Road tripping from Germany to Marseille, St. Tropez and Monaco

One really nice thing about Europe that you should not miss out on is road tripping. As countries are small and diverse and roads are good and safe, this is a really nice way to travel. 

My friend and me started the trip at night in Frankfurt and drove through the night which I can absolutely recommend. German Autobahn has in many parts no speed limit and not much traffic at night (do not drive Friday afternoon). Make sure the tunnels in Switzeland are open because we ended up in the middle of the night in mountain roads in the alpes...

Our first stop was Marseille (11 hrs drive). We checked into an Air Bnb which is very easy in France which was a little bit outside the centre to make sure we get parking in a beautiful house with a family. French people are very open-minded and friendly, so this was an amazing experience. We explored the old port at night and enjoyed a drink in one of the many restaurants directly at the water and then we went on to the hipster quarter named Cours Julien to find nice dinner at l'Arome (small and 100% amazing food). Cours Julien is famous for its nice flair and beautiful graffiti all around the neighborhood. The next day we took a drive to thenational park of Calanques and went for a hike. The view is breath taking with the mountains and the cristal blue water of the sea. Even though it was weekend there were not too many peolpe around.  

From Marseille we drove on to St. Tropez which is famous for attracting people who are interested in high-class, luxury life style. We did not want to sleep directly there but preferred a quite and nice Air BnB which we found on the way. The drive from Marseille to St. Tropez is a trip itself with incredible sea views and countless impressions of the beach life in southern France. 

Arriving in St. Tropez is somehow a special feeling, as we were not really the typical tourists there as road tripping young guys. The harbour is full of incredibly shiny yachts, high-class restaurants and bars and many peolpe who are sharing a similar philosophy in life. It is a very expensive place, as you can imagine so if you want to stay longer - take that into account. We just spend half a day there and then drove on to Monaco. 

Arriving in Monaco is even more impressing than St. Tropez because it is also a separate state (with only 2 square km of area) which is only one city. As this is a tax heaven, it is also a city of business and again, very high-class life style. Everything is very clean and in order and it is obvious that mostly well-paid business people live in this city. The palace that you reach walking up a small hill takes you to a whole other time with lots of prestige with soldiers wearing interesting uniforms and marching from one side to the other constatly, beautiful buildings and a impressive view over the city. Monaco is also quite expensive for food but definitely worth the experience. To me, checking it out for one day was definitely enough.