Distance Driven – 4000+ KM
Pictures Taken – 1000+
Memories Made – Countless
More details can be found here:
Day-1, Day-2, Day-3, Day-4, Day-5, Day-6, Day-7, Day-8, Day-9, Day-10
Here are list of few questions that was commonly asked by our friends
How is the visa situation?
If you are an American Citizen, no visa is required to travel to these countries. If you are an Indian citizen, Schengen Visa is required. If you are visiting one country, then you apply for visa at that country’s embassy. And if you are spending more time in one country than the other, then you apply at the embassy where you are spending most of your time. If you are spending same amount of time in all countries then you need to apply at the embassy that is your port of entry
How is traveling through Europe?
We can not speak much for the trains there as we drove our rental car. Driving in Freeways in Europe is very similar to driving in America, but the cars are manual transmission unless you request for an automatic transmission (which I think has extra charge). Driving in the city center is harder as the streets are narrow and parking is scarce. The best thing to do if you are driving is to drive long distance and take the metro/bus service to go into the city. Driving on freeways, other than Germany has tolls. For our 9 day trip we spent almost 200 Euros in toll.
What did you do for directions?
We rented a GPS, and we would recommend anyone driving around in Europe to do the same. Make sure the GPS that you rent has all the countries that you are visiting stored. Our initial GPS (that came with the car) did not have Italy maps, we were so glad that we found that out at rental place as opposed to when we were in Italy. So the rental car people provided us with another portable GPS.
How is the weather in Europe?
We went during December so it was below 0 Celsius everywhere other than Rome. The days are shorter, so did not get to do much after 5.00PM. We knew it was going to be cold, so we had packed enough winter clothes, gloves, hats and scarfs. Other than Italy, most of our destinations had snow. The roads were cleared of snow so we never had to drive over snow or ice.
Is language an issue?
Depends, we do not know any foreign language and were able to manage by speaking English. In all the major cities, people do understand English. We did a lot of pointing and actions as we spoke and people understood us.
Are people nice to tourists?
They were extremely nice to us. Everyone we asked for suggestions and help was very nice, and was ready to help out. If he or she did not the answer, he or she would ask someone else who did.
What is your favorite place from this trip?
Italy was our favorite destination. We would definitely love to go back to Italy and spend 2-3 weeks.
Would you do this all over again?
Yes, we would as long as Sherry is up for the driving part.
Feel free to ask more questions in the comment section and we will try to answer it to our best knowledge
