Our European Road Trip

European Road Trip

In May of 2024 I went with my son and his family on a European road trip that took us through 9 European countries:  Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, and then back to Belgium.  And actually, my trip included 10 countries because I had a lay-over in London and missed my connecting flight, so I spent several hours in the London airport before finally flying into Brussels.  That pushed our road trip off by several hours and we had to cut out our stop in Cologne, Germany, which was very disappointing!  Moral of the story:  Don't fly American Airlines.  It was their fault that I missed my connecting flight!

This is a very rough map of our European road trip because Google Maps would only let me enter 10 destinations, and that is less than half of our total destinations, so this is roughly where we went, starting in Belgium and ending in Belgium.

Our European road trip was a total of 2,547 miles of driving, and 14 days long. The highlights of the trip for me were the 3 new natural rock arches that I was able to visit -- I love arches!  I also really loved Salzburg and visiting all of the Sound of Music sites.  And I also loved our visit to Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant high in the Swiss Alps that was used in the filming of James Bond.  Truly, there were so many beautiful and wonderful parts of the trip that it is hard to choose a favorite!  So many beautiful lakes and hikes and Cathedrals and temples and other sites to see.  I loved getting a taste of so many different countries, although we only drove through The Netherlands on the way from Belgium to Germany and didn't stop there on this trip.  Luckily I made another trip out to Europe several months later and visited The Netherlands on this trip as well.  Hiking in the Alps was pretty cool -- and at times terrifying -- and definitely worth every minute of it!  I had never been to a gorge before, and we were able to go on several gorge hikes that were spectacular!  One thing that I really appreciate about Europe is that they provide ways to bring people to nature -- they build walkways and bridges and cable car rides and whatever is necessary to make nature more accessible to people of all abilities and allow everyone to enjoy the beautiful world that we live in!  

Growing up I read many storybooks about quaint little villages, and after being on this road trip through countries like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, I can tell you that all the stories are true!  These are real-life fairy tale destinations!

Beginning in Brussels, this is the order that we traveled to each country and some of the highlights of what we saw in each city or area:

Frankfurt, Germany

    - Frankfurt Germany LDS Temple

Freiberg, Germany

    - Freiberg Germany LDS Temple

Dresden, Germany

    Frauenkirche: Church of our Lady

    Zwinger

    Hofkirche

    Semperoper Opera House

    Processions of Princes

Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany

    Bastei Bridge

    Kuhstall Arch

Bohemian Switzerland, Czechia

    Pravcicka Brana Natural Bridge

Prague, Czechia

    Vitus Cathedral

    Powder Tower

    Prague Old Town Square

    Church of Tyn

    Prague Astronomical Clock

    Charles Bridge

    Prague Castle

Vienna, Austria

    St. Stephan's Cathedral

    Votive Church

    St. Charles Church

Strobl, Austria

    Bleckwand Arch

Hallstatt, Austria

Gosau, Austria

    Cooee Alpin Hotel Dachstein

Gosausee, Austria

    Gosausee Lake

    Zwieselalmhutte Hike

Salzburg, Austria

    Sound of Music Locations:

    Festival Tour

    Mirabell Palace and Garden

    Makarsteg Bridge

    Residenzplatz

    Pferdeschwemme

    Freidhof St. Peter

    Nonnberg Abbey

    Sift Nonnberg

    Frohnburg Palace

    Hellbrunn Palace

    Schloss Leopoldskron

    Mozart Statue

    Liechtensteinklamm Hike

Kaprun, Austria

Innsbruck, Austria

Leutasch, Austria

    Leutascher Geisterklamm

Schwangau, Germany

    Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney Castle)

Appenzell, Switzerland

    Seealpsee hike

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Zurich, Switzerland

Lucerne, Switzerland

    Lion Monument

    Kappellbrucke

Meiringen, Switzerland

    Aare Gorge

Bern, Switzerland

    Reichenbach Falls

    Gschwandtenmaad Viewpoint

    Bern Switzerland LDS Temple

    Baren Park (Bern Bear Park)

    Zytglogge (astronomical clock)

Kandersteg, Switzerland

    Oeschinensee (Oeschinen Lake)

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

    Staubbach Falls

Stechelberg, Switzerland

    Schilthornbahn to Piz Gloria & James Bond Brunch

    Murren

    Gimmelwald

Grindelwald, Switzerland

    Glacier Canyon Grindelwald & Cliff Walk

Strasbourg, France

    Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg

Metz, France

    Metz Cathedral

Luxembourg

    Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg

    Gella Fra

    City Skyliner

Brussels, Belgium

Here are links to my blog posts about each of our stops on our European road trip:

Strasbourg, France

Metz, France

Dresden, Germany

Bastei Bridge

Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney Castle)

Frankfurt Germany LDS Temple

Freiberg Germany LDS Temple

Kuhstall Arch

Prague, Czechia

Pravcicka Natural Bridge

Salzburg, Austria

Hallstatt, Austria

Gosausee, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Bleckwand Arch

Liechtenstein Gorge

Leutascher Geisterklamm

Schilthorn Peak & Piz Gloria

Bern, Switzerland

Seealpsee, Switzerland

Meiringen, Switzerland

Lucerne, Switzerland

Oeschinensee, Switzerland

Rosenlaui, Switzerland

Bern Switzerland LDS Temple

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Here are links to videos highlighting our European road trip destinations:

Seealpsee, Switzerland

Metz Cathedral, France

Schilthorn Peak & Piz Gloria, Switzerland

Bern, Switzerland

Reichenbach Falls, Switzerland

Gosausee, Austria

Prague, Czechia

Hallstatt, Austria

Bleckwand Arch

Pravcicka Natural Bridge

Luxembourg

I went on a European road trip with my son's family that took us through 9 European countries, including the tiny country of Luxembourg.  Luxembourg is a land-locked country that is equivalent to the size of Rhode Island in the United States.  It has been an independent country since 1867.  The surrounding countries are Germany, Belgium, and France.  Luxembourg is known for being a private banking hub and has the highest gross domestic profit in Europe.  It has a population of about 600,000 people.

My favorite part about visiting Luxembourg was seeing the Gelle Fra, or Golden Lady.  It is a war memorial, a Monument of Remembrance.  The monument includes a 69 foot obelisk and a bronze statue on top of The Queen of Freedom.  There are also bronze figures at the base of the statue representing soldiers.  It was inaugurated in 1923.  You can read more about Gelle Fra at Luxembourg's tourism website here:  Gelle Fra  

Gelle Fra, Golden Lady

The Gelle Fra, pictured with the City Skyliner

One soldier mourns over his fallen comrade

The City Skyliner and Gelle Fra

Gelle Fra from behind

For information about the City Skyliner, visit their official website here:  City Skyliner

The City Skyliner is the highest mobile observation tower in the world, coming in at 266 feet.  By comparison, the famous Space Needle in Seattle is 605 feet, although it doesn't rotate.  The Skyliner rotates 360 degrees as it rises, and then rotates at the top before descending.  It costs 7 euro to ride to the top and back.

The Cathedral Notre-Dame in Luxembourg

The statue of the Virgin Mary & Baby Jesus at the entrance to the Cathedral

Our Lady of Luxembourg is the statue of the Virgin Mary in the back of the choir.

The Nave of the Cathedral of Luxembourg

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg was completed in 1621 and serves the Jesuits college.  The Cathedral's official website is here:  Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg but this website is only available in 4 languages other than English, so if you'd like some information about the Cathedral in English, visit the Luxembourg tourist website here:  Luxembourg Cathedral

The Cathedral is open from 8 in the morning until 6 at night, except on Sunday when it is open until 7.

 

Exploring Luxembourg

The National Library of Luxembourg

La Passerelle, or Luxembourg Viaduct, the bridge in the background

Pont Adlophe is a double-decker bridge that was completed in 1903

The Constitutional Court, Superior Court, and Prosecutor's Office of Luxembourg

The Luxembourg Bank museum in the background

Luxembourg's location

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Rome Opera House

The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma was built in 1880.  It originally seated 2,212, but after renovations it now seats 1600.  Tosca premiered there in 1900, and my daughter and I had the privilege of seeing it performed there in 2025.  Ticket costs vary depending on the production and the seat.  We sat in one of the boxes and our tickets were more than 100 euro each.  Their official website is here:

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

It is located at Piazza Beniamonio Gigli, 7 in Rome.

The Rome Opera House in 2025

Inside the Opera House

My daughter standing in our box near the middle of this photo

We had a nice view from our box, but the gal sitting next to us on the second row in the corner couldn't see at all - she ended up leaving partway through the show.

Watching Tosca in 2025

The theater is a 3 minute walk from the Repubblica metro stop