Partir en Liberté
FREN

The house catalogue

Where to go on your own?

Twenty-seven countries built for independent travel, across every continent — self-drive, van or rental car. For each: the destinations that matter, the right season, an honest budget and the local driving rules.

Africa

7 countries
A lone oryx walking in front of the red dunes of the Namib desertNAMSouthern AfricaNamibiaGiant dunes, self-drive safaris in Etosha, endless gravel: Africa's easiest country for a first independent trip — and our house speciality.Guide availableTable Mountain at sunset, seen from Bloubergstrand beachZAFSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaTwo oceans, vineyards, the Big Five on a self-drive in Kruger and one of the world's finest coastal roads: the continent-country made for a varied road trip.Guide availableAerial view of the Okavango Delta, a maze of channels and green islandsBWASouthern AfricaBotswanaElephants by the tens of thousands, unfenced campsites in the heart of the Okavango Delta: the step up from Namibia — wilder, more demanding, unforgettable.Guide availableThe orange dunes of Erg Chebbi under a blue sky, near MerzougaMARNorth AfricaMoroccoThree hours' flight from Paris: passes at 2,260 m, valleys of kasbahs and real Saharan dunes — the most exotic road trip you can fit into a week.Guide availableA herd of wildebeest scrambling up a dusty bank of the Mara River during the great migrationKENEast AfricaKenyaThe savannah of the documentaries in its original version: Mara lions, elephants beneath Kilimanjaro, Rift Valley flamingos — and a steering wheel in your hands to write your own episode.Guide availableThousands of wildebeest of the great migration crossing the Mara River between savannah and grassy banks in the SerengetiTZAEast AfricaTanzaniaThe great migration through your own binoculars, a Noah's-ark crater, baobabs full of elephants and the Indian Ocean as an epilogue: Tanzania is safari written in capital letters — and you can drive it yourself.Guide availableThe Grandidier baobabs of the Avenue of the Baobabs silhouetted against the setting sun, near MorondavaMDGIndian OceanMadagascarAn island-continent where 90% of species exist nowhere else: lemurs by the roadside, hundred-foot baobabs and red-earth tracks you have to earn — the most otherworldly road trip in the Indian Ocean.Guide available

Europe

7 countries
Icebergs drifting on the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, snowy mountains behindISLNorthern EuropeIcelandA 1,330 km circular road chaining waterfalls, glaciers, black beaches and lava fields: Iceland is Europe's most spectacular road trip — and the simplest to organise.Guide availableGlencoe valley under a dramatic sky, the Three Sisters catching the lightSCOEuropeScotlandValleys of legend, single tracks between lochs and moors, the right to camp almost anywhere: Scotland is the romantic road trip par excellence — midges included.Guide availableThe ochre cliffs and turquoise water of Ponta da Piedade, AlgarvePRTSouthern EuropePortugalWild Atlantic cliffs, sleepy white villages, terraced vineyards and Western Europe's best pleasure-per-euro ratio: the road trip to savour.Guide availableThe red fishermen's cabins of Hamnøy on their rocks, beneath the Festhelltinden cliffs in the Lofoten IslandsNORNorthern EuropeNorwayKnife-cut fjords, roads that dive into the sea, the right to sleep almost anywhere and, in winter, a sky that dances: Norway is the dream country for independent travel.Guide availableThe Cliffs of Moher with O'Brien's Tower on the clifftop and the Branaunmore sea stack battered by the AtlanticIRLEuropeIrelandTwo and a half thousand kilometres of ragged coastline, cliffs plunging into the Atlantic, sheep on the road and a pub at the end of every peninsula: Ireland is Europe's king of road trips.Guide availableThe Castildetierra fairy chimney rising above the ochre badlands of the Bardenas Reales, beneath a blue sky streaked with cloudsESPSouthern EuropeSpainA western-movie desert two hours from 3,000 m summits, whitewashed villages hanging off cliff edges and gloriously empty back roads: Spain is Europe's great driving playground.Guide availableVarlaam monastery perched atop its sandstone pinnacle at Meteora, the snow-capped Pindus mountains behindGRCSouthern EuropeGreeceMonasteries perched on sandstone pillars, stone towers facing the sea, gorges to make the Alps blush and a taverna at the end of every road: Greece by car is three thousand years of history at off-season pace.Guide available

Americas

7 countries
The perfect cone of Arenal volcano capped by a cloud, cloaked in rainforestCRICentral AmericaCosta RicaSteaming volcanoes, cloud forests, sloths by the roadside and two oceans three hours apart: the most accessible concentrate of wild life you can drive.Guide availableThe red buttes of Monument Valley under a sunset sky, ochre desert in the foregroundUSANorth AmericaUnited StatesCanyons older than the continents, roads running dead straight to the horizon and neon-lit motels: the American West is the original road trip — the one all others descend from.Guide availableTurquoise Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks at sunrise, snow-capped summits gilded by first lightCANNorth AmericaCanadaTurquoise lakes beneath glaciers, roads running towards the Arctic and whales off the headlands: Canada is the country where the campervan makes total sense — provided you respect the distances.Guide availableA swimmer hanging from the rope swing above the dark water of Cenote Oxman, beneath aerial roots falling from the collapsed cave roofMEXCentral AmericaMexicoTurquoise cenotes beneath the jungle, pyramids without the crowds, cactus deserts facing the whales: Mexico by car is a continent in itself — and it drives far better than its reputation.Guide availableThe Inca citadel of Machu Picchu and its green terraces before the Huayna Picchu peak, with clouds clinging to the mountainsPERSouth AmericaPeruInca citadels perched in the clouds, canyons twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, a lake at 3,812 m and a desert that plunges into the Pacific: the country where every bend changes altitude and world.Guide availableThe three granite towers of Torres del Paine lit by sunrise above the turquoise glacial lagoonCHLSouth AmericaChileA 4,300 km ribbon between the world's driest desert and the glaciers of Patagonia: Chile is the vertical road trip par excellence — one country, five planets.Guide availableThe Fitz Roy massif and its snow-dusted granite needles glowing pink at sunrise, above the dark ridges of PatagoniaARGSouth AmericaArgentinaA country five times the size of France, one legendary road running its full length, calving glaciers and deserts at 4,000 m: Argentina is the road trip in its purest form.Guide available

Asia & Middle East

4 countries
The colossal façade of the Monastery (Ad-Deir) carved into Petra's rose sandstone cliff, with tiny hikers at the foot of the monumentJORMiddle EastJordanA rose-red city carved into the cliff, a Martian desert where you sleep with the Bedouin and a sea that floats you effortlessly: Jordan packs the whole epic into 400 km of easy roads.Guide availableThe emerald pools of Wadi Shab between the canyon's ochre walls, lit by morning sunOMNMiddle EastOmanEmerald pools at the bottom of canyons, rust-red dunes to the horizon, villages clinging on at 2,000 m and the right to pitch your tent almost anywhere: Arabia for travellers, in total freedom.Guide availableAerial view of Sigiriya rock with the terraced royal palace ruins on its summit, surrounded by lush tropical forestLKAAsiaSri LankaAn island the size of Ireland where a single day carries you from royal citadels to tea plantations, and from leopards to blue whales — a compressed Asia best travelled at tuk-tuk height.Guide availableSnow-capped Mount Fuji reflected in the calm waters of Lake Kawaguchi at sunrise, a pontoon in the foregroundJPNAsiaJapanBehind bullet-train Japan hides a country of immaculate mountain roads, roadside stations with hot springs and countryside the classic circuits never see: the unexpected paradise of travel behind the wheel.Guide available

Oceania

2 countries
Uluru glowing red at sunset, rising over the golden spinifex grass and shrubs of the central desertAUSOceaniaAustraliaA whole continent at the end of the steering wheel: red dunes to the horizon, reefs where you swim with whale sharks, koalas above the road — Australia is the world capital of the campervan.Guide availableThe misty walls of Milford Sound at dawn, mountains plunging into the fjord's dark water beneath a break of golden lightNZLOceaniaNew ZealandFjords under seven metres of rain, Middle-earth volcanoes, turquoise lakes and a campervan parked facing all of it: New Zealand is the country that invented van travel — and the only one that keeps every one of its promises.Guide available