DEAR GEMüTLICHKEIT SUBSCRIBER The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria, Switzerland & the New Europe Heating Up the Leftovers In last month’s issue there were some things we overlooked in our stories on ground transport and QUEDLINBURG booking hotels via the Internet. Though historic Quedlinburg survived World War II intact, it withered under 45 years of • We failed to mention the re- communism. Today its recovering Altstadt is Germany’s largest historic preservation district. gional rail passes that are available in uedlinburg is a city of super- up the town. Indeed, in 1995, Germany. At the website for the latives. The first German Quedlinburg joined the likes of Deutsche Bahn you will find a listing “Reich” began there with the Lima, Damascus, Quebec, Kat- of 11 “Länder-tickets.” The Bayern- Q coronation of King Heinrich in 919 mandu and Prague as one of only Ticket, for example, is valid for sec- A.D. It has the most half-timbered 187 UNESCO World Heritage Cities. ond class travel on one day of your houses in Germany — about 1,500, choice in the Monday-Friday period. Local residents stress the reasons nearly 900 of them are designated It can be used on all local trains for restoration go well beyond tour- protected landmarks. It also contains throughout Bavaria and on the public ism. It’s a living city, — not, they the largest historic preservation dis- transport systems of Munich and point out, a theme park. “We don’t trict in Germany, the 200-acre Altstadt. Nürnberg. The cost of the ticket is want to become another Rothen- Û21 ($19) and covers up to five per- Thankfully, Quedlin- burg,” says a local innkeeper. “We sons traveling together. For an addi- By Jim burg was spared during don’t want to be caught in a trap of tional charge of Û13 ($11) travel is Johnson World War II, and the nostalgia, or to make our raison d’être also permitted on IR and D-trains. buildings are original. just being looked at. We live here Costs and restrictions are the same During four decades of communism, and do business here.” for the other 10 regions. Visit: however, only 26 houses were re- Therefore, although Quedlinburg www.bahn.de/pv/int_guest/true/ built. Since reunification, Quedlin- opens its arms to visitors, it does so pv2_offers_national.shtml burgers have spent much of their without hype, attitude or artifice — • Though reservations for Swiss time and resources restoring nearly and, for the most part, without trains cannot be made through their 800 additional houses and cleaning Continued on page 3… U.S. sellers of rail passes such as Rail Europe and DER, you can make them yourself by emailing Swiss Rail Hidden Treasures at [email protected]. • Czech Rail has a website with consistent with a philosophy Evolène Switzerland an English version (http:// of travel that seeks places En- idos.datis.cdrail.cz/ConnForm.asp). C glish-speaking tourists seldom If you’ve a mind to virtually dis- It is similar to the German and Swiss visit, this month we begin a series on appear from the face of the earth for rail sites in that there is an easy-to- off-the-beaten-track destinations — a week or so, this just may be the use timetable search that delivers Hidden Treasures. For the most part, hideout you’re looking for. they will be geographically defined; detailed itineraries with information Everybody wants to see Zermatt villages, towns, even regions. But a Continued on page 2… and Grindelwald, but after that if Hidden Treasure can also be a hotel, they’re a little curious they might This Month in Gemütlichkeit a restaurant, a gallery, a fountain, a find themselves in Evolène and sud- Features Page vista, a country road, a museum, any- Quedlinburg ........................................................................ 1 denly realize that that was where Hidden Treasures ............................................................... 1 thing or anyplace, as long as it’s wor- Readers’ Forum ................................................................... 7 they really wanted to be all along. Gemütlichkeit Hotel Recommendations ......................... 8 thy of your attention and is off the Key Web Sites ..................................................................... 8 They sought remote, authentic Swiss Commentary radar screen of most English-speak- Dear Subscriber ................................................................... 1 villages, but what they got with the Hotels/Restaurants ing tourists. Though some will be Hotel Theophano, Quedlinburg G ................................... 4 gorgeous views and four-star hotels Hotel Am Brühl, Quedlinburg G ..................................... 4 neither ‘hidden’ — a word that hard- Hotel Zur Goldenen Sonne, Quedlinburg G .................. 4 was tee-shirt shops and lots of folks Schlossotel Zum Markgrafen, Quedlinburg G ............... 5 ly applies to a town on every map of Rest. Zur Goldenen Sonne, Quedlinburg G ................... 5 from back home. Ratskeller, Quedlingburg G .............................................. 5 Europe — nor quite reach the ‘trea- Restaurant Theophano, Quedlingburg G ....................... 5 Of course, this French-speaking Restaurant Am Brühl, Quedlingburg G .......................... 5 sure’ level, we think you’ll find all Hotel Hermitage, Evolène S .............................................. 6 merit your consideration. mountain hamlet, about a 25-minute Pension d’Evolène, Evolène S ................................................ 6 Hotel Mader, Steyr A .................................................................... 7 drive from Sion, is not without tour- Hotel Blankenburg, Coburg G ..................................................... 7 We’ll start with three, one in each Hotel Goldene Traube, Coburg G ............................................... 7 ists — hikers and climbers in sum- Burghotel Aug Schönburg, Oberwesel G .................................. 7 country: Continued on page 6… http://www.gemut.com May 2002 S http://www.gemut.com flight to Salzburg was about $91, the Chunnel to Paris and Brussels. DEAR SUBSCRIBER with tax. Still a good deal. One-way fares range from $75 to Continued from page 1 $399, depending on a variety of fac- But how about Ryan’s very best about on-board services. tors including class of service, age, bargain? Try .01 GBP (1.5 cents) — how far in advance tickets are pur- • Austria’s rail system has a web- that’s right, less than two cents — for chased and whether or not the travel- site — www.oebb.at — but its timeta- a London-Brussels one-way. With tax er has a valid rail pass. bles are in German only. Most users, the cost is a little over $10. however, will be able to at least deter- Though Ryan would seem to Setting the Record Straight mine point-to-point train schedules. solve the ‘inexpensive’ side of the In the February issue of Gemütli- • A hotel website we missed last equation, when the ‘convenient’ side chkeit, I blamed Rail Europe’s own- month is www.lastminute.com. It is addressed the picture is not so ers, the French and Swiss railway finds eleventh-hour deals on hotels, rosy. All Ryan flights to the continent systems, for the latest price increases flights, and holiday packages, but are from Stansted Airport, more than in European rail passes. Apparently since it is London-based, only the an hour from the center of London that is incorrect. According to Laz- hotel part of lastminute.com would and even farther than that from arus Communications, Rail Europe’s seem to be of use to North Ameri- Heathrow or Gatwick. In addition, New York-based public relations cans. We found rooms at Munich’s Frankfurt passengers will discover agency, the actual decision to raise five-star Kempinski Vier Jahr- that Ryan flies not to Frankfurt/Main prices for 2002 was made by the Eu- eszeiten for from Û175 to Û216 ($154- but to Frankfurt/Hahn, about 90- ropean Rail Commission, whose $190), numbers that substantially minutes east of the city, which offers membership includes representatives undercut the hotel’s own website. very limited ground transport op- from the rail systems of the 17 coun- The best www.kempinski- tions, including no rail. Lufthansa tries that comprise the Eurail system vierjahreszeiten.de/en could do for contends Hahn is so far out it isn’t — including France and Switzerland. the same dates in late April was Û285 really a Frankfurt airport and is seek- Lazarus says Rail Europe, opposed ($251). Unfortunately, ing to prevent Ryan from advertising the increases. —RHB lastminute.com seems only to offer Frankfurt as a destination. Using Gemütlichkeit chain hotel in major cities. Our The nearly-free flight to Brussels • Foreign currency prices are converted to U.S. dollars searches in towns such as Lausanne, at the exchange rate in effect at the time of publication. lands at Charleroi Airport, about 55 Lucerne, Graz, Würzburg, and Nürn- • Hotel prices listed are for one night. Discounts are kilometers south of the city. berg drew blanks. often available for longer stays. Still, for the traveler who wants • All hotel prices include breakfast unless otherwise London to the Continent by Air an “open jaw" trip – land in London, noted. • Local European telephone area codes carry the “0” Lately we’ve heard from subscrib- return to the U.S. from someplace on ers seeking a convenient, inexpensive required for in-country dialing. To phone establish- the continent — Ryanair is tempting. ments from outside the country, such as from the USA, way to get from London to the conti- do not dial the first “0”. nent. Low-fare, no-frills Ryanair has The next best London to Frank- achieved big publicity of late for furt price found for the same date in Logging on to Gemütlichkeit’s Website some extremely low cost flights. In May was $122 on British Midland Except for the most recent 12, back issues in text format late April, for example, its website — from London City Airport. Check from January 1993 are available free to subscribers only at www.ryanair.com — quoted 10.99 www.europebyair.com and individu- http://www.gemut.com (click on “For Members Only”). al airline websites. To access the issues enter the user name and password GBP ($16) for a London to Frankfurt published in this space each month.