If you're looking for a road trip route through Europe this summer, then I have a good one that will take you through six countries without being stressful at all due to the short distances. You will travel through the borderlands of Central and Western Europe. The trip I took was only nine days long, including the day of arrival and departure from Zürich. While it might sound like too little time, it didn't feel stressed or too little. Many of the cities could be done in a day, or in some cases as a half-day, as none of the cities on this route are among the largest cities in Europe. They're all mid-sized secondary cities, but nonetheless lovely cities!

The road trip started in Zürich and then passed through the following cities, in order: Vaduz, Freiburg im Breisgau (from now on just "Freiburg"), Luxembourg City, Strasbourg, Colmar, Milan & Basel. I made this trip with a friend and will write this text exactly as we traveled. But I will also give ideas of alternative stops since some of the stops might not interest everyone, or you might have already been there. This region of Europe is very dense and has lots of fabulous sights and cities to visit. I could do this trip again, but with new and different stops yet almost the same route.

We flew into Zürich and would end the trip by flying out of the same city. Other airports that you can use as a starting point for the same trip would be Milan, or possibly Frankfurt. Frankfurt is about 200 km (124 mi) from Strasbourg, so it's not a great option, but if you're arriving from outside of Europe, it's the closest of the largest hubs.

Zürich, Switzerland

Zürich was actually a surprise. I thought that the city would be nothing special. It's one of the smaller European capitals, and definitely one of the most expensive. It was however a city that had a lot to offer. Getting from Zürich Airport into the city is easy, with good connections by train. A good tip is to not rent the car for the days you plan on spending in Zürich. It's easier to take the train back out to the airport (since you want to leave it at the same place to avoid extra charges) than to drive and find parking in the center of the city. Zürich is very expensive already as it is!

I keep coming back to how expensive Zürich is. I am from a city that is often labeled as expensive for travelers (Stockholm) but Zürich was something completely different. Even a visit to McDonald's would easily cost more than $25, and that's still the cheap option compared to finer restaurants. We still spent one full day and two half-days in the city which was quite perfect actually. The half-days are good for exploring the Old Town (Altstadt) and the area around the Limmat, the river that flows through the city. That leaves you with a full day that can be used for walking a little bit further out from the center. Take a walk to Langstraße and continue then to the FIFA World Football Museum in the southern part of the city.

Zürich, Switzerland

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

I have to be honest; this stop was made for the sole purpose of checking it off from the list of countries visited in Europe. It's a slight detour, but on a road trip, you have to make at least some excursions and stops, so I still think it's a detour worth making. If you have zero interest in visiting Liechtenstein, then it's a stop that can be skipped completely and you get an extra half-day in Freiburg. Since there is not that much else interesting to see or do between Zürich and Freiburg, except for Basel, which will be a later stop on the trip.

In Vaduz, park somewhere close to Städtle and take a quick tour of the town. It's a small town, so you'll likely be done within an hour or two. Before you leave, drive up to the Vaduz Castle (Schloss Vaduz) and find gorgeous views of the Alpine landscape!

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Freiburg is not the most famous, or largest, city in Germany. In fact, it's only the fourth largest in the state of Baden-Württemberg and not even in the top-30 largest cities of Germany. However, it's rich in history and has enough sights to cover a day or two full of sightseeing.

Freiburg is only an hour from Strasbourg, so it would be doable to just stay in Strasbourg and make a day trip to Freiburg if you do not want to change hotels too much. You shouldn't scratch Freiburg from your itinerary though! It's a city worth visiting.

If possible, try to avoid entering Germany on a Sunday, as you will need an environmental sticker on the windshield to be allowed to drive in the center of Freiburg - and it's not possible to buy one on a Sunday when almost everything is closed in Germany. This was something we had to learn the hard way...

Freiburg, Germany

Luxembourg

Luxembourg was part of the early planning for this trip, if it hadn't we would probably have skipped it. The distance between Freiburg and Luxembourg City is 300 km (186 mi), and the distance back to Strasbourg is then 225 km (140 mi), which will make you spend around five and a half-hour in the car. Our initial plan was to spend the night in Luxembourg, but the beauty of road tripping is that you can make changes along the way, so even before we had arrived in Luxembourg we had already canceled our hotel booking and made the visit a day trip instead. Luxembourg is not large and I feel that a day was enough to scratch the surface and see the important sights. It wouldn't have been bad with the night and extra half-day. It's all about priorities and I think we did the right call.

Park your car a little bit outside of the city center, but still within walking distance. We parked in the parking garage under Avenue Monterey. Luxembourg is a divided city. Ville-Haute and Gare are the central districts of the city. They are divided by the Pétrusse River.

If you want to add something else between Freiburg and Strasbourg, but you're not interested in Luxembourg, there are several options in the vicinity. Metz (FR), Nancy (FR), Saarbrücken (DE), and Stuttgart (DE) are all interesting cities that I looked into as alternatives. Most people who visit Freiburg do it as a waypoint into the Black Forest, so another option is to add one or two extra nights in Freiburg to explore the forest that is home to many of the folk tales that evolved into Disney tales.

Luxembourg City

Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg was my favorite stop on the whole trip and one of the most beautiful cities I've visited so far, of the over 50 cities around the world I've been to. Beautiful half-timbered houses everywhere you see, and a lot of more specific sights for you to walk between. Not what you would expect from a city that today is best known as being one of the seats of the bureaucratic European Union.

The Strasbourg Cathedral was once the world's tallest building for 227 years, and all of the historic center (Grande Île) is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city has a rich, shared history between France and Germany, and it shows in the cityscape. Strasbourg is the highlight of this road trip!

I'm not going to give any alternatives to Strasbourg as I believe you shouldn't exchange Strasbourg for anything. Come visit, and you'll understand what I mean.

Strasbourg, France

Colmar, France

Colmar was just a short stop on the way, but it could be for a night too, but I wouldn't stay longer than so as the town is not very large. Colmar is one of the most popular destinations in the historic Alsace region. And if Strasbourg is a must-see for the beautiful half-timbered architecture, then Colmar is the Ferrari of half-timbered cities. It's one of the best places in the world to appreciate and enjoy this type of architecture.

I can't say that much about the town. The weather was so bad that we left after just a short walk around town, and I'm almost surprised that I was able to get any pictures at all.

An alternative stop on the route between Strasbourg down to Milan could be Mulhouse, a city that was once voted as the ugliest city in France, but which has received an impressive rebound in the last decade and is now considered a decent city-break destination. Another option is Lugano in southern Switzerland. You will pass Lugano just before crossing into Italy. You will also drive through Lake Como, and the town with the same name, once you're inside Northern Italy. However, I wouldn't recommend that as a stop on the way. You would need more time to explore that area, so it's something for another trip.

Colmar, France

Milan, Italy

Milan was something we hadn't planned initially. One of the best parts about road trips is that you're not limited to following the planned route. Hotels are easy to cancel or rebook if you make sure that you always book hotels with the option for cancellation up to 24 hours before arrival. I always do, and I think it's worth the extra ten or twenty dollars that this usually costs to have that flexibility. While we waited for our plane in Stockholm, my friend said he wished to visit Milan and wondered if it would be possible to make the changes for that happen. We took a quick glance at the map and our travel plan. Before we were onboard the aircraft, we had already made all the necessary changes online! This change also later gave us an extra, unforeseen, bonus. The day we initially were planned to be in Strasbourg turned out to be a gray and rainy day, the only such day on the whole trip. The day we now had in Strasbourg was sunny and hot, perfect for exploring the city.

Italy has a system with heavy charges for traveling by car in the city centers of many cities, and Milan is one such city. If you arrive in Milan in a rental car, it can be a good idea to look for a hotel outside of the city center. We found a great hotel, with a high standard, relatively cheap prices, and close to a metro station. Hilton Garden Inn Milan North was the hotel, and it's just meters from the Villa S. Giovanni Metro Station, from which the trip to central Milan and Duomo Station only takes 15 minutes. It's a worthwhile compromise when you have a car to find parking for. Which was something that was offered for free at this hotel.

Milan, Italy

Basel, Switzerland

Basel is the final stop on the trip. The beauty of Central Europe is how close everything is. Since we had already seen Zürich but still had our flight back from the same city, we decided to stay the last night in Basel which is only one hour away from Zürich Airport. This gave us an extra half-day in a new city, the seventh on this short road trip.

Another option, if you've been to Basel, or if you have no interest in that city, would be to stay the last night in Luzern, also about an hour from Zürich Airport. You are passing through Luzern on your way from Milan to Basel/Zürich so from a logistical point of view that might even be a better option. Luzern is much smaller though.

Basel, Switzerland

I would say that this trip includes three main stops and, those are Zürich, Freiburg, and Strasbourg. Luxembourg and Milan are geographical outliers. They are great cities but could be exchanged for something else to get a shorter drive. Even though the total travel time for this trip is only 20 hours. While Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, they are a member of the Schengen Area. Meaning that under normal circumstances there are no border checks between any of the countries, and you won't need a specific visa for any of the countries as long as you're allowed entry into one of them. Liechtenstein does not have any border checks to Switzerland and allows entry for anyone who has been allowed to enter Switzerland.

My highlights of the trip were Strasbourg and the two Swiss cities, Basel and Zürich. If it weren't so expensive, I would have liked to explore more of Switzerland in the future. The time spent on the road never felt boring or too much. The average travel time for each day is quite low so it doesn't feel like you're just traveling even if you, like me, do this trip in just nine days. I wouldn't try to do it in less than nine days without cutting a destination, or two, from the itinerary. However, I don't think you need much more than that either. You might want to add one or two days if you wish to explore the Black Forest. An extra day in Milan wouldn't hurt either. Otherwise, you can return later to that city, and consider the road to get there as the highlight. The road through the Alps between Northern Switzerland and Milan is stunning and worth the trip on its own.

Distances between the cities:

Zürich - Vaduz: 109 km (67 mi) / ~ 1 hour
Vaduz - Freiburg: 260 km (143 mi) / ~ 2½ hours
Freiburg - Luxembourg: 308 km (191 mi) / ~ 3½ hours
Luxembourg - Strasbourg: 225 km (140 mi) / ~ 2½ hours
Strasbourg - Colmar: 74 km (46 mi) / ~ 1 hour
Colmar - Milan: 404 km (251 mi) / ~ 4 hours
Strasbourg - Milan: 475 (295 mi) / ~ 5 hours
Milan - Basel: 342 km (212 mi) / ~ 4 hours
Basel - Zürich: 92 km (57 mi) / ~ 1 hour