Europe Through the Back Door – Two Wheels Edition

Rheinfells, Schauffhausen Switzerland
 the beginning of the Rhein River

 OK, OK, Europe through the Back Door (ETBD) is a Rick Steves terminology, and may even be copy-righted by him, but the concept of his descriptor was that he was showing people how to see the ‘real’ Europe, and experience people and places not on the main stream Tour company’s radar screens. Rick, rightly so, has become part of the main stream now, his impact on travel since we started in 2004 (he was virtually non-existent back in 1991) is such that he has his own tours now, sells an extra-ordinary amount of books, literally gives away his advice in YouTube videos, and on public television. And frankly I love his approach because when he travels he stays in the small little places. I am a fan.

 Unfortunately his tours go to the small places, but now due to their size they stay in more upscale places, a demand by the primarily US consumer. Also, he has made some places so popular, they are on the radar screen now. I know Rick  took a swipe at Tripadvisor and Booking.com back 2 years ago because they are in our mind the most efficient aggregators of tourism information and accommodations. He viewed them as travel Nazi’s, and I gave hom our feedback.  I mentioned back in 2011 the entrepreneur in Sighisoara, Romania used Booking.com exclusively as his booking agent and for the 15% cut they took, it was cheaper than him hiring staff to manage his bookings and website. Booking.com did it for him.

In 2013 we stopped in NeuRavensburg Germany, just outside Switzerland and that evening happened across a small village gathering of people who came to a social gathering place to hear a Hamburg “BigBand” and enjoy some drinks and food on a warm early July night. The village was maybe 100 people large, so we stood out. And the host purposely sat English speaking villagers with us so we could enjoy and converse with them. They all asked “Why are you here?” And of course it was partly we are just passing through, and we are curious.

This year we have taken it a bit further. For two separate days we have purposely stayed in non-tourist towns, Uhlingen- Birkendorf at the Gasthaus Zum Schwanen,

Zum Schwanen

and today in Stuhlingen at the Landgasthof Rebstock. Both are in Germany, technically in the Black Forest, but very close to the Swiss border.

These places ; U-B in particular have maybe 100 people maximum in them, Stuhlingen probably 500-600. They are very German, little or no English spoken unless you approach a young person which we did in U-B. The meal we had last evening was excellent, Gasthaus’ being both pub/restaurant and Hotel and small, maybe 8 rooms at best. Very nice rooms, very good food, reasonable prices on everything and fresh ingredients, farm produce (oh the cheeses are out of this world!), and spectacular beer. Our host at Zum Schwanen

Family Schwanen

tells us we are the first Canadian’s to stay at his place. It’s nice to be the first at something! Our walk through the village which is on a hill overlooking the Swiss Alps, has million dollar views, and the smell of fresh cut hay, and yes some manure. There is even a board in the village that has everyone’s last 3 digits of their phone number on it. And German beds are the best to sleep in.

At Rheinfells

Today, in the rain, we drive to Stuhlingen, which is right on the Swiss border. We decided to go to Schaffhausen, back in Switzerland, to see the Rheinfells, Essentially the Falls where the Rhein river begins its journey from Lake Constance in Switzerland, to the North Sea and has been the economic throughfare for barges dating back to the middle ages at least. There as we enter the motorcycle parking a couple wave to us, and call out, “We loved Niagara Falls!”. We laugh as they walk away.

Petra (Peewee) and Berndt

A few minutes later we are down by the falls and they come back up to us and ask if we’d like them to take our picture, so we agree, and then begin chatting and taking pictures of each other. They are from Berlin and have recently hosted an American on motorcycle, and while they aren’t currently riding bike, they own Honda Valkyries’.  They have a lot of interest in Canada and have visited a few times before so we exchange cards. We hope they come so we can show them our neck of the woods.

So how did we find these great little places? Well I looked at a map that was about the riding distance we wanted for one day ( 300-350 kms) and then checked on Booking.com for larger centres around there. Based on the ratings you can tell the good establishments and we booked them. Go to the map view of the places and find ones that aren’t in the big centres but a ways away. They have both been wonderful, with this last one even opening up the garage to park inside since it’s raining again.

So what I’m getting at now with the internet, the information available using resources like Rick Steves, and Booking.com and Trip Advisor you can source very good reasonable accommodation, not far from the main centres, but that allow you to have a personal experience that can’t be recreated by buying a ticket. Our son and daughter-in-law have experienced a similar feeling by travelling off season and visiting the Christmas markets in European cities. Either way allow your curiosity to take you to new off the beaten path or back door locations. And while we are on motorcycle this is a travel tip that works for anyone.

Landgasthof Rebstock

Rebstock Family