An extreme day tripper visited a different country for a DAY for five weekends in a row - including flying to Switzerland to spend one hour up a mountain.
Luke Simmonds, 35, got the bug to travel after the pandemic and came across a Facebook group sharing extreme day trips.
He decided to give the short trips a go and has spent the last year travelling.
Luke recently packed in five day tips on his weekends in September in October - visiting Italy, Poland and Lithuania.
He even flew to Switzerland and France to spend an hour up the mountain and to see Mont Blanc.
Luke Simmonds, 35, got the bug to travel after the pandemic and came across a Facebook group sharing extreme day trips.
He decided to give the short trips a go and has spent the last year travelling.
Luke recently packed in five day tips on his weekends in September in October - visiting Italy, Poland and Lithuania.
He even flew to Switzerland and France to spend an hour up the mountain and to see Mont Blanc.
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FunTranscript
00:00Extreme day trip to Kaunas in Lithuania. Kaunas Castle is one of the oldest in
00:05Lithuania and it's also one of the first that's made out of brick. It's also a really
00:09nice church here to look at as well. This is the key place to visit you've got the
00:13statue, you've got the Kaunas sign and it's also a really short walk to the
00:17town square and the town hall which is one of the famous sites here in Kaunas.
00:22The cobbled streets of the old town were nice to explore. This is also where you'll
00:26find shops selling fridge magnets. We then paid a quick visit to the former
00:30presidential palace before stumbling into this area called the Yard Gallery
00:35which was some really impressive street art. We then got a bolt over to the
00:39Alexsonis observation deck. This has fantastic views over the city
00:44particularly the old town. It's really nice and peaceful up here, I really liked it.
00:48It's also home to this wooden funicular which is one of the oldest in Europe and
00:52it's the oldest operating still in the Baltic States. We then walked back
00:56over the bridge and back into the old town to grab a Lithuanian beer before
01:00heading back to Kaunas Airport for our return flight to London Luton with Ryanair.
01:04Join me on an extreme day trip to Switzerland. On the way to Interlaken
01:10we stopped at the Swiss capital of Bern. We soon arrived at Interlaken train
01:15station where we needed to change onto a smaller regional train to complete the
01:20journey up to Grindelwald. This train took us up into the mountains and
01:24offered even more spectacular views from the window as we watched the world
01:27go by on our journey. The journey from Interlaken to Grindelwald takes about
01:32half an hour on the train but these views are absolutely stunning so the
01:35time goes in no time at all. I was really excited to see some snow on top of the
01:39mountains. It was then a short walk up through Grindelwald to head towards the
01:43cable car station. This cost 68 Swiss francs which is about 61 pounds. The
01:49views on the cable car on the way up were spectacular. It's about a 25-30
01:55minute journey to the top of the mountain. Once we got to the top we then
01:59headed towards the cliff walk which is known as the first cliff walk as that's
02:03the name of this mountain. This had a suspended platform attached to the cliff
02:07and offered panoramic views across the countryside. This was absolutely stunning.
02:11It's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. I'd love to come back
02:14here in winter when this is covered in snow. Extreme day trip to Wroclaw, Poland.
02:19The architecture here is absolutely stunning and it's one of the most
02:22beautiful old towns I've seen in Europe. The market square is home to the town
02:26hall and also lots of shops and restaurants. This is also where the
02:30famous Wroclaw Christmas market is held during the winter months. This year the
02:35Christmas market starts on the 29th of November and ends on the 7th of January.
02:39I enjoyed walking around in the autumnal sunshine and just admiring the buildings
02:45in this stunning part of Poland. I like how they're different colours but they
02:49all seem to fit together so well. It's really well designed. The old town
02:52extends further than the market square so it's worth having a wander around
02:56through the streets and seeing what you find. The city is famous for its
02:59miniature names which you'll find all over Wroclaw. Public transport is good
03:04here with trams and buses running all over the city. It was then time for lunch
03:08and I enjoyed these wonderful Polish pierogies which are the Polish dumplings.
03:11These are absolutely delicious. After lunch I went to a museum called
03:16Hydropolis which is a science museum based on water. This giant curtain of
03:21water is known as a water printer and this museum actually has the largest in
03:26Europe at nearly 47 meters long. Different shapes and patterns can
03:30appear in the water and even words and it even opens up a gap for you to get
03:34into the museum when you approach. It's really clever. Entrance tickets cost less
03:38than £10 a person. All information in the museum is in English and Polish. This
03:43is perfect for English visitors like me. Join me on an extreme day trip to
03:47Chamonix in France to see Mont Blanc turn trip on this cable car of €78.
03:52The views back down over the valley on the journey up on the cable car are
03:55absolutely spectacular. You actually have to change to a separate cable car as you
04:00get about halfway up the mountain. The second one is incredibly steep and I
04:04believe it's one of the steepest cable cars in the world. Finally you get a
04:07conventional lift before you arrive at the summit. The views over the French
04:11Alps and Mont Blanc from here are absolutely outstanding. We were really
04:15lucky with the weather that it was really really really clear. Often it can
04:20be foggy or cloudy up mountains but there wasn't a cloud in the sky to be
04:23seen. The altitude at the top of the mountain was really good. The views as we came back down the
04:27mountain offered spectacular views of the town. Once we got to the bottom we
04:31decided to have a walk around Chamonix and grab some lunch. There's a really
04:34good French bakery really near the cable car station. It was then time to drive
04:38back to Geneva Airport and catch our return flight with EasyJet back to
04:42London Gatwick.
04:52Extreme day trip to Pisa. The weather on landing in Pisa was absolutely beautiful.
04:57It was low 20s and really sunny. We got the Pisa mover train from Pisa
05:01Airport to Pisa Centrali railway station. We left the railway station and did a
05:07little bit of shopping around the local area. It was also nice just to look at
05:11the buildings and admire the Italian architecture. A series of stools have
05:15been set up ready for the Pisa half marathon which was the next day. We then
05:19went to this mural painted by the artist Keith Herring who my other half's a huge
05:22fan of. This is one of the most famous landmarks in the world. We spent a while
05:27here getting photos from various angles and trying to perfect the famous tourist
05:31pose pushing the tower over. After many outtakes we got there eventually and
05:35I managed to get the perfect photo and then tried some more from another angle.
05:39There are loads of bars and restaurants nearby so we wandered up the street and
05:42got a pizza for lunch. This was really nice. We then explored Pisa further
05:47including the markets and also returned to the central square to have a look
05:50around the buildings.