Exploring the neighbouring countries

Exploring neighbouring countries

André and I do not cross the borders often because my priority is going back to the Philippines, being with family, relatives and best friends and catching up with the latest happenings. He doesn't like being with the family all the time though because he wants to explore the environment more. In comparison to my Filipino friends, I have seen little of Europe. We are satisfied in having a day or a week trip to other countries by car, sometimes by train and by plane. Most European families are fond of camping and often stay in camping sites during the entire vacation. On the contrary, we prefer staying in reasonably-priced hotels (ranging from E 35-45 per night), making short trips and hopping form one city to another. We enjoy walking in the streets, eating in a local restaurant and hearing the foreigners talk in their languages. We want to experience the life of locals there even for a very short time.

This page will give you a general impression of the European cities we visited. For further details, it is better to buy a travel guide book.

COLOGNE, TRIER (GERMANY) and LUXEMBURG

These cities are situated in the soutwestern part of Germany. We hired a car and drove for 4 hours to reach Cologne. Tip: rent a hotel outside the Centrum because the price is reasonable (E 45.00 with breakfast). You can park your car in an hotel and take the metro. You can buy ticket in the automated machine in the metro. Cologne has a cyborg-like Dom Cathedral. It also has lots of museums. We were supposed to stay there for three nights but we did not see much so we headed to Trier. The distance is more than 100 km's.

We found Trier more interesting not only because it is the oldest city in Germany but because it has lots of Roman ruins.

Luxemburg is around 50 km's from Trier. Its city is small and is easy to find your way around. It offers historical sights which are worth visiting. Clervaux is a medieval sunked town surrounded by rugged hills and lots of trees. The imposing castle dominates this small town.

From the Netherlands (starting point is in Delft), it took us around 1,400 km's in visiting the three cities. Tip: the gasoline price is cheaper in the boundary of Luxemburg than in Belgium and The Netherlands.