Day 00 Introduction

This is the blog of my trip to Europe in April 2007. It is probably the most complex self-drive trip I have planned and executed to-date (there were about 10 drafts for the itinerary!). Within 12 days we visited 5 countries and 27 cities, towns, villages, places of interest as follows:

1) Germany - Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Ulm, Augsburg, Schwangau, Freiburg, Black Forest and Stuttgart;
2) Austria - Fern Pass and Innsbruck;
3) Italy - Dolomites, Venice, Sirimione, Verona and Milan;
4) Switzerland - Bellinzona, Furka Pass, Kandersteg, Zermatt, Sion, Martigny, Montreux (Chateau De Chillion), Gruyeres, Biel and Basel;
5) France - Chamonix and Paris.

The total distance drove was around 2,500km (excluding between Stuttgart and Paris which we travelled by train).

We also covered 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites as follows:
1) Germany - Wurzburg Residence;
2) Italy - Venice and its Lagoon; City of Verona; Santa Maria della Grazie;
3) Switzerland - Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market Town of Bellinzone;
4) France - Cathedral of Notre-Dame; Banks of the Seine.

While the places I have visited during this trip are all great, Zermatt (Matterhorn) definitely comes up as the top spot. The other four places which I would rate in the top five are:
2) Rothenburg
3) Dolomites
4) Furka Pass
5) Schwangau
(Venice would have been in the top five if it was not marred by the theft of my wife's camera).

Enjoy travelling!


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Well, the reason why I did what seems a circuitous loop is because it is cheaper to pick-up and return a rental car in Germany and the cheapest train ticket to get to Paris was from Stuttgart.