Eurotrip with Children

Our travels began and ended through Austria. We travelled through passes, wonderful hills and we ended up in one of the most beautiful places in Austria, Hallstatt. It’s a wonderful village by the lake, squeezed into the hilly alpine nature. Because of the history of the salt mines and prehistoric tombs this area is part of Unesco’s world heritage. Asians are so amazed by the village that the Chinese made a copy of this village. Hallstatt is famous for mines, which are located 350 metres above the village. You can go there by foot or by funicular. These mines are the oldest in the world and are still in use. Their history leads us 3500 years in the past. They used to mine the salt with help of stag antlers. Today this is done by machines and they transfer salt to Ebensee through kilometres long tube. The centre of Hallstatt is surrounded by tourists, as it’s beautiful and picturesque. The nice main square is interesting for the children who can run around or feed the swans in the nearby lake. You can also take a boat around the lake. Because the village is really small and has no room to grow, they had to find a solution in the cemetery, which also attracts tourists. A small cemetery is located by Mary’s church and they slowly take the bones out of the cemetery into the ossuary to make room for new generations.

An hour long drive from Hallstatt is gorge Liechtensteinklamm. The gorge will definitely impress you. It is one of the deepest, longest and most impressive gorges in the Alps. The path is really nice but I would definitely recommend you to carry your smallest children. You can’t take a stroller there. Walking in the gorge takes you about an hour in both ways. At the end of the gorge you’ll be surprised by a majestic waterfall.

We spent the first night in Germany in North Munich hostel – Dachau, not far from the concentration camp Dachau. Because the hostel is so close to the camp, we decided to visit it. The concentration camp Dachau, which is located 20 km north from Munich, is definitely worth a visit as you get an insight to all of the horrible things that happened to our ancestors. But for children, who don’t know what was going on there, Dachau means running around the paths. 

Munich was also part of our trip. On Mary’s Square, which is the centre of the city, you will find a lot of coffee houses, restaurants, souvenir shops and of course, tourists. Most of the attractions in the city can be reached by foot. On Mary’s Square there’s a city hall with 85-metres-high clock tower. 43 bells ring three times a day and with them spin the figurines, which show us the story of Munich. Kids will also like the bells and the figurines. Other historical monuments, worth a visit are St. Peter’s church, fish well, which is supposed to bring you luck and money, market Viktualienmarkt, city museum, Horbräuhaus pub, BMW museum, the opera and so on. To relax a bit, we chose the Olympian park, which was built for the Olympic games 1972. Today we can walk around the park, the green spaces by the lake and we can also climb the 182 metres high television tower.

Little Luxembourg borders on Belgium, France and Germany. It lies on the crossroad of Germanic and Latin cultures, therefore it has many official languages. Luxembourg is the second smallest country in European Union. Despite being small, it has many beautiful things worth seeing. The only negative point for travellers are the steep prices because of their high living standard. A lot of interesting things can be seen in this small country. Schengen is a city, which is located near tripoint between France, Germany and Luxembourg. The city is known for Schengen Agreement, which was signed there. On the main square one can find the flags of the members of Schengen Agreement and a part of the Berlin wall, which symbolizes opening and closing the European borders.

Luxembourg city has surprised us with its tidiness and children were happy to see playgrounds in various locations. The town wall gives a special charm to the city, and is still preserved despite being in 16th century. Today it’s protected by Unesco. City centre is small with a lot of expensive shops. In the suburban part of the city there are many European institutions. 

Beaufort is a charming village where you can find a big forest with hiking paths and a few caves. Some people call this part “Little Switzerland”, as it has untouched nature, streams, waterfalls and much more. Here you’ll definitely enjoy the nature. Nearby is an adrenalin park, which you can reach by car, foot or by a chairlift.  I also recommend you to visit a castle or two, they are beautiful and open for visitors. 

When we were driving back, we chose the path, which lead us through France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. 

We dedicated some time in France to visit Strasbourg. It often appears in the media but always because of politics. Only few come because of its touristic side. It’s a beautiful historic city. A big part of the visitors choose to visit Strasbourg because of the Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights and one of two seats of the European Parliament. Because we were there, we took a look ourselves. There’s a mighty river running through the city and gives it a special touch. Bridges and river, which runs under the majestic buildings are more than interesting photograph subjects. Historic buildings are combined with wood and are a magnet for visitors, especially because they put flowers on them. Every window has flower pots. The city centre with many restaurants and shops is a great place for visitors. Children can taste ice cream or play on the playgrounds. 

Switzerland was to us just a stop to visit our friends but we took the time to see the city by the lake Zürichsee. Zürich is the biggest city in Switzerland and was proclaimed the city with the highest quality of life many times.

You can swim in the lake, take a boat ride, go supping and children can, again, play on the playgrounds. Zürich is surrounded by hills and untouched nature. Many famous peaks, worth visiting are Gubrist, Hönggerberg, Käferberg, Zürichberg, Adlisberg and Öttlisberg. The city also has many museums, from historic to modern. The city also offers various historic buildings.You can enjoy yourself on the promenade, not far from the city centre and admire the lake and surrounding hills. Many remember Switzerland by its chocolate. They have top notch and world known chocolate like Lindt, Frej and Camille Bloch.

We were close to Liechtenstein so we stopped in this small country and visited its main attractions. Liechtenstein is a principality, caught between the beautiful mountains between Switzerland and Austria. Vaduz is the capital of the country and is also very small. In the city centre there are a few restaurants and souvenir shops. There’s a castle above the city where the rulers of Liechtenstein still live and have lived for 250 years. You can walk to the castle or you can drive, but you cannot enter it.

Our way home was again through Austria and this time we stopped in the “Alp’s capital”, Innsbruck. It’s a wonderful city in the heart of the mountains. Well-known sports centre invites many tourists also in other seasons. But the city is more popular in the winter and in Christmas time. I recommend you to visit Bergisdel ski jump, where the prestigious tour of four ski jumps happens. I also recommend you to visit the city centre where there are a lot of painted historic buildings and many restaurants. One of the most known buildings has a golden roof, which is one of the Innsbruck’s trademarks. It’s a roof, covered with 2657 copper bricks, which are plated with gold. It was made for the emperor Maximillian I so he could watch the events happening on the square from the balcony under the roof. There are plenty of hills to climb near Innsbruck or take a funicular even higher.