Dashing Across Europe in 2017

This is a retrospective report (by 7 years) of a very successful & happy trip we took in April & May 2017. This involved a couple of extremely long travelling days that I would not contemplate doing now. It was also before my wife really developed the issues she now has with walking any sort of distance.

I can't truly remember what the object of the trip was - if indeed there was one. It's maybe a reflection of the time that the trip was somewhat serendipitous rather than having a plan to see or do something specific.

Our first day was to get to the Harwich ferry and across to Hook of Holland. I'm guessing that this was the first time we'd done this crossing since our children were small and we'd taken them on a surprise trip to Die Efteling. We booked a nicer cabin with a big window and twin beds which for us - at the time - was quite a big thing.

In 2017 the rail service to Hoek van Holland had ceased and the tram line hadn't been built so there was a bus service to Schiedam Centraal - and as with all these things it was at the mercy of the traffic. Of course! There was a crash somewhere so we were only able to make our onward train by the skin of our teeth. This involved a change at Utrecht's huge modern station. However the onward trip to Schaffhausen is lost in my memory - although I do remember being told by the train conductor not to miss seeing the cathedral when we changed at Cologne.

On arrival at Schaffhausen we were - quite understandably - extremely tired. We decided to keep it simple and eat in McDonalds! Schaffhausen is the nearest town to Rheinfallen which is the reputed source of the Rhine River - and it;s an astonishing sight. There are huge waterfalls - not tall but wide across a huge valley. It was one of the major highlight of this holiday.

Schaffhausen is the terminus for some of the river boats and it was our intention to take a boat along the river to Konstanz. The difficulty was knowing where to buy the tickets, and then finding that I didn't have the right Swiss currency. This involved a lot of running up & down the town to an ATM and to find the ticket booth - but we made the boat OK and got to Konstanz.

Konstanz was in festive mood on this weekend - crowded and noisy. We had a good hotel just outside the main part of the town for the night.

We went onward across the Bodensee (Lake Constance) to Bregenz by way of seeing various towns on the ferry trip - it was a lovely way to travel in the late spring sunshine.

Bregenz was another place that was just a stopping off point for us, We went from here on by train to Innsbruck by direct train. Our hotel in Innsbruck was quite a long way from the station, and uphill across the river from the main town. It was a hotel that straddled the divide between hotel & hostel - perfectly comfortable & relatively cheap but by no means luxurious! My records are ambiguous as to how long we spent here but I know we went up the cable car to see the view over the city and it was bloody freezing! The town was nice enough in a touristy sort of way, but once visited I don't feel the urge to return. My wife did buy herself a present in the Swarvorski shop.

The next day was something of a planning nail biter - I wasn't convinced that it was going to work even as we boarded to the train at Innsbruck. However - we crossed the Brenner Pass in heavy snow - seeing the adjacent motorway at a standstill. I caught a quick snap of the station at Brenner but there were no fascist ghosts on the platform that day.

We got off at Roverto and this is where the nail biting started. The plan was to get a local bus - but there was no clarity about the bus route number, where it went from, or how to buy tickets. However - I had overthunk it and despite a long wait outside the station we did get the right bus, paid the driver and arrived safely - despite the bus being a school service!

Our destination on the bus was Riva del Garda at the head of Lake Garda. A stunning location - normally.

Unfortunately we'd arrived during a mountain bike festival and the place was heaving with Italian & German mountain bikers - and such an arrogant bunch of a*hols I'd never before encountered. There was no consideration for pedestrians and they were riding through narrow alleyways and across grassed areas. Despite being a lifelong cyclist myself this really coloured my attitude to the world of cycling - and not in a good way.

Our onward trip from Riva del Garda was by ferry along the length of the lake. This was a stunning way to see the lake and wave goodbye to Riva. It was an all day trip and we arrived at the far end - Peschiera del Garda at dusk. And this was the problem I hadn't expected.

I knew our booked hotel was a way away from the ferry terminal but I'd expected to be able to find a bus or a taxi. No buses, no taxis. My Italian is non-existent. In the end I threw my frantic self on the mercy of a bar owner who phoned for a taxi for me and this got us to the resort hotel - maybe. The resort had two (or more) main hotels - and of course, we were dropped at the wrong one - this involved a long walk to the correct one. But, at least they upgraded our room for the single night we were there.

From Peschiera to Milan was a single train hop on one of the oddest journeys we have ever taken! We were offered overtly stolen mobile phones and may have been offered drugs during the journey by different groups of teenagers walking through the train.

We arrived in Milan in the rain - and it rained throughout our stay. Another planning mis-step was being there on a Public Holiday - Italy closes on Mondays, and on Public Holidays too - and it was raining. So we didn't see a lot of Milan (although the station is stunning).

The journey from Milan towards civilised Europe was along Lake Como on a train with real opening windows - at least it had stopped raining (this was probably the last train we have used with opening windows sadly). We travelled to Tirano where we waited expectantly for the scenic Bernina Express to Chur. Scenic? Certainly - and well worth the journey over, through and across the mountains. A spiral railway, a road-running railway, a mountain railway - excellent!

Chur is a small town with a confusing station - OK when you get the right exit! We stayed there one night - which was enough as it didn't seem to have much going for it.

The next day was - in retrospect - completely mad! We went from Chur to Zurich (just over an hour) where we had a bit of a walk in the park next to the station. Then it was a 4 hour hop to Paris - and across Paris to Gare de Nord to find food for tea - then the Eurostar to London. My notes say we had first class tickets for the train back to Leicester. This was a day that took around 14 hours from leaving the hotel at Chur to arriving back home - I''m surprised that we aren't still traumatised by such a long day! Today I would either stop overnight in Paris or somewhere between Zurich & Paris to split up this marathon.

We still remember this trip fondly for the boat across the Bodensee, Rhinefallen, crossing the Brenner Pass and the Bernina trip. I still have a downer on Italy!