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Resorts where car is not required
Could you please list a few resorts that are especially convenient for sightseeing by trains or buses in Europe?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
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Switzerland
Ordinarily I like to have a car, but the Swiss system of trains + buses is outstanding, you can easily do plenty of sightseeing there without a car - use a Swiss pass. In Switzerland, many of the best locations are inaccessible by car anyway.
I highly recommend Anfi Palace Murren - no car needed, or permitted. But you'd want either a country Swiss pass or a regional one.
We also spent a week at Residence Mont-Calme in Haute Nendaz. We had a car for the first part of the week, then turned it in and used trains, buses + legs for the remainder of the week. I would have been happy without a car the whole time, but whether you would depends upon how much territory you want to cover. You can't do the kind of speed-sightseeing carless that you can with a car, and you can't be out as late because you have to be aware of schedules and catch the last bus up the hill. But spend some days walking along the bisses (ancient irrigation ditches), take the cable car up the mountain above Haute Nendaz and keep climbing, train to Zermatt (no cars allowed) to see the Matterhorn, and train/bus to Montreux, Gruyere, etc, and your week will be full.
The scenic train routes are as good or better than sightseeing by car, and certain Swiss passes give you unlimited scenic train rides + free or discounted mountain trains and cable cars, plus boat rides. -
The Petnehazy in Budapest can be easily managed without a car, although it will take a total of about 40 minutes or so to reach the city centre. It is a short 5 min or so walk to the bus stop, plus one short bus ride to the tram stop and one tram ride to the main transport hub in Budapest's Buda side (Moskva Ter). Petnehazy consists of nice log cabin lodges in a country side setting, and Budapest, in my opinion, is one of the prettiest cities in Europe.Comment
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I second the recommendation for Anfi Palace in Muerren. It's in a wonderful location for public transportation. The village of Muerren doesn't even allow cars! If you have a rental car you must park it in the lot down in the valley and take a cable car or tram up to the village.
Carpe Diem in Assisi had a shuttle bus that would take us into town where we could take the train to other towns in the area if we wanted to. This place doesn't get the best reviews but we were very happy with our unit. It really depends on the size and location of the unit you get.
I would love to hear from someone who has stayed at Il Poderino outside of Florence to know if it is pretty easy to be stay there without a rental car.Comment
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Forgot to add that Fitzpatrick Castle outside of Dublin is perfect for someone who doesn't want to drive in Ireland. It's about a 15 minute walk to the light rail (DART) station in the village of Dalkey into Dublin. It's about a 15 trip along scenic coastline into the main part of town.Comment
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Hi Vinolover,
We're booked into the Carpediem Assisi too, for next year, and would love to hear your thoughts on the resort and the general Umbria area (just saw your pictures, and they look nice). Is the shuttle service frequent? Is there a restaurant on site? What were your favourite Umbrian towns? Thanks in advance!Comment
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Ooops, I just saw your review on Carpediem Assisi on another thread. Many thanks!Comment
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Hotel Deutschmeister in Vienna has just a few timeshare units, but it is just outside the Ring, and very convenient to all of the sights of Vienna. In fact, you can walk to many sights. From Vienna it is an easy day trip by rail to Bratislava, Slovakia (also accessible by hydrofoil down the Danube in summer), and Sopron, Hungary, both with interesting medieval old towns. You can also do longer day trips to Budapest and Salzburg by rail.Comment
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wombat
Hi Vinolover,
We're booked into the Carpediem Assisi too, for next year, and would love to hear your thoughts on the resort and the general Umbria area (just saw your pictures, and they look nice). Is the shuttle service frequent? Is there a restaurant on site? What were your favourite Umbrian towns? Thanks in advance!
When we were there (remember this was over 4 years ago so things may have changed) they had a shuttle van than held about 8 people pre-scheduled for a number of trips into Assisi from the resort (about a 10-15 minute trip) every day. We got a got a schedule when we checked in. We could call the reception desk and request seats on the van in advance, then just show up at the pick up point outside the lobby. The van driver spoke no English so we had fun trying out our very poor Italian.
He would drop us off just outside the city walls and we would prearrange to be picked up at a certain time. Worked out fine for us since we didn't have a rental car. But to see areas outside of Assisi we met up with my brother who did have a rental car and was staying in a nearby town.
You could get a cab from the shuttle bus dropoff point to the Assisi train station if you wanted to venture further afield. It's a little too long to walk (remember Assisi is an Italian hill town so the walk down hill to the train station is quite a task).
The shuttle bus stop is just across the street from the bus station so I think you could coordinate with buses to other towns in the region. Carpe Diem did have some scheduled tours and we took one of those one evening to a local winery, the Montelfalco, where we had dinner, a tour, and a wine tasting. The other guests on our tour where either Canadian or French so we had a good time (although the French, while really nice to us since my husband speaks French, had a bias against the Italian wines compared to their French wines
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One of our favorite towns in Umbria was Gubbio, a charming hill town with wonderful views (and great gelato). I recommend walking the trails in the park above the main part of town. We also really liked Deruta for the pottery factories. Recommend Nulli pottery, much nicer than some of the cheaper showrooms (but pretty expensive).
Also really loved the tour of the Eramo monastery just outside of Assisi. Still a working monastery so you must book a guided tour. And of course, you must visit St Franicis's Basilica in Assisi and many of the other churches, such incredible history. We had some of our favorite street food there as well, potato rosemary pizza (sounds weird but was just wonderful) and great shopping in many of the small towns for olive oils and Umbrian wine.
We just didn't love Perugia as much as other people seem to, after being in the smaller towns
something about it just didn't appeal to us.
A few more photos here: http://homepage.mac.com/mkcs1/PhotoAlbum11.html
Have a wonderful trip. I think Umbria is under-rated compared to Tuscanny but is quite beautiful.Comment
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Vienna?
We would love to go back to Vienna and stay in a timeshare but I've NEVER seen anything available. What is this place and how do you get it???Originally posted by CarolinianComment
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It is hard to get - very low supply and rather high demand - and with RCI.Originally posted by vinolover
DAE can also sometimes get a week there through a trading partner, but that is not easy, either.
Most of my trips to Vienna, I have stayed in the Hotel Post, which dates back to the Habsburg era and has a great location just inside the Ring near the Schwedenplatz.Comment
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Thanks very much! Was a bit apprehensive after reading some of the earlier reviews, but I now have a better idea of what to expect at the Assisi timeshare, and am really looking forward to our trip! BTW, loved your pictures on the web-link, especially the ones in Austria and Anfi Muerren. Tempted to now plan another trip ...
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Another timeshare where you would not need a car, but is difficult to get is Allen House in London.Comment
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Schliersee, in Germany
The resort there is a five minute walk to the train station, and then it is only 50 minutes to Munich. I think you could get by without a car.Comment
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