Europe's Country Roads
Free Travel Advice for Independent Travelers
Who Want to Lose the Crowds and Have Unique Travel Experiences
The people you meet, not the sights you see, create unforgettable travel memories.
Free Travel Advice for Independent Travelers Who Want to Lose the Crowds and Have Unique Travel Experiences
Welcome to Europe's Country Roads
My wife, Wendy, and I have a radically different approach to European travel. We believe that the people you meet, not the sights you see, create the most unforgettable travel memories.
While many Americans fight crowds to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre or the crown jewels in the Tower of London, we prefer to travel Europe’s Country Roads.
We visit small villages and see sights, not in American travel guides. We stay on farms because we want to meet and get to know the locals and share their daily lives. Our goal is to meet and get to know real Europeans.
And you can't do that by paying high prices for a bus tour or river cruise that insulates you from average Europeans. We typically spend three weeks traveling Europe's Country Roads for the cost of a one-week package tour. On our last three-week trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, we booked twenty-two nights for an average price of $64 per night. It would be difficult to do that in the US even at Motel 6 prices. Most of these were on farms in immaculately clean one-bedroom apartments with full kitchens and private bathrooms.
Still not convinced that traveling Europe's Country Roads is the way to go? Below are just a few of the fascinating Europeans we have met by wandering Europe's Country Roads.
[For more details on our travel philosophy, see the "Our Approach" tab. And for tips on how to use the site, see the "Using this Site" tab.]
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Please let us show you how to create twice the memories at half the price.
As we drove a Swiss country road, we were stopped by a family moving their cows across the road. This boy's father asked him to chase down this disagreeable beast and herd him across the road.
We met this family at an unguarded Swiss Army tank training facility. We learned firsthand about the Swiss requirement for all males to serve in the Swiss Army between 18 and 34 years of age. After basic training of 18-21 weeks, male citizens must attend annual two or three- week reserve training. In order to respond to an emergency, they keep their military weapons at home.
Daniela greeted us every breakfast from her kitchen on her Großscharnhof farm. She and Wendy struck up an immediate friendship. We still exchange Christmas cards.
As we drove a Swiss country road, we were stopped by a family moving their cows across the road. This boy's father asked him to chase down this disagreeable beast and herd him across the road.