2011 Adventure Announcement         View Pictures of the Trip

It's hard to believe that the LBCarCo Adventure in 2011 will be our 10th trip! Back in 2002 we never dreamed we would be able to travel each year with a great group of people and see so many interesting places. Common sense tells you "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but for our 10th trip, we're going to embark on a trip with two big changes.

First of all, 2011 will mark the first trip to not include a stay in one part or another of the United Kingdom - England, Wales or Scotland. Next year, we are going to travel entirely on the continent! We will explore a small, compact slice of western Europe from the Rhine Valley to the Alps, visiting France as well as Germany and Switzerland.

Why this area? Over the years a number of people have asked if we would include the famed Schlumpf automobile collection, located in the northeast corner of France. The time seemed right to finally do that. This part of France - Alsace - has gone back and forth between France and Germany more than once, making it a marvelous blend of both cultures. It has well preserved medieval towns, picturesque villages surrounded by family vineyards, castles, museums, cathedrals, and beautiful countryside, so there's certainly enough to see and do here for several days.

Looking at the map of Europe, we saw that Alsace is smack dab between two other areas of great beauty - the Rhine Valley and the Swiss Alps! So we now have our trip destination - 3 countries, 2 weeks, 1 great time.

We don't have exact dates figured out yet, but the time frame will be the later part of May into the first few days (possibly) of June. On our planning trip in December, we learned that many seasonal attractions and activities in Switzerland may not be fully operational until mid May, so we don't want to travel before the second week of May.

Now, for the other change for this trip. This will be the first time we will travel not by coach, but by using the excellent German, French, and Swiss rail systems. For one thing, in Switzerland we're going to go places you can only get to by train! The Swiss train system is amazingly efficient and easy to use, and coordinated with local buses and boat services on the lakes. Germany' isn't far behind and the French trains in Alsace we found to be on-time, frequent and comfortable. We found traveling through the area by train to be easy and convenient, and we think you will enjoy it too.

We plan to start the trip with a few days staying in a medieval town right in the heart of the "Romantic Rhine" of castles and legends. One day will be devoted to a boat trip along the "best" part of the Rhine. Other plans in the works - a castle visit, a wine tasting, scenic viewpoints, exploring the villages, and a visit to Cologne, home of Europe's grandest Gothic cathedral.

Then it will be off to France where we will base ourselves in the storybook town of Colmar, the center of the Alsace wine country, with its well-preserved medieval town center. Here we will visit the Schlumpf auto collection. Other plans include a day exploring the villages along the Alsace Wine Trail (the one day we will be using a coach) and plenty of time to enjoy charm of Colmar, as well as nearby Strasbourg.

We will finish with several days in the heart of Switzerland, based in Interlaken and Lucerne. The main attraction here is everything that is around you - lakes, alpine meadows, mountain villages, and, of course, the mountains themselves. There will be boat trips, mountain cog railways and tramways, a castle visit, an amazing open-air museum and a trip on at least one of Switzerland's most scenic rail journeys. The highlight will be a day long railway excursion to Jungfraujoch, at over 11,000 feet Europe's highest railway station.

We are now looking into hotels and working with local providers to build an itinerary. We want the trip to be a balance of organized outings and leisure time to fully enjoy the beauty of this little corner of Europe. We won't be able to make any definite air arrangements until June, but we hope to be able to fly into Frankfurt and depart from Zurich.

Right now we are projecting the cost of the two week trip, including airfare, at $3,500 per person based on double occupancy. This is an estimate; however, we have been able to stay within our initial projections for each trip.

We plan to keep the group size to a maximum of 50 people, and we currently have deposits from 21 people and indications of interest from another 4. If you would like to join a wonderful group of travel companions for two enjoyable weeks, send a deposit of $200 per person to: Janice or Jeff Zorn, 29311 Aranel, Farmington Hills, MI 48334. This is fully refundable until airfare is booked. If you have any questions, you can email Janice at jan@LBCarCo.com.