Black Forest's Gengenbach: Jewel of A Hideaway

""All those cookie cutter Europe Christmas Market tours go to crowded big cities," grumbled our client. "Why don't The Trip Chicks come up with an 'under the North American tourist radar' place to stay?" And so we did. For eight enjoyable days this past December, the welcoming 13th century half-timbered village of Gengenbach was our Europe group's holiday "homebase."

Boasting the world's largest Advent calendar (the 24 windows of the classical town hall Rathaus facade), the ideally-situated Black Forest town offered us easy train access to a host of neat places. We visited Strasbourg (enchanting Alsatian French town with the best of French and Germanic cultures and a striking, giant gothic cathedral begun in the year 1015), Triberg (home of the standout Black Forest folk traditions museum and the stunning Wallfahrtskirche Maria in der Tannen pilgrimage church), friendly Black Forest capital university town Freiburg im Breisgau, "upper-crusty" Baden Baden, famous spa town, and other appealing destinations only a stone's throw away.

One of the best travel bargains of the Black Forest region is the Konus card, a complimentary transportation card which comes with a two-night minimum hotel or bed and breakfast stay in the area and entitles the card holder to free bus and second class train regional transportation (except for the fast ICE or Intercity trains.) As a matter of fact, the KONUS pass is good all the way down to Basel Bad, the German border town one stop before Switzerland's Basel SBB station. For a map of where the Konus card is valid, go to: http://www.konus-schwarzwald.info. Then click on "In welchem Gebiet ist KONUS gültig?" link. (German for "in which area is Konus valid?") For train travel on longer rail routes outside the Schwarzwald region (i.e. from Gengenbach to Heidelberg), we recommend consulting a travel agent who is a Europe rail expert to determine the rail pass that'll give you the best bang for your out-of-pocket buck.

Jawohl and bien sûr ! We could have easily spent two weeks in the colorful area and never run out of sights to see. If you go, don't miss sampling the delicious thin-crusted tarte flambées of Alsace (called Flammkuchen in the Black Forest region of Germany), addictive thinly-rolled rectangles of bread dough topped with cream, onions, bacon, and ham or veggies and cheese. The dessert version is a chocolate lover's delight with scrumptiously gooey bittersweet chips. More of our happy trip memories include getting the skinny on a 350-year-old Black Forest tradition during our Triberg cuckoo clock factory tour (bet you don't know what makes that cuckoo sound!), rolling in the white stuff to make our year's only snow angels in winter wonderland Titisee, sharing Baden Baden's steamy outdoor thermal spa pools with a mini UN of visitors, and enjoying the unique camaraderie of our small tour group, congenial travelers from 17 to 84. Our newly-created Christmas Market itinerary is definitely a keeper for The Trip Chicks, and we plan to repeat it in 2009. Happy travels und bis zum nächsten Mal!

Ann Lombardi

The Trip Chicks

Just Back from Europe

And boy, is the US dollar is buying more these days! Let's hope the Euro continues its trend well into the new year and the ole greenback makes a strong comeback. Travel across the big pond in the off-season and just as we did with our Christmas Markets of Germany and France tour group, make your homebase a centrally-located, lesser-known town with day trips by train. A room in a cozy family-run hotel along with daily breakfast and dinner often runs less than just a hotel room by itself would in the tourist-trodden higher profile cities.

Highlights of our holiday season small-group getaway included sampling delicious Flammkuchen (tartes flambées) in the heart of Alsace, visiting a centuries-old cuckoo clock factory, taking in snowy scenes in the Black Forest glacial lake and winter wonderland town of Titisee, and joining the hale and hardy in the open air thermal spa waters of Baden Baden. Then I said "auf wiedersehen" to my fellow "Trip Chick" Wendy and headed on my own to Switzerland and Torino/Turin Italy for a week stay. More on my travels there later this week.

Happy Holidays everyone, and best wishes for a great 2009!

Ciao,
Ann Lombardi
The Trip Chicks
Passport to Adventure, Inc.

Secret Travel Tip for Saving Big on Europe Hotels

Don't let a strong Euro keep you from planning the Europe trip of a lifetime. One of our best money-saving Europe hotel strategies is so simple, you can use it for your very next getaway across the pond. And the money you save will make your moneybelt smile!

Who can resist the allure of Europe? Many travelers have long dreamed of exploring classy Paris, vibrant Rome, charming Salzburg, and other eye-popping European cities. These wonderfully time-honored destinations, brimming with ancient history, colorful sights, bustling street life, and scrumptious cuisine, are so tempting that we hardly can wait to escape to the continent!

Armed with our newly-issued passports, we nail a rock-bottom airfare, arrange an affordable rail pass or car rental from our travel agent, and then begin the internet hunt for "reasonably-priced" accommodations in Europe's most popular places. Of course, we are probably familiar with the discounted bed and breakfast/pension stays, youth hostel options, camping, and others. But what if we still prefer the amenities of a European hotel?

City accommodations "sticker shock" hit us hard when we checked out rates for Ann's favorite hotel in Rome. In 2002 she snared a twin-bedded hotel room in Rome, Italy with buffet breakfast for a mere $85 per room per night. Now the same room costs almost 300% more...a whopping $285! We quickly do the math and realize our "bargain vacation" might be coming close to breaking the bank.

So, what can a Europe-bound traveler on a tight hotel budget do when the good ole dollar exchange rate is hurting? Enjoy a more authentic, relaxing, and less costly experience in Europe. Just venture 20-30 minutes outside the city and overnight in a smaller town right on the main rail line to the big city! Here's a Europe travel tip: begin your search by googling the European national rail sites. Search for something like German Rail Timetable or Austria Train Schedules. For a list of Europe train timetable links country by country, check out: http://europeforvisitors.com/europe/planner/blp_rail_countries.htm

Austria's, for example, is http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en . Maybe you want to stay in the Salzburg area. Look on a map of Austria and locate a town that seems relatively close to your target city. Let's use Zell Am See in this case. Then on the rail website, type that town in the "from" or "departure" space and stick in "Salzburg" as the "destination" on the "to" line. You then can then look up the "intermediate stops" between Zell Am See and Salzburg. Pick one of the towns only two or three stops away from Salzburg on that main train route. Notice that the towns of Hallein, Golling-Abtenau, and Werfen are each just outside of Salzburg on a main Austria rail line between Zell Am See and Salzburg itself.

The next stop is to google Hallein tourism or Golling-Abtenau tourism. Each town invariably will have a website listing affordable acommodations like the cozy, family-run hotels we love. Often for 40%-60% less than just the per night cost of a hotel stay in a big city, travelers using The Trip Chicks "on-the-outskirts" strategy can pin down a delightful hotel room at a super duper price. And guess what? Your low Europe hotel rate probably will include not only a buffet breakfast but a delicious dinner too. What a travel deal! Happy travels, y'all.

The Trip Chicks