Road Trips vs Plane Trips
1. Excitement:
For car: Justified, excitement kicked in before we even hired a car. Back then it was too expensive to have satellite navigation in the car and phones were still lacking the technology. So we got a map. For the newer generations yes being able to read a map was a thing.
For plane: A plane ride is also exciting especially when you are younger but it doesn’t compare with the sense of adventure you get when you hire a car to travel abroad.
2. Plans:
For car: Normally plans will consist of what to do when you arrive at your destination, the sites, the pool days the excursions etc. The plans for a road trip start the moment you leave. Essentially the journey is the destination (ahem). Rather than 'things to do in Monaco' we were looking at “best cities in France to visit”, on the way.
For plane: Other than the actual flight, planning trips that consist of you flying there and back, will commence solely the minute you land which can be good if you do not want any hassle.
3. More bang for your buck:
For car: It's often that the costs would be higher than a simple return ticket but not always, if you are on the road trip with a car full of people then the car hire will be split between everyone and so is the fuel, a fifth of the usual price can help your costs become dramatically less than a flight. Regardless of the amount saved you will be seeing a lot more on your road trip travels that cannot be compared if you were to add flight costs to each city at separate times.
For plane: Plane tickets can be relatively cheap for short Europe trips with budget airlines. It is not uncommon to see a return flight between London and Rome from as little as £20. Check out what deals you can find today with Skyscanner.
4. Sightseeing:
For car: Its simple you will see more sights, if that's what you wish to do and I would suggest to stop off where possible, who knows when you have the opportunity to see a city you may never think to go to ever again. Lyon was a city never on my list to see, until we drove through on the way to Monaco. We were all glad we did.
For plane: Sightseeing on a plane? Well you do see some marvellous sights, sunsets/sunrises and 'cloudporn'. Nothing quite beats the view from above especially flying over the Alps/mountainous region during a clear day.
5. Immersive:
For car: Meet more people from more places, which means you will have a slightly better idea of the people and the culture.
For plane: You may get to know or exchange words with people on the plane journey or the person sitting next to you but generally speaking it is a rare instance to form a bond with someone over the course of a few hours, especially if you been snoring for most of those hours. However, it's not impossible.
6. Stop when you want:
For car: Like a city? Well why not stay the night? Get travel sickness? Why not pull over? Smoker? Pull over. Hungry? Explore the nearest restaurant or coffee shop.
While immersing yourself in the city you may like it so much that you exchange a day from your destination and add it to your journey. There are so many hidden gems that you will never hear about or see unless you happen to stop there. Finding a hidden gem can be lucky even while driving but the chances of you finding one on a plane is a hell of a lot slimmer.
For plane: You can sleep the whole way on a plane and not even realise you travelled, your airborne chauffeur will let you know when you land once the tyres hit the tarmac.
7. No need to hire a car when you get to your destination:
For car: The car is already hired or better yet it is your own car, it's a nice feeling getting to a city and not having to worry about your mode of transportation too much.
For plane: In some ways not having a car forces you to jump on the local public transport which is usually always fun right? One thing I do advocate for is walking and you'll likely have to walk more if you do not have a car to drive.
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