The D8 (Adriatic Highway) at Podimoć, Croatia: One of Europe's Most Beautiful Roads

Iceland & South-Central Europe Road Journey

This 12-episode travel series follows a sweeping journey from Washington, DC to Iceland’s volcanic wilderness and onward into the imperial heart of Central Europe. What begins as a full circumnavigation of Iceland’s Ring Road evolves into a cross-border road loop through Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

Along the way, the series moves from glaciers and geysers to Habsburg palaces, medieval old towns, Alpine fortresses, film locations, Tesla’s birthplace, and the dramatic Adriatic coast. It is a geographically continuous, historically layered, self-drive journey linking raw landscapes with Europe’s cultural and architectural backbone.

Sládkovičova Street in Bratislava’s Old Town, lined with ornate facades and parked cars. The city wastes very little time introducing the cobblestones.

Our July 2019 Iceland–Europe–Balkans expedition continued from Prague, Czechia. This leg used a rental Nissan Qashqai, not Shehzadi, and the road ran southeast through Czechia toward Bratislava.

Bratislava gave us a castle above the Danube and a bridge that appears to have arrived from a science-fiction budget meeting. Its Old Town can be crossed on foot without appointing a logistics officer.