Gemütlichkeit SUBSCRIBER the Travel Letter for Germany, Austria, Switzerland & the New Europe
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DEAR GEMüTLICHKEIT SUBSCRIBER The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria, Switzerland & the New Europe The Planning Phase These are trip planning days. Time to grapple with such issues as Charming Steyr whether to travel by rail or car, where Off the beaten path, a historic little city intrigues travelers with its to book hotels to get the best rates, own special attractions and an Old World look and feel. just which cities and regions to put on the itinerary, and that confusing busi- years. Rows of arcaded Renaissance, ness of trip insurance, do you need it ustria’s “Big Three”—Vien- baroque, and rococo townhouses, and, if so, how much do you need. na-Salzburg-Innsbruck—get A maximum attention among crammed wall-to-wall, set the har- Based on emails and phone calls first-time and repeat visitors to the monious scene. For visual accentua- to this office, there is a lack of aware- country. But just a hundred miles tion, massive Schloss Lamberg, dra- ness of available tools to facilitate matically floodlighted after nightfall, by Tom Bross from Vienna, and these decisions. even less from commands the heights of an adjacent A huge percentage of questions Salzburg, the little city of Steyr (pop- promontory. The castle’s founda- posed to us involve auto and train ulation 40,000) needs neither Sacher- tions date from the 10th century, travel. Mrs. Smith, for example, wants torte nor the Sound of Music to hold when Franconian-Bavarian Baben- to know whether she and her hus- its own. An intriguing history, well- berger margraves ruled what ulti- band should travel in Germany by car preserved architecture, and thriving mately became this northerly seg- or by rail. We can’t answer that with- industry set the scene. ment of imperial Austria-Hungary. out knowing about the Smith’s per- After flowing through the hilly Trading rights were granted by sonal preferences, proposed itinerary, Traunviertel region of Upper Austria Duke Albrecht I in 1287, boosting and their trip budget. In the course of (Oberösterreich), the Steyr and Enns waterborne commerce (the Enns 30 minutes or so, our trip planning Rivers converge to form a sharp trian- empties into the Danube 30 km/18 people, for a fee, can gather the infor- gle of land where picturesque, walk- mi north of town). Resulting pros- mation and help Mrs. Smith come to a able Steyr has stood for 1,000-plus perity goes a long way toward ex- conclusion. But, given the right tools, Continued on page 3… she can easily do it herself. What she needs to know, in the context of her itinerary, are travel times, routes, Racing at Hockenheim train schedules, and costs. (The highlight of a high-calorie, German Grand Prix directly from the She can email our car rental ser- high-octane tour of the Black Forest paddocks of Team Ferrari itself, the vice ([email protected]) for a was a pit stop at Hockenheim last second hottest seats in the house quote but a good rule of thumb is to July 30 for a bit of world-class Sun- after world F1 driving champion figure about $30 per day for a four- day driving. Many thanks to Vertu Michael Schumacher’s. door rental car in Germany, plus fuel and Ferrari for Ms. Itoi’s unforgetta- Actually, there really aren’t any and parking. Rail pass prices are ble backstage visit.) seats in the paddocks except for the available at www.gemut.com. or 362 days of the year, the pit crew. In the pits, where most That part is easy. But let’s say township of Hockenheim, pop. races are won or lost, there is simply Mrs. Smith wants to know the driving F 20,000, is mostly nondescript no room for error, and less for visi- time vs. train travel time from Mu- farms and scraps of pine forest, just tors. Gino Rosato, who might have nich to Füssen, and the price of indi- off the A6 between Heidelberg and been an NFL linebacker if he weren’t Karlsruhe. It’s only 60 so busy being point man for Ferrari’s vidual rail trips. Before the Internet, by Lydia Itoi that information wasn’t so easy to miles from Frankfurt, CEO, found us an out-of-the-way find. Now it’s a snap. but way off the tourist map—general- corner where we were somewhat ly not worth even a pit stop. Howev- less likely to be trampled to death by Two Essential Websites er, for a sweltering summer weekend, swarms of helmeted spacemen in Michelin’s travel website, the population balloons over 100,000 red-orange jumpsuits. www.viamichelin.com, and the Deut- as Hockenheim becomes the epicenter Continued on page 5… sche Bahn’s www.bahn.de (be sure to of the most glamorous motor sport on Exchange rates as of 2/26/2007 click ‘Internat. Guests’ for the English earth. And in this exclusive, Gemütli- 1 euro = $1.32 Continued on page 2… chkeit reports on the 2006 Formula 1 1 Swiss franc = $0.82 www.gemut.com March 2007 www.gemut.com DEAR SUBSCRIBER the Michelin Green Travel Guide se- have to get creative. You won’t find a ries. Suppose she wants to know what Continued from page 1 price anywhere that I know of for the to see in and around Füssen? At Bucharest-Paris trip. However, if you version) are indispensable to this pro- Viamichelin.com she clicks Tourism/ break your search into segments — cess. Mrs. Smith will quickly discover Michelin Travel Guide, then selects Bucharest-Vienna, Vienna-Munich, there is hourly train service, that the Germany and types ‘Füssen’ in the city Munich-Paris—you’ll get an idea of the one-way cost, if she’s thinking point- field. That brings up a list of 29 sights cost. With this information you can to-point tickets instead of a rail pass, is Michelin deems worthwhile plus a determine whether you need a multi- € 20.8, and that the trip takes just over map of the region spotted with the country rail pass or just individual two hours. If she wants, she can book same 29 sights. Clicking on sight num- tickets. Unfortunately, some point-to- tickets at the site which also has com- ber eight she is presented with a para- point journeys simply can’t be booked plete timetables for all the railroads of graph of information about the two- here in the U.S. Europe. Want to know about a train star Wieskirche, its address, phone, Of course there are many other trip from Bucharest to Paris? Provided fax, times open to the public, and a link websites with reliable, useful info. The you know to use the word Bucuresti to its website. This is probably the U.K.-based www.seat61.com, for ex- and not Bucharest, the timetable fea- single most useful website for the Eu- ample. The work of one man, Mark ture of this German Rail website will ropean traveler. Smith, a former British railroad em- tell you it can be done in about 35 Another part of the planning pro- ployee, Seat61.com will answer just hours with one change of trains. But cess that stumps many rail travelers is about any question you can dream up you won’t find the price here. Fares for determining whether it’s cheaper to on European rail travel. most international trips are not com- buy a pass or individual city-to-city Finally, I still keep close at hand puted at any of the national rail web- tickets. In order to make that call you Michelin Red and Green Guides, a sites. More on that in a minute. must first know the cost of both. The MaxiAtlas for Germany, 1:200,000 scale At Viamichelin.com Mrs. Smith prices for the myriad of rail passes is maps for Austria and Switzerland, and learns the driving time from Munich to easy to find; just go to a Langenscheidt English-Deutsch dic- Füssen is one hour and 40 minutes and www.gemut.com and click “Buy a tionary. I use ‘em every day.—RHB the distance is 133km (83 miles). She’ll European Rail Pass.” Getting the price Using Gemütlichkeit also gets a zoom-in, zoom-out map of individual tickets is harder. Though and a suggested routing with links to • Hotel prices listed are for one night. Discounts are the websites of Europe’s national rail- often available for longer stays. Michelin-recommended hotels at the roads provide ticket prices for travel • All hotel prices include breakfast unless otherwise destination. within their own countries, it’s a differ- noted. • Local European telephone area codes carry the “0” These two websites should be ent story when the trip involves cross- required for in-country dialing. To phone establish- bookmarked in every Europe traveler’s ing borders. For example, the Swiss ments from outside the country, such as from the USA, browser. Register free at Viamichelin railroad’s website (www.rail.ch) has do not dial the first “0”. and all your route plans and maps will schedules but no prices for a Zürich- Logging on to Our Website Munich trip. For trips involving more be saved, no need to reconstruct them. Back issues in PDF format from January 1993, except for Mrs. Smith will also find the same than one country your best bet is a the most recent 10, are available free to subscribers only at listings of hotels and restaurants con- U.S.-based online seller of point-to- www.gemut.com (click on “Members”).