Europe Road Trip
6 days, 5 countries, 3 of us and 2150kms in Fiat 500C
Day 1 - Netherlands to Frankfurt
Started our travel on Christmas day and as expected the traffic was less, one of my friend accompanied to Frankfurt where his family was coming. Nice drive of 450kms which took 5 hours, Sukruthi had some stomach upset and had to stop couple of times. By the time we reach Frankfurt she was recovered and all set to see new place.
Was happy to see few valleys as we entered Germany, NL is totally flat. Saw few key places in Frankfurt and met our friend and his family for dinner. We had a good stay at the home booked through AirBnb.
Day 2 - Frankfurt to Freiburg (Germany)
Another nice drive to Freiburg approx 300kms in 3 hours.. the weather was pleasant though 4-5deg, we had sun and we got excited, we planned to visit the Schauinslandbahn, which has a cable car that takes us the second highest peak in Black Forest. We all were excited as it was our first such experience. Got see some spectacular views as we went up in the cable car, we were on top of the clouds and Sun was shining on us.
We reached the top and took a walk in the trails to reach the view point, where we could see a 360 view of the mountain range. Most of the mountains were snow claded. Was excited to see few cyclists on top and few en route who were doing downhill in trails, they were super talented.
After the photo ops, and some good time on top, we decided to come down. It was too foggy while we were climbing down. Super experience to remember.
Day 3 - Freiburg to Zurich (Switzerland)
We decided to visit the Cathedral as there was a Christmas market, Freiburg is an old city with typical European architecture, we had nice walk through the streets, photo ops, some shopping and reached the market, an Open market with food , veggies and gift items.. of course the Christmas special cakes, cheese and chocolates too.
We decided to take a different route to Zurich which went through the black forest stretch expecting some view points, we were not disappointed, the landscape changed completely, it felt like I was in Himalayas, got nostalgic with the views. our first stop was at the Schluchsee, a small dam with lots of backwaters, We took a short walk in the forest.
Another few kms we had another picturesque place a typical Swiss view, clear blue sky, lot of grasslands, a small village at a distance and Swiss alps in the backdrop. We stopped for a while, walked into the grasslands did photo ops.. interestingly it was quite warm comparatively.
Another surprise awaited as we drove down the hill, it started to snow, and we could see complete white everywhere, trees, grasslands covered with snow, yet another photo op and then headed towards the border of Germany and Switzerland, nice valley , Rhine river that separates two countries. As we entered Zurich we drove through long distance tunnels.
Day 4 - Zurich to Strasbourg (France)
We initially had not planned much to do in Zurich due to weather conditions. Sukruthi and Mythri were feeling cold inspite of the winter wear. Initial plan was to drive to Lucene lake and head back.. but we decided to Visit Mt Titlis. a nice drive to Engleberg the base of Titlis. Beautiful scenic drive, snow cladded mountains, again remembered me of the views in Spiti, Leh and Kargil. It was quite cold around 1 deg when we reached the base..
We saw lot of tourists and local ppl who were lined up in the queue with their skiing equipment to get up to the hill to skii... We got a special winter afternoon discount on our tickets :) . The cable cars were superbly designed to hold the skii equipment, and give us a nice view of the surrounding.. We could get a better and better view of the Swiss alps as we climbed up, Reached the end point and waited to get into the Titlis Rotair that takes us to the top point in the mountain. The uniqueness of this Rotair is it can take close to 50+ passenger and it rotates 360 giving you a nice view of the valley.
We reached the top, visited the glacier cave, did see skiers take off in their route, it was quite exciting to see the speed they gain. Should try this sport sometime. We took the Ice Flyer an open chair cable car.. with just 3 of us . It took us to another valley down and we decided to come back as it was quite cold (-4deg). A short walk in the Cliff and we were back to the Rotair to get down, and once in cable car, Sukruthi and Mythri were feeling bit better, but they didn't want to stop in between where we could play some games... I forced them to stop and experience it.. It was indeed an experience as all of did the snow tube sliding ...An unforgettable experience. We headed towards Strasbourg in France.
Day 5 - Strasbourg to Hayange (France)
We had good stay at Strasbourg with a French family in a newly build house. Visited the Cathedral , Christmas market, Town hall did some shopping, a quite and beautiful city. This entire stretch from Altkirch (entry place to France) to Strasbourg is Wine route famously known as "Alsace wine route", one could visit a vineyard for some wine tasting in Summer, also some Wine festivals are held in this route in summer. We decide to drive to Hayange, visited Carrefour did some shopping for Sukruthi and rested for the day.
Day 6 - Hayange to Amsterdam (Via Luxembourg & Belgium)
We visited the Luxembourg city which was 27kms from Hayange. A short 20min drive, as it was Sunday, the traffic was less and city was less crowded. Beautiful city with some old architecture, Saw the Adolphe bridge, city hall , Cathedral (Went inside as there was a Sunday prayer) and visited the Grund. We could see from Grund that it looked like the city was built around a fort .. Just like Srirangapatna.. This place has huge valleys and big bridges built every were..
We decided to drive back home another 380kms, via Brussels , initial plan was to stop over at Brussels, but we drove through the city as it was raining. Reached Amsterdam after 4 hours.
Overall a satisfying trip as we could do a bit more that what we expected from the winter trip, best time would be in Summer, but we couldn't due to office commitments. Look forward to year 2019 and hope it would be more exciting, adventurous, get to see new places and meet new people.
PS :
Car Rental : Hertz : IBM Plan for Personal - Got a good deal
All Stay was booked through AirBnb - Good prices and good homes too
All homes had Kitchen for cooking, we did carry some food items and cooked and packed the food for Sukruthi and us too :) .
6 days, 5 countries, 3 of us and 2150kms in Fiat 500C
Day 1 - Netherlands to Frankfurt
Started our travel on Christmas day and as expected the traffic was less, one of my friend accompanied to Frankfurt where his family was coming. Nice drive of 450kms which took 5 hours, Sukruthi had some stomach upset and had to stop couple of times. By the time we reach Frankfurt she was recovered and all set to see new place.
Was happy to see few valleys as we entered Germany, NL is totally flat. Saw few key places in Frankfurt and met our friend and his family for dinner. We had a good stay at the home booked through AirBnb.
Day 2 - Frankfurt to Freiburg (Germany)
Another nice drive to Freiburg approx 300kms in 3 hours.. the weather was pleasant though 4-5deg, we had sun and we got excited, we planned to visit the Schauinslandbahn, which has a cable car that takes us the second highest peak in Black Forest. We all were excited as it was our first such experience. Got see some spectacular views as we went up in the cable car, we were on top of the clouds and Sun was shining on us.
We reached the top and took a walk in the trails to reach the view point, where we could see a 360 view of the mountain range. Most of the mountains were snow claded. Was excited to see few cyclists on top and few en route who were doing downhill in trails, they were super talented.
After the photo ops, and some good time on top, we decided to come down. It was too foggy while we were climbing down. Super experience to remember.
Day 3 - Freiburg to Zurich (Switzerland)
We decided to visit the Cathedral as there was a Christmas market, Freiburg is an old city with typical European architecture, we had nice walk through the streets, photo ops, some shopping and reached the market, an Open market with food , veggies and gift items.. of course the Christmas special cakes, cheese and chocolates too.
We decided to take a different route to Zurich which went through the black forest stretch expecting some view points, we were not disappointed, the landscape changed completely, it felt like I was in Himalayas, got nostalgic with the views. our first stop was at the Schluchsee, a small dam with lots of backwaters, We took a short walk in the forest.
Another few kms we had another picturesque place a typical Swiss view, clear blue sky, lot of grasslands, a small village at a distance and Swiss alps in the backdrop. We stopped for a while, walked into the grasslands did photo ops.. interestingly it was quite warm comparatively.
Another surprise awaited as we drove down the hill, it started to snow, and we could see complete white everywhere, trees, grasslands covered with snow, yet another photo op and then headed towards the border of Germany and Switzerland, nice valley , Rhine river that separates two countries. As we entered Zurich we drove through long distance tunnels.
Day 4 - Zurich to Strasbourg (France)
We initially had not planned much to do in Zurich due to weather conditions. Sukruthi and Mythri were feeling cold inspite of the winter wear. Initial plan was to drive to Lucene lake and head back.. but we decided to Visit Mt Titlis. a nice drive to Engleberg the base of Titlis. Beautiful scenic drive, snow cladded mountains, again remembered me of the views in Spiti, Leh and Kargil. It was quite cold around 1 deg when we reached the base..
We saw lot of tourists and local ppl who were lined up in the queue with their skiing equipment to get up to the hill to skii... We got a special winter afternoon discount on our tickets :) . The cable cars were superbly designed to hold the skii equipment, and give us a nice view of the surrounding.. We could get a better and better view of the Swiss alps as we climbed up, Reached the end point and waited to get into the Titlis Rotair that takes us to the top point in the mountain. The uniqueness of this Rotair is it can take close to 50+ passenger and it rotates 360 giving you a nice view of the valley.
We reached the top, visited the glacier cave, did see skiers take off in their route, it was quite exciting to see the speed they gain. Should try this sport sometime. We took the Ice Flyer an open chair cable car.. with just 3 of us . It took us to another valley down and we decided to come back as it was quite cold (-4deg). A short walk in the Cliff and we were back to the Rotair to get down, and once in cable car, Sukruthi and Mythri were feeling bit better, but they didn't want to stop in between where we could play some games... I forced them to stop and experience it.. It was indeed an experience as all of did the snow tube sliding ...An unforgettable experience. We headed towards Strasbourg in France.
Day 5 - Strasbourg to Hayange (France)
We had good stay at Strasbourg with a French family in a newly build house. Visited the Cathedral , Christmas market, Town hall did some shopping, a quite and beautiful city. This entire stretch from Altkirch (entry place to France) to Strasbourg is Wine route famously known as "Alsace wine route", one could visit a vineyard for some wine tasting in Summer, also some Wine festivals are held in this route in summer. We decide to drive to Hayange, visited Carrefour did some shopping for Sukruthi and rested for the day.
Day 6 - Hayange to Amsterdam (Via Luxembourg & Belgium)
We visited the Luxembourg city which was 27kms from Hayange. A short 20min drive, as it was Sunday, the traffic was less and city was less crowded. Beautiful city with some old architecture, Saw the Adolphe bridge, city hall , Cathedral (Went inside as there was a Sunday prayer) and visited the Grund. We could see from Grund that it looked like the city was built around a fort .. Just like Srirangapatna.. This place has huge valleys and big bridges built every were..
We decided to drive back home another 380kms, via Brussels , initial plan was to stop over at Brussels, but we drove through the city as it was raining. Reached Amsterdam after 4 hours.
Overall a satisfying trip as we could do a bit more that what we expected from the winter trip, best time would be in Summer, but we couldn't due to office commitments. Look forward to year 2019 and hope it would be more exciting, adventurous, get to see new places and meet new people.
PS :
Car Rental : Hertz : IBM Plan for Personal - Got a good deal
All Stay was booked through AirBnb - Good prices and good homes too
All homes had Kitchen for cooking, we did carry some food items and cooked and packed the food for Sukruthi and us too :) .
