Metzingen is a city about 240 km from Frankfurt and for us staying at Ühlingen-Birkendorf, 170km, a little more than 2 hrs drive.
Many many shops here :
http://www.outletcity.com/en/metzingen/
Opening hrs :
Mon - Fri : 10am to 8 pm
Sat : 9 am to 8 pm
Sun : closed
Free parking : car parks P5, P6, P7
This is supposedly the biggest factory outlet in Germany and therefore we came with great expectations.
Firstly, there wasn't any clear signage for car parks P5, P6 and P7, where one can park for free. After circling the shopping area, we happened to stumble upon these car parks.
For directions, if you are on Reutlinger Str, turn into EichbergstraBe. You will see Polo Ralph Lauren and then Prada on your left. Go on straight ahead and you will find P4, P5 and P6 on your right, P4 of course isn't free.
The prices are not great, as some have mentioned before here, except for maybe Hugo Boss suits in her sample shop.
We left soon after, disappointed.
Of course, don't forget about tax-free shopping if you intend to make many purchases.
Area of Stay : Beaufort in Luxembourg
There are 3 main routes and 4 Extratour trails. The trails are easy and runs through forested areas now and then.
We were glad to make it here, as we haven't heard about this place at all where we are living.
Moreover, it's close to autumn time and the leaves are changing colours, so it's really beautiful.
Our lodging apartment was right next to trails B1 and B4, in Beaufort, so it's easy to take a stroll in one of the Mullerthal trails here.
We also did a section of the trail B2 starting from the tourist office in Berdorf. The rock formations, majestic walls and beautiful autumn colours make the walk even more exhilarating !
I believe that this is truly a underrated attraction.
Name of Airbnb : Apartment - Wohnung @Black Forest
Host website : Schwarzwald Holiday
Room Type : Entire Home/Apartment
Area : Ühlingen-Birkendorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Why did we choose this area ?
We wanted to stay in the Black Forest area, and my research indicated that I could do some walks in nearby Feldberg and Lake Schluchsee, and also visit Lenzkirch.
- Communication with Sue has been easy before our trip. We messaged her via Airbnb the night before that we expected to arrive just after 2 pm and she was there to welcome us.
- She's a really warm and generous person and we felt at ease immediately.
- We stayed on the first floor, with our own entrance and Sue's family is staying right on site on the ground floor, with an interconnecting door between us.
- The apartment is spacious and we liked what she provides : her stainless steel pots and crockery, toaster, coffee maker, water heater jug, etc...things you'd use at home are there. She even places a service bell for us to ring her, but we never had to, cos she'd be looking out for us to see if we were alright.
- My wife wasn't feeling too well and we asked to turn on the heating. Sue never hesitated in any way and even asked us to use her kitchen fully.
- The house is located right on top of a hill, the view is wonderful and a wonderful place to be in the Black Forest. We walked around her neighbourhood at night after dinner to partake the fresh air.
- Generous in every way, she gave us her garden tomatoes, a bit of salad and her home made berries jam. She offered to buy us bread in the morning, which we declined, and helped us with our laundry. She provided info on where to go, to eat and the local supermarket. We didn't manage to do a lot as my wife was a bit sick.
- We visited Feldberg and Lake Schluchsee and found a good bakery and butcher in Tiengen. Sue gave us some parting biscuits the night before we left.
- As this was our first Airbnb experience in Germany, we are very happy to have Sue as our host. She's very passionate about her work and we shared tips on health exercises. We really enjoyed our short stay with Sue and Roland.
Name of Airbnb : Pfrundmatte
Room Type : Entire Home/Apartment
Area : Aeschi bei Spiez, Bern, Switzerland
- Communication with Andreas has been quite easy. He asked us to call his mum Julia about our ETA, which we did, and when we arrived, we were quite surprised to see him, waiting to receive us.
- He is very warm and that put us at ease rightaway. He then explained clearly and in detail on how to use his studio apartment. We were so happy to be using his place for the next 6 days.
- Firstly, it's a chalet located at 750m altitude overlooking Spiez and Lake Thun. His apartment is on the first floor, with 2 other apartments but his balcony offers beautiful views morning and night over the valley and lake.
- Secondly, it's very modern, comfortable and as it's quite cold, we turned on the heating in the living and bedroom.
- Thirdly, the kitchen has everything provided, tea, coffee, coffee maker, water heater jug, toaster, a big fridge and even a dishwasher. When we ran out of dishwasher tablets, more were brought over, as they don't stay on site. Julia. Andreas' mum, also came over the next day to show us how to use the washing machine, which is located in the basement. There's also a lift, which makes it easy to transport our luggage. We didn't have any issues, and when we asked them, their response or solution was quick.
- There's a supermarket, restaurants, butcher, and a good bakery nearby (the butter croissant is really delicious).
- If you like native Swiss Alps music, you hear it everyday, cow bells ringing in the pastures right in front, as there's a cattle farm. And church bells chiming from behind...
- It's only 35 min from Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, so convenient a location to your Swiss adventure in the Alps.
- We also took small walks further up from his place, after dinner, to enjoy the fresh air.
- Finally, we really enjoyed staying in his place, and we'd soak in the big bathtub to ease our fatigue from the mountain walks. It was our first Airbnb experience in Switzerland and we are delighted to have Andreas and Julia as our hosts.
Name of Airbnb : La Sanvicaise
Room Type : Entire Home/Apartment
Area : Le Havre, Haute-Normandie, France
- Communication with Yveline has been easy and reponsive before our arrival. We told her our ETA and she was there to welcome us.
- She briefed us on her house and we fixed a time for us to see each other again for the goodbye.
- It's a 3 storey house located on a hill right above Le Havre city centre. Her son stays on the ground level only for the weekend but we didn't see him. We parked our car right inside the compound here.
- On the first floor, the living room is on the right (when you face the house), dining room and kitchen on the left, and another living room right behind, with full height windows, facing a huge garden.
- On the 2nd floor, 2 rooms, a twin bed and a double bed on each side of the staircase, with the bathroom in between. The front of the whole house faces the south, so it's bathed and warmed in the morning light as the sun rises.
- It was pretty cold in Oct, so Yveline had the heaters turned on slightly. For us, it still felt cold. Fortunately, there's a portable heater that we could use and we place it to use wherever we felt cold.
- She provides a lot of information in a file, what to do, nearby shops, restaurants to eat, etc... This was our 2nd time in Le Havre but this time we stayed longer, to know it better.
- It's very convenient here, near to the Le Grand Cap Shopping Centre, where there's also the huge hypermarket Auchan, to the Parc de Montgeon, and to the city centre or the coast.
- We visited Etretat for the 2nd time but at sunset, Le Tréport, St Valery sur Somme and Fécamp.
- In town, we shopped at Docks Vauban and Espace Côty and Le Grand Cap nearby.
- We also enjoyed eating seafood : lobsters, turbot, "bar", "bulot", scallops, oysters and mackerel, all so fresh and cheap, that we had lobsters and turbot twice.
- Yveline's kitchen came in handy, her induction pots heat up really fast and of course, pretty well equipped for our cooking, and the dishwasher as well.
- Yveline also provides a paid option to engage a cleaning lady at the end of our stay. Though we always clean up the kitchen and clear trash at every Airbnb home, we may not have the same yardstick as to the standard of cleanliness, so we took up the option.
- It's a quiet neighbourhood. It's also our first Airbnb experience in France and we had a wonderful stay thanks to Yveline.
Name of Airbnb : Seaside holiday cottage in Brittany
Room Type : Entire Home/Apartment
Area : Trédrez-Locquémeau, Brittany, France
- We stayed 7 days here in Oct. People may be taken aback by signing a contract for the stay, but it didn't prevent me from trying this place in Brittany.
- Emmanuel's mum Mme Guegan welcomed us, and had to drop by another day to give us toilet rolls. She came back on the final day to take note of the meter, and we paid her cash for the electricity consumed during our stay, which didn't amount to much, so it was really worth it.
- The weather however was about 4 to 16 deg C everyday, so the house was quite cold for us who are from SE Asia. Although we turned on the radiator to heat the shower rm, living or bedrm, it didn't work so efficiently(maybe due to humidity), so the heating may feel inadequate. Lighting up the fireplace helps, so people who come here in cold weather might have to buy firewood from the supermarket.
- The other difficulty is that the access road to the house is slightly steep and narrow, so parking, getting out, and moving suitcases may be a problem for some, and those with mobility issues might have also face some difficulty.
- All in all, we were quite happy with our stay despite these minor issues. We were lucky to have pretty good weather despite all odds, and we visited places that we like, especially the markets and the beaches.
Name of Airbnb : Studio in Luxembourg's Little Switzerland
Room Type : Entire Home/Apartment
Area : Beaufort, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg
- Chris was quite easy to reach via Airbnb and he responds quite readily. Normally, we were not supposed to see him on our arrival, but he turned up as he had to prepare our beds and other linen.
- We hadn't been able to find his place and had to call him. Then later at his door, it was hard to hear him over the internet phone on how to open his apartment. So we were glad to see him arrive.
- Once you enter the correct road to the parking, you will see the Chinese restaurant Le Phenix on the right. Just head towards the end of the parking and take the lift to level 2. You have to go half a level down to his apartment.
- As it was pretty cold in Oct, we were quite glad that his apartment was warm due to the presence of a huge radiator.
- Beaufort is situated at 700+m altitude. His place is a studio apartment where the bedroom, living rm and the kitchen are together. There's also a balcony plus a huge sitting area balcony extension. It's also located right next to the Mullerthal trails B1 and B4, so it was very convenient.
- We also did another trail B2 near Berdorf. The leaves have changed colour, so it was beautiful.
- The Mullerthal trails are truly under-rated and for us, we were happy to make it here and to experience this wonderful area of Luxembourg.
- All in all, we enjoyed our short stay of 3 days here. It was warm and cosy, important for us as we come from SE Asia and so being warm where we stay is important.
