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:
Here are links to videos highlighting our European road trip destinations:
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment