Eurotrip 2022

[boomy]

Some more photos of Eguisheim.

 

[RooFlyer]

Wow. I just realised how close most of those villages are to Colmar, where I'll be next April (also Strasbourg). I am so going to copy this itinerary and go to the places you have . Which towns did you stay at? What's parking like (parking lots for tourists, meters, park-a-long-way-away-and-walk etc.

So I'm stalking you to Egypt next month, and here next April. Keep it up. I did this with Amaroo for a while -followed him about 6 months later (his budget was a fair bit above mine, though!!).

 

[boomy]

Which towns did you stay at? What's parking like (parking lots for tourists, meters, park-a-long-way-away-and-walk etc.

We stayed one night at Hilton Strasbourg, parked the car there (free parking for diamond members), then next three night at Le Parc Obernai which is one of the villages half way between Strasbourg and Colmar. The last night we stayed at James Hotel in Colmar.

Can’t recall ever paying for parking in the villages. If you park just near or inside the old town there is often paid parking with time limit. The trick is to drive another 2-3 minutes outside that zone until you find free unlimited street parking.

 

[boomy]

Munster

One last stop in France was the town of Munster.



Found nice looking restaurant for lunch.



This is where the Munster stinky cheese comes from so it was only appropriate to have Munster Fondue for lunch (with a love heart shaped potato).



I had Cordon Bleu.



White chocolate and blueberry cake for dessert.



Food was excellent and now it’s time to leave France and drive to our next destination, Switzerland

 

[boomy]

Basel

Our destination was Interlaken and we didn’t plan to stop anywhere on the way but the weather was so bad, it rained nonstop and suddenly it stopped just as we approached Basel so we decided to check out the city.















We had a leisurely walk in the city. It was quite late in the day and shops were about to close. Thankfully there were plenty ATMs around to get some Swiss Franks. The city seemed nice but we weren’t there long enough, at some point the heavy rain returned and we went back to the car to continue our drive to Interlaken.

 

[boomy]

Day 11

All the way to Interlaken it was raining heavily and the forecast for next few days didn’t look promising.

We had accomodation booked for 3 nights in Lake Brienz. Arrived late in the evening, the lady at reception was very understanding and said there is not much to do in this area during heavy rain. She suggested to wait for tomorrow and make decision in the morning. If we decide to cancel the next two nights we will not be charged cancellation fee.

The next morning weather was practically the same, raining and all the beautiful mountains were covered by clouds. We couldn’t do most of the things planned like going up to Jungfrau, something my +1 was particularly looking forward to (I did that already in the 90s).

The rain wasn’t too heavy so we decided to check out two towns in the area, Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.

Lauterbrunnen







Grindelwald















Sadly the photos don’t show the impressive snowy mountains 🏔 which is basically why most tourists come to this area. The gondola to Jungfrau was operating but there was really no sense going up there. We had a look online at the live camera showing 24h footage of the top and the visibility was close to zero. Considering how expensive the tickets are it was an easy pass.

In this weather it’s better to visit a city and thankfully there was a very nice city not far away…

 

[boomy]

Lucerne







For lunch the choice was easy, when in Switzerland…





The rain stopped for a while giving us the change to walk around this beautiful city.

 

[boomy]

Some more photos of Lucerne.

 

[boomy]

At some point the rain started again and it made us realise we have no choice but to change our plans.

Being in the middle of Switzerland which is practically in the middle of Europe meant we had options. We had four options within reasonable driving distance: back to France or Germany, moving our itinerary forward and go to Austria earlier or drive down to Italy.

Italy wasn’t supposed to be part of our trip this year and that’s exactly why it became the most exciting option. We canceled our stay in Interlaken and booked two nights in Lake Como which was close enough to the border.

Italy here we come

 

[boomy]

Hilton Lake Como

The drive took longer than expected due to traffic jam around the highway exits to Lugano. Arrived quite late to our hotel which we booked just few hours ago. Got nice spacious room, very modern.









We were too tired to go out so had dinner in the hotel.
When in Italy… get huge pizza with buffalo cheese



Finished the night in our room with a bottle from the first winery we visited in Alsace.

 

[TheRealTMA]

@boomy if you want a diversion and brilliant food with a view, consider here for lunch (or dinner with on stay)

Restaurant with view on Lake Como - Hotel Locanda Sant'Anna | Hotel Sant'Anna

One of the best features of the Locanda is its restaurant. Sant'Anna is a spectacular Restaurant with view on Lake Como

www.locandasantanna.it

or here for lunch to get free parking in Bellagio (very difficult to park).

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni Mistral Restaurant

The Finest Ingredients and First-rate Service The restaurant, reviewed in leading Italian food guides, is headed by executive chef Ettore Bocchia....

www.villaserbelloni.com

 

[boomy]

@boomy if you want a diversion and brilliant food with a view, consider here for lunch (or dinner with on stay)

Restaurant with view on Lake Como - Hotel Locanda Sant'Anna | Hotel Sant'Anna

One of the best features of the Locanda is its restaurant. Sant'Anna is a spectacular Restaurant with view on Lake Como

www.locandasantanna.it

or here for lunch to get free parking in Bellagio (very difficult to park).

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni Mistral Restaurant

The Finest Ingredients and First-rate Service The restaurant, reviewed in leading Italian food guides, is headed by executive chef Ettore Bocchia....

www.villaserbelloni.com

Thanks for suggestions I’m already back home but will keep in mind for next time. We’ll have to go back and do Lake Como properly when the weather in nicer.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Thanks for suggestions I’m already back home but will keep in mind for next time. We’ll have to go back and do Lake Como properly when the weather in nicer.

Also seriously look at Lago d'Orta. Used to be quiet but now quite popular but much more sane than Lago di Como.

Orta: the Italian lake tourists haven't discovered (old article)

Lake Orta – the most beautiful lake in northern Italy - Untold Morsels - travel blog

How do you imagine the northern Italian lakes? I picture clear blue waters, medieval fortress towns, soaring mountain ranges and grand baroque villas with colourful gardens. I also know that the pretty towns the sit on the shores of popular lakes Como, Maggiore and Garda are often crowded with...

www.untoldmorsels.com

Exploring Lake Orta, Italy's hidden gem

The underrated gem of the Italian lake region is ready to be explored

www.harpersbazaar.com

 

[boomy]

Day 12

Milan

We hoped to spend the day touring the villages around Lake Como but weather didn’t permit. On rainy day it’s best to be in a big city with things to do indoors. Thankfully there was a city that fit the bill just an hour drive.

On the way driving from Switzerland to Italy I’ve noticed the yellow engine light coming on each time I turn on the car with a some sort of warning in German. The car seemed fine so it didn’t bother me too much but upon reaching Milan I took the car to Hertz so they can have a look to make sure it’s all good. Hertz didn’t have a mechanic on site and the rules say if it’s an engine (potential) problem they don’t take risks and change the vehicle. Best they could offer in that category was a car I never heard about before - Lynk & Co.





Apparently a joint venture between Volvo and some Chinese company. It’s a hybrid / petrol car so at least there will be savings in the pump but I still wasn’t sure about it. I’ve played a bit with the gadgets inside and all seemed quite advanced. It adopted Volvo’s concept of main touch screen that controls everything. The resolution was very high, better then the DS7 and even better then the Audi I drive at home.



Took the car for test drive, it seemed fine so I’ve approved the exchange, not before making an unsuccessful cheeky request to get on of their Maserati SUVs instead

The easy part was done, now it was time to try and find parking in the centre of Milan!

 

[TheRealTMA]

Day 12

The easy part was done, now it was time to try and find parking in the centre of Milan!

ahahahaha .

 

[Daver6]

This is really inspiring me to go to Alsace! Only downside now is with @RooFlyer looking to follow you I might land up in a bed he's slept in

About the video you didn't want to post. You can easily blur out faces on YouTube. See Blur your videos - YouTube Help

 

[RooFlyer]

Only downside now is with @RooFlyer looking to follow you I might land up in a bed he's slept in

Absolutely there will be a downside. After I've stayed anywhere, they usually put a little plaque in the room, noting the fact, and the price typically goes up 20%.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Absolutely there will be a downside. After I've stayed anywhere, they usually put a little plaque in the room, noting the fact, and the price typically goes up 20%.

up?

 

[Daver6]

up?

I think what @RooFlyer means is next time they will charge him more to make up for the lost revenue from other guests

 

[boomy]

Managed to find paid parking lot very close to the Duomo.
It was one of those multi level car parks that have only one way, cars can’t go up and down at the same time. Also parking spaces were probably the narrowest I’ve ever seen. We’ve wasted at least 20 minutes in that car park but I must admit it was one of the best examples I’ve encountered of maximising space.

Our reward for choosing the car park from hell was coming out to this:





The rain stopped for a while and gave us an opportunity to climb up the cathedral. There are two options, either by foot or via elevator. We chose the former as the queue was shorter and there aren’t that many stairs, far less than what we had to climb at Strasbourg cathedral.







View of the Piazza del Duomo



City view, the old overlooking the new.



Some photos from inside the cathedral.