In the days leading up to our big adventure it became clear there was no avoiding a storm that was about to linger over the majority of central and Northern Europe for the next 10 days. After a few hours of mulling potential alternative routes, it became clear that there was no going around it (as we aren't flying, no going over it), so, we'll have to go through it. So on August 2nd we said our goodbyes to London and took the Eurostar to Brussels and onward to Germany.
We had based our budget for travelling across Europe to Turkey on the fact we could make the most of the 49€ Deutschland ticket for the first two weeks of the journey. The Deutschland ticket is a monthly subscription ticket that allows you on ALL public transport and local trains for a month (this has turned out to be the best decision so we'll post more on this later).
Our plan had been to head to Cologne and spend some time camping the Rhein before making our way east to Dresden where you can access the hiking trails of Swiss Bohemian. Suffice to say it hasn't been hiking weather, and won't be until at least Tuesday or Wednesday next week. So we have shifted our plans t
o stay closer to cities in the first week and have been making our way instead to Munich where our friends have kindly offered us accommodation - meeting our friends on the road (and rails) is awesome.
Despite the weather we've been enjoying Dusseldorf and Cologne and walking serious steps along the Rhein. It's pretty fantastic how they prioritise the riverside for bikes, pedestrians and beer garden boats. Despite the German love of automobiles this will likely be one of the easiest and cheapest places to overland and foot travel so we’re making the most of it.
The past four days in numbers
distance from home 637 km
7 trains
7 trams
daily spend circa £50 a day
daily steps circa 23k a day
pretzels 1
beers (only) 4 so far
After 4 days of soggy camping we've found a hostel in Frankfurt that's only 10€ per night more than a camping pitch (Camping 25€), and with another 3 days of solid rain have decided to splurge on a roof and a bed. We had found some cool free things to do in Frankfurt like hike the city forest, visit a small animal park/city farm and wander the streets and markets. Looking out the window, we will see how we get on and let you know…
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