DIYTravelEurope

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Apartment accommodation at Bacharach, Germany

Ferienwohnungen Kachel
Blücherstr. 148
55422 Bacharach, Germany
2 bedroom apartment
Booked via booking.com

Criteria : free parking, non-smoking, fully-equipped kitchen

This is a family run apartment hotel, with 3 available apartments. I booked the cheapest and it turned out to be on the 2nd floor, no lift, so not a good choice when it comes to moving suitcases. Choose the ground or 1st floor apartment instead.

Parking is out on the street, in a limited lots parking area quite near to the apartments, so it's not a problem, during off-peak season in Oct, when we were there.

The wifi is not that good at the 2nd floor apartment. Other than that, it's a pretty spacious apartment, with the living rm, dining rm and kitchen together, 2 separate bedrooms and the toilets.

Although it's facing the road, it's quiet if the windows are closed.

The host Ingrid could speak well English and provides a variety of local info on Bacharach.

The hotel is located just 30 minutes on foot from Bacharach. We would walk to the local bakery in the morning to buy our breakfast. The butter croissant and the almond tart are excellent.

Why did we choose Bacharach ?

Bacharach is right alongside the Rhine river and Rick Steves did indicate that from Bacharach southwards to Bingen, there is a cycling path, so we thought we could also take a walk. Well, we didn't discover that. However while driving from Bacharach to Koblenz beside the river, the cyling track hugs the river most of the way. A bike rental shop is available in Bacharach.
We wanted to do some walks, apparently quite many, but information is mainly in german on the internet.
Moreover, the tourist office staff at Bacharach didn't help much. She was almost to the point of being rude and ungracious. We were told to buy maps for the walks.
This was our first attempt in Germany and also to see how much we can manage without knowing German.

Hotel accommodation at Troyes, France

Ace Hotel Troyes
89 route d'Auxerre
10120 Saint-André-les-Vergers
France

Criteria : free parking, double room, non-smoking, lift

This was our stopover rest for 1 day from Lake Thun Switzerland on the way to Le Havre France. We wanted something out of town, free parking and non smoking rooms. Moreover, Booking.com had a promotion for a triple room (same price as a double room) but of course the triple room is bigger, so I booked it.

The checking was easy, no fuss. Then they asked us if we wanted breakfast. At 6.70€ per person, and buffet type, why not ?

The room was fairly big, and everything looked clean and proper. It was pretty cold at night, so we turned on the heating. There's also another heater in the shower room, which you have to turn on several times, as the heater does not run continously. After a while, the shower room was also warm.

We turned up early for breakfast. Typical French fare : croissant, pain au chocolat, bread, coffee, tea, milk, fruit juices, yoghurt, compote de fruit, a water heater for boiling eggs to your desired level of hardness...not bad.The croissant and pain au chocolat were excellent, so was the café crème and capuccino laced with cacao, even though the hot drinks came from a machine which churns out freshly ground coffee on the spot.

We enjoyed our breakfast heartily. At such a good price, the room and breakfast were worth it.

2 nearby French chain of restaurants :

CourtePaille (grill meat restaurant)
La Criée (seafood restaurant)

If you have the time, you could make a stop at Factory Outlet Shopping at McArthurGlen Troyes.

Hotel accommodation at Compiègne, France

ibis Compiegne
18, rue Edouard Branly, ZAC de Mercières, 60200 Compiègne, France

Criteria : free parking, double room, non-smoking, no lift here

It's our stop-over from Brittany to Luxembourg. We like the location as it's quite close to the river Oise.
After dinner, we would take a stroll along the river. The next morning, it was foggy and the whole river seemed almost mystic. We also took a walk after breakfast.
It's also close to some French budget chain restaurants on the other side of the highway, and some fast food restaurants as well. Just drive along Rue Ferdinand de Lesseps beside the river until you see a round-about. On your right, at the round-about, you will see Chronodrive, and 2 restaurants, Léon de Bruxelles and Del Arte. We tried the latter italian restaurant for pasta : the linguine with spianata was reasonably tasty.
We didn't try the hotel breakfast option, too costly at 9.80€ per person. There's a nice café called la Seigneurie, located just about the same way, instead of stopping at the round-about as mentioned above, continue straight ahead after the round-about and you will see Burger King and then this café. They offer set breakfast at 6,50€, for 4 mini viennoiseries(pastries) and 1 coffee or tea.