Felix in Europe Summer 2019

[SimonMc]

Angela and I are off to Europe in Felix the 2018 Ocean for a total of five weeks. I plan to keep a diary of the trip on this thread to hopefully share our fun and findings. Watch this space!...

Simon


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[paradise city]

Bon voyage !

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[Jabberwocky]

Hope you enjoy your trip in Europe. I see you live in Tyne and Wear, did we leave already?

 

[SimonMc]

Hope you enjoy your trip in Europe. I see you live in Tyne and Wear, did we leave already?

Leaving here on Saturday, catching the overnight ferry to Amsterdam. Mainland Europe is the destination
Simon

 

[Hotel California]

Love to read your (daily) adventures and pictures !
Enjoy and have a safe ride

 

[BayCatOne]

Have fun and don’t forget to share photos with the story

 

[SimonMc]

Have fun and don’t forget to share photos with the story

Will do.
Simon

 

[SimonMc]

Day 1 - Newcastle to IJmuiden, Netherlands

All packed up by lunchtime so boarded early on the DFDS ferry.

Straightforward getting Felix parked up, then we chilled in the Sky Bar before dinner (fab buffet) then headed back to the cabin about 10pm. Excited for tomorrow! Smooth crossing.

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[SimonMc]

Day 2 - Ijmuiden Ferry to Strasbourg

Today was all about getting from A to B without any sightseeing. After a wonderful breakfast on the ferry

we hopped into Felix and off we went. Traffic was fine almost all the way to Strasbourg and we did at least get to see some Dutch and German scenery. Arrived at campsite just before 6pm, set up van in 2 minutes, a quick beer from the bar

and then a short Uber into Strasbourg for a recce. Well, what a beautiful place! Wandered some old streets

, had a bite to eat

then watched a beautiful light projection show (nightly at 10.30pm) onto the cathedral facade.

A couple of thousand turned out. Uber home, shower, bed. Planning a fuller visit tomorrow

Simon & Angela


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[SimonMc]

Day 3 - Strasbourg

Temperatures are high at the moment but slept well in the cool of the night upstairs. Set up a tarp after breakfast to shade the ‘kitchen’ side of the van using a freebie from An inflatable lilo type of thing. Works a treat!

Took a leisurely walk around the rest of Strasbourg including a great spot for lunch. The French know how to do salads!

Norte Dame cathedral is beautiful inside and out.

It was hard going on the heat, and in the evening we went back to the pool do our second visit of the day.

Off to Switzerland tomorrow!


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[sapto]

Warm welcome from Switzerland!

 

[BayCatOne]

Looks like a good start to a trip!
Where do you all get those fancy banners? I can only find "boring" ones...

 

[gvick]

Love reading travel posts
Please tell how come 5 weeks?
Have you planned itinerary or just going where the flow takes you
Enjoireading about your adv

 

[SimonMc]

Looks like a good start to a trip!
Where do you all get those fancy banners? I can only find "boring" ones...

It’s a pair of short ones tied together, from amazon. Festival Bunting https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0737JMR5T/?tag=eliteelect-21


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[SimonMc]

Love reading travel posts
Please tell how come 5 weeks?
Have you planned itinerary or just going where the flow takes you
Enjoireading about your adv

The first two weeks and the final week are planned. Middle part to be decided

Simon & Angela


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[SimonMc]

Day 4 - Strasbourg to the Swiss Alps

Sad to leave such a lovely city as Strasbourg, and will return in the future.
Packed up and set off down the Route des Vins heading south through Alsace. Stopped off for breakfast en route and visited a few gems,

all too briefly. Then country roads turned to dull motorway through much of the middle part of the drive. Once we passed Bern in Switzerland things got so much more beautiful.

...and yes the cows do have bells on

Tonight we are planning what we can fit in over the seven nights we stay here for.
Simon & Angela


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[SimonMc]

Day 5 - Murren and Schilthorn (Piz Gloria)

Today turned out harder work than expected. We took the cable car

and train up to Murren then on to Schilthorn of 007 fame. Stunning views

and also managed a quick flight of the drone. We were really impressed with the whole setup there, and the air at that altitude was bearable. Angela was way more brave than me on the thrill walk....

Headed back down to Murren for lunch on a grand terrace and couldn’t resist some local tourist fare.

Now for the painful bit...decided to walk back down from Murren to Lauterbrunnen in the heat. Had to take it slow which was not what holidays are not about. Had a kip half way down. We avoided the steeper route but in the end it took about 3 hours. Highlight was feasting on wild strawberries picked as we passed

and the beer at the end!
(No photo of beer as it was sunk immediately).
Great day out and knackered. Tomorrow we go even higher up the hills...

Simon & Angela


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[SimonMc]

Day 6 - Jungfraujoch and Snow

Beautiful view of the waterfall from bed this morning...

We pre-booked the Jungfraujoch trip a few weeks ago, and couldn’t wait to get up there. Jungfraujoch’s claim to fame is that it’s the top of Europe (by public transport). The whole trip there and back was lush. Here are some snaps...we highly recommend going there!

Had a few beers in Lauterbrunnen

and ate at the Hotel Jungfrau. Do not eat there, is all I’m saying.

Simon and Angela




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[TripleBee]

Yes, Switzerland is a beautifull country. Especially when you live in a very flat country, like Belgium, on the coast.
Have been to Switzerland the first time in 1985 or something like that when I was barely out of the diapers.

Have been a lot of times to Lauterbrunnental. Everytime on the camping Breithorn in Stechelberg.
Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Schmadribachfall, Trummelbachfälle, ...
You are sure you will only stay there for 7 nights?

 

[SimonMc]

Yes, Switzerland is a beautifull country. Especially when you live in a very flat country, like Belgium, on the coast.
Have been to Switzerland the first time in 1985 or something like that when I was barely out of the diapers.

Have been a lot of times to Lauterbrunnental. Everytime on the camping Breithorn in Stechelberg.
Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Schmadribachfall, Trummelbachfälle, ...
You are sure you will only stay there for 7 nights?

We would love to stay longer but move on to Annecy and Geneva next. We will come back though. We are walking past camping Breithorn later today so will check it out.
Simon & Angela


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[TripleBee]

You should really take the walk completely down the valley, past Stechelberg, up to the Schmadribachfall. It is a really wonderful place. And not crowded.

 

[SimonMc]

Day 7 - Schynige Platte Walk

Somehow, possibly to do with the alcohol last night, we slept right through a heavy downpour and thunderstorm. We woke at 6 am to find that the wind out awning had puddled with water completely so we baked it out with our washing up bowl and then left it on an angle like we should’ve done the night before. One thing I’m going to add to the shopping list is a two meter long one side for nine holes because I think this will do the trick next time.pleased to add that the awning is fine

Today’s plan was to see some beautiful Alpine meadows and meet a few cows. Success. We took the scenic train up from Wilderswil to Schynige Platte - it was stunning as so many things here are.

The views were changing at every turn and opened up into beautiful vistas. We could see glaciers and blue lakes and never tired of it. We set off in the direction of the cow bells when we left the station

and then we took a 3 1/2 hour walk along the ridge overlooking Interlaken and its two beautiful blue lakes.

What was most memorable though is the wildflower meadows here and the wide diversity and high density of flowers. It is a cliche to say it was even better than we expected but it’s true. Way way way better, and hard to put into words.

It was yet again a very hot day and it was nice to stop off although that was there was very little shade about. I did get the drone out once so I’ll hopefully attache pictures here. Here’s one ...

Took the train back down to Wilderswil and we then headed back into Lauterbrunnen for a quick beer and sneaky

then back to the campsite before the thunderstorms came.
When we set up the campervan last week we used the wind out awning and the Vango air beam awning but so far we haven’t had any reason to use the Vango. Until this evening. The heavens opened and we snuck inside the awning and felt pleased that we had it there with us even though it was hellishly hot putting it up with ground being so hard last week.

Dinner, Alsatian wine, bed.

Simon & Angela


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[TripleBee]

Even those pictures don't do justice to the real thing.
Only when you have been there, you can see right through the picture.
One of the reasons why I love Switzerland!

 

[SimonMc]

Day8 - Trümmelbach Waterfalls and Interlaken

After brekkie at the campsite we walked south to see the waterfalls which drain the Eiger, Monsch and Jungfrau glaciers. What makes these waterfalls so special is that they are inside the mountain and you can get in there through a tunnel and stairs and lift. They drain up to 20,000 litres per second and deposite tens of thousands of tons of glacial rock annually. They were stunning!. Here are some pictures from my phone which do not do them justice.

. The good pics are on the camera so I’ll upload them later. Back to the Camping Jungfrau for lunch then train into Interlaken and on to the Harder Kulm viewpoint way above the town. While the weather was not as clear as yesterday, it’s still a great spot to visit.

Then on to Interlaken...strolled around found a couple of lovely bars then had an early dinner. There’s some kind of busking festival on at the moment and we hung about for one of the acts. Cracking way to end the day.
Early bed. Fun day planned for tomorrow.

 

[SimonMc]

Day 9 - First and Grindelwald and Rain

The reason Switzerland is so beautifully green is the sun and the rain. Today’s theme was rain. Here’s the view from the cable car...

We had pre-booked 3 activities to get us down from First to Grindelwald...70kph glider then mountain carts then mountain scooters. We were pretty much the only people there because of the zero visibility and rain. When I/Angela was getting harnessed up for the glider, I/she had a panic and I/she said that I/she didn’t want to do it. Clearly one of us is a coward.

So, I/she went on the carts first...which I/she did but I/she readily admits as scared of and didn’t enjoy. Next was the scooters, which we did twice (4.5km each time) and they take you down into Grindelwald ready for the next chair lift. I/she apologised all day and Angela let me off. This took most of the day.

We’d pre-booked a table at the restaurant at the campsite for 8pm and can tel you it’s a fab place. Food and staff were great. Also come up as #1 restaurant in Lauterbrunnen.

Thank you Switzerland for putting squirts cream in a tinned peach next to my schnitzel and fries! Very 1970s.

Simon & Angela


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