We had big plans this year to see the rest of Europe before our move home. As the news of COVID began making its way from China to the world in early January, we watched carefully. I recall my husband saying while following the news in Athens on New Year’s Day: “There is this virus thing happening in China. We should keep an eye on that as our upcoming trip to Thailand gets closer.”
The rest is history.
Now in the final days of 2020, I’m counting up all the trips we had to cancel since March: Sweden (twice), Finland, Budapest, Slovenia, Venice, Naples, Nice, and hiking in the Alps. Not counting all the other places — closer to home — we talked about visiting to just get away.
I’m sad. We lost time, and in a few months, we’ll be heading home. The good news is all wasn’t totally lost for 2020. We did manage to get in a few trips, some of them trips of a lifetime, during this unpredictable year.
Related: [Updated] Where to Travel with Teens: Our 2020 Picks
Related: What to Know About Traveling During a Pandemic
Athens, Greece
We celebrated the new year in Athens after a bit of a rough start when Anna’s phone was stolen from our table on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps it was an omen of what was to come or just really bad luck. Who can know?
In hindsight, I’m really glad we took this Athens trip, especially knowing what was to come later in the year. The weather was horrible for the trip and losing a new phone left a bit of a bad memory, but I’m glad we all went to see this ancient city, especially during a year of year when things tend to be less crowded and cooler.
In general, I would recommend visiting Athens once with a caveat: see other places while there. You only need three days to see the sights. The city is extremely dirty and grungy in places so be very careful about where you stay. My recommendation is Plaka, which is one of the nicest areas with the most tourists.
Related: Tips for First-Time Visitors Adventuring Through Athens
Related: Taking a Peloponnese Day Trip from Athens
Bangkok, Thailand
My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year. To celebrate, he planned a lovely one-week trip to Phuket and Bangkok for the two of us while the kids went skiing in Austria with their school.
As COVID cases increased in Asia, I became somewhat obsessed with all things Corona, long before it was popular to quote all the stats and symptoms. I found out later we really did brave it as COVID was making its debut in Phuket while we were there.
Nevertheless, we discovered traveling during COVID had some upsides; specifically, less tourists. Thailand, like so many other places, was already seeing the fallout from the virus. Our resort in Phuket was at 50% capacity, making it manageable but not eerily quiet. In fact, during our tour through the Grand Palace in Bangkok we had 20% of the normal foot traffic. That was great for us.
However, during our exotic stay in Thailand, our kids got very sick back in Austria. So sick, in fact, they missed out on several days of skiing, had to visit the doctor, and ended up being quarantined. This mama’s head wasn’t in Thailand but in Austria.
Related: Eating Our Way Through Phuket, Thailand
Mosel Region of Germany
The minute Germany opened up after our first lockdown ended in May, my husband and I planned an immediate getaway to the nearby Mosel wine region, home to 5,000 winegrowers. Our favorite winery, Weingut Thielen-Feilen, is located in Minheim, right on the Mosel River. Since restaurants and hotels had just opened to customers that weekend, they weren’t quite sure of all the protocols, but we knew it was unlikely anyone had been to Minheim to spread their Corona.
The two-day trip turned out to be a much needed getaway after three months of lockdown and a cancelled spring break trip to Prague. We met some of my husband’s friends from another part of Germany and enjoyed some life, energy, and good food. (A few Michelin-starred restaurants in the area set the gastronomy bar high.) The local businesses were happy to see us, and we were happy to give them some much needed business.
This area of Germany has some of what I believe to be is the best wine in the world. There are 125 towns along the river, and Minheim itself has 55 winegrowers in this small town. We literally could go from door to door trying different wines.
Related: Post-Lockdown Weekend Trip to Germany’s Mosel Wine Region
Munich, Germany
With summer getting closer and the weather turning magnificent, we decided to attempt a family trip. It was a question of not whether to go, but where to go. Carefully evaluating all the places we couldn’t go, we decided to stay in Germany and visit one of the cities on our list while we could. We choose Munich as our first real vacation during the pandemic.
As part of the experience, we stopped in on the way down to a small town where my husband and I had our honeymoon (Eichstatt) and then visited the Dachau Concentration Camp on the way home. The week in early summer ended up being just what we needed–an adventure close to home but with some new scenery. Sometimes even seeing the same kinds of things somewhere else is invigorating. Once again, we loved the lack of tourists in the Marianplatz, Neuschwanstein, and museums. It was like having the city to ourselves.
Related: Top 8 Things to Do in Munich [Video]
Bologna, Italy
Once we got a taste for travel again, plans quickly began for other destinations. It was time to plan the mother-daughter trip for my Anna’s upcoming 15th birthday. As countries in Europe began opening again, we quickly jumped on heading somewhere. We chose Bologna. Without too much thought, I booked the Bologna trip for mid July, including a flight, for the weekend. Better go while we could!
It was soon after lockdown ended and flying seemed to add another layer of anxiety, but in the end it was worth the stress. The Frankfurt airport was practically empty and everyone was very respectful on the flight. We had a fantastic weekend hanging out and eating.
If you have the opportunity to visit Bologna, you only need a few days. That region of Italy is full of small cities that all boast some of the best Italian foods so moving from Bologna to Moderna to Parma would nicely round out the trip.
Related: 9 Things to Explore During a Weekend Trip to Bologna
Prague, Czech Republic
Barely hesitating during the summer, we quickly rebounded and rebooked our spring break Prague trip for the week reserved for our-now-cancelled-Sweden and Finland vacation. Prague had been on my “must-see” list since we first arrived in Germany. We could easily drive the 4 plus hours across the border, which meant we didn’t have to worry about flights and the risk of losing even more money. For most, a few days in Prague would be enough, but we decided to make it a full week, after all, we had the time. I feel that a week in most places gives you the flexibility to see things at a nice pace, take some day trips, and really experience things off the beaten path.
Besides the various tourist sites, we also did a couples-only Absinthe tour, took family photos, visited a national park for an all-day hike, let the kids take a blacksmithing class to make their own knives, found a lake to stand-up paddle board, worked out, got mani/pedi. You name it, and we tried to squeeze it in.
During the week we visited, Corona had been declared over and so were the masks. We enjoyed the break from the reality we had been living for so many months. Little did we know, Prague was about to become Europe’s #1 hotspot in a month, which makes us even happier that we got there when we did.
Since August, we have traveled very little. We managed a few day trips here and there to visit Mainz, Rudesheim, and Dusseldorf; but for the most part, we have been staying close to home. As I’m writing this post, we’re hearing of restrictions continuing on longer. It’s been 6 months since our last trip. For us, that feels like a lifetime. The whole reason we moved to Europe was for the opportunity to travel during these three years. We have 6 months left so we may need to get creative regarding our next adventure.
