I can’t believe it’s June! By the time we leave our lovely spot in a couple of weeks, give or take, we will have been here for three months. As we made a beeline out of Morocco, across Spain and France to get here, we originally thought we would stay long enough to pick up a couple of Amazon packages in Veron and then continue on to Germany. Until lockdown actually happened, we really didn’t consider that our movement would come to a complete halt.
Now, since restrictions are being lifted and we have decided to depart on June 17, I have spent the last few days going over our travel options and came up with a few ideas I like to call Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
Plan A, which was to travel to Norway as originally planned, although taking a totally different route, is now completely off the table. We learned this week that borders in the north will likely stay closed a while longer to travelers outside Nordic countries, so they probably won’t open until mid-July. Traveling to Norway is like going to Alaska, we don’t want to head up there so late in the season. So now, it’s on to Plan B.
This may have been our second plan, but since we are spoiled for choice, it’s still a good one. Our first destination after the Hymer place in Stuttgart is a slow mosey along the Moselle River visiting quaint German villages and riding our bikes along the trails. We will then turn back south to travel Germany’s Romantic Road, which will include a few medieval towns and of course, the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.
From there we will head to Austria and on to Slovakia briefly before turning back north and traveling once again into Germany. Our goal is mostly to stay out of the big cities and keep to the countryside, but we will most likely visit a few cities along the way. We cannot miss the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna or the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. After that we’ll continue across the north of Germany and on to The Netherlands and Belgium, our goal in these two countries is lots of bike rides along the canals to see what we can see while still socially distancing. I really wanted to visit The Netherlands in the spring, but that’s not going to happen this year. Maybe we will return another springtime. One thing that will likely be missing on our travels is throngs of tourists, so we are hoping our travels into the bigger cities will be at least a tiny bit easier than in normal times.
At some point we will have to nip back into France to get our vehicle inspection completed. It isn’t due until March, 2021, but if all goes according to plan, we won’t be anywhere near France then, so best to get it done early. Once passed, we do not have to do another inspection for two years, so this timeframe works best for us.
By this time in the itinerary it should be mid-September-ish, and we’ll head to Switzerland. There are lots of places we want to visit there, but we are also looking forward to visiting friends. I plan to take Steven on a tour of The American School in Switzerland (TASIS) in Lugano, from which I graduated 45 (!!!) years ago. From Switzerland it’s on to Lake Bled in Slovenia, then into Croatia where we will travel south along the Dalmatian Coast to visit Split and Dubrovnik and lots of beautiful places along the way. We’ll make a detour into Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit Mostar before continuing south through Montenegro and Albania before arriving in Greece sometime in late November.
Greece is our final destination for 2020 and we’ll winter over there. We’ll probably pootle around the Peloponnese and take it easy for a while through the holidays. I am very excited that we will be on the Mediterranean for a few months, that makes me happy.
Whew! By this time we will be exhausted, no doubt. 2020 was always meant to be an ambitious travel year and we see no reason why it can’t be still. We won’t quite make our goal of visiting 20 countries, but we’ll be close.
Other than this general outline of a route, and a few places we know we want to visit, we’re just going to wing it. Some days we may not travel far, other days we may cover many miles. We will just have to see how it all unfolds.
As for Plan C, that’s what happens if something goes sideways, like say, a second wave and another lockdown, or we get sick. We hope we never have to figure out what that looks like, but since we’ve already had to do it once this year, we’re prepared to do it again if we have to.
So that’s it! 2020 in a nutshell, version 2.0.
Up Next: Getting ready to roll!
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I worked for a german co for a long time and had to visit often. They would take me on trips on the weekend and we once went on the Romantic Road We stopped in a very old town and stayed in a hotel 1000 years old.
I’ll never forget it. Looks like you still have a very adventurous year planned.
How fun you got to visit all those places in Germany! We’ll keep our eyes open for that hotel, but I’m guessing there may be more than one! 🙂
Wow…you have a spectacular journey ahead of you. Looking forward to those blogs. Safe travels and stay healthy when your adventure continues!
Thank so much! We are hoping fewer crowds will help us to socially distance as we travel. Good thing we are self contained and other than fuel and food, we don’t need anything! 🙂
Oh you guys, you have such fabulous travels planned. I’m so glad you’re able to resume your adventures! I lived in the former Yugoslavia for a year back in 1990 and traveled extensively throughout southern Europe. The places you’ve chosen are magical. There’s nothing like the beauty of the Adriatic Coast and swimming in that gorgeous turquoise sea…and the spiritual peace and stunning frescoes of the monasteries in Montenegro and Serbia. I also fondly (and dimly) recall New Year’s Eve dancing on the tables in a taverna in Athens. Dang, that was a long time ago…
What fun memories1 It’s like you’ve lived a whole other life before RVing. 🙂 I last visited the former Yugoslavia in the mid-70s so it’ll be like new to me. Croatia has been at the top of our list for a while, so we’re happy to finally be able to get there! Can’t wait!
What fun!! I’ll bet you can hardly wait!
Fifteen days before departure, but who’s counting? Yeah, I can hardly wait! I see you guys are back on the move! YAY!
Say hi to Tasis for me! Is it really 45 years? Glad I was bad at math and lost count:) stay safe.
Oh, to be young again, right? Who knew 45 years would fly by so quickly? I hope you and your family are doing well and are safe. So good to hear from you, thanks for commenting!
We were in Germany in 2011. In the blog I wrote “Just north of Fussen is the Wieskirche. In 1730 a farmer noticed his statue of Christ was weeping. This was a miracle, and his farm became a pilgrimage site.” It is the most amazing confection of a church I have ever seen, sited out in the boonies. If you’re near there it’s worth a stop. Plan B looks really good. Germany really exceeded expectations in terms of beauty. I envy you the journey.
Wow, thanks for the suggestion, Allison! I love a good pilgrimage site, we’ll check this one out! There is so much to see along our route, we’ll be exhausted in the first few weeks!
Wow! Good thing you rested up. That is quite an itinerary. I am a little jealous and a lot excited for you.
I know. Could we be any more ready for an itinerary like this one? I’m looking forward to every single stop!
How wonderful to be preparing for new adventures. Can’t believe it will have been 3 months since you pulled into your little spot and breathed a sigh of relief that you were there! What a blessing that place has been for you. Even under the circumstances I’m sure it will always hold a special place in your hearts. Your route sounds very ambitious, and absolutely fabulous! Those castles – wow!! I know you’ll be super safe in all you do. Hugs to you both.
Only eight more sleeps and we’re outta here! In the meantime, we have a few things to do, like filling with propane, that require us to leave the park and so far we haven’t. As excited as we are, we are kind of reluctant to leave! I’m sure we will pry ourselves away from here. Still don’t know what we will do with Roman Polanski. 🙁
Hi there! So happy we stumbled across your website and have been following you for the last few months. We stored our 2017 Burstner motorhome at the dealership we bought it from in Dulmen, Germany last September and came back to the US for the winter. We were in Santa Fe, NM when we got stuck and have been hunkered down here ever since, watching the news and trying to figure out when we can return to Germany and our beloved motorhome. I have so many questions!! Can you please email us so we can start an offline chat? Thanks so much and so happy that you’ll soon be on your way. We miss Europe and our rambling life there!
Hi Bonnie! I sent you an email so we can chat. Thanks for your comment, yes, we are very excited to hit the road again! Only three more sleeps and we’re on our way! Hope to hear from you soon!
Hello again from Sugar Land, Texas! Love reading your posts. Your anniversary steak prompted me to buy the seasoning. We used it and it is delicious. Missed your May post (so will go back and read) so I jumped to June. I do hope as you continue your adventure, your camping spots have strong power, fresh water and internet! So love your ability to pack for any situation….food, cooking, laundry, entertainment and enjoying it all. Until your July post, wishing you amazing adventures and safe and happy travels. Catherine
We spent a month in Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia in September 2018. If you want any tips, please let me know!
How fab! We are looking forward to visiting these places in the fall!