Four Countries, Four Nights: Our Return to the UK

Luxembourg, Belgium, France and the UK, 5th – 8th July 2016

We’re in a very different location from where we last left off in Germany, having crossed four country borders.  I’m writing this sat on a sofa in an actual living room of an actual house, rather than in the confines of our now empty van.  The bottles of sun cream have been retired and self-service launderettes have been traded for domestic washing machines.  Yes, we’ve finally returned home.  Our travels have now come to an end, and we’re gearing up for the next big challenge: employment!  But before we got here, we managed to squeeze another two new countries into our travels, starting with Luxembourg.

Moseying along the Mosel

Cochem and the Mosel River

Germany, 1st – 4th July 2016

For the time we’d have in Germany we decided to spend it along the Mosel and Rhein (Rhine) rivers after Steve and Diane who we met in Austria highly recommended it for motorhoming with there being Stellplatzen in almost every village or town and cycle paths following alongside the river making for good flat cycling terrain. So after the couple of days primarily travelling across the country we’ve spent this week in the Rheinland-Pfalz region meeting friends, visiting towns, cycling and staying on some great riverside camperstops.

Pilsen to Karlovy Vary, and onwards into Germany

The main square in Pilsen

Czech Republic and Germany, 27th – 30th June 2016

It feels strange to think that our trip is nearly coming to an end.  Here we are less than a day’s drive from the English Channel parked by a riverside in Germany, the country that we first stayed in back in April 2015 when we had just set out with no return ferry booked.  We still have no return ferry booked now so I suppose some things don’t change, but we will be booking one soon as we plan to be home before the British school holidays hit full swing.  The last time we posted we were in the Czech Republic having visited Prague, but before we left the country for here there were still a couple more places we wanted to see, starting with Pilsen.

Prague

Czech Republic, 24th - 26th June 2016

Mala Strana
 

Our main reason for fitting the Czech Republic into this trip was to go to Prague, as it was a place we wanted to visit at some point and it had also been recommended by friends. We’d been enjoying the rest of the country with some interesting towns, being able to spend time sat out in the hot weather on cheap campsites, and the cheap beer and food. Now it was time for the main event though as we were nearing the capital city. Temperatures were soaring making it hotter than ideal really for exploring a large city but we stuck at it and enjoyed our couple of days here. It’s a nice city with a gothic, gritty feel and is a lively place with lots going on and plenty to see and do which kept us busy. Costs are reasonable for a capital city although more expensive than the rest of the country, roughly 50% more for camping, drinks and ice creams for example, but some lower priced places can be searched out.