 | Flytrippers cofounder |
When the microstate of Liechtenstein is just a couple of hours away, and you’re on a quest to visit every country in the world, why wouldn’t you drive through 4 countries in a day? Last fall, my girlfriend and I were in Northern Italy, so we decided to do this short European roadtrip to visit my 94th country. It was just too close to pass up!
It was also 3 new countries for my girlfriend’s mom, who came along for the trip. My girlfriend Caroline had already been to all of them before… she’s way ahead of me in the number of countries.
I’ve been working towards visiting all 193 countries since we launched Flytrippers in 2017. Flytrippers helps you travel for less with our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here’s a recap of our European roadtrip.
Country #1: Italy 🇮🇹
After Bansko, my favorite alpine destination in Europe, we spent September in Italy because Caroline wanted to explore more of the country and visit the region where part of her family is from. She had just gotten her Italian citizenship, which made the timing perfect.
We usually stay 2 weeks to 2 months in one place as digital nomads, but that month we were moving faster, exploring the Aosta Valley (the bilingual French-Italian region), Piedmont, and Lombardy. This 2-day trip north was a quick excursion to neighboring countries just to visit Liechtenstein.
We started our trip in Stresa, a town on Lake Maggiore where we’d been staying for 4 days.
Why Stresa? A US-issued credit card had a benefit giving us a 4th night free there, so we wanted to maximize it.
The drive north along the lake toward Switzerland was interesting. You get to watch everything change as you cross into another country without really encountering any border or official checkpoint.
Country #2: Switzerland 🇨🇭
As we crossed into Switzerland along the lake, we were in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. The architecture and vibe shifted right away, but the language stayed the same.
Our first stop was Bellinzona to see the Castello di Montebello. We didn’t go inside, but the exterior views and hilltop location made the quick stop worth it.
Then came the San Bernardino Pass, a beautiful mountain crossing that took us into the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
And that’s when we experienced the other big difference between Italy and Switzerland: prices.
In the part of Italy where we’d been staying, you could get a cappuccino for around 1.5 EUR. On this side of the border? A whopping 7 CHF!
Food and wine prices were noticeably higher across the board. Keep this in mind if you’re planning a similar trip and watching your budget.
We stopped in Chur for about an hour. Caroline remembered it as a nice town, and we needed to charge our electric rental car anyway. We walked the pedestrian street, checked out an old church, and grabbed some cupcakes as a snack.
I’ll add a quick side note on electric vehicle charging in Europe. Charging that car was honestly a nightmare at first.
We couldn’t download any of the required apps on our North American app stores, and it was nearly impossible to pay at most charging stations (except for one random location).
Then we discovered that the “Shell Recharge” tap thing on the keychain (which Hertz never explained to us) actually works at most charging stations, not just Shell ones. Game changer.
If you’re renting an EV in Europe, ask about this before you leave the rental counter. They don’t charge an extra service fee on the charges, unlike for toll transponders, for example.
Country #3: Liechtenstein 🇱🇮
This was the whole point of the trip. My first visit to this tiny European country, bringing my total to 94 out of 193 (I am now at 105).
Liechtenstein is one of the world’s smallest countries, squeezed between Switzerland and Austria. It’s easy to visit if you’re already in the area.
Our first stop was the Prince’s winery. Yes, Hofkellerei des Fürsten von Liechtenstein is a winery owned by the Prince of Liechtenstein himself.
We did a small tasting (free, though we ended up buying bottles, so that might have helped). We tried 2 wines, and the sparkling was especially good.
If you want the full official tasting experience, you should probably book ahead. But we just showed up, and it worked out fine.
After the winery, we headed into Vaduz, the capital, for dinner and a walk along the pedestrian street.
The town is small and clean, though it was raining during our visit, which didn’t exactly showcase it at its best.
Here’s something unexpected: people can still smoke inside restaurants in Liechtenstein (at least the one we went to). We were pretty surprised when we walked into our dinner spot right in the middle of town and saw people lighting up.
It was a short but fairly complete visit to a very small country. Exactly what we needed.
If you’re staying in northern Italy or Switzerland and have a couple of days to spare, this route is absolutely worth it, especially if you like alpine views.
Just remember to budget for Switzerland’s prices, bring layers for those mountain passes (even in September), and if you’re renting an EV, figure out that charging situation before you hit the road.
Country #4: Austria 🇦🇹
We crossed into Austria just to spend the night.
Why? Because accommodations in Liechtenstein and Switzerland aren’t exactly budget-friendly, and Austria offered a cheaper alternative.
We stayed at the Saminapark Aparthotel in Frastanz, just across the border. Prices were considerably lower than anything we’d seen in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. A practical choice that saved us some money for the rest of the trip.
Driving back to Italy 🇮🇹
The next day, we took a different route back, driving over 3 mountain passes. And this is where things got really interesting.
The passes
The first pass (still in Austria) was scenic, but nothing too memorable.
Then came the Stelvio Pass back in Italy, and this was one of the highlights of the trip.
In late September, we encountered about 2 inches of snow at the top. More than we expected for that time of year. The Stelvio is famous for its numbered hairpin turns (48 on the Bormio side), and driving through them with snow on the ground made it even more dramatic.
The third pass was Passo Gavia, and it gave us one of the coolest moments of the trip.
It was extremely foggy on the way down. At one point, we couldn’t see anything. Then we entered a tunnel (no fog inside) and when we emerged on the other side, we were back in this foggy world. It was crazy!
There were also tons of cyclists in full gear climbing these passes, probably wanting to tackle these famous routes from the Giro d’Italia on their own.
Back through German-speaking Italy
We drove through the German-speaking region of northern Italy, saw the remains of a church from a village that is completely underwater in Curon Venosta Graun im Vinshgau.
The cappuccinos in that part of Italy still weren’t as cheap as further south, but they were much better priced than Switzerland!
In total, we covered just over 600 km for the whole 2-day trip.
We ended in Bergamo, where we stayed for 7 days. We’d found a cheap direct flight to Kuwait out of there (which eventually got canceled, though… forcing us to fly there via Bahrain from Milan instead).
For our Bergamo accommodations, we used another benefit from a US-issued credit card that gives us US$100 off a US$500 booking.
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Summary
This 2-day roadtrip gave us exactly what we wanted: a new country to check off the list, stunning alpine scenery, and a reminder of just how different neighboring European countries can be. From languages to architecture to the price of a simple cappuccino.
What would you like to know about my European alpine roadtrip to visit a new country? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Vaduz, Liechtenstein (photo credit: Kevin Gagnon/Flytrippers)
