We’ve been back from our mega European road trip for a couple of weeks now and I haven’t found the time to write about it, mainly because as usual I don’t really know where to start, there’s so much to say. So while I get my act together with more wordy posts and without further ado I thought I’d simply show you a family photo from each day. These pictures show candid moments and family time, not necessarily great travel images, from our 4500 km drive through 8 countries (9 including France).
The first stop was Verona, Italy, dinner by the UNESCO World Heritage Roman Arena: so happy to be on holiday!
The following day after a long drive we reached Bratislava, Slovakia where we stayed in a crazy hotel….
The third day on the road saw us eating breakfast in Slovakia, lunch in the Czech Republic and dinner in Poland. This is what Europe is all about! Here’s the little kid photo-bombing in Brno, Czech Republic.
The main destination on this European road trip was Poland and we were happy to stay in Kraków for 5 days, taking day trips and visiting the beautiful medieval city (another UNESCO site). It involved a not insignificant amount of beer drinking (par for the course in Eastern Europe as far as we were concerned!)
The first day trip was to the phenomenal Wieliczka Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on the outskirts of Kraków. In the following photo we’re in a consecrated church deep underground where everything except the benches, rope and tablecloth is carved out of salt, (oh, and the 3 lads!)
We explored the countryside in Malopolska (southern Poland) and discovered this beautiful village, Zalipie, where nearly all the buildings are covered in floral folk art.
Food is an important part of any holiday for us, we always seek out and try local specialities and here we are in the Kazimierz district of Kraków waiting for zapiekanka – a kind of pizza/baguette snack.
I took the teen to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau – it’s not recommended for children under 14, so JF took the little kid elsewhere for the day. It’s a draining day trip full of horror and deep sadness, one which is hard to put into words, but the million plus visitors a year go so that the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.
As with all good summer holidays, ice cream was involved. We make it a point to learn a few words in the language of the country we’re visiting and “ice cream” is always one of them. Considering how difficult Polish can be, we were happy with “lody”.
After Kraków we headed north to Warsaw, which to my surprise delighted me with its mix of brutal Soviet Stalinist buildings, ultra-modern skyscrapers and fully reconstructed Old Town (so brilliantly reconstructed after being flattened in the Second World War that it’s now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site.)
Having been in a self-catering apartment in Kraków we stayed in a hotel which meant, much to the boys’ delight, that we ate out 3 times a day. Plenty of pork was consumed! One highlight was devouring delicious pierogi in a traditional Polish restaurant.
Next stop after Warsaw was the utterly unpronounceable but totally lovely Wrocław (it really doesn’t sound anything like it looks!) The thing about this place is that it is overrun by gnomes – hundreds of them, all over the city.
And then before we knew it Poland was over and we found ourselves in Germany; in Dresden to be exact. By now the boys were having a bit of a culture overload so as luck would have it, the boat we were staying on (yes boat!) moored on the Elbe was ideally located on a cycle track. We hired bikes and explored the banks of the Elbe river, where to our surprise we found a vineyard.
As temperatures were hitting the high 30s, we were delighted to discover a most unlikely Ibiza-style “beach” bar, complete with beach volleyball, pool and chillout lounge just opposite our boat. (This is Dresden?)
Dresden was a revelation, beautiful and fascinating and only one of two places in the world to LOSE its UNESCO World Heritage status. Next up, 4 hours on the “no speed limit” autobahn to Munich – one of the (secret) highlights for the boys! Once there, being a large city, we made the most of its efficient U-bahn, something us country bumpkins enjoy….
Our last evening was spent calmly overlooking Lake Lugano in Switzerland (no sightseeing involved!) having had another of those amazing European days: breakfast in Germany, lunch in Liechtenstein, some minutes in Austria and dinner in Switzerland.
We had amazing weather – too hot if anything – and saw so much, including 6 UNESCO sites (as well as Verona, the salt mines and Warsaw already mentioned, the centre of Kraków, Auschwitz-Birkenau and some wooden churches we visited in southern Poland are also on the list – I didn’t count Dresden!) Poland was a new country for me, the 65th I’ve been to, and for my well-travelled kids, by the end of the trip they’d been to 30 and 24 each (not bad for 16 and 10 years old). Hopefully this will be the first of several more detailed posts on the varied and fascinating places we explored, please check back soon….
Do you like road trips like this? Have you been on one or are you planning one?
You might enjoy these related posts from our European road trip:
Zalipie, Poland’s painted village
3 meals in 3 different countries in 1 day
Why don’t you PIN this for later!
Lovely to re-read this for #citytripping
I love that about road tripping in Europe, it’s great isn’t it!
Wow, it sounds like you fitted a lot into this road trip. I particularly liked the day you hit four differetn countries in the same day! #citytripping
Absolutely, that’s the beauty of a road trip, you can stop wherever you want.
I love all being together in the car too. I could keep going for much longer, there’s just that tiny consideration called work (oh and money!)
You can probably keep hoping Emma as this was already 20 months ago…!!!
What a magnificent trip! You managed to pack a lot in! I love the beautiful little Polish houses, how gorgeous are they? I hope you do write it up! 🙂 Emma #citytripping
What an amazing adventure! I love your family photos, they make it seem so much more real. We did a six week road trip this past summer, and if I could have we would have kept going, I love when the four of us are the road together. Can’t wait to read more about your fabulous journey. #citytripping
Looks like you had an amazing road trip! You do road trips like I do, by stopping everywhere you can! haha #CityTripping
You inspired me hugely Sara with your posts about Poland!
it sure was hot but at least the a/c in the car worked well!!
Wow, that sounds like a fabulous trip! You really went all over! Your Poland photos made me so happy – I loved my time in that country, and it looks like you did too! I’ve been talking about it so much my parents are going this month to visit Krakow 🙂 That village of Zalipe looks like a beautiful side trip with such artsy houses! Can’t wait to hear more about your trip!
That looks like an awesome road trip! I think that’s great to take family to road trips like this! I wish my family did this when I was younger, but now I’m making up for lost time and traveling myself 🙂
We’ve never been to Poland but it is a place I’d like to see. Dresden, as you mention, is fabulous and I didn’t realize it had lost its Unesco status. But if that means less tourists so much the better.
Love the photo overlooking Lake Lugano!
Nice roundup.
Frank (bbqboy)
Sounds like you had an amazing trip. What a great experience for your boys too 🙂
Looks like you had an amazing trip, can’t wait to hear some more details about it all! Thanks for joining in #wednesdaywanderlust this week
What an amazing road trip Phoebe!! You guys saw and visited a lot!!
I love road tripping here in Europe, I love the fact we can travel to so many countries within a few days 😀
Your itinerary was pretty cool too!
Thank you for joining #MondayEscapes
I love rail journeys too and haven’t done a long one for ages now….probably nearly 20 years too, and that would have been the Trans-Siberian from Beijing to Moscow. Since then it’s only been Eurostar and TGV trips in France. Road trips are great for the freedom you get to stop wherever. Trains are great for just looking out the window and relaxing!
For a while I was chasing you around this summer Corinne, but then you headed off east and I went north! One of these days we’ll meet.
What an incredible road trip, looking forward to seeing more. I haven’t done anything quite like it by car but did a rail trip of Europe almost 20 (!) years ago with similar multiple country days. I did see Krakow and Wielizcka then (along with Auschwitz) too. #MondayEscapes
Phoebe, I love it. There’s nothing like a road trip! We went to some of the same places on our trip. I loved the Salt Mines! I’m going to have to look up Dresden and how it lost its World Heritage status!
I know what
Pierogi are, but had to look it up. Sounds like you had a great road trip but I expect it was pretty hot at times. You sure are a well travelled family.
Thanks Sara, we loved Poland and its pierogi!
It was great! Glad you enjoyed reading about it
Wow what an incredible road trip, thanks for posting this, loved all the photos.
What a cool trip! You made me miss Poland and pierogi. I have been to the places you mentioned and all together they make a great experience. I can’t wait to hearing more about your trip!