In November 2023, Jacob Nilzén and Matilda packed their lives into a Volkswagen Caddy, left Åre and headed for Europe. For the first time, they would try traveling with a roof tent. A trip that would offer lifelong memories but also challenges and lessons.

Jacob and Matilda are avid outdoorsmen who enjoy everything from climbing to skiing, hiking and cycling. The goal of the European trip was to pursue all these interests in new places while discovering Europe.

In total, there were just over X nights in a roof tent (an Åreskutan three-man ) with a winter season under the roof of a house in Verbier.

Roof tent nights were interspersed with hotel nights

The first stage in a roof tent from Åre down to Verbier was an adventure in itself. "We made our way through Copenhagen, Berlin and Prague, then we drove through the Dolomites in Italy, Garda and Lake Como , on to the Aosta Valley before finally landing in Verbier," says Jacob.

He describes the time up in the mountains as wonderful, the days followed a similar schedule: a few hours of driving, hiking in epic mountain environments, eat, sleep, repeat.

Living in a rooftop tent for the first time was tough at first, especially when the temperature dropped. “It was a constant battle against the cold and the dark. We used an app called Park4Night to find parking lots to sleep in."

The roof tent nights were interspersed with hotels or hostels when they were inside the cities. But finding those magical, close-to-nature places they had seen before the trip turned out to be more difficult than they both thought, says Jacob. Instead, they usually became different types of parking spaces.

Difficult to freecamp

This is an important lesson that Jacob and Matilda want to share with other roof tenters who want to go down in Europe. Finding magical freecamping sites that can be done in Sweden and Norway is not easy, it is densely populated, there are often camping bans and in many countries you are completely restricted to campsites.

They had a particularly memorable evening in the Dolomites. “We drove around looking for a perfect parking spot, because the landscape was absolutely magical,” Jacob recalls. “But the height of the parking barriers was a problem – our car with the roof tent was too high. Finally we found a beautiful spot at a ski resort. We had gone from 20 degrees during the day to minus eight in the evening. Shivering, we cooked rice and beans and a hot meal later, it was a nice feeling to crawl into the winter sleeping bag with the dramatic mountains as a backdrop.

Invest in a good winter sleeping bag

Jacob advises that a good winter sleeping bag is a must. "The roof tent was able to cope with all possible temperatures and as long as you leave the windows a little open, you can get away from condensation. But having a proper winter sleeping bag is essential. We used our -15°C sleeping bags the whole trip, even in the summer in southern Europe.”

Spring and new mountain ranges in sight

After the winter in Verbier (not in a roof tent), at the end of April, the plan was to drive all the way to Portugal.

On the way, they detoured through Aosta and on to Alba in Italy, the regions where their favorite wines come from, to treat themselves to a few days of good wine and great food.

“We absolutely fell in love with the old town of Aosta and found a campsite overlooking the valley up by the ski lifts in Pila which was the most magical we had on the whole trip.

Car breakdown led to an abrupt end to roof camping

Matilda and Jacob's roof tent trip then unfortunately came to an abrupt end in San Sebastian , Spain, where the car broke down. "We rented a car and drove around Portugal for two weeks, then both time and money ran out."

Despite the fact that much did not go as planned, they are both still very happy with the trip. "Rooftop tents have really given us freedom. They're easy to set up and durable – a perfect companion for road trips," concludes Jacob.