Summer highlights in Central Europe

Although I (as a Swede) actually is a part of Europe, there is so much I haven’t seen. Of course, I’ve done the summer weeks in Greece or Spain, the weekends in Berlin or Paris through the years, but actually experienced the countries? Not really…

So this summer we made a road trip through Central Europe and Northern Italy, mainly round the Alps. Now, back in the office, I can’t believe how our three weeks in that area now only feels like we where there for a couple of days. But time really flies when having fun…and especially for us when we’re on the road 🙂 Here’s some of our highlights:

We packed our car, left Stockholm and started out in Southern Germany, along the winding Mosel River, home of the Riesling.

After a couple of days in Germany we headed east to Austria and a day in Vienna before finally entering the Alps.

We then spent a few days in Ramsau am Dachstein where we rented e-bikes which really was a great fun!

Longing for a dip in The Mediterranean Sea we drove over The Dolomites and the amazing Giau Pass down to Italy.  I have had some serpentines, hairpins and mountain roads throughout the years (especially on motorbike) but I think this is the most beautiful pass I’ve ever seen!

In Italy we stayed in the beautiful small town Levanto (part of the Cinque Terre National Park).

On our way back north we returned to Austria and Sölden in the Ötztal Alps for some hiking.

And of course we experienced so much more. We visited the big lakes (Como, Garda, Boden), drove several big mountain passes (eg Edelweißspitze, Timmelsjoch, Hahntennjoch, Stelvio) and saw so many beautiful places along the way. Now, looking back at it this way, I can’t believe we did all this in just three weeks! 🙂

Next year we would love to do the western parts, France, Spain and Portugal!

Time for a change!

It’s been quite a while since my last post…and we’ve had the poorest travel year ever! Last spring we sold our bikes. It would’ve been too costly to fix one of them and where would we actually want to ride next?

Our recent long journeys discovering New Zealand and Australia by car made us reevaluate that kind of way of traveling. On our wish list was to see more of Europe. Autobahn on a motorbike is not our way of riding (we who just love dirt roads!) so maybe it was time for a change.

We started out last summer with the countries around the Baltic Sea. Still in our old car, a VW Polo and with almost the same equipment as on our bike rides (tent, gas stove etc). The only new luxury was a cooling box.

We started by sea from Stockholm to Tallin, Estonia and went all the way round the Baltic Sea and visited several of the old Hansa cities such as Riga, Stralsund and Lübeck.

As soon as we came home we started save up some money for a new car 😉 This summer we will continue our Europe adventures!

#Hiking in The High Coast

Last weekend we went hiking in the High Coast. We took a dayhike up to the top of Skuleberget (Skule Mountain). A beautiful trail up along the southern mountainside. For dayhikes Skule Mountain and Skule National park are perfect. If you want, you can also take the 250 metre high east climbing trail, Via Ferrata to the top.

We stayed in Örnsköldsvik for the weekend, where we had the most amazing dinner! In a small restaurant, Linnea & Peter we ate at the Chef’s Table. Four hours of fantastic dishes (chef’s choice) mostly with local ingredients and carefully chosen surprising beverage choices. Our greatest dining experience ever!