I don’t mind that set up at all. Stayed in someone’s place in Split, Croatia 5 minutes walk from the ancient city. My partner and I had our own spacious bedroom with a family who were advertising the room at the Split train station. It was 20 euros a night (around 15 years ago). I think we even got breakfast out of it although it wouldn’t have mattered because food was quite cheap there.
I have used VRBO a bunch and haven’t been misled about the situation in terms of renting the whole place vs just a room with Al Bundy in the living room.
This triggered a memory from a past trip: I booked a room in a small place in Mexico via looking at a travel book and a phone call. This was 2002. Got there late in the evening, gates locked and nobody there. Some other renter heard us knocking, and essentially helped us get into the compound where we found our room and went to bed. House keepers were really shocked to find us sleeping there in the morning. Weird to think about essentially breaking into a property and going to sleep in a foreign country now. Doubt I’d do the same today.
How long ago was that? Most listing I have seen make it very clear if you have the entire place or it is a room. There are also lots of pictures of every place we have ever stayed.
My preference depends on the purpose of the trip. For a short business trip I almost always prefer a hotel. If it is my wife and I, it depends on where we are going and why. We have stayed in some great walk-able neighborhoods with local coffee shops and restaurants and have been able to experience a city in a different way by using AirBnB that wouldn’t be possible staying in a hotel.
I have also stayed in someone’s spare room for a single night. It was obvious from the listing that’s what it was, but the experience was a little weird. I got there around 11 PM so the host let me in and showed me to my room. Walking down the hall her 6ish yo steps out of his bedroom and just stares at me. I got up fairly early, did a quick workout, got cleaned up and headed out the door without seeing anyone else. It was more than 50% less than any hotel that was even remotely close to the the suburbs near the place I was headed that day, which is what I needed for this particular trip.
Right, having the entire place to yourself is a filter option. For Paris I’m looking at properties under $50 (plus some extra charges) that would allow me to have the entire place to myself. For Nice I have 2 days with other hosts, but I could still change that.
The big unknown in my trip is Switzerland. It is not clear yet whether they will allow tourists from the US, and I wouldn’t mind spending a day in Geneva since it’s close to where my mountain drive ends (Thonon-les-Bains). Otherwise I go straight to Lyon.
I don’t do all this because I can’t afford a nicer hotel. I have stayed in many hotels with my bridge tournament play and I simply don’t need much. I’ve gotten hotels on two trips before for about $80 and they were just fine. Some of the offerings on Air BnB look homier.
2 weeks and 3 days to go.
Seems like everything is open and I should be able to get around. Some amount of time will be spent in Paris (1) filling out forms to leave Europe, (2) filling out forms to transit thru Heathrow, and (3) getting a return-trip COVID test probably at the CDG airport for free (haven’t seen where other options might exist), but I’m also just going to bring my proof of vaccination and hopefully they’ll let me on my way.
In the past I got a mobile wifi hotspot, a physical device. This time I’m getting a sim card with 12GB of data for my phone, hopefully that goes off without a hitch. I am also bringing 10+ pages of map printouts in case the wifi gets spotty as I drive through the mountains.
So far I’ve paid the taxes on my frequent flyer flight ($166), purchased 8 nights of humble Air B&B lodging ($474), rented a car for 2 days ($90), paid for a Bus from Geneva to Lyon ($6) and a high-speed train from Lyon to Paris ($43), and purchased my data plan ($27). Cost for all this: barely over $800. No doubt meals, admissions, and fuel will more than double that.
It looks like you had everything planned very well. How did the trip go? Did you visit all the places that you wanted to visit?
I also want to travel to Europe this summer, but my main direction is Germany. This summer they made a cheap train ticket for only 9 euros. It allows you to use almost all the trains in-country and see so many beautiful places. I am glad that I will not have to spend hundreds of dollars on travel expenses. I think that you can still get it at DB Auskunft und Bahn Fahrplanauskunft. I hope that foreigners can also buy them and I will not have to waste lots of money on buses and trains.
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I hear Russia has some nice scenery
The major problem with the trip is that my phone wouldn’t work with the sim card I purchased so i didn’t have data all the time. I could pull up maps on Google maps when i had internet, and then the blue dot would still show where I was when the internet was gone. Also, in order to fly in and out of London Heathrow you had to fill out a passenger locator form. So I had to purchase a basic flip phone at the internet cafe in order to confirm my identity and get on with my life.
Otherwise, the timing was great. The plane was only half-full. I put myself between two premium seats and had the entire 3-seat row to myself both directions. April/May and September are good off-peak months to go. My plane out of London Heathrow was delayed 3 hrs so I was entitled to $300 of compensation despite booking with frequent miles and got there at 5pm instead of 2pm.
I visited Nice for a day and a half, briefly popping over to Monte Carlo. Then i rented a car and spent two solid days driving through the French Alps which was a lot of fun. Finished up in Geneva Switzerland for a day, then Lyon for a day, and then a few more days in Paris. Weather was lovely, I’ve had very good luck with weather on my three trips.
I’m thinking of driving the Pyrenees and going to Spain/Portugal next time, or possibly visiting other cities in England.
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