My Crazy Road Trip on the Autobahn in Europe!

I had already travelled to Europe a couple of times, and explored mostly the South of Europe/Mediterranean region (Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Spain). So when I began planning my third trip to Europe, I knew I wanted to explore Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I had also heard of the Autobahn, y'know, the famous German highway where there is no speed limit. Being from Canada born and raised with 100km/h speed limits, I never experienced driving on a highway that was not monitored for speed - and honestly, it intrigued me. I always wanted to drive crazy fast on a highway without worrying about radars and losing my license. Note: for those reading and plan on driving the Autobahn, read this article to get informed on the regulations. There is no signage on the highway to indicate if you've crossed borders, and some areas are monitored (especially Switzerland!).

Queue the Autobahn! My itinerary was I would start in Prague, Czech Republic and drive on the Autobahn through Czech and into Germany, stopping for one night in Munich, then hit the road the next day through Germany, a bit of Austria and stopping at Interlaken, Switzerland.

Day 1: Leaving Prague and driving 240km/h definitely took some getting used to. I imagined the Autobahn to be like 8 lanes.. It was a 2 lane highway where transport trucks drove on the right lane abiding by the 100km/h law, and drivers flying by at 300km/h. Mix that with many construction areas and NO warning of a construction merge into the right lane, it took a few hours of driving to get used to! Sadly I didn't take any photos/videos of me driving, but I've included a video of someone driving an Aston Martin @325km/h. Prague to Munich is only a short 383km distance, especially when driving 240km/hr. 

Driving that fast wasn't the crazy part of my road trip. On the first day, we were pulled over by what I believe (I still don't know to this day) were German border service officers. They cut me off on the highway in their vehicle, and on top of the car was an LED screen that said something in German, then 'Follow Me' in English. They made me pull over at a truck stop, and aggressively made me exit the vehicle with my hands up, guns in their hand while one of them searched the vehicle. Man, did they ever SEARCH. They were opening up my tampon packets (LOL) to search inside them, and wanted all travel documentation and ID to review. For a solid 5 minutes I was tripping out like the guys in Super Troopers (if you haven't seen the Super Troopers intro, you're welcome).

Fast forward, I end up in Munich and visited the Hofbräuhaus for live music and large German pints, which I highly recommend you visit should you go to Munich. I checked into the hotel and spent the evening at a house music night club. In the morning, I grabbed breakfast in the hotel, packed up, did some sight seeing then hit the road!

Day 2: Munich to Interlaken was a bit longer, since as soon as I entered Switzerland, we had to abide by the 100km/hr speed limit. The drive was incredible, especially the mountainous landscapes and views. The highway quickly turned into one lane roads that were winding around, up and down the mountains. It looked literally like a painting, surreal. I stopped during the drive to get out near a lake and take some photos. The air was so fresh, the water clear as ice. I honestly miss it, and would go back in a heart beat. I stayed in a camp-style hostel, with private tiki tents to sleep in. Unfortunately, it rained most of my time there. But I was able to do some hiking, sight seeing and check out Interlaken's village. 

After a couple of nights in Interlaken, I made the exact same road trip back to Prague to catch my flight to Ibiza, Spain. I stopped in Munich again, continued back on the Autobahn, stopped at Dachau, the first concentration camp created in World War II (extremely eery, and uncomfortable to be in I must admit). It was strange that this huge camp was situated across the street from residential family homes -as if they are desensitized to the history and what happened. Anyway, finally made it back to Prague by day 6 for a one-night stay, then a morning flight out to Ibiza.

Takeaway from this: the autobahn is an incredible driving experience if you like to drive fast and are comfortable behind the wheel. Check out the link I mentioned at the beginning of the blog to ensure you do not break any laws. Careful with border services, they're a**holes. Lastly, check out these countries! They are so diverse in their scenery, architecture, and culture. I would go back in a heart beat. As always, any questions about the autobahn or my road trip experience, shoot me an email and ask away!

Safe driving!