Road trip with family day ten

Today we travelled from Riga, Latvia to home in Finland.

Travel time: 5,5 hours by car and 2 hours by boat.

Whole road trip: We travelled 4400 km by car in 10 days, and visited 8 countries.

What we did today:

- stopped near Pärnu to take a walk with a view to the sea

- thought about changing tickets to an earlier boat, but realized that we wouldn't make it in time. We have seen so many places and have also been sitting a lot in the car, so we are ready to return home!

- came to Tallin and drove to Ulemiste shopping mall. It was mostly closed, because it's Midsummer here. Bought pizzas and ice cream from the supermarket and ate them outside the mall.

- Travelled from Tallin to Helsinki with Tallink Megastar.

Good Night from Finland!

We had a great road trip, here at home it is Midsummer.

Road trip with family day nine

Today we travelled from Kaunas, Lithuania to Riga, Latvia.

Travel time: 4,5 hours by car

What we did today:

- went to see Kaunas Castle from the outside, walked in the surroundings

- played bingo

- it was a warm day, so we drove to Jurmala, which is a wonderful beach close to Riga.

- drove to Riga, and walked from the hotel to the old town of Riga to eat 

- played cards

Good Night from Latvia!

Road trip with family day eight

Today we travelled from Poznan, Poland to Kaunas, Lithuania.

Travel hours: 10 hours by car

What we did today:

- played bingo

- looked what countries the other cars were from

- saw many storks, trucks and churches

- drove on some bumpy roads

- had a few breaks

- walked a bit in the centre of Kaunas and had some food

- played cards

This waa the last long driving day of this road trip. 

Good Night from Lithuania!

Road trip with family day seven

Today we stayed the whole day in Poznan, Poland. We walked in the city and took the tram a few times.

What we did today:

- walked to the Old Town, saw the buildings and the park there

- took a tram to the biggest shopping mall here

- walked a lot, went to two other shopping malls

- played cards

- enjoyed the warm and sunny evening

Good Night from Poland!

Road trip with family day six

Today we travelled from Wismar, Germany to Poznan, Poland.

Travel time: 6 hours by car

What we did today:

- drove through Wismar centre

- stopped in Berlin Design Outlet Village, which was really nice. We ate at Five Guys for the first time and the food was really good 

- played a bit of bingo, but now it seems like everyone is getting tired of it

- crossed the border to Poland

- walked to the mall from our hotel, ate there and looked around

- played cards

Good Night from Poland! 

Road trip with family day five

Today we travelled from Tversted, Denmark to Wismar, Germany.

Travel time: 5,5 hours by car

Things we did today:

- ate breakfast in our room, cleaned the room

- went to see the beach one more time

- drove to the North Sea Oceanarium in Hirtshals, which was a great place

- watched the feeding of seals, walked around the whole area, kids held a sea star in their hands 

- played on game of bingo

- had an ice cream break in Denmark

Good Night from Germany!

Road trip with family day four

Today we travelled from Skien, Norway to Hirtshals, Danmark.

Travel hours: 1 hour by car, 4,5 hours by boat

Things we did today:

- walked in Skien town

- jumped on a trampoline in the harbour 

- ate ice cream

- went for a nature walk, and came to a beautiful beach

- saw jelly fish in the sea

- travelled on the boat Langesund-Hirtshals played cards there and felt the strong wind

- went to the beach in Denmark and kids enjoyed the big Wales

Today we have done a lot of things and the weather has been warm and sunny.

Good Night from Denmark.

Road trip with family day three

Today we drove from Trondheim to Skien.

Traveling time: nearly 10 hours

What we did today:

- woke up early

- had a great breakfast

- played bingo again

- checken the altitude a few times

- travelled from north to south, past Lillehammer and Oslo

- saw people fishing in the river

- spent the whole day travelling, had a few longer breaks

Good Night from Skien, Norway. It's been a long day travelling, sleep is needed.

Road trip with family day two

Today we drove from Umeå, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway.

Travel time: 8,5 hours by car

What we did today:

- checked gas prizes in different countries

- had many breaks

- ate ice cream

- saw a fox, that ran over the road

- played bingo again

- found snow

- stopped to take pictures

- stopped in Östersund to look for a magazine for daughter (and found it)

- stopped to look at a water fall, followed a trail downwards the mountain and found it after 30 minutes, climbed the whole way back!!

- watched the amazing wievs on the road

PS. Here are no tourists.

Good Night from Trondheim, Norway. 

We are finally here!

Road trip with family day one

We started early this morning from home towards Vaasa.

From Vaasa we took the boat, Wasaline to Umeå, Sweden. 

Things we did today:

- played bingo in the car, trying to find airplanes, horses, tractors etc.

- Saw a fox and a lot of wind craft

- walked around the ruins of Old Vaasa

- learned that the city of Vaasa burnt down in one day, because someone smoked the pipe and fall asleep

- played card games on the boat

- bought Swedish books and magazines

Travel hours: 5+ hours by car, 4 hours by boat

Good Night from Sweden.

Road trip with family

Here we go again. Our 10 day long road trip will start tomorrow. The bags are mostly packed and my holiday has just started.

Two years ago we were planning to go on a road trip, but due to Covid it wasn´t possible.

Well, now we see how it will be. Would it be easier and more relaxing to take a plane and fly somewhere where everything is organized. Yes, for sure. Would it also be a bit boring? Maybe.

Now we have already booked the places where we stay for night and saved the route for the trip. I don't like packing at all, but this time it wasn´t that bad actually. 

I am doing my best to post something every day with my phone.

What are the most useful things for a road trip? Camera, suncream and sunglasses! We have other things too with us.

Road trip with convertible car

Time flies. March is very close, and in the end of  May we are flying to Malaga and starting a road trip with kids from Spain to Finland. The kids are now five and nine years old.

Last Summer we did a shorter road trip, driving in Sweden and Denmark. Our destination was Legoland Billund in Denmark. Now we are ready to drive through Europe in a droptop. And the car will become our own, which is nice too.

Road trip car

I haven't actually been thinking much about our road trip car. It's a convertible Mercedes Benz Cabriolet 320 CLK. Is it possible that it can break down on our road trip? This is something we need to think about. And check out in advance, that everything works before we start driving.

What is the best car for road trips? I guess it depends on where you drive and how much space is needed. If there are toddlers in the car, you need to think about car seats and the reliability of the car.
How to Take a Road Trip With Toddlers

Here are some car options for road trips.
Best cars for road trips

Is it different to do a road trip through Europe with a droptop than a regular car? I guess it is.

Here you can find some nice road trips for convertible cars. One of them is about Stelvio Pass at an altitude of 2,757 meters in Italy. It's one of the highest paved roads across the Alps.
The best convertible car road trips

I'm not sure yet what route we will take. That is something we have to find out sooner or later. We have been thinking about driving through the Alps. I will post our preliminary route here when we know. There are still many things to plan for the road trip.

What are the challenges of our road trip?

• We have to drive with the roof down, because of the luggage. Does it take some of the droptop driving feeling away?

• There isn't much space for luggage. Can we pack the things needed? This requires planning. What to take, and what to leave.

• The car can break down. I hope it happens (if it has to happen) in some nice place. Which could be Italy, close to a beach, thank you.

•  The kids can get bored.

•  I'm the one navigating. That is a challenge for sure.

• No internet connection.

What other challenges could there be?