Possible European Road Trips

My friend Cheryl from work has encouraged me to join the Century Club, which currently has just over 1,000 members who have visited at least 100 different countries.  It is highly unlikely that I will achieve this but if I were to include any semi-autonomous regions within the countries, it might be do-able.  I've already got 49 U.S states, 7 Canadian provinces and soon to be 6 foreign countries down after my Texas/Mexico trip next month.  Let's suppose I visit the United Kingdom and stop in Scotland and England.  That counts as 2.  In Australia, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales could count as 3.  In Europe, it is quite possible to visit several countries all within a single day.  Here are some examples:

United Kingdom- My paternal grandmother was born and raised near Glasgow, Scotland.  Glasgow to London is only 6 hours by car.  In this case, I would probably fly to Edinburgh, ride to Glasgow and take to tube down to London with a stop in Birmingham just for laughs.  From London, I can break up the trip back with a stop in NewFoundland, Canada.  Add 3 for this one.


Northwest Europe- Amsterdam in the Netherlands is a common travel hub.  From there, you can add 3 more countries within just 4 hours by picking up Belgium and Luxembourg with an obligatory stop in Brussels.


Iberia- I've been to Barcelona on a Mediterranean cruise but I was so wiped out from jet lag that I could not properly enjoy it.  Spain and Portugal have by far the best surf in Europe as well as beautiful beaches with amazing rock formations.  The best time of the year to go would probably be in early Fall, at a time when 6 foot waves are the norm and the water is still decently warm.  I could fly into Lisbon, Portugal and drive 7 hours to Valencia, Spain on the other side of the peninsula with a stop halfway in Madrid.  There is also an option to take a ferry for a day trip to Morocco.




Germany/Poland- I initially said that I would simply take a train for a day trip to Poznan, Poland after my race in Berlin.  I found out through Ancestry that my Polish roots can be traced back to the Krakow area in the southeastern part of the country.  That being the case, I'd want to take a bus to Krakow then rent a car from there.  The nearby Tatras Mountains look amazing and there are some beautiful hikes with mountain lakes that rival Banff and Yoho National Park in Canada.  I'll try not to bust my dupa on those hikes.  LOL.  The Tatras extend into Slovakia so why not add another country?  This trip would cover 70% of my ancestry.

Mediterranean/Alpine- This one could be the best of all.  There's usually not much surf on the Mediterranean coast but the water is beautiful and climate is warm and sunny.  What I would like to do is fly into Nice, France and make a loop.  Round trip airfare is less than $1,000 from Atlanta.  Though I'd want to make several stops, I could drive all the way to Croatia in less than 8 hours.  Possible stops along the way could include Monaco, Genoa and possibly either Milan or Pisa/Florence on the way.  From Croatia, it's roughly 8 hours to Zurich going through the Alps, which is some of the most picturesque scenery in the world.  Innsbruck is a must see.  From Zurich, it's another 6 back to Nice.  Countries would include France (repeat), Monaco, Italy (repeat), Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland.  If any readers from France have anything to add, I'd appreciate it.