Euro Tour Day 22

Last day on the continent today. All we had to do was drive up to Calais and find a place to crash.

We were only 3 hours out of Calais and about half way through the journey we passed the city of Brugges, which we had contemplated visiting if we had time. We decided to take a spur of the moment detour into the city and are glad we did.

Brugges is a pretty place with canals that are much like Venice but somehow nicer and plazas to rival anything in Italy. The city center is full of little cafes and restaurants and chock full of tourists. The sun was shining which always helps too.

They have a great parking idea here too. If you park at the train/bus station on the edge of town (which is dead cheap at €0.50 per hour) you get a free bus ticket into town and back. The buses run every 2 minutes and have bus lanes so getting in and back is dead simple. This also means the city centre is very traffic light.

Leaving Brugges behind (another place we'll come back to) we headed on to Calais via a quick hypermarket stop for "supplies". We found a really delightful French site about 15 miles south of Calais to spend our last night of this epic tour.

Time for a shower and beer I think.

Euro Tour Day 21

Today we left Germany, drove into Luxembourg and on into Belgium.

We drove the last few miles of flat Germany and on into Luxembourg where we pulled in to a cheap parking spot near the train station. We walked up to the open top bus tour stop and grabbed a map of the route - which we proceeded to walk, cheapskates!

We took in the palace, the old city walls, the cathedral and the park. A pleasant enough city all told. Small and clean and generally friendly.

Here we filled up with diesel at a great rate of €1.01 per litre - about 90p or so which is good compared to the price back home.

From Luxembourg we drove on about half way into Belgium to the grounds of a 17th century chateaux where we camped up. The chateaux boasts a restaurant which we treated ourselves to a visit of. Very nice. We tried their local ale, "the best ale in Belgium" and crashed out.

Euro Tour Day 20

I've not updated the blog for three days so this is a bit from memory.

Today we woke by the picturesque lake Titisee and headed reluctantly away into the black forest. We drove through gorgeous forested hills with some stunning views.

Lunchtime we stopped at Germany's highest (disputed by wikipedia) waterfall called the Triberg falls. These fall the through seven stages and generate enough electricity to power 1000 homes in the local town. They're quite a sight but not hugely spectacular. Quite a walk from top to bottom and back up again though.

After lunch was our first experience of the fabled German autobahn and I admit to a little flurry of excitement as the moment approached. So what did we find? Roadworks. Roadworks and 20mph traffic. Great. Eventually it cleared and we hit some space. I only took the van up to 80mph but we were passed at great speeds by others although it was so busy no one was really motoring. Not as impressed as I was expecting all told.

We drove on to the edge of the black forest and finally decided on a quiet little campsite with a little trout beck running through it. There we pulled up alongside a great looking black T5 California. I'm jealous and deffo want one!

This was to be our last night in Germany and we really liked the place. We'll be back.

Euro Tour Day 19

Isn't it funny how much better life is when it's sunny?

We woke to a glorious morning sun peeking over the Swiss Alps and smiled. Last night Mrs Blakey had planned our route today and it was a corker.

We started off wending our way through more of the alps in the sunshine. After an hour or so we turned off the motorway and into the tiny principality of Leichtenstein. Its only 15 miles long and yet boasts a capital 'city' which we drove through in about 2 minutes flat. Factoid for the day: Leichtenstein holds more Olympic medals per capita than any other country. And its a pretty place in the sunshine.

Driving on we soon wound our way into flatter Switzerland as we approached Zurich. Here we turned north and left Switzerland and passed into Germany.

Neither of us had ever been to Germany before and I have to say we are massively impressed so far. Okay so the sun has been shining all day today and as we crossed the border we hit rolling hills carpeted with trees in their full autumnal colours. A visual feast. Plus the roads are excellent, fast and free. Bonus. And fun to drive to boot.

A few minutes into Germany and we drove into the Black Forest. Quite breath taking. The forest is mostly pine with rolling hills. We are now camped right on the shore of Lake Titisee which is beautiful in the sunshine.

We've taken a stroll by the lake into town, enjoyed a pedalo ride on the lake (yes it has been that hot today) and an ice cream in the sun. Rounded off with a quick beer and a slice of Black Forest Gateau and we're back to camp and making dinner by the lake. Lovely.

First impression of Germany is 10/10.

Euro Tour Day 18

We woke in a wet campsite overlooking Lake Maggiore to find it was still overcast but at least the rain had stopped.

We decided it was time to leave Italy and head over the Alps. We drove along the lake and into Switzerland with no hassle from the feds. Alpine Switzerland was stunning. It was high and craggy and the views were amazing.

We climbed up to 2200m (in the van) and into the 6.6km long Saint Bernardios pass. On the far side we pulled into a layby to knock up some lunch and enjoy the views - even if it was raining.

From here we dropped down to about 1000m and a Swiss campsite which was in a valley surrounded by mountains and alongside a gorgeous looking golf course. The facilities here were sparkling. It was a pleasure to use them. The owners also lent us a swiss adaptor which we then plugged into our French adaptor that Mrs Blakey's dad had made us and we had power.

A quick stroll up into the Swiss mountain forest was called for and we were set for dinner.

Euro Tour Day 17

A washed out day yesterday with nothing but rain. We drove a few hundred miles to Lake Maggiore and camped in a gorgeous spot that we couldn't appreciate till the clouds cleared this morning.

Torrential rain last night and the roof bed held up great. No leaks and a snug night. But it really is cramped up there and I'm starting to wake with aching bones. The huge roof bed of the California is looking very appealing right now.

Euro Tour Day 16

Our first rest day today after over 2 weeks on the road.

A really lovely chilled out day by the lake. We've relaxed. We've read our books. We've taken a gentle stroll into town for ice cream and watched the kayakers on the lake. I even found time to clean the van!

Now we're settled down in the van relaxing some more and waiting for a firework display that is supposed to be going off on the other side of the lake soon.

Tomorrow we're heading on to Lake Maggiorre and more stunning scenery.

And the photo...

Euro Tour Day 15

And relax...

A quick scoot across the southern edges of the Alps today and we're at Lake Garda. This lake is the biggest if the Italian lakes, the most built up and the most popular. Still, we've landed on our feet again with a campsite right on the shores of the lake and we've found a pitch right at the edge of the site on the lakeside.

The photo shows the view from the window of our roof bed. Not bad.

We might stay here a day or two depending on the weather, or we might visit a few more of the lakes. We'll see.

Time to sample some of the red we picked up in Assisi. Cheers!

Euro Tour Dat 14

Venice. Quite a place.

We took the bus and boat service over there and back again. Great shout for €16. Saved us an hour drive and let us see Venice for the first time from the water which is surely how its meant to be found.

We spent an entire day just wandering. During this day we did squeeze in the extravagance of a quick gondola trip (you have to really) and enjoyed a boat ride all the way down the Grand Canal - which is a great way to view the city on the cheap. The rest of the time was on foot.

We dropped into a few bars and one fantastic but well priced restaurant for pasta but otherwise just strolled the lanes and bridges. A really enjoyable pass time.

The day flew by and we can't believe we're already back in camp. A great experience and a fun and exciting city. I suspect we'll come back.