A couple of weeks ago my good friend Kate from Chicago came to visit me in Germany! It was her first trip to Europe (well, not counting the UK) so we decided to do a little road trip so that we could see and experience a few different countries. We started here in Stuttgart, Germany and drove through France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and back through Germany before landing back in Stuttgart.

As I mentioned, we started at my home in Stuttgart Germany and spent a couple of days here. We spent the day walking around downtown — we visited the Markthalle, the Feuersee, and the Stiftskirche, and we had dinner at the Zum Spätzleschwob and Speisekammer West.

On day three we woke up early and headed to pick up our rental car and made the 2 hour drive from Stuttgart to Strasbourg, France. In Strasbourg, we stayed at a really cute Airbnb located right in the heart of downtown — highly recommend if you are in Strasbourg! We had a very nice lunch outside at Cavpona, a little spot just down the street from our apartment. I had the Quiche Lorraine. Drool.

Strasbourg is so beautiful that we spent most of our time just walking around. Here are some photos from a day of exploring:

The next morning we woke up, picked up our car (we parked at the Gare Wodli parking garage, which was priced reasonably at €20 for 24 hours) and made the 1-hour drive from Strasbourg to Colmar.

I must admit that I didn’t take many photos in Colmar because it was pouring rain much of the time we were there. But, it is very much like Strasbourg in that it’s absolutely charming, but much smaller. We stayed at the Hotel Turenne, which I would recommend as it is very close to Petit Venice (Little Venice district) and close to a great restaurant, L’Epicurien, where I had some pretty amazing foie gras:

Oh, and we were in France for the election so here is a picture of me with Macron:

The next morning, day five of the road trip, we woke up and drove 2 hours from Colmar to Lucerne, Switzerland. The drive itself was so beautiful. The landscape is just breathtaking. It’s so green and mountainous. And, Lucerne didn’t disappoint either! We stayed at the Ameron Hotel Flora, which is located right on Lake Lucerne near the main train station and modern art museum.

We arrived on a Sunday so most stores were not open so we spent a lot of time walking around, exploring, and taking pictures. The weather was really overcast while we were there so the pictures don’t really do it justice, but the alps are RIGHT THERE. Right behind all of those clouds. 🙂

We stopped by the Des Alpes Hotel & Restaurant where I had some really delicious rösti topped with spinach, fried onions, roasted tomatoes, and an egg. Yum! Take me back!

The next morning we woke up in Lucerne, did a little shopping and sightseeing in the morning, and then took a 1-hour boat tour around Lake Lucerne, which is really worth doing because you learn a bit about the lake and the history surrounding that area. And it’s just nice to be on the water!

Then, we jumped in our car and drove 3 hours from Lucerne to Triesenberg, Liechtenstein where we checked into the Hotel Oberland for the night. Since we were IN the mountains, the views here were by-far the best even though the weather was still overcast and rainy. Here is a shot Kate took from the hotel:

Only about 2,500 people live in Triesenberg so it’s a very tiny place with not much happening when it’s raining! We were hoping to go hiking, but the conditions were unfortunately not in our favor. Instead, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner just down the street at Restaurant Edelweiss where we had traditional cuisine. Here’s a picture of the schnitzel with vegetables and french fries:

The next morning, we woke up and made a 3-hour drive from Liechtenstein to Munich, Germany. München is one of my favorite places and it was so nice to share it with Kate! We spent the first day walking around and exploring (our favorite thing to do, can you tell?!) We visited the Viktualkeinmarkt, the Englischer Garten, the Chinesischer Turm Biergarten, Eisbachwelle (surfing wave), and (my new favorite place!) the cat cafe or Cafe Katzentempel. Me at the cat cafe:

The following morning we woke up and made the drive back to Stuttgart, which took about 2 hours. We returned our trusty Ford Focus to the rental car company and made our way back to our apartment.

On our final day in Stuttgart, before Kate flew back to Chicago, we spent the day at Mineralbad Leuze. After such a whirlwind trip through four countries, a day of relaxation is exactly what we needed! We also had lunch and dinner (yes, we were there twice in one day!) at Trattoria Piloni in Stuttgart West and ate some tasty Greek food at Achillion.

All in all, it was such a wonderful trip! Kate and I learned that we make really great travel buddies — everything was so easy and natural and we were little chatterboxes and laughing the whole time! It was the best. 🙂

I ♥ you and miss you, Kate, and can’t wait to plan our next adventure!!