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Off roading in Europe

pablo_max3045

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Hi all,
I am starting the ground work to plan an off road / overlanding trip in Europe. (or UK)
However, I am stuck on the classical problem. Where in the hell can you off road in Europe?

In Germany there is basically zero options. There are a couple off road parks, but I have no interest in that whatsoever.
So, I would like to ask the Jeep Europe members.. where do you go?

I have seen a few things on Youtube, which may be interesting.
West Alps has some scenic routes, but nothing really requiring 4x4.
Portugal seems to have a lot of remote tracks.
UK also seems to have some cool places, though I hear wild camping is not really possible.

Any "top tips" from off roaders?
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7c102c600853ce38121

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You definitely should take a look into Balkans! Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania.. off-road heaven. Romania is also interesting, a lot of nice tracks, although they recently changed their law and you cannot roam through forests freely.

I hear that north is also nice, with a lot of forest roads available for public.

All in all, the more to the West, the worse.
 
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pablo_max3045

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You definitely should take a look into Balkans! Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania.. off-road heaven. Romania is also interesting, a lot of nice tracks, although they recently changed their law and you cannot roam through forests freely.

I hear that north is also nice, with a lot of forest roads available for public.

All in all, the more to the West, the worse.
Thanks for the hints.
I have heard Romania had lots of places. Though, a buddy of mine warned me that he ran into a few places where he felt in danger from the locals.
Spain aparently has cool trails, but seems to have strict camping laws.
 

7c102c600853ce38121

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Well, in Romania, Bulgaria and to some extent Slovakia, you can bump into carpatian gypsys. They mostly live in rural areas and in the mountains and I advise all of you to just avoid them. Their nomadic lifestyle just doesn't fit into being polite and cultural :) I bet that your buddy had them in mind, while addressing the issue of safety.

All in all people in this part of the world are friendly, of course the closer to former Yugoslavia, situation become more complicated, but if you ask for off-road, then this is your place :)

Bosnia and Hercegovina:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe 1642850160593


Montenegro:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe 1642850197711


Albania:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe 1642850256945


Montenegro:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe 1642850302630
 

californiajeeping

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The free version of the AllTrails app shows over 175 OHV roads in Europe. Some are in France, UK and Spain. There are several in Germany. Be sure to filter for OHV only. The app has pictures of the off road trails too. You can also filter by difficulty, so you can see which ones require a 4x4.

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D44DB265-1EBC-4E3F-BE7D-F79CB5E593D0


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe FAA04153-0D0E-429E-91DE-CA55A65AACD9


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe E1B7A306-8842-4528-BB4A-8B49E647882E


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe BBB3E601-993C-4ACB-94E6-A0522DD0F181


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340
 
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pablo_max3045

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Well, in Romania, Bulgaria and to some extent Slovakia, you can bump into carpatian gypsys. They mostly live in rural areas and in the mountains and I advise all of you to just avoid them. Their nomadic lifestyle just doesn't fit into being polite and cultural :) I bet that your buddy had them in mind, while addressing the issue of safety.

All in all people in this part of the world are friendly, of course the closer to former Yugoslavia, situation become more complicated, but if you ask for off-road, then this is your place :)

Bosnia and Hercegovina:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Montenegro:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Albania:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Montenegro:

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340
Looks awesome. I guess in Bosnia Herzegovina you had better stick to the trails and not wonder off into the bush! Croatia too, for that matter. There are still a shit ton of land mines around.

Yes, I believe it was gypsy folk he had run ins with.
 
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pablo_max3045

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The free version of the AllTrails app shows over 175 OHV roads in Europe. Some are in France, UK and Spain. There are several in Germany. Be sure to filter for OHV only. The app has pictures of the off road trails too. You can also filter by difficulty, so you can see which ones require a 4x4.

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340
Often times, even though a website shows something in Germany as being possible with a vehicle, but it is usually impossible to off road in any of those trails.
The free version of the AllTrails app shows over 175 OHV roads in Europe. Some are in France, UK and Spain. There are several in Germany. Be sure to filter for OHV only. The app has pictures of the off road trails too. You can also filter by difficulty, so you can see which ones require a 4x4.

Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340


Jeep Wrangler JL Off roading in Europe D4D4F04D-C1CA-45C8-ACF8-F299A96BE340
You have to take the app with a grain of salt when it comes to Germany. It may tell you you can drive it, but 99 times out of 100, if it goes into a forest, vehicles are forbidden.
The number 1 listed trail for example is Hermannshöhen Weg, and from the official website, it is a hiking only trail.
Germany is the worst in Europe for allowing you to offroad.
 

Il Commandante

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Exactly this! Unfortunately.

When the app states „Offroad Driving“, Germans post bicycle trails… 😳
 

4nADV

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Did you have any luck planning routes? I live in Vienna now with an '18 Rubicon and trying to connect with offroaders / overlanders. Not easy.
 
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pablo_max3045

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Did you have any luck planning routes? I live in Vienna now with an '18 Rubicon and trying to connect with offroaders / overlanders. Not easy.
Nope. There are some places in the alps, but it's not really off roading as one would know from the US.
Portugal has a lot of trails and loads of long long long deep sand roads though.
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