While every trip has its own specialties and characteristics, This one had a completely different magnitude. Soumya and I, with our two year old, I have been living in the Netherlands for more than 8 years now, and we, just like many of you, never had to face such a (pandemic) situation ever before. A trip during this time has been a totally different experience.
Aug – Sep always used to be the time when we used to visit Kerala/India to meet friends and families. However, this year is obviously different. Though I had some hopes earlier in the year, it became eventually very clear that trip to India, that too with a 2 year old, would not work out in 2020. So there was no plan at all for anything this year, but hectic work added with work-from-home situation made me really want to take a break and breath some fresh air. Though we really wanted to go somewhere, we were equally concerned about the pandemic and associated restrictions.
At some point we made my mind up and booked a farm house in a remote village in Austria. More on that later.
The plan
I had first week of October + weekends to spend. The obvious initial thought was to be within Netherlands but that thought did not last too long. We then looked at our all time favourite destination Black Forest in the south of Germany – but again we have been there numerous times and wanted something different if possible. Looked at Swiss – but after a couple of trips we again wanted something different. Finally we ended up in Austria, country where we have never been before. After many days of searching, we booked a nice farm house that is way remote from any major cities.
Why farm house? Many reasons.
- We clearly wanted to stay away from cities where risk level is relatively higher during this pandemic times.
- We wanted a very relaxed space including our own kitchen and lots of nature around.
- This was my 2 year old’s first long trip. I wanted to have enough of entertainment for her as well.
- Finally and obviously, needed something within reasonable budget.
The route
Route from Netherlands to the destination in Austria spans over almost 1050 kilo meters one way.
That is something we can typically do it in one day in this part of the world.
Route starts with motorway A1 in the Netherlands which crosses over to Germany and then it’s Autobahn 3 (Cologne, Frankfurt, Nuremberg) almost all the way. I have done several one day drives covering over 1000 kms, which made me feel comfortable about the distance.
However, we had to plan extra time for stop-overs as we had our little one onboard. Another factors was about the car – again more that in next section.
The car and the drive
We currently own and drive a VW Golf 1.6 TDI Blue motion station wagon MT (Pre-owned, 2015 Oct make). Though I have done many 1000+/day drives in the past, this was the first one in this Golf.
I used to drive lease cars from my company (VW Golf, Open Astra & Volvo V40), however I had change in plans due to several reasons and bought a pre owned, Oct 2015 make mk7 Golf last year in 2019. I have never done such a long drive in Golf which forced myself on getting my annual service done a bit earlier than originally planned just for the peace of mind.
So the service was done with no surprises, I also bought a full size spare wheel (16″) + tools which the car did not originally have (It had an air pump + puncture kit though). Many cars these days do not come with a spare wheel and you are expected to call up road side assistance if needed. Knowing that they can take hours to show up when you are abroad (experience from last year), I did not want to compromise on spare wheel.
Navigation
Waze is my favorite app for navigation for long highway drives. However I always carry my old little trusty Tom-tom via 130 as a back up. I have it plugged in all the time during long trips, just ready to go when in need. I have had few occasions where Waze did not work for some time when crossing country borders etc.
Other preps:
- Car wash and basic cleaning done.
- I always make it full tank the day before. That gives me a lot of joy
- Made sure that all the papers are in place, like insurance, registration, license, road side assistance, service records etc.
- Loaded all possible items the day before. Bags, baby stroller, other necessary items such as masks, sanitizers, snacks etc.
- We also carried enough food for lunch and dinner.
- Needless to say, flask full of coffee to keep energy levels high.
The drive:
We left home at around 5:15. With almost no traffic, we crossed German border in about an hour and half (Did I say that Netherlands is a small country? !!). Took a short stop for quick break fast of bread/Jam/Banana and tea after couple of hours and continued the drive.
People talk about Autobahns for having no-speed limit, but I always wonder why no one talks about those never-ending road works. Those who have driven would know what I am talking about. I almost never had a road trip in or passing through Germany with out spending time on road works.
Having said, the next parking spot for lunch was much more refreshing. It had a nice river view with not a lot of crowd.
It was about 13:45 and decided to take an hour break.
Curd rice, Pickle and few lays chips for lunch, followed by some sweets!
We almost always have curd rice as our carry-along lunch/dinner while road tripping.
Easy to make, pack and carry and it will last a whole day or even two.
After about an hour and half into the break, we continued to drive further. Needless to say, rest of the family ended up taking a fairly long nap after a nice lunch. I had re filled my coffee and kept a few snacks near by to keep my attention and pace active.
When the roads are good, I kept speeds at about 140-150 on cruise control.
I could see hints of mountains at a distance after a few more hours of driving and that was, needless to say, very inspiring.
A few other points about the VW Golf 1.6 TDI Blue motion (After about a year, 18k kms and first long drive)
- Obvious quality of fit and finish of a German make and well thought out interiors. VW has been applying all their learnings from past in every new version of golf and that’s clearly evident.
- Space – being a wagon, space is always a strong point. In fact one of the reasons I moved away from my earlier hatch backs is to have a larger space (Baby on board!).
- Very easy to drive and operate. All controls are at where you would expect them to be.
- Comfortable seats but could have been better (Volvo V40 had best seats I ever used). We earlier had a fantastic week in Norway in V40 and never had better seating experience.
- Fairly stable at speeds though I did not really push it too hard.
- Very economical. I averaged about 18 kmpl with AC/Heater + Autobahn speeds. I am averaging 19-22 kmpl on regular speeds while being in Netherlands.
- Cornering lights and heated seats – can’t live with out them anymore.
- While 1.6 TDI is more than enough for Dutch motorways where speed limits are at 130 max, Its on a stretch while being on German autobahns with full load.
- My overall summary is that its a very reliable (done about 18k so far), easy to operate, economical and very predictable car. Looking forward to many more years of ownership.
The problems:
The annual service was just about the regular stuff.
I faced a check engine light on 4th day of this Austria trip due to glow plug burn issue.
After a few phone calls around, I got it replaced at nearby authorized service center.
The service center folks were very friendly and super aware of all corona measures.
Very happy to have been there. Did you see their Golf 8 demo car at a distance? !!
Fuel costs (Oct 2020): Fuel stop in Germany costed me € 1.399 per liter, however this is an Autobahn stop. Gas near motorways are always more costly.
Fuel in Austria was cheapest at € 0.988 per liter. Netherlands had € 1.379 however thats again price at motorway gas stations. Gas station close to me home in Netherlands costs at the moment € 1.074 per liter.
The stay
After a few more hours and a few short stops, we finally reached the our destination at around 18:30. The host was waiting for us and all the check in process went very smooth within a few minutes.
The farm is located in a place called Donnersbachwald which is located in the province of Styria.
Though I was super excited about the place, we settled down for a quick dinner and early sleep.
This is a family run farm which has some nice touches.
- It’s a live farm where they converted one of the buildings to 4 apartments for guests/tourists.
- Each apartment has it’s own small kitchen and sit-out or balcony.
- They have cows, chickens, horses and a dog
- The farm seem to have been there for around 200 years.
- They produce their own electricity. It even powers the heaters in each room.
- The place gets really crowded in summer and winter (Lots of skiing possibilities around which explains the winter crowds)
Click on photo to enlarge.
The short drives around
Though we spent most of our time in farm itself, we made a few short drives.
The top of the mountain:
Not too far, but a few kms of drive from where we stayed. The host’s dad was kind enough to take us up in his Jeep renegade 4×4. The family owns vast amount of land on top and its primarily used for cattle during summer and also for a bit of hunting.
They have a few cabins around where sometimes they spend time. The place has no electricity from grid. Everything comes from solar. There is free running water from the area which is also forming a stream that powers their mini hydro electric plant.
The log cabins. This place is about 1900 meters above sea level. No one goes there in winter.
Summers are more active as the family brings all their cows over here and spends a few weeks.
Our little one with the host’s dad.
If you are eagle eyed, you would have noticed that the cabin has wooden roof, even the pipe like rain water collectors are made out of wood.
The Grossglockner High Alpine Road:
Probably you have heard about this one.
Distance from Donnersbachwald: 160 Kms.
Wiki says: The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is the highest surfaced mountain pass road in Austria. It connects Bruck in the state of Salzburg with Heiligenblut in Carinthia via Fuscher Törl and Hochtor Pass at 2,504 m (8,215 ft). The road is named after the Grossglockner, Austria’s highest mountain.
As you can probably guess, the timing was not ideal. This is one of those locations where you would enjoy more in summer. The roads get closed pretty much thought out the winter months.
Why did I choose to go? Being so close to such a significant location, I just wanted to visit. Clearly whether was not in our favor but I am still very happy that I had a chance to drive along.
A few photos for memories.
Hallstatt:
Another place that you might have heard of. This is one of those picture perfect locations.
Distance from Donnersbachwald: 65 Kms.
Usually the place is super packed with tourists, however Corona had a huge impact. The visitors were relatively very low. We spent a few hours walking along the lake and grabbed some nice photos.
Other nearly by villages/twisty roads:
We spent many hours through out the week walking and driving around.
No specific destinations, but just kept on exploring nearly villages and roads.
In this part of Austria, most of the farms are also home stays or offer some sort of tourist activities.
Some are also into organizing winter holidays with skiing being the main attraction.
The corona stuff
As already mentioned, it was a lot of confusions in the initial days of planning.
With amount of information passing by and the magnitude of changes each day, it was complex to make minds up.
At some point, google searches narrowed down to these websites:
Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
- During the time we travelled (First/Second week of Oct), The travel within EU was allowed even for leisure unless the location was a red zone.
- We had no problems in crossing the borders. There were no checking anywhere on our route.
- Unlike earlier times, we made sure that we carry enough water and food so that we could reduce our stops to a minimum.
- Social distancing and face masks were ‘recommended’ or enforced in most of the indoor spaces like inside a gas station for example.
- We had our face masks on when ever we were inside any building and we always made sure that social distance is respected.
- We also carried multiple bottles of sanitizes in car so that we could always clean hands after having contacts.
Apart from these factors, there were no other issues as far as travel is concerned.
Germany had requirements to produce Covid test report however it was not required for transiting through Germany by road.
Netherlands also had quarantine requirements upon our return, however the province we have been to in Austria was not under red zone, hence it was not required to be in quarantine.
Chapter 6: Travelling with a baby
I think we have lots of very valuable information in team bhp itself.
However a few key points to remember after travelling with my two years old.
- Child/Baby seats are mandatory. Good quality ones are recommended. I have one that can be adjusted for sleeping positions as well and that was very handy.
- By having an early start, she was able to continue sleeping for many hours.
- Make sure that baby has comfortable clothes.
- Though she can perfectly walk (and run!), We carried her stroller as well which came in handy in a lot of places – Thanks to Golf’s large boot.
- Carry enough water, milk, snacks etc.
- Small bag with things like pampers, milk bottles, etc: we always carry it inside the car so that you dont have to stop the car to access them.
- Flask with hot water; Kettle for later use.
- We changed her diapers and she took small walks when ever we stopped to stretch a bit.
- We carried some small toys but she did not really use them!
The return trip
The return trip was of no major events except a traffic block in Germany that caused a couple of hours of delay.
It was a Saturday and we arrived back home by midnight and spent the Sunday taking some proper rest before hitting work (from home) on Monday.
I think that is it for now. Thank you for your time.
Dileep.