insights and to support travellers during their planning process, KAYAK has developed its comprehensive Road Trip Index 2022, a unique database that provides holidaymakers who are keen to go on a road trip with country-specific insights and information on fuel prices, road safety, environmental impact, cultural opportunities and much more. This enables them to tailor their journey and focus on what matters most for them.

Serbia takes the lead for road trips on a shoestring budget

33 European countries have been analysed and ranked according to 24 individual factors. These were then grouped into 5 road trip types: Budget, Sustainability, Camping & Outdoors, Comfort & Infrastructure and Nature & Landmarks. This enables travellers to tailor their journey according to what’s most important to them. The top-rated countries for the five road trip types are: Serbia (Budget), Netherlands (Sustainability), France (Camping & Outdoors and Landmarks & Nature) and Switzerland (Comfort & Infrastructure).

Serbia came first in the Budget category that ranks countries according to pricing factors like fuel, car hire, accommodation and road tolls. In light of an increase in prices at the pump, the price of travelling this summer might become an even more important consideration on drivers’ minds at the moment. Serbia comes with some impressively reasonable prices for hotels – second only to Lithuania – cheap car hire and parking, where 2 hours of street parking will only set you back about 0.77€ on average.

Germany tops the list as 2022’s Best Road Trip Destination

Germany seized the top spot in 2022’s ranking, scoring high in factors such as Comfort & Infrastructure and Nature & Landmarks. Germany is a petrolhead’s paradise, with its large road network, a high number of EV charging stations, and the fact it has fewer car accidents per 100,000 people than most of the other countries on the list. And it’s impossible to overlook Germany’s diversity of fascinating historical and natural sites. Navigate your way through the Black Forest on a balmy summer evening, or explore the vineyards and towns of the Romantic Rhine to your heart’s content.

Top 10 road trip destinations in Europe in 2022:

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

“Being out of travel-training over the past two years means that holidaymakers might feel confused about where they can get the best experience for their road trip this year. And there is so much to see in our region, in fact, the European road network is so wide, it would take almost 50 years to explore all countries behind the wheel if one drives every day. So let’s get started! Our Road Trip Index helps travellers by providing detailed analysis of a variety of factors and navigates them through a great choice of European destinations, so they can make the best and most informed decision. And for travellers who want to explore the roads with a rented car or campervan for the best deal, we offer a wide range of vehicles from many different car hire providers,” commented Laure Bornet, GM, KAYAK EMEA.

*All sources have been accessed and data retrieved between 22 February – 22 June 2022. The numbers collected are based on the latest available data. For full details on the 2022 Road Trip Index methodology, please visit https://www.kayak.co.uk/c/road-trip-index .
Growth in car hire is based on searches made on KAYAK in the period between 15.06.2022 and 22.06.2022 for travel days between 15.06.2022 and 15.09.2022. They were compared to the searches made in the period between 15.06.2019 and 22.06.2019 with the same travel period.