Europe Travel
100 days · 11 countries · one diary
“And then, this is it, huh! We made it to our hundredth day.” That line closes my diary, on Day 100 in Porto. The journey had begun about three months earlier at Paris Gare de Lyon, and in between we travelled through 11 countries and more than 36 cities and towns by train, plane, ferry and bus, and we finished just before the 2020 lockdown.
This page is the doorway to that journey: travel stories, photos and videos from an Interrail trip across Europe, archived from Les Treasure Hunters and now part of My Daily Journal.
What is published, and what is coming next
The diary has become a twenty-four-part series, 100 Days in Europe. The first fifteen parts cover the two ends of the trip; Parts 16 to 24 fill in the middle (Days 11–51), from Munich to Rome, and are being published two a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, through 20 November 2026. Together, the twenty-four parts cover all eleven countries we visited: Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Austria and Slovenia.
The twenty-four parts: main stops, country by country
- Switzerland (Parts 1–5): Geneva, Montreux, Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich.
- Italy (Parts 6 and 23–24): Naples, Pompeii and Lecce, then Padua, Bologna, Ravenna and the Cinque Terre and Florence and Rome.
- Greece (Parts 7–8): Athens, then Paros, Naxos and Santorini.
- Spain (Parts 9–12): Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Seville.
- Portugal (Parts 13–15): Faro and Lisbon, Madeira, and the finale in Porto.
- Germany (Parts 16–17): Munich and Hamburg, then Berlin.
- The Netherlands (Part 18): Amsterdam.
- Poland (Part 19): Gdansk, Krakow and Auschwitz.
- Slovakia (Part 20): Bratislava.
- Austria (Part 21): Vienna, Salzburg and Graz.
- Slovenia (Part 22): Ljubljana.
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| 100 DAYS IN EUROPE |
| the published parts, in order |
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Paris (start: Gare de Lyon)
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| SWITZERLAND Parts 1-5 |
| Geneva, Montreux, Interlaken, |
| Lucerne, Zurich |
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| ITALY Part 6 |
| Naples, Pompeii, Lecce |
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v
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| GREECE Parts 7-8 |
| Athens, Paros, Naxos, |
| Santorini |
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| SPAIN Parts 9-12 |
| Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, |
| Seville |
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|
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| PORTUGAL Parts 13-15 |
| Faro, Lisbon, Madeira, Porto |
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| GERMANY Parts 16-17 |
| Munich, Hamburg, Berlin |
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|
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| NETHERLANDS Part 18 |
| Amsterdam |
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| POLAND Part 19 |
| Gdansk, Krakow, Auschwitz |
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| SLOVAKIA Part 20 |
| Bratislava |
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v
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| AUSTRIA Part 21 |
| Vienna, Salzburg, Graz |
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| SLOVENIA Part 22 |
| Ljubljana |
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| ITALY Parts 23-24 |
| Padua, Bologna, Ravenna, |
| Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome |
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The whole trip in one minute
Diary highlights, from the last day backwards
These are short extracts from the diary, starting from the end. Where an entry mentions a fact about a place, the source is linked.
Day 100 — Porto, Portugal (the final day)
And then, this is it, huh! We made it to our hundredth day, at the last stop of the trip. Time to go home, to sit on a real sofa, sleep in a real bed and eat light food to lose a little weight. We will keep writing, with more tips and ideas for you, in the future. For now, it is time for a break.
Day 98 — Porto, Portugal
Porto, also known in English as Oporto, gave Portugal its name. The country’s name comes from Portus Cale, the Roman-era port at the mouth of the Douro, where Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia stand today. The city also gave its name to port wine, one of the most delicious wines I know, although the wine itself is made from grapes grown in the demarcated Douro region upstream and is traditionally aged in the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto.
Day 97 — Madeira to Porto
After a wonderful week on the Portuguese island of Madeira, we flew to Porto, our final destination. After travelling around Europe for a hundred days, we were tired. I wrote this entry at Porto airport.
From the airport we took Porto’s light-rail metro (Line E), and the journey to the city centre took us about 45 minutes; from there it was a nine-minute walk to our apartment. Our host was a lovely woman who knew her city very well and gave us great recommendations.
Day 96 — Madeira (the last days)
On our last day we gave the keys back to our hosts and had a good chat. Really, for the first time, someone touched our hearts. If we ever come back to Madeira, we will definitely stay with them again.
Days 90–95 — Madeira highlights
Madeira is an archipelago with houses on the edges of cliffs, infinity pools and dramatic landscapes. We visited Cabo Girão, where a glass-floored skywalk sits on top of one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe, about 580 metres above the water, and we watched beautiful sunsets. Driving through the clouds was an unforgettable experience. In Funchal, the capital, the highlights were the cathedral, the marina (with a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in the Praça do Povo gardens close by), the botanical garden and the CR7 Museum. Every bit of Madeira was extraordinary.
Day 70 — Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is the capital and largest city of Catalonia, and it was our first stop in Spain. We took the metro to the city centre. The streets around our hotel were narrow, much like those in Naples. That evening we had Asian food and our first litre of sangria.
Day 53 — Lecce, Italy (Puglia)
After Bari, our next stop was Lecce, on the heel of Italy’s boot. It was a beautiful sunny day. Our apartment was on the top floor, with a terrace as big as our room, and eating lunch under the open sky was a real pleasure.
The takeaway: this is a diary, not a guidebook. To follow the route as we lived it, start with Part 1 (Geneva) and read on to Part 15 (Porto) for the two ends of the trip, then fill in the middle with Part 16 (Munich and Hamburg) through Part 24 (Florence and Rome); the extracts above are the short version. Topics I plan to return to in future posts: what to do in each city, how to save money while travelling, local transport tips, city photos and recommendations.
More from the journal: My Daily Journal · Photography and Software Notebook · Creator and Life