It’s fun to think of special ways to really connect with Back Door destinations we recommend in Europe. If you’re heading for these favorites, here are a few tips to do it right.
Bruges — The cutest town in Belgium
Rent a bike (or take a bike tour) and in minutes you’re in the wide-open countryside. For the best, easiest bike ride from Bruges, just follow the canal to the charming town of Damme.
Herberg Vlissinghe, with Dutch Masters’ ambience and a boules court in the garden, is the oldest pub in Bruges. An €8 bowl of angel-hair spaghetti and a great Belgian beer makes for a wonderful Bruges evening.
Bruges has some of Europe’s best B&Bs. For €70 a night, you get a fine double room with private bathroom and breakfast — and a chance to actually feel like you have local friends.
Bruges’ bell tower is famous for its carillon. Benches are placed in its courtyard for music lovers to enjoy free concerts several nights a week through the summer (schedules are posted).
Vernazza — Get properly connected to the best town of Italy’s Cinque Terre (in spite of its tourist crowds)
Twin Sicilian brothers entertain their visitors with tasty Sicilian pastries and drinks each evening and at breakfast time. Their café is at the top end of town — no Mediterranean view…just lots of crazy camaraderie and good prices.
Dead Vernazzans are given the best view in town. Visitors can hike above Vernazza to its cemetery to enjoy the same vistas and witness a community tending the tombs of their loved ones.
The village subsidizes a shuttle bus to connect Vernazza with hamlets high in the surrounding hills. Any tourist can use it as a scenic joyride or a cheap lift to a high country of scenic hikes.
Really late, after things close up, the young and hedonistic waitstaff of the Vernazza’s many restaurants and bars gather at a cave at the end of the town beach.
Cotswolds — A collection of the cutest little towns in all of England
Visiting a formal English garden is a must. Hidcote Manor Garden, one of England’s best, is just four miles from Chipping Campden.
The Cotswold Farm Park (just outside Stow-on-the-Wold) delights young and old alike with a chance to meet rare and endangered breeds of local animals. Be careful. I greeted a rare old goat and he ate my map.
Keith Harding’s World of Mechanical Music (in Northleach) offers a unique chance to listen to 300 years of amazing, self-playing musical instruments. Music-box lovers give private tours with plenty of demonstrations.
70 Euros per night is about 95 U S Dollars. Rick Steves travel advice and tours have become geared towards upper middle class travelers, nearing travel for only the very wealthy. While it would be more work, it would be helpful to have both budget and luxury dining and accommodation advice given.
Sorry Bill, a good double for $95 in Europe is not upper middle class. That’s reality these days. Any time you can get safe and comfy accommodations in a popular town for under $50 per person, you’re doing very well these days. There are cheap dorms but they’ll cost you $25 at least.
I certainly respect the previous writers’ comments but I have a different take on the situation. There are many dumpy, smelly, noisy, uncomfortable, dirty hotels in Europe. As a long time traveler, I would say there are proportionately far more there than in the US or Canada. Many people would prefer not to use them even if they are in historic neighborhoods. (Just because we have roughed it in the Marines or at Outward Bound does not mean we want to relive the experience.) So if it costs an extra 50 or 100 dollars per night to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitos, kept awake by street shenanigans and lumpy mattresses, or asphyxiated by 100 year old mold I suggest paying more if possible, especially if you are over age 30. Sweet dreams.
Rick Steves ETBD does cater to those who can pay the price or their parents and grandparents. His is not first class travel but it’s more than adequate for a couple willing to fork over between 5 and 11 thousand dollars including air fare for some of the most expensive cities or longer tours. Extrapolating data from a recent Wall St. Journal article leads me to believe there are about 7,000,000 people in the U.S. who can easily afford multiple RS tours plus another 5,000,000 who could do so once or twice. Of course that presupposes that one wants to go to Europe or, if so, with Rick Steves. My guess is his company could improve upon the lodging component of his trips.
For Bruges I’d expect to pay about that a night, and probably consider it a good deal. However, if it were a smaller, less well known town, I’d expect the price to be more in line with the local (read: Not touristy) economy.. Besides that, what you are getting for that 95$ is a very good deal, You are getting lodging for two adults, two meals, and a private bathroom. So if you consider it that way, you are actually sleeping for about 40$ a person, eating for 10$ a person. The Only time this turns into not a good deal is, when you’re like me and are a perpetually solo traveler.
A previous commenter sources the Wall Street Journal. No additional commentary should be needed to evaluate the class status of that publication. So, 12 million Americans can afford Rick Steve’s Tours according to the Wall Street Journal. That is just 4 per cent of the American population. Europe Through the Bank Door.
I tend to agree with the first Bill that Rick’s recommendations and tours have been moving more and more upmarket – I’ve been hoping one of his kids might want to reintroduce the Bed, Bus and Breakfast tours he used to do at lower prices. And I disagree with the second Bill that cheaper accommodation is always awful (and I’m over 60, never mind 30). In Bruges I see that the B&B I used in ’03 (Marieke) is currently 50 euro for a single and 60 euro for a double (if you stay more than one night), which is better than 70 euros, and it was very comfortable. (I too, pay the penalty for traveling solo.)
The reality is that even for the independent traveler, Europe is “moving more and more upmarket”, in part because Europe is expensive to begin with, and also because of the dollar’s dramatic decrease in value over the past decade against pretty much all European currencies (until the financial crisis hit, that is). Perhaps a new equilibrium will be set after the world economy recovers, but as much as I love Europe, the cost of going there has encouraged me to search for other options in alternate locales. There are lots of “back doors” to be found in this country and in this hemisphere more broadly …
You guys should look towards eastern and south-eastern Europe for cheaper and less travelled adventures. The Balkans perhaps. Really beautiful and cheap.
Regarding RS tours, plus lodging in general in Europe, other respondents make very good points which differ from mine. Touche’ and viva la difference. In fairness, on a Rick Steves tour I took, there were some good accommodations and only three out of eight which didn’t meet my needs or those of several others on the tour. As for the other Bill’s belief that RS tours have become more expensive, it’s my feeling that RS’s price point probably reflects what he has to pay his European suppliers for rooms, food and transportation and they were part of the bubble economy until last year. I doubt RS could make a fair profit taking extremely frugal customers on bare bones tours. And RS lead guides deserve premium pay based on my experience. But almost any travel to Europe is expensive and for many, it’s a matter of trade-offs. Traveling to less touristy countries independently, off-season for fewer days and using apartments and hostels is a viable alternative but the experience is not as comfortable and not for everybody. And then there is the other extreme and I guess that’s why the new 6300 passenger cruise ship, Oasis, is fully booked. Aargh.
I certainly agree that Europe has unfortunately become more expensive thanks to the decline of the dollar (if only I’d bought lots of euros when I first thought about it!). Fortunately, I prefer the off-season, or at least the extreme shoulder season, and I’m still healthy enough to be traveling in more off-the-beaten-path places – I’m saving most W. European travel for when I get more decrepit. Comfort (aside from a good bed) is not my highest priority – clean, safe, central are tops, and I don’t mind sharing a bathroom. But if you really want good deals Asia is the place – you get luxury rather than just comfort at good prices. I can travel there in comfort (AC, en-suite bath, good food), using local transport, for $50/day.