Well… that was epic.
In less than seven days, we drove over 2,200 kilometers through eight different countries. Fun fact that I only learned on our road trip: the Alps span eight countries, and we managed to visit all of them on this trip!
This road trip was exhausting. It was exhilarating. It was nerve-wracking (some of the driving experiences were terrifying). It was amazing.
And it was most certainly a week we will never, ever forget.
While I’m relieved it’s over (if you had asked me ahead of coming to Europe what I was most nervous about, I would immediately have answered the road trip portion of our trip), I’m so glad we did it and aside from a few weather snafus, wouldn’t change anything.
DAY ONE: SUNDAY
In addition to driving for over 24 hours in the span of a single week, we started it all off with a 4-hour train ride from Vienna to Munich.
Since it was the weekend and we were catching a train at 6 am, public transit wasn’t running on the usual schedule. Everything indicated there would be a bus coming to a stop close to our apartment at 4:45 am.
The bus never came, so we walked with all our gear through mostly deserted streets (there was one clearly intoxicated person en route) to the nearest subway station. It was about 1 km and I was sweating profusely by the time we got there. Of course, we had also managed to miss our subway connection by seconds. Argh. Thankfully, we made it to the main train station in time and I enjoyed two delicious coffees on the way to Munich and read Strangers (I blogged about it here).
Once we arrived in Munich we still had to navigate from the train station to the airport and then go through the hassle that comes with schlepping gear hither and yon, followed by checking in with the rental car company, getting things sorted with the car (I took a video of the exterior so we had a record of any scratches, while John loaded things), and then we navigated out of the city. It was a lot. And we’d been up since 4 am.
Getting out of the city was intense at points. Driving on the Autobahn was hectic. Indy was, of course, delighted by the sections with no speed limit and kept his eyes peeled for sports cars taking advantage of the excuse to go fast. All the jazz hands for John’s expert driving.
When we were planning this trip to Europe, we all chose one thing in particular we wanted to do.
- Elisabeth: see Neuschwanstein Castle
- John: go on an epic road trip
- Belle: visit Italy
- Indy: visit Monaco
As part of John’s request, we got to factor in everyone else’s, starting with Neuschwanstein Castle.
It was built by King Ludwig II, Bavaria’s famously eccentric king and it’s one of the most iconic castles in the world. It supposedly served as the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and featured in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I’ve wanted to visit for years.
As we got closer to the castle we were nervously aware of the increasing levels of fog. I was also glued to various weather apps which all confidently assured me there was NO precipitation in the forecast.
John asked if I wanted to pivot and try to visit the castle on our way back (at the end of the road trip), but I knew it would be very inconvenient to make that work and I was feeling optimistic!! Fog would make the whole thing more dramatic and exciting, right?
It took a while to sort out parking (confusing!), then we had to find the shuttle bus (with a stop at a paid bathroom along the way). You can walk to the castle for free, but by this point we could confirm the weather reports were bogus. Regardless of what they were predicting, it was raining. We had originally planned to shuttle up and walk back down, but because of the precipitation, we decided to buy round-trip tickets (cheaper that way) and boarded the bus.
Everyone was feeling a bit on edge, but I tried to stay positive. The higher we climbed into the mountains, the thicker the fog.
The famous view of the castle is from the Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge; named after Ludwig II’s mom). I didn’t plan to go inside the castle—I read it’s underwhelming, we didn’t have a lot of extra time in our schedule, you can’t take pictures inside, and it costs money. I was glad we didn’t have entry tickets because my brother told me the best thing about going inside the castle is the opportunity to see the Alps on a clear day. Well, it was most certainly NOT a clear day.
Here’s the view from the bridge on a sunny day! Stunning, right????!!!!
Despite the weather, there were a lot of people on the path to the bridge which I decided to take as a good sign.
John got onto the bridge first and looked back at me and said it all with a single shake of his head.
Refer back to the view above for a moment… and then scroll down.
…
…
…
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This was the view we got.
I cried.
Just a few hot, ridiculous tears over the most trivial of circumstances. But it felt good to acknowledge how incredibly disappointed I was (not to mention the investment of money into parking/bus tickets, the extra time it added to our road trip, plus we were all soaked AND this ended up really throwing off one child’s mood for 24+ hours AND I didn’t get to see a castle I’ve dreamed of seeing for years).
But, there is literally nothing that can be done about the weather. I decided since we were there and I might never be back in my life, we might as well walk down to the castle (it’s a 10-15 minute walk downhill from the bridge which is where you get dropped off/picked up by the bus). One small silver lining was the fact that they had free bathrooms beside the castle. I also bought a postcard of what it looks like in fine weather (for €0.30; the cheapest souvenir of our trip) and tucked it into my raincoat, but it still got wet which felt situationally appropriate.
The things that don’t go to plan often make the best memories or, at the very least, are the most memorable. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this experience of visiting the castle.
I’d shed my handful of tears and now there was nothing left to do but take off my hood, let it rain, and embrace the unexpected situation.
If I do make it back someday, I think it needs to happen in the fall. LOOK AT THAT FOLIAGE!!!!
It was a soggy, sad family that finally arrived back to the car (about 3 minutes into a fresh hour of paid parking, obviously). There was nothing left to do but move on.
Along the way we had to stop and buy vignettes. Aside from Italy, there were no physical toll booths. For the rest of the countries (that have tolled highways: Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria), we had to stop and buy stickers to go on the windshield of our car. But, you can’t buy them until you get within an hour or less of the border and it was stressful!! (Another time I’ll research digital vignettes.)
We found a petrol station that sold vignettes and after buying one for Switzerland for a full year (the only option!) and Austria for 10 days (because we were going to go through Austria on our way home), we were back on our way.
The next stop was Liechtenstein. We could have skipped this part of the trip, but it only added a few minutes (literally), so we figured we might as well check off another country.
It’s tiny (though only the sixth smallest country in the world)!!! There are only about 40,000 people living in the entire country. Vaduz, the capital, has about the same population as the tiny Nova Scotian town where we live. It’s also double landlocked (which means it’s surrounded by landlocked countries). If you have a hankering to visit, it’s one of the few countries in the world without an airport. And, apropos of my recent Never Have I Ever post, it boasts the highest per capita number of Olympic medals.
It was suppertime and all the food we brought prepared from Vienna was long gone, so we stopped at McDonald’s. At this point the kids were still trying to visit McDonald’s in every country (Liechtenstein was where the streak ended).
We all had to chuckle that there was a Canadian burger on the menu. (We didn’t order it.)
Also, free bathrooms which is always a plus.
The main thing to see in Vaduz is Vaduz Castle so that’s where we headed. It’s a private (royal) residence, so you can’t tour the grounds or go inside, but we can say we’ve been to Vaduz and it was nice to stretch our legs.
A picture of the castle on our way out of town.
The drive from Vaduz to Zurich was lovely, but it was also incredibly foggy. The kids (one in particular—sensing a theme?) were disappointed. We passed by a stunning lake, saw all sorts of waterfalls, and knew there were gorgeous mountain peaks nearby, but everything was shrouded in fog and it felt like a letdown (thankfully, spoiler alert, we got to see lots more beautiful lakes and mountains in sunshine later in the trip).
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, it was still magical and it was the most beautiful stretch of scenery I’d ever seen from a car. It looked like something straight out of Heidi.
Blurry pictures taken from a distance cannot do it justice, but it was spectacular despite the low-hanging fog.
We were all pretty tuckered by the time we arrived in Zurich. We dropped off our bags at the apartment (Catrina warned me to expect to pay at about $400 CAD/night, but we managed to snag a place for just over $200 CAD/night a few kilometers from the downtown). Zurich is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so while it wasn’t exactly cheap, we were very happy to find something at that price.
The place didn’t include parking and Catrina generously offered us an available parking space in the basement of her building. The only catch—we had to navigate through Zurich to get there.
As the crow flies, it was only about 5 km, but this drive was stressful. We ended up in a tram lane and then a bus lane. We didn’t understand how the traffic lights worked (they were slightly quirky) and it was starting to get dark so we weren’t always sure of our lane. Plus, John had been up for 16 hours and spent most of them driving.
We were so, so, so thankful to see Kai and Catrina waiting for us outside their building. We got parked, and then Catrina kindly helped us navigate public transit (with a quick stop at a grocery store for breakfast items) back to our apartment where we promptly collapsed into bed.
I was going to include details about our full day spent in Zurich but the post is getting long (shocking, I know), so I’ll stop there for now…
Your turn:
- Have you ever seen the Alps?
- How do you feel about driving in cities??
- Make me feel better about Neuschwanstein Castle; when has bad weather derailed your plans?
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I’m so sorry your visit to the castle was spoiled! I hope you get a do over sooner rather than later.
In terms of weather, nothing as major comes to mind. Although I could have done with less rain on our day in Disney Sea in Tokyo last year.
Oh wait, on my walking adventure with the kids in February, we had 1 day with rain and hail. Especially the latter was hard! But we made it through and have bragging rights. It does make for a good story.
It wasn’t what I expected (or wanted), but it was memorable and on reflection it’s no big deal. But wow… in that second when I saw it was a wall of fog was depressing.
HAIL! Ouch. That is not conducive to walking at all. Kudos for making it through that.
Wowza, what a day!
I have been to that castle. I bought a poster of it, I think? And a sweatshirt in Liechtenstein. And I saw the Alps. But it was a loooong time ago.
Inconvenient weather- coming home from a trip to the Rocky Mountains, we hit a threatening storm which had a tornado warning. We drove hours past where we were supposed to stop ( with minimal snacks for crabby kids) in order to avoid what we could. The campsite we hit was dirty, bathroom full of bugs, and I didn’t get a shower. So tragic!
I didn’t buy anything in Liechtenstein. We visited on a Sunday so everything was closed. It would have been fun for the kids to get a keychain or something.
That road trip sounds terrifying. I’m so glad you weren’t swept up in a tornado, but what a disappointment. And I know how much you enjoy hot showers. I’m right there with you on that! Tragic, indeed.
Oh my goodness, I knew you’d had a stressful day when you arrived in Zurich, but seeing it all laid out like this makes it feel even more intense! What a saga. Very impressive survival 😄 I’m amazed you were still all so cheerful by the time you got there!
That castle moment though… oof. Such a disappointment, especially after looking forward to it for years. The fact you still walked down, bought the postcard, and carried on says a lot. Miserable in the moment, but exactly the kind of story that sticks.
Also, major respect to John for all that driving, and to you for navigating, especially the Zurich part 😄
It was a BIG day. But we arrived in one piece 🙂
I had to laugh that the postcard got wet. It fits the story!
Yes, John did not enjoy some of the tricky driving on this road trip, but he was flawless and we returned the car with nary a scratch. Phew <3
Gah fog! I’ve had that and I’ve had blinding overhead sunlight that made it hard to see the attraction and made for bad photos. But never for a site with such high stakes as the castle.
I don’t mind driving a few hundred miles on the highway, but driving in the city gets old fast. For somewhere like Chicago, my policy is to drive in, park, and not touch my car until I leave. Mega props to John for the autobahn driving!
I hope that the next chapter of the story is that you all got a great night of sleep and had a nice relaxing day BUT I know the road trip game. The only constant is the unexpected.
Yes, highways are so much less stressful (though, the Autobahn was stressful in places and this stretch of highway in Italy was literally FULL of transport trucks and it was pretty intense).
Stupid fog! I have had similar experiences, both in Alaska on our 2023 trip. The Northern Lights (which I do not believe I have ever seen…I say that because MAYBE when I was a kid, but if so it was very faint because I do not remember it at all. Also it may have just been past my bedtime.) were going on while we were in Fairbanks, and we couldn’t see them because it was rainy/overcast the entire time. Then on the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage, we went right past Mt. Denali, the highest peak in North America, and we couldn’t see it because of the fog. Then when we were in Juneau, there was a clear night and I wanted to see the Milky Way (can’t see it from here, too much light pollution – and we couldn’t see it because of light pollution…from the Full Moon! Argh. In France I again wanted to see the Milky Way, or at least all of the amazing stars, when we were at Mont. St. Michele – cloudy. I woke up in the middle of the night and caught a glimpse of the velvet black sky and stars through the skylight, but due to reasons too long to go into in your comment section, I couldn’t go outside to see them more. BAH! I mean, I can just get in my car and go somewhere less crowded for that, it’s not as bad as the Northern Lights and Mt. Denali.
What an amazing trip you had! I’m looking forward to reading about the rest of it. I remember driving over the border from France into Italy, which was stunning with the stark mountains, but I was scared by the height of the bridge we were crossing and didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.
Also, I’m really sorry about the castle. BAH!
Oh dear, you really had horrible luck 🙁
The moon! The fog! Ugh, ugh, ugh. I am so sorry, Julie. Here’s hoping you get to see the Northern Lights in their full glory sometime soon.
The bridges in Italy are SO tall. Like insanely tall. I was not expecting that. It didn’t bother me, but there were so many of them!
Well… I think this means you HAVE to go back to the castle in the fall! This isn’t the last time you’ll be in Europe- you can make it happen.
I love road trips, but this sounds like a very rocky start! I wouldn’t want to be the one driving.
i would say our biggest weather disappointments came when the kids were little and we would try to go up north “to see snow.” One time we were going to my sister’s for Christmas. They had a TREMENDOUS amount of snow between Thanksgiving and December 23rd… they even went out and bought sleds for our visit. Then the day before we got there, it rained, all the snow melted, and it didn’t snow again until the day we left. I mean- we were sitting on the airplane, waiting to take off, and my husband said “look out the window.” and we could see big, fluffy flakes coming down. Stupid weather.
Anyway I can’t wait to hear more about this trip!!!
How frustrating to miss out on snow (when it’s a novelty). I felt a bit that way when my niece visited this winter. She loves snow and wanted to go skiing and sledding and there was a bit on the ground, but not enough to do anything wintery with it. Of course the day after they left we got a massive storm.
The castle views in the fall look next level!
I love that picture of you smiling in front of the castle! I mean, what else can you do, but dry your tears and make the best of it, and you did. It is so disappointing when weather doesn’t cooperate. Everything looks better in the sunshine and I hope you get a chance to go back someday. Smart idea to purchase a postcard!!
We took a driving trip down the California coast to see Pebble Beach and Big Sur. What we saw was fog so thick it made driving the windy road a nightmare! We have yet to go back, but I would really love to do the trip again. A couple of years ago we drove through BC to Alberta and stopped at Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, to get a photo. It was cloudy with low lying fog covering the top of the mountain and also some wind, so we thought we’d wait and see if it might blow away and clear. Sadly it didn’t; however, on the way back from the washroom, my husband snapped a gorgeous photo of the large, sunny poster on the wall inside the interpretive centre. Here’s our picture he said LOL!
Driving in cities can be tricky, particularly if you arrive at rush hour. We try to time things so we won’t, but unforeseen circumstances sometimes dictate different arrival times. It’s always such a relief to arrive at our destination in one piece!
Fog is so unusual where I live so it really surprised me to run into it, but it sounds like a lot of mountain views get impacted by fog on the regular. (Makes sense!)
I am so glad I have that picture in front of the castle. It captures the day but at that point I was feeling less sad about it. There really was NOTHING I could do. But yes, I sure would have preferred sunshine 🙂
All this is exactly why travel does not always appeal to me. All those decisions about how to pay, what is required, which lane to be in, what time to arrive, coordinating schedules, finding one’s way around the mazes of bureaucracy, bad weather, bad moods, everything uncomfortable and unfamiliar, exhaustion, no thanks. I’m much happier with settling in one place and taking day trips. It would take a special travel companion who doesn’t get feathers ruffled to negotiate and navigate all those hassles. If I had to soothe and reassure someone else while trying to figure stuff out, I’d never leave home again!
It is A LOT to manage, Jana.
I guess that is part of the adventure. But it sure can be exhausting.
Thankfully, the highs outweigh the lows and make it worthwhile.
I’m so sorry the weather ruined your castle trip. You definitely made some memories though, and I hope you’ll get to go back there someday. I get nervous just thinking about driving in a big city! Thank goodness John handled all of the driving. The road trip sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to read more about it!
I would have crashed the car in an hour and ended up in a fetal position crying on the side of the Autobahn. Thank GOODNESS for John. To be fair, I never would have attempted anything like this without him 🙂
Not the foggy castle! I literally said, “Nooooo!” when I saw that photo of you without any view of the castle. That’s so disappointing! I’m glad you were able to make the best of it while ALSO acknowledging the disappointment. Silly weather. 🙁
Driving in Europe is terrifying for me! I had planned a road trip when we were in Ireland in 2019, and chickened out about driving so we took trains instead. Kudos to your husband for navigating all of that (heh, literally!).
Awww. It warms my heart that you felt so viscerally for me. It was SO disappointing and I did cry and I’m glad I allowed myself the space to do that and then… life moved on. The epitome of privileged “problems.”
The driving was more intense than I expected. Some of it’s the different driving styles and some of it is simply not being a local and so being unfamiliar with everything. Oh and all the signs are in another language, so that’s fun 😉
Wow that was an epic road trip – you guys fit so much in the day, on top of all the driving! When we went to Ireland fifteen years ago, we rented a car and drove around – it was cheaper to rent a manual car, and of course they drive on the other side of the road there, so my Husband had to learn how to shift with his left hand. (I didn’t drive manual at the time, so it was aaaallll him.) There were SO many sheep that we had to navigate around!
Your comment about McDonalds made me laugh – the author Daniel Pink said that McDonald’s is one of the five things he always does when he visits a foreign city.
I remember going to Japan in 5th grade and we went to Mt. Fuji and it was too foggy to see it. I wasn’t as emotionally invested in the experience as you were in seeing Neuschwanstein Castle, but I do remember being disappointed. But I think you got some cool loomingly atmospheric photos of the castle despite/ because of the fog.
Yes! I love Daniel Pink’s suggestions for visiting each country. We do all of them… except read a local newspaper.
This is hilarious because Lisa JUST texted me a picture this morning of friends who had visited Mt. Fuji and it was too foggy for them to see. That beats my castle experience!
My husband has driven on the wrong side of the road in a manual car in Australia. We’re contemplating renting a car to go to Scotland and he is ONLY looking at automatics!
That fog!! I am sure it was so depressing in the moment, but with time you’ll hopefully be able to laugh about it! I have been to that castle and it’s so pretty so I hope you get another chance to see it. I was there in the winter and it was still pretty even though things were, well, kind of dead.
That is the only time I’ve seen the Alps, though. I have been to Zurich but it was super rainy and I only had one night there. I do remember everything being so expensive!
I think Zurich gets a lot of rain and fog because of the lake effect + mountains. But it was a lovely city and I’d love to return on a warm, sunny summer afternoon. I can see really enjoying a few days to explore.
Propos to you for smiling and getting on with it, but what a shame! I’m glad you let yourself feel the disappointment too – totally valid. And it seems you’ve joined a lot of people in having a horror story caused by fog!
What a day!
At some point you’ll be able to look back on it and laugh. Sometimes the worst days turn into the best stories (and I mean, you just wrote a pretty epic one on your blog about it).
It was SUCH a bummer. Even a few weeks removed from it I don’t really care that much (and it does make for a good story), but at the time is was a bitter disappointment.