Europe is one of the most amazing touristic countries. It's full of beautiful landscapes, spectacular sculptures, unrivaled architecture and exclusive parks where you can wonder all day long. But it's rare that someone has the time to spend days on walking through the cities, visiting all the unique attractions of each city. Well I have that rare opportunity this summer and I will use it to my fullest advantage.
Me and my boyfriend of 8 years have been planning to go on a roadtrip with his car in September 14th. We're planning to visit France, Spain, Switzerland,Italy,Luxembourg and in the end return to Belgium. I'm from Macedonia so I will fly to Netherlands through Wizzair first, he will pick me up and we'll start the trip from there. We have been planning this trip for a month now and we have started calculating the costs of this trip. In total this trip should cost us about 2,052 € . It probably costs that much because we're planning to sleep in the car for the most time since we will make a lot of stops. Honestly that doesn't seem like a lot for this kind of a trip, but we will see the difference when we actually finish the trip. I will keep you updated and post whenever I get the chance.
DAY 1
For the first day we're not planning anything too much. I'm gonna be picked up from Eindhoven in Netherlands and we'll drive to Olen, Belgium. In Olen we'll stop at my boyfriend's place to eat and make food preparations for the trip. Once we're done with the food preparations we'll start driving to Paris, France. At this point we'd have passed 400 kms. In Paris for the first day we'll only visit the Eiffel Tower. We found out it works from 9:00 AM until 11:30 PM and it costs about 19 € to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
DAY 2
The second day we'll spend the time visiting multiple attractions in Paris. The first place we'll visit is the Tuileries Garden. The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde Paris. It's public so we will not need to pay anything to enter but it still has a limited working time from 7:00 AM until 9:00 PM. From then on the closest place to visit is the world's most visited museum Louvre. It's closed on Tuesdays but we will be there on a Saturday so it won't be a problem. The entrance fee is 15 €. There we're hoping to see the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo. After the Louvre Museum we're going to the medieval Catholic cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. To enter the Notre-Dame we have to pay 10€. Until the building of Amiens Cathedral in the 13th century, it was the largest religious building in the West. Next and the last in Paris is the Pantheon, a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. For a tour we'd have to pay 35 €, but otherwise the entrance is free. With the Pantheon we finish Paris and at the end of the day we'll get in the car and drive of to Spain.
DAY 3
The Drive to Spain will take about 10 hours and around 1040 kms without stops, but of course we will stop multiple times to rest and get a drink and eat. The first day in Spain we'll be in Barcelona and the first place we'll go is Parc Guell, one of the major works of Gaudi in Barcelona. The entrance should be around 7,50 €, so it's not a big amount. After Parc Guell we'll go to Sagrada Familia, another Gaudi building. There we will take a basic entrance ticket to the building which costs 15€. His twisted long domes which are 170 meters high are the most recognizable sights of Barcelona, a Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain. The next is the Barcelona Cathedral. The entrance fee is only 7 €. Then we'll take a walk around the Gothic Quarter, the center of the old city of Barcelona. In Valencia we're gonna find a place to stay so we can take a shower and rest properly. You can find cheap places to stay through the airbnb site. The place we're planning to rent is only 27 €.
DAY 4
With that we'll finish Barcelona and head off to Valencia which is 350 kms away. In Valencia we'll only visit L'Umbracle, a sculpture garden and landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia. After our visit is done we'll drive off to Madrid which is also around 355 kms ahead.
DAY 5
The 5th day we're in Madrid. There we'll be visiting the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales which should have skeletons of dinosaurs and other animal models. It should cost us about 7 € to enter. After that we'll head to Plaza de Cibeles. The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid and it should be with free entrance. Then we'll go to Buen Retiro park, one of the largest parks in the city. We'll end the visit in Madrid with Plaza Mayor which is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza.
DAY 6
After Madrid we'll have to go back to France. We'll make a stop at Toulouse , 800 kms away from Madrid, for a break in an apartment. The apartment there shouldn't cost us more than 35 €.
DAY 7
The 7th day we'll also be in France. 550 kms away from Toulouse is Lyon. There we're going to the Ancient Theatre of Fourviere a Roman theatre in Lyon, France. It was built on the hill of Fourvière, which is located in the center of the Roman city. The next place we're going is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon, Vieux Lyon. Visiting both of this attractions is free of charge. Here we'd be done with half of our trip.
DAY 8
After France we'll be driving only 150 kms to Switzerland, Geneva. Starting with our visit with Promenade des Bastions, another beautiful park in the center of Geneva. From there on we're going to the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. For entrance in the museum we'll need to pay 20€ . Then we'll visit the Monument Brunswick, a mausoleum built in 1879.
DAY 9
Bern is only 160 kms away from Geneva, so we'll be making a stop there. The first attraction we'll be visiting there is The Zytglogge tower, a landmark medieval tower in Bern, Switzerland. Then we'll take a long walk in The Old City of Bern.
The Zentrum Paul Klee is the next place we'll visit. It's a museum dedicated to the artist Paul Klee, located in Bern, Switzerland and designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano. In Bern we'll also be making a stop at a hotel. Since Switzerland is a very expensive country the hotel will probably cost as about 55€.
DAY 10
I'm a big fan of Italian food so I can't wait to go visit Italy, from macaroni, to spaghetti and not to forget pizza. The first city in Italy 600 kms away from Bern is Bologna. There we're gonna visit The Two Towers and The Basilica of San Domenico. For the entrance in The Two Towers we'll have to pay 5€.
DAY 11
The 11th day we're going to be in Florence, Italy, 110 kms away from Bologna. The first place we're going to visit there is The historic Centre of Florence. Then we'll be visiting The Museo Galileo, which has entrance fee of 9€.
DAY 12
280 kms away from Florence is Rome. In Rome we'll be visiting multiple places. One of those places is The Vatican Museums. The entrance to the museums is 17€. Then we'll be going to Saint Peter's Square, a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. After taking that walk in the square we'll go to Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, The Roman Forum and we'll save the Colosseum for last. The entrance for The Roman Forum is 12€ which also includes the entrance for the Colosseum. In Rome we will take a hotel which should cost us about 30 -40 €.
DAY 13
The drive to Luxembourg is around 13 hours and it's 1300 kms. It will take us a whole day to get there and we'll probably make a stop at Fort Thüngen and Gëlle Fra.
DAY 14
Last day of our trip will be Belgium, 214 kms away. We might visit some places there too if we're not too tired. But most likely we'll just want to rest from the trip for a few days before I have to get back to Macedonia.