Europe 1996 trip

In August 1996 I went around Europe for four weeks. The following is a description of what we got up to on our way:

Arrived in Frankfurt am Main, Germany at around 7.30 am, after a long nasty flight (aren't all flights long and nasty?).

Got the car, a nice black BMW and made our way up through the the Rhein area. Only intended to go a little way up, but we took a wrong turn somewhere (though the maze of the Autobahns) and ended up in Koblenz.

Hot footed it out of there as quickly as possible and headed back south along route 61, towards Heilbronn. Pulled off the Autobahn at Sinsheim, and spent the next three hours searching for somewhere to stay the night. Eventually found a small B&B in Rohrbach.

Headed off to Heidelberg for the day. Had our first experience inside a German department store (trying to find umbrellas...), took a long walk trying to find the station (can't recall why, though), then headed up into the hills to visit Heidelberg Castle.

Left the Rohrbach B&B at around 9am, via Autobahns 6 & 81, past Heilbronn, in the direction of Stuttgart. Visited the Porsche Museum (actually, we had been searching for it, took another wrong turn and finally found ourselves within thirty metres of it by accident).

Then off south through The Black Forest, finally finding a guesthouse in Titisee-Neustadt.

Last day in Germany for the time being, so we headed off to the Swiss border at Konstanz. Then into Switzerland's small town of Kreuzlingen. Back onto the Autobahn (having purchased an incredibly expensive Autobahn permit, and stuck it on the wrong side of the windscreen) and we headed around the north east corner of the country until we reached Liechtenstein. Unfortunately it was closed for a public holiday, so we pretty much drove into Vaduz and out again in the space of fifteen minutes.

Back into Switzerland and along the N3, beside the Walensee, stopping off for lunch in Lachen and then off for a look around Lucerne in the afternoon.

Finally we ended the day in Engelberg, staying at the Youth Hostel.

Spent the entire day in Engelberg , looking around the town during the morning and then heading up the mountain on the gondala at lunchtime. Had lunch in a paddock beside another mountain and then walked up the next stretch below the second gondala.

Left the youth hostel, north beside the Engelberg-Luzern rail line, around the lake and then south again, past Sarnen, and through the Grimselpass, heading for Zermatt. Arrived in Täsch in the afternoon and found a nice B&B to stay in for the next two nights.

Off to Zermatt for the day, via the short rail line from Täsch. Then up the Klein Matterhorn via the gondolas, where we got a prime view of the Matterhorn itself.

Left Täsch, out of Switzerland through Visp and Brig, into Italy.

On via the Autostrade to Domodóssola. Then onwards south and back along the north side of Lake Maggiore, through Verbania, Intra, Cannóbia and back into the Italian part of Switzerland through Locarno and Lugano.

Then back into Italy again, through Como, Lecco and then finding a small hotel in Mandello, just north from there.

Now for a long trek across the north of Italy, through Bergamo, past Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Padova until we arrived at Mestre, which is the mainland town beside Venice.

Short train trip from Mestre to Venice on an incredibly hot day.

North, out of Italy via Treviso and Belluno, into Austria, where we stayed at a B&B in Villach.

Visited Kalgenfurt for the morning, after popping in to see the kitchy Minimindus.

Off north via the Autobahn past Spittal and Hallein, until Salzburg. Spent the remainder of the day in the city, seeing the town and getting drenched by rain in the evening, waiting for a bus.

Visited the salt mines, and passed under the Austrian-German border and back underground. Then took a drive out to Hallstat for the afternoon.

Short trip into and out of Germany, back into Austria until Innsbruck. Spent the afternoon there, then north into Germany again, where we found a B&B in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Weaving in and out of Austria again, we finally got to Neuschwanstein. After a thorough look around that area, we drove on not intending to get to Munich, but through some strange fate (and weird maps) ended up in its outskirts.

Took off north-west where we drove and drove (...and drove), trying to find somewhere to stay the night (there ain't much out that way!) until a nice man found us a hotel in Neuburg.

After the previous day's harrowing trip, we took a short drive north to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where we spent three nights.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Drove to Nuremberg, where we had to drop off the car. Spent the remainder of the day looking around the town.

Jumped on the train to Prague, in the Czech Republic, which went via Marktredwitz, Cheb, Marianske Lazne and Plzen.

Out looking around Prague, I finally decided to go near the Internet (remember, this was the longest I'd been without email for 5 years). Visited Cybeteria, a nice little Internet cafe on Stepanska.

Off to see Prague Castle and the surrounding areas.

Took a trip on the Prague underground to Haje, to see the eastern outskirts of the city and the high-rise areas. Also had a look around the inner western side of the city, Mala Strana, etc.

Left Prague, and caught the train back to Frankfurt am Main.

Spent 13 hours in the airport at Frankfurt am Main, and then flew back to Australia.