Balkan Trip from Germany to Albania - Day 1 – Relaxing through Austria

This morning, our road trip began towards Albania! After an obligatory stop at the gas station, we enjoyed a hearty German breakfast – Strammer Max with coffee, to start the day off right. Then we headed straight onto the motorway towards Salzburg. With beautiful weather, we leisurely drove past Chiemsee and the Alps.

As fate would have it, we hit a traffic jam before the Tauerntunnel. Although it cost us 2.5 hours, we made good use of our time in the car with Bianca and celebrated with a little party. I think we were close to having the people in the cars around us call in the guys in the white jackets that button up from the back. Amid all the stressed faces around us, I was reminded once again of how relaxing travel can be when you’re not pressed for time.

On a whim, we booked accommodation in Villach an hour before our arrival through Booking.com. The place was clean and affordable. We arrived at 3:30 PM, freshened up, and headed out to explore Villach. Luckily, it was Sunday and the shops were closed. Villach has a beautiful old town with many historic buildings. A visit to the Drau Riverbank with its lovely sunbathing areas is especially recommended.

Hunger then drove us to LA BURGER. They had many vegetarian dishes – vegetarian, just right for me (beware, sarcasm!). My burger with a beef patty looked fantastic, but I unfortunately expected more, especially for the price. Bianca was very pleased with her bowl.

Now it’s back to the accommodation, just one Radler and a mixed drink for Bianca, then sleep and off we go tomorrow morning for stage two. Let’s see where we end up tomorrow!