I have one piece of lodging advice for any traveler that plans to bypass the “one-day, one-city” approach to a week of European travel, and decides instead to explore a single city or region from a home base. Do not stay at a hotel. No, I am not suggesting roughing it in hostels or tents – I did this when I was traveling Europe in my teens, and those experiences are best left to those in their teens. The best way to immerse yourself and the family in real European culture is to find an apartment.
I understand that there are travelers who are more relaxed experiencing a foreign country during the day, knowing that a large, American style hotel awaits them at the end of the day to give them the free morning breakfast, 70 cable stations, and $5.00 bottles of beer from the mini-bar. I’m talking to the intrepid few that look to move beyond the guidebook “must-see” locales, and wish to experience the local culture first-hand, in a neighborhood where people really live and not where souvenirs are sold at every turn.
Apartment websites are nearly as plentiful as hotel sights (I’ve had great success with rentvillas.com), and many offer photo albums of each address, along with testimonials from previous dwellers. One fantastic side benefit of living with the locals is that the cost is often cheaper than a hotel if you are leasing for at least a week. This is especially the case if you, like me, have more than four in your family, and staying at a hotel means expensive suites, multiple rooms or, worse yet, jamming the whole family into one room. We were greeted at our apartment in Paris by a representative carrying fresh rolls and orange juice for us, which was very welcome at the end of a long trip over the Atlantic.
An apartment can mean cooking once or twice, which allows for a chance to make friends with a butcher, and the wine merchant. If you’re not careful, you may even learn a bit of the language as you decide on cheeses with the local grocer. The kids will most likely have a sunny park close by in which to burn off energy, and you will discover local haunts that will create memories far richer than the tourist trap eateries near the major sites. My wife and I have even traveled with walkie-talkies, so we can feed the kids in the apartment and have a quiet dinner at the cafe across the street, yet still be in contact with the offspring.
Are there any downsides? Sure – there’s no maid service, and apartments don’t have lobbies, so make sure that you confirm when the landlord should be at the apartment to let you in. When arriving in Rome, the family and I waited outside the building for almost 20 minutes before the landlord came. We had miscued on our arrival time. No matter, an hour later we were still enjoying the serpentine cobbled streets surrounding the Piazza Navona.
berowne.com 