Tips for Taking a Road Trip in Europe

August 23, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 2 comments

I love road trips, both to watch the landscape change along the way and to have access to off-the-beaten-path locations, including following a tempting sign blindly and seeing where it takes you.

READ MORE: 9 Reasons Why a Road Trip is the Best Way to See Oman

Past experiences on a road trip in Europe have taken me unexpectedly to giant castle complexes and fantastic wineries, and it’s those types of surprises that make it such a satisfying way to travel.

Winery at the end of a gravel road in France (found from following a road sign randomly)

If you’re lucky, you either have a car in Europe already or are visiting someone who does.

For everyone else, renting a car in Europe and having a smooth road-trip will involve some extra planning. But it is worth it for the flexibility that comes with having a vehicle, and trunk space for picking up souvenirs along the way.

Driving in a new place – especially in a foreign country where you may not speak the language – comes with its own set of challenges. Here are some things to keep in mind for a successful road trip in Europe….

Before You Go on a Road Trip in Europe

Do you have the right documents to drive? In some places your home country license is sufficient. Sometimes you’ll need your regular driver’s license & a passport or identity card. And while it’s only required in some locations, it’s a good idea to invest in an International Driver’s License (IDL) before your trip. In the US, you can get an IDL through AAA up to six months in advance, or through the automobile association in your home country. If you’re planning on renting cars internationally quite often, there is also a 5-year IDL option (this is what I currently have).

My International Driver's License (IDL) — My International Driver’s License (IDL)

Are there automatic cars available? Cars with a manual transmission are much more widely available and typically cheaper to rent, so if you drive a manual, you are all set. Otherwise, be sure that there is an automatic that you can guarantee for your the dates of your Europe road trip.

TRAVEL SAVVY TIP! Also do your usual due diligence when renting a car: comparing costs between companies and car type, looking at extra driver and insurance fees, and experimenting with different pickup and drop-off locations to keep costs low.

Do you have a place to park the car at your destination? Free parking at hotels is more widely available in some European countries than others, and of course the closer you stay to a city center, the less likely you will have parking at your accommodation. Be sure you will have a private lot or public parking garage where you know you’ll be able to leave the vehicle. A road trip in Europe is much more enjoyable when you are not spending half your time circling your destination looking for a parking spot.

TRAVEL SAVVY TIP! Even if your hotel/AirBNB has parking available, sometimes you must reserve a spot in advance. Be sure to reserve parking ahead of time, if necessary.

Have you checked the driving times between the different stops on your road trip in Europe? No, really. This sounds obvious, but especially in Europe things may be close in kilometers/miles, but take several hours more driving time than you’d expect. Not all destinations are connected by highways and there are a lot of mountain ranges to contend with. I learned this lesson the hard way on a 2007 trip to Croatia and Slovenia, where my friend and I had to forgo an already-paid night in a hostel and take an overnight bus to not lose a day of vacation with the long driving time to our next stop. I usually plug two destinations into Google maps and see the time to arrive by car to plan out a Europe road trip. Please, please, please check driving times in advance!

TRAVEL SAVVY TIP! Depending on where you are traveling in Europe, in some cases your best bet is to road trip for part of the time, and take high-speed trains for part. In many places – especially in Western Europe – high-speed trains can be significantly faster than driving

How do you plan to navigate? Driving in Europe can be confusing! Signs here do not look like signs you may be familiar with. Sometimes at the split in a road here in Italy, there will be 10 signs on the left with the name of different destinations, and another 10 on the right. But if you don’t know which towns are the way you’re headed, the signs don’t help at all. I definitely recommend some type of navigation system for European driving – many rental companies offer the option of GPS at an additional cost, or if you are planning to get a data plan for your smart phone, you can navigate that way. Just be sure to have a plan in advance.

How crazy are the drivers where you’re going? Driving in Europe may involve many more vehicle types than you usually see on the road. In Milan and around Italy, I regularly have to maneuver between cars, trucks, buses, trams, bicycles, motorbikes and even tractors sometimes. And the crazier the drivers, the harder this becomes. I feel comfortable driving in Italy (which many expats here do not), although I wouldn’t drive in the city of Naples, notorious for its bad traffic that I’ve also witnessed as a pedestrian. Do a bit of research on where you’re going and what the driving is like there so you can be a prepared driver.

During Your Road Trip in Europe

What are the default speed limits in the countries you’ll be visiting? European countries each have their own set of default speed limits for different types of roads (residential/state road/highway). There is usually a single sign when you cross a border listing these numbers, and sometimes it won’t be displayed again. Since the speeds are defaults, they’re often not even posted periodically along the highway. Avoid speeding tickets by being aware – and following – the limits.

What do the different color signs mean? You would think that with much of Europe operating under open borders (the Schengen area), that the road systems would be aligned by now. But they’re not. In Italy, highways are indicated by green signs and more local roads are signed in blue. But as soon as you drive across the border into France, the colors swap – blue for French highways, green for local roads. Know what to look for wherever you’re driving.

What kind of toll systems are there where you’re going? Some countries have periodic highway tolls, others have you pick up a ticket that you pay once when you exit the highway system, and others use a single paid window decal called a vignette. For the highway tolls, have enough cash in the local currency to cover these as your credit card from home may not work if it doesn’t have both a chip and a PIN. Sometimes only one type of card works in each country, so try a few before giving up and paying cash.

And a vignette is a sticker that you stick on the windshield of your car and covers all of the tolls for the country. Depending on where you rent, the rental car may already have a vignette, otherwise you must purchase one when you enter the country. I most often encounter the vignette for Switzerland, which is 40 Euros or 40 Swiss Francs (CHF) for a calendar year. Austria also has a vignette, which is good for 10 days, or you can get one for several months if you’re planning to stay longer.

What European road signs should I know? Some basic road signs that are present in Europe may be different from anything you’ve seen before at home. If you have a guidebook, there may be some pictures and explanations in a reference section. The one sign that I had to look up when I first starting driving often in Europe is a diamond-shaped sign with a yellow diamond surrounded by a white border. Normally in Europe at an unregulated intersection, the car to the right has priority. If you are travelling on a large enough road that you have the right-of-way, you’ll know this by seeing the yellow diamond sign, and you no longer have to yield to cars to your right on side streets.

READ MORE: What You Need to Know About Driving on the Autobahn

Do you know your country abbreviations? When you are driving close to the border with other countries, the list of upcoming cities with their distance away may have a white circle with 1- or 2-letter country abbreviations if the destination is in another country, which are helpful to know as you navigate. Some of these are obvious: for example, A is Austria and B is Belgium, but what about CH? Some European abbreviations are based on the country’s name in the local language, so study up. Like CH (Confoederatio Helvetica) for Switzerland and D (Deutschland) for Germany. Check out the full listing of country abbreviations here.

Which side of the car has the gas/petrol tank & what type should you get? Some cars have a little arrow next to gas gauge, but it’s always a good idea to check ahead of time where the petrol tank is located. Also know whether the car takes diesel or regular gasoline so you can fill up with the correct product.

Are you ready for European traffic jams? If you’re a seasoned driver, you’ve probably suffered through a traffic jam or two (or a hundred). However, traffic backups can have a very different character in Europe. Sometimes there is a road that it is a single lane in each direction with no passing allowed, so if there is a slow vehicle up ahead, you can just be moving slowly for an extended time.

A traffic jam in Switzerland. Don't worry, the car was in park when I snapped this picture. — A traffic jam in Switzerland. Don’t worry, the car was in park when I snapped this picture.

But when there is an accident in my experience, traffic comes to a complete standstill, often for 1 hour or more. As in: the car is in park with the parking brake engaged, and if the weather is nice many people will be outside of their cars smoking or taking a stroll. (Inevitably these kind of traffic jams happen when there is no detour route, but if there is an option to drive around the backup, take it! Another argument in favor of having GPS available.) I’ve been stuck in traffic jams where all movement stops completely in Italy a few times, but also in Switzerland and Germany. Don’t be alarmed if this happens, but do be prepared to wait it out. And if you’re outside of your car during the standstill, don’t worry — everyone magically knows when the traffic will start moving again, no matter how far back you are.

Did you leave extra time for each of your driving sections? Even with the best preparation – and traffic aside – you still may get lost or take a wrong turn at some point. And missing one turn-off sometimes means going 20 km out of your way to the first point you can circle back, and another 20 km to get back to your starting point before continuing on the correct route (true story, this happened once driving in France). Or hopefully you’ll see something in the distance that catches your eye or see a sign for a local attraction, and will be able to take the time to veer off course and follow your nose to an adventure.

Wow, that’s a lot of things to think about!

Taking a Europe road trip that covers multiple countries is especially exciting for me since there are open borders in so many places. In fact, other than in Switzerland where they check your vignette when you enter and exit, and for some of the micro-nations not part of the Schengen area, you may not even realize you’re crossing an international border.

Sometimes I come home from a road trip with *this much* wine — Sometimes I come home from a Europe road trip with *this much* wine

Overall, a road trip in Europe is hugely scenic and rewarding, although as you’ve read there are quite a few things you can do to prepare so you have a smooth driving experience and focus on enjoying the ride.

Have you ever taken a road trip in Europe? What was your favorite part of the experience? And what else did you wish you knew or had researched beforehand?

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What You Need to Know About Driving on the Autobahn

April 11, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

As a child, I had heard the legend of driving on the Autobahn, the German highway with no speed limit. It was one of those peculiarities of countries beyond the scope of my wildest dreams, where strange things happened and the rules weren’t quite the same as at home.

Of course, my vivid imagination painted a clear picture of this large oval raceway traversing the country, with six lanes in each direction and cars zooming past at racetrack speeds. Just like car races on TV!

As I grew into adulthood, honestly, my vision of what driving on the Autobahn must be like never actually changed much. I hadn’t visited Germany, and without planning a trip there, I never looked into what life was like in all that much detail. The Germany of my childhood years was caught up in images of Berlin, on the day the Wall fell. No highway image in sight.

And moving to Milan a little over three years ago, I didn’t think all that much about what driving in Germany would be like. At least, until my first summer road trip.

My First Experience Driving in Germany

As the car approached the German border from Luxembourg, to the west, headed toward Frankfurt, I wondered, What would it be like to finally be driving on the Autobahn? There are open borders across the Schengen zone in much of Europe, so it’s not immediately clear which moment I entered Germany, but the first thing I see on the highway is . . . a speed limit sign?!?

Confused? I certainly was. The Autobahn was supposed to be the highway with no rules, where you can drive as fast as you want and basically do what you like. Sums up pretty much all your childhood dreams about adulthood, right? (It certainly was how I always pictured getting older.)

Of course, the realities of driving in Germany on the Autobahn are just a bit different from the carefree dream, much like my illusions about what it’s like to be an adult. And the Germans sure have specific ways of doing things, even on the highway without a speed limit.

So what is it really like driving on the Autobahn??

Things You Need to Know About Driving on the Autobahn

The Autobahn isn’t one special highway with no speed limit, it’s just the German word for highway. Any highway in Germany is an autobahn.

Sign indicating unlimited speed for driving on the autobahn in Germany — Image: Wikimedia Commons

Speed is not always unlimited, only on certain stretches marked by the appropriate sign (the one above!). This was really my initial shock of first driving on the autobahn. Yes, there are some pretty long sections depending on the highway that will have no limit, but there are also plenty of spots that will have a speed limit for quite a while. Of course, your best bet is to have driving stretches far away from the city to really get the full autobahn driving experience.

A lot of highways in Germany are what I would consider pretty regular roads through the countryside, with just two lanes in each direction. The first word that came to mind when driving on a German autobahn was dinky. The ‘highway’ wasn’t particularly impressive and certainly did not seem set up for driving at unlimited speeds, especially the ones that have only two lanes in each direction and no guardrail. Don’t get me wrong, highways in Germany are well-paved and a very smooth ride even at top speeds, but there is nothing futuristic or particularly modern-looking about it.

Even when the speed limit is unlimited for extended stretches, it still slows to 120 kilometers per hour (75miles/hour) at major interchanges along the way. Yes, now that I think about it, it makes complete sense that you would need to be going at a reasonable pace if you wanted any chance of making the exit to another highway without veering off the exit ramp. But this means that even if you have several straight hours driving on an autobahn, every time you cross another major road, you’ll be slowing down considerably. So it’s more of an ebb and flow of speeding along and ‘normal’ highway driving than a continuous racetrack atmosphere.

When you’re driving 250 km/h and have to suddenly slow to 120 km/h it feels like . . . coming to a complete stop. Again, one of those things that makes sense. Of course going from 120 or 130 km/h to 0 km/hr is not so different from the deceleration from 250 to 120. But I don’t think I ever expected shifting my speed *down to* 80 miles per hour would feel like standing still. But it does. And it’s such an interesting sensation.

If you’re speeding through the left lane and a car decides to jump out and pass the car ahead, you must slow down (sometimes very rapidly!) so you don’t have an accident. At least with upcoming interchanges, you get signs and a bit of a warning that you are about to undergo a major slowdown. You can prepare mentally, and perhaps start slowing down a bit early so the shift is not as jarring. When a car doesn’t look first – or doesn’t care – that you are hurtling through the left lane, and it just wants to pass the slightly slower car or truck ahead, it will jump out suddenly. And to avoid a collision, that leaves you scrambling to slow down as quickly as possible.

And even if an accident is not your fault, you can be held liable for at least some of the cost if you are going faster than typical autobahn defaults speeds of 120-130 km/h. Believe me, I had this little tidbit drilled into my head long before I ever got behind the wheel to drive on an unlimited speed section of an autobahn. One of the (fairly logical) consequences of the privilege of driving as fast as you’d like, is that it also comes with the responsibility of being a safe driver. So for an accident that might have been able to avoided had you been going normal highway speed, you may be culpable financially for the damages.

The experience driving in Germany at top speeds is exhilarating! For me, maxing out the car’s engine when I see that unlimited speed sign involves a complete shift in driving. I sit up in my seat for maximum visibility of the road, and start to feel the adrenaline rush that comes with the anticipation and watching the speedometer climb. I lean imperceptibly forward and feel a heightened sense of awareness as I try to watch cars in the lane to my right. I spend the entire time on edge so I can see when someone jumps in front of me the exact moment it happens, to give my reflexes that extra fraction of a second to react. I feel the energy and exhilaration of whizzing by other cars, hurtling toward my destination at twice the normal speed. And I blare the radio to something with a fast beat, mirroring the car’s cadence. Honestly, it feels like a scene out of a movie, and all my sense are heightened as the car propels itself at rocket speeds along the highway.

Being on a German autobahn doesn’t make you immune to traffic. Nothing is more depressing than driving on the autobahn at top speeds, and then having to slow down or stop for traffic. Yes folks, you read that right, sometimes you are stopped on the autobahn. I’ve been caught before in autobahn traffic jam in which I was at a complete stop for nearly an hour! The joy of driving on a highway with no speed limit gets a bit trampled on when you’re too stuck in traffic to be able to drive at all. Unfortunately this is the nature of traffic jams in Europe, and something to be prepared for on the autobahn. Traffic can also be less dramatic, and just involve slow sections with a high volume of cars on the road, in which case there is no room to go fast and you’re relegated to the flow of the road.

If it gets too hot in summer, speed is likely going to be limited. I know that summer is prime vacation time to visit Europe, so if that is when you’re planning your German holiday, that is also when you’re probably planning to try out autobahn driving for the first time. Some heatwaves over the past few summers had an impact I hadn’t previously considered – that extreme heat coupled with cars going at top speeds can cause some serious damage to the roadway. Sections of the autobahn buckled and cracked, and speed limits were reduced accordingly in both 2015 and 2016. If you’re planning a trip in summer, be aware that speed limits might be imposed in sections that normally have an unlimited speed, if the temperatures climb too high.

The view of the landscape is incredible. For a lot of German autobahn driving, you’re far outside any main cities and taking in views of the lush countryside, especially in spring and summer when everything is in bloom. At top speeds, it’s passing quite fast, but the nice part about the sections with a speed limit is that you actually get to see and appreciate Germany’s beauty. A lot more scenic than many other drives I’ve done.

And in the end, going so fast has a real impact on your petrol usage and gas mileage (kilometrage?), so most drivers don’t try to push their cars’ absolute limits when it comes to speed. Yes, if you are driving fast on the open road of a German autobahn, you probably won’t be the only one zooming along, but from what I’ve seen, most Germans seem to stick to a speed of around 150-160 km/h (90-100 mph) on the highway’s unlimited stretches. Faster than you’re typically allowed to go, but definitely a practical not-super-fast speed where you retain a lot of control and don’t have to make huge speed adjustments every time an interchange approaches.

In the end, I found that autobahn driving wasn’t all that different from any other highway driving I’ve done anywhere in the world.

With just a few differences of course when the speed becomes unlimited, especially if you choose on the open stretches to go as fast as your car will take you. And certainly, if driving at breakneck speeds puts abject panic in your heart, you could drive on the autobahn only a bit faster than the way you drive on highways at home. And not be too out of place.

What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone in a car? Have you driven on the German Autobahn before? Any other things that surprised you about driving in Germany? Or tips you’d give to someone driving on the Autobahn for the first time? Share away in the Comments below.

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9 Reasons Why a Road Trip is the Best Way to See Oman

July 13, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

Oman wasn’t on my radar at all until a friend in Milan visited with her daughter and came back raving about this Middle Eastern country that I honestly hadn’t given much thought to before that moment.

She described Oman to me as an unspoiled corner of the Middle East, which is the perfect thing to say to me to plant the idea of a new travel destination in my mind! Oman doesn’t have the over-commercialized sheen of Dubai and you can experience local culture and history that hasn’t simply been jazzed up for the tourists. And did I mention that there are natural wonders everywhere?

It was probably about two years from when I first heard about Oman until I was arriving in Muscat for a week-long road trip with my sister. Intel from our other sister (yes, there’s a 3rd sister!) who had already visited Oman was that sights are spaced far enough apart that renting a car is best for getting around on your own. And since we weren’t interested in an organized tour, it didn’t take much convincing to reserve a rental car and have that be our transportation plan.

But one of the things that became very clear to me as we made our way driving around Oman – hitting up forts and castles and canyons and wadis – this is a country that is perfectly suited to a road trip, for so many reasons. I actually had this blog post nearly written a few days in to the trip, since the benefits of road tripping were so overwhelmingly obvious:

Parking is free (almost everywhere)

Coming from a mindset of needing to pay for parking in most places, I noticed immediately that parking at tourist attractions and beaches and hotels was free everywhere we went. It was great to not have to figure out rules and payment systems in a foreign language or worry about rushing through a sight because the meter was about to run out. You can pretty much park anywhere, however you’d like!

Over 8 days in country, we never paid for parking. In fact, we only saw metered spots once, on our last night as we strolled along the water bordering the Muttrah district of Muscat, by the famous market, or souk. But if you’re the Imam, you still get to park for free:

Gas is cheap

On average we spent around 4.700 or 4.800 Omani rial to fill up our tank of gas, about 13 US dollars (or 11 Euros). Inexpensive petrol is a definite benefit of road tripping somewhere close to the source of gasoline. Apparently it’s a bit more expensive than it used to be, but with Oman remaining one of the cheapest countries in the world to buy gas, it’s still a huge bargain for the vast majority of visitors.

Scenery is beautiful

Omani landscapes are breathtaking! As I wrote in my post on Road Trip Tips for Europe, flexibility is one of the top things I love about road trips. And you’ll definitely want the flexibility while you’re in Oman to stop and pull over to take pictures or randomly take a highway exit to an archaeological ruin or divert your path to explore a natural sinkhole (we did all of these things!).

READ MORE: Top 12 Things to Do in Oman

No alcohol, so you’ll always be driving sober

There’s pretty much no alcohol outside of bars and restaurants located inside select hotels, and we did not stay or visit anywhere that alcohol was being served while we were there. And there are some liquor stores apparently for non-Muslims, but you need to have a liquor license to purchase anything. Plus, it’s illegal to drink in public. So this won’t be a boozy holiday, but at least you know you’ll be driving sober wherever you go!

Things are pretty spread out

Sure, tourist attractions are pretty spread out across Oman, but what I wasn’t expecting? Accommodations can often be far from the center of town as well. It was helpful to have a vehicle not just for arriving at our hotel or guesthouse, but also to drive to dinner and then back to the accommodations again at the end of the night. It was hugely practical to have a car at our disposal.

And although I’m always one to change hotels as few nights as possible, it was helpful to be able to have a car to move to the next hotel and spend our nights in Muscat in different locations across the sprawl of the city. It let us drive around the all the spots in one area and then do the same in another part of town.

Animal sightings galore

Unbeknownst to me until several days into our trip – my sister was not leaving Oman until she saw a camel! Fortunately as we drove around (and maybe even got a little lost) there were several times we just happened upon wild animals, camels included. If you want to get a feel for the local wildlife, there’s no better way to do that than having a car you can stop on a whim, which is how I got all the pictures above.

Traffic is pretty non-existent

Roads in Oman are well-paved and in most parts of the country, there won’t be a ton of other cars. Even during periods of a high volume of cars on the road in the capital city of Muscat, everything might slow down a bit, but it keeps moving. And outside of the city, you’ll never be alone, but there won’t be a ton of other cars on the road to contend with, either.

Omanis are always there to help if you get lost

If you’re lost and pull over to get your bearings, even if it looks like you’re somewhere completely deserted, an Omani will be there to help in 2 minutes flat. No exaggeration. One time, we weren’t even terribly lost, but had simply pulled out of a gas station in what seemed like the wrong direction. As we pulled to the side of what seemed like an empty stretch of road to get our bearings, all of a sudden an Omani man appeared and approached the car to offer his help. This is the upside of driving around in a country where the locals are nomadic and have incredible hospitality toward visitors.

READ MORE: Why Hospitality in Oman Will WOW You

Endless entertainment on the road

You really get to experience a country like a local when you’re in a car driving the roads. We got a taste for the local and international music on the radio and had endless adventures trying to navigate in a country where road signs are limited (and sometimes only in Arabic) and GPS only points in you in the right direction most of the time.

And my favorite entertainment of our road adventures? Fake cardboard cutouts of construction workers as traffic enforcement. Which might have been believable except that most had been out in the sun so long the paint was pretty faded.

TIP! Definitely get a local SIM card with data for your visit to help you find your way around as you road trip, although be aware that it may only call other mobile phones and not land lines.

TIP! It is important to note that there are many places in Oman, especially away from cities in the desert, that are only accessible by a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Due to the significant cost differential of renting one, we opted to rent a regular car and arrange for appropriate transport on the 2 days we were away from regular roads – staying in a tent in the middle of the desert for a night & exploring the ‘Grand Canyon of Oman’ on a day excursion. This was still far cheaper than renting a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the entire trip.

So yes, road tripping around Oman was quite the experience, but I wouldn’t recommend seeing the country any other way!

How do you decide whether to road trip in a new place? Do you have any other questions about what it was like to drive around Oman, or to visit in general? Let me know in the ‘Comments.’

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Travel Inspiration: My First-Ever Cheese Pilgrimage

August 25, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

If I asked most people I know how they pick where they travel, I’d get replies about an image of a beautiful beach, a famous landmark, an activity on a bucket list, or maybe even a specific cuisine or wine varietal that comes from a particular region. But . . . a cheese?

I’ve always liked cheese, but I’ve never been obsessive about it. Sometimes I have 4 or 5 different types in the refrigerator, sometimes these days just one (parmesan, of course – I do live in Italy after all). So how did someone like me end up driving several hours out of the way to spend a night in a very particular cheese country in the western part of Switzerland, close to the French border??

I had never heard of, seen, or tasted Tête de Moine cheese until March of 2013. And this all began in the most unexpected of places – Melbourne, Australia. It was during the start of what I lovingly refer to as the “Farewell Australia tour,” which is the 3.5 week trip I took to see the main sights of Australia right before flying back to the US and moving to Milan.

Melbourne was the first stop, and fresh with my adventurous travel spirit, I found a fairly nice place for dinner. What sold me was not only the menu and wine list, but the fact that they had a cheese trolley, and I was dining with a friend who loves a good selection of cheeses to close a meal (the restaurant was Merricote, although I don’t know if they’ve carried Tête de Moine cheese since my one and only delicious visit).

At the end of a satisfying meal and excellent wine, we requested the cheese trolley and picked a selection of 3 cheeses. Since they were all displayed on the cart for us, we could pick on sight what looked the most tempting. As soon as the cart arrived, I saw a cylindrical cheese perched on a circular contraption with a blade on top, and thought the serving method looked so fun that I had to see it in action. Seems superficial perhaps, but I’m so glad I was drawn to trying the cheese. It was the Tête de Moine (literally “monk’s head” cheese, our waitress told us) and was shaved into beautiful sections by spinning the blade around.

Note: a picture of the cheese, but not from Merricote (don't think I took a single pic there unfortunately) — Note: a picture of Tête de Moine cheese and girolle, but not from Merricote (don’t think I took a single pic there unfortunately)

We may have picked solely on appearances, but the texture and flavor of the cheese was distinct, although tasting similar to other Swiss mountain cheeses I’ve had. You could taste the flavor of the cow’s milk coming through and the folded over shape of the cheese with the ruffled edges gave such a different textures from a soft, creamy cheese or a firmer one. Somewhere in between, hitting that perfect note.

That might have been the end of it. A one-time tasting of a very special Swiss cheese that is not widely available outside of Switzerland, making an already great meal particularly memorable. But of course, once I had seen and tasted the monk’s head cheese, it started appearing again and again.

My first step admittedly after that meal was to do an internet search on “monk’s head cheese,” where I learned that the cylindrical holder with blade is called a girolle and that the curled pieces of cheese that come off the top are called rosettes. The Tête de Moine has competing legends as to the origin of its name, but the reasoning behind the rosettes is to have the right ratio of cheese to air to maximize flavor (which of course appealed to the science geek in me). And the oh-so-clever girolle was only invented to achieve this in the 1980s! It’s pretty exciting when the tool for serving a cheese that has centuries of history was developed in my lifetime.

From there, I started noticing Tête de Moine cheese. At the annual artisanal food fair that takes place in Milan in early December. In the cheese case at one of Milan’s upscale markets. In the cheese aisle at a regular supermarket in France. It even made an appearance on my cheese plate flying Swiss Air back to the US, when I got upgraded to Business Class last-minute on my silver status with United (thanks, Star Alliance).

And then comes the cheese pilgrimage to Bellelay, Switzerland, the origin of Tête de Moine. A lot of times by the time I travel, I’ve done extensive research, made notes, and marked points of interest on a map. The nice thing about making a pilgrimage to a low-key location with a single purpose in mind, there really is not too much to plan.

Bellelay is a charming little town just over an hour’s drive from either Bern or Basel, and not far from Lake Bielersee and its many towns. There are many ways to combine a trip to Bellelay and the nearby dairies with a stay somewhere else, or you can embrace country living for a night. I had a great stay at the Hotel de l’Ours, which also serves a lovely dinner at their restaurant.

And just a short walk away is the Tête de Moine museum, which has a thorough exhibit tracing the geography and history of the cheese, and of course ends where you can enjoy a tasting of the different varieties of Tête de Moine and decide which one to purchase. And all of the cheese accessories you might need, like a proper girolle. Plus, if you’re lucky, they still have bottles of the delicious, local plum-flavored digestif liqueur for sale as well.

Outside the museum in Bellelay, Switzerland

There are also a lot of dairies nearby, although some have limited hours on the weekend so be sure to check their schedule, which also varies seasonally. And if you’re looking for other things to do in the region, there is a lot of practical information here about visiting that region of Switzerland.

After a few turns of the blade, beautiful rosettes of cheese emerge — Tasting plate at the museum: after a few turns of the blade, beautiful rosettes of cheese emerge

As I started writing this article, I thought – if I hadn’t moved to Milan after that first taste of Tête de Moine cheese, would I have still made the cheese pilgrimage to Bellelay? Probably not as a stand-alone trip like this one, but as a stopover during a trip to France or Switzerland? Absolutely.

And that is my challenge to you. Is there a specific food, cuisine, or beverage that you absolutely love? Why not travel to where that item originates to experience it in its purest form?

Have you made a similar pilgrimage? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Ways Hospitality in Oman will Wow You!

February 7, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

Hospitality is renowned throughout the Middle East, but in Oman is in a league of its own. My recent week-long road trip through Oman was nowhere near my first visit to the region. I lived in Israel for a year nearly two decades ago, and have been back there many times since. I’ve traveled in Jordan and Egypt. I explored parts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after Oman. But none of those places can compare with Oman in terms of hospitality.

As a native New Yorker, I always find it a bit unsettling when I’m traveling and people seem super-nice. Are they trying to scam me? Take advantage of me somehow? Overcharge me for my purchase? My senses are heightened and I try to take everything with a grain of salt, figuring out what is real versus contrived. Also, I traveled in Oman with my sister, so wondered as two females traveling alone in a Muslim nation, would there be anything we needed to worry about?

After the first few days in Oman, however, it became apparent that Omanis were nice, gracious, and always jumping at the chance to help you. At every turn, it seemed like all of the locals we encountered were interested in going out of their way to make our stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Any time we stopped the car briefly on the side of the road to figure out directions, an Omani would suddenly appear to provide directions and offer help. Pretty quickly we realized that we should simply relax and appreciate the generosity and hospitality being shown to us.

One of the things that stands out in my mind is that there is a ton of hospitality around food. Anything you’re served will involve huge attention to detail. Sometimes there was even a woven contained for your bottled water to accompany your meal!

Oman is especially known for its coffee and fresh dates, which will make an appearance at the end of meals and greeting you in hotel lobbies, offered of course free of charge. Omani coffee, known as kahwa, is not your typical Western concoction. Instead it consists of an incredibly aromatic brew, infused with cardamom, sometimes cloves, and other spices. And despite my extensive travels in the Middle East, it was only on this trip to Oman that I found true date heaven. Fresh dates were always offered alongside Omani coffee, and the freshest and most delicious dates of my life were sampled throughout Oman. Even at our most budget accommodation – a double room for the equivalent of $40 US – coffee and dates were available around the clock for a touch of comfort during our stay.

Not anticipating Omani hospitality also caused us to over-order at many of our meals. There is of course the dishes you pick out from the menu to satiate your appetite. But more often than not, there was also additional food that simply arrived at the table. Most commonly, huge portions of bread and salad arrived along with the other dishes. Sometimes there were other appetizers that simply appeared after placing our order. So we figured out to scale back a bit by the end of the week, anticipating the ever-present Omani hospitality, although I don’t think we ever cleared all of our plates.

Then there was the time that someone really went out of their way to offer help. My sister and I were driving through an area in the middle of the country, where most accommodations involve tents in the middle of the desert. And we were in the most budget economy car we could find – a quite compact Toyota Yaris. All of a sudden, we get flashed by the truck behind us to pull over. My safety radar immediately goes off, and I’m cautious as I open the window, thinking that maybe the brake light is out or something is wrong with the car? No, the helpful local is asking us where we’re staying and making sure that we realize that we can’t drive our teeny vehicle into the desert, or we will get stranded. He even offers to give us a ride. Fortunately we had already realized this, and arranged for the owner to pick us up in his 4×4 and take us to our tent accommodation for the night. But this is certainly the first time anywhere that someone was driving along next to me and was so concerned for my safety and well-being that they stopped the car to offer assistance.

The next morning, after a very hospitality tent stay in the desert, we continue on our way. Our first stop after picking up our non-desert ready budget vehicle is a collection of stores to pick up items for a picnic lunch during our hike in nearby Wadi Khalid. First, we get some sandwiches to take with us. Then, we stop into the nearby fruit stand (all markets in Oman are pretty specialized) to pick up some additional snacks. After picking out some clementines, I approach the vendor to pay. He looks at us, then shifts his gaze to the fruit, and again back at us. While he doesn’t speak any English, he gestures at us in a way that seems to indicate that he is offering us the fruit for free. I try to communicate back, are you sure?, with the shrug of my shoulders and facial expression. Now he is motioning with insistence – yes, the fruit is ours to take, free of charge. If this had been in the first day of traveling in Oman, I would have been incredibly confused and nervous about misinterpreting the gesture. Several days into experiencing Omani hospitality, I realize that he is being generous with us, guests to his country. I say a grateful shukran, Arabic for thank you, as I depart with the fruit in hand.

Just when I think that I have seen it all when it comes to Omani hospitality, the country has one more crazy experience in store for me and my sister. We arrive at Wadi Khalid and know that one of the first things we are looking to do is check out the well-known cave with water flowing inside. It is actually well-signed, so we start off on the trail following the direction of the arrows over the rocks. As we go, we catch up to someone who seems to be Omani although he addresses us in English. We find out his name is Sayeed, local to the area although he lives in Muscat now, and he offers to be our personal tour guide to the cave.

Anywhere else, the offer would have screamed danger, but in Oman it’s just a local being nice. And it ended up being amazing, because the cave was really cramped with no light and difficult to navigate. As we were entering, there were other tourists leaving after only venturing into the cave a little bit. Because we were with someone who knew the ins and outs of navigating the cave, we managed to see the water source far into the caverns, peer at some sleeping bats hiding in the darkness, and find our way out without getting lost once. Sayeed was a knowledgeable and informative guide as well, describing the history of the area and how locals grow up playing inside the cave. The whole time I just kept thinking that we were so fortunate to have a local to show us around, and that our experience would not have been anywhere near as incredible without his hospitality. He even suggested some cultural events in the area to check out that evening.

Of all the things I expected from the road trip with my sister through Oman, such extensive hospitality was not one of them. Certainly, we exhibited good tourist practices while there – knowing a few words of Arabic and wearing modest dress, even for swimming – but the kindness of our Omani hosts everywhere we went made it an even-more amazing (and welcoming) travel experience.

Where have you experienced the most gracious hospitality in your travels?

Travel Savvy Gal

Making the Most of Your Time Away

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