How to choose a “home base”?

Would you care to share which country you are considering?

We are very open to suggestions. Hubby says “castles would be nice”, lol.

We did the Central Europe tour in 2023 and I’ve been to Italy and France.

We are waitlisted for the Alpine MyWay, but hotel breakfasts feature my intolerances for the most part. We considered Scandinavia tour before it booked up.

All that is to say- I’m a little overwhelmed to even know where to start. We’re very active and like a combination of outdoor and indoor things. ETA- All of my trips to Europe have had some element of serendipity- a favorite professor leading, me supervising a group, or a discount on the RS trip at exactly the window we had to travel.

I agree with CJean, it would be good to have a little bit more information; especially the country or countries you are considering.

That said, you might consider an aparthotel, which is basically a hotel that has apartment facilities. Some have just small kitchenettes, while others have complete refrigerators, microwaves, washers and so on. It really depends. Once you give us more info, it will be easier to suggest some places.

As asked, have you narrowed down the country or city you will be in?

In France and UK for example, I think every restaurant I dined at in April asked about food allergies and intolerances. Menus also indicated common allergens

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If you're looking for castles, I would suggest the UK or Germany; both of which who have them in abundance. But those countries aren't included in the My Way tours.

And I would imagine that if you're looking for either an apartment or an apart-hotel, you probably would not be able to get that on a MyWay tour, so you would really need to plan it yourself. But if you do stay in one base for 12 to 14 days, planning it on your own is really not that difficult. The only real logistical issues you would have to deal with would be getting to your base from the airport and back and any day trips you want to take.

So I would start looking for a destination and figuring out if it's possible to do it on your own. Maybe look at some videos or start reading through trip reports here. As I said, if you're looking for castles, either Germany or the UK would be ideal. Scotland especially has so many castles, but England does as well, and Germany has them in abundance.

If I had to pick? Maybe England/ Scotland, Estonia/ Scandinavian countries, and/or Finland?

Germany? I think maybe save that for a tour though. ETA- Is there a good base to work out of in Germany?

Are you comfortable renting a car or do you prefer public transportation combined with small group day tours? That will narrow down your home base.

Again, what time of year?

May- July for travel (I’m a professor).

We would prefer public transportation, but would consider renting a car for some or all of the time.

Thank you for all the replies so far. This is helpful.

If I had to pick? Maybe England/ Scotland, Estonia/ Scandinavian countries, and/or Finland? Germany? I think maybe save that for a tour though. ETA- Is there a good base to work out of in Germany?

There are several good places to base in Germany. And Germany has the advantage of having excellent public transportation. I spent 4 weeks there in 2022, and used the train system for almost all transport. The only time I rented a car when I was staying in a small town that my ancestors came from. The nearest train station was 2.5 miles away, so I opted to rent a car for the 4 nights I was there.

There are a lot of castles in the Rhine area, and that would be a good place to base in. You could explore the northeast area while there, including places like Cologne, Aachen, and Trier. And, of course, explore the Rhine river and take boat cruises down the river.

I also really loved the Black Forest. When I was there, I stayed in Gengenbach, which was a really lovely village. And that got me to a lot of places in that area. You could even take day trips over into Alsace in France, which is very close. For example, Strasbourg is only 40 minutes away by train.

Hi, you might want to do a search on TripAdvisor such as “Castles in Austria”. Look over the photos in the list & see which ones are interesting to you. Then you could build an itinerary around some with outdoor activities, also. Personally, I think there’s a lot to do around Salzburg with the nearby lakes & mountains which could be combined with maybe a boat ride heading towards Vienna for a few days before flying home.

If you’re open to some short group tours, my recent trip reports from Ireland and Scotland might give you some ideas:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/three-days-in-england-s-lake-district-with-rabbie-s-a-mini-trip-report

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-ireland-may-2025-my-trip-report

I forgot I didn’t do a full trip report from my most recent trip. :-) But if you read through the responses too, you’ll see all the day tours I did from Edinburgh.

So, I think Edinburgh or Dublin would make a good home base for you.

For what it's worth, if you're looking to do something on your own, you really can't beat the UK for ease and convenience. I stayed there for 6 weeks in 2024 and it was so easy. I based myself in about 5-6 different places, but usually stayed for at least 5-7 nights. I loved Germany and it's easy to get around, but there is a language barrier than can come into play.

You don't really have that in Scotland or England (except for some strong accents in places, lol!), and there is good public transport in most places, although not so good in the HIghlands and outlying islands. But you could either rent a car or take some small day tours. Rabbies is a very good company and offers some wonderful tours to many outlying places in Scotland and England. https://www.rabbies.com/en-gb

If you have food issues, I would definitely move away from hotel stays to rented flats. You can find these on VBRO or on booking.com. Make sure you check the ratings and reviews prior to booking, but I have not had any difficulties with our stays.

I recently stayed in a lovely property in Amboise (Loire Valley) that would have plenty of castles in close proximity. It had two bedrooms , full kitchen, laundry, dedicated parking, clean, recently renovated and was well located. I paid $125 a night. La Leoardine a duex pas du chateau royal was the property’s name and I booked through Booking.com. It is a strong possibility for the type of base you are describing.

What foods? :-)

GF not a problem in most of Europe.

Shellfish allergy? Easy to manage - don’t order shellfish.

Dairy? Might be harder in northern Europe.

Wine? Drink water.

Need low fiber? Avoiding lectins? Can’t process too much fat?

It would help this community to know.

Germany? I think maybe save that for a tour though. ETA- Is there a
good base to work out of in Germany?

Absolutely. We do home-base travel there all the time and have used several different towns in different parts of the country as home bases with much success. Finding apartments is not difficult for just 2 persons, the transportation network is extensive, and I cannot think of a better country to visit than Germany when it comes to castles.

Mardee was spot on with her suggestion of the Rhine Valley (an easy train trip from Frankfurt airport.) Boppard and St Goar are great home-base towns. (Boppard is unique in that it offers free public transport throughout the area to all guests.) Think also wine tasting, river cruises, and scenic walks/bike rides.

https://www.mittelrheinentdecken.de/en/villages-towns-and-cities/
https://i2.wp.com/herbert-piel.de/wp-44b92-content/uploads/2016/01/Loreleytal.jpg?fit=960%2C641
https://img.fotocommunity.com/marksburg-braubach-bc203e81-d606-4f2f-bb8d-17e275e8ba88.jpg?height=1080

The most intense section for castles, river cruising and sightseeing lies between Koblenz and Bingen. Both Boppard and St Goar are in this segment. See railways, day cruise docks, ferry crossings below:

http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/walking-hiking.php

Right next door is the quieter but equally precious and easy-to-access Mosel River Valley. Cochem makes for an excellent travel base town in this area.

https://www.mosel-inside.de/en/travel-guide/mosel-villages.html

https://img.fotocommunity.com/reichsburg-cochem-mosel-d3c1f03b-fafb-44ea-ae46-aa69ba7ebdb7.jpg?height=1080

https://www.zughalt.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DB11321.jpg

https://d3dqioy2sca31t.cloudfront.net/Projects/cms/production/000/000/151/large/f9f1af55b0f7f2a840a4e3492c98910c/415_BurgEltzMoment_DB.jpg

Mosel railway between Koblenz and Trier:
https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jcr:52c902e9-96b5-4ffd-a359-2c07040efd63/190969-258768.png

Other fine regions of Germany are possible as well using the home-base strategy - I'm happy to share for those as well - but these two sound heaven-sent for your stated needs.

What allergies?

I’m celiac (though that’s easy in Europe).

The others are rheumatoid flare triggers…and the flares are severe. No flare, I can climb mountains. Flare? Joints become immobile and very painful.

I hope to get things managed, but I’m not optimistic for summer 2026; triggers are pork, dairy, eggs, and most fruits (including tomatoes, etc). I like pretty much everything, though. I’ve never been a picky eater. Even so, that’s a lot to ask for on a tour.

ETA- So many great suggestions! I need to dig into these a bit. Thank you.

My suggestion is to look into aparthotels/extended stay hotels. These are usually larger chains that offer kitchens in each room. This includes dishes, cutlery, cookware, etc. Most have laundry rooms and gyms.

I'm doing something similar to what you are doing starting next week. I have some health issues to deal with and staying at an aparthotel is the best course of action for me. (I can prepare my own food.)

This trip, I'm mostly staying with a chain called Adina. They offer small but full kitchens and many of their rooms also have small washers and dryers. I'll be staying 1-2 weeks in each location over a two month period. Austria, Germany and then either Denmark or Switzerland. (Not sure yet.) I get the services of a hotel but the convenience of an apartment.

There are other chains offering this...Staybridge Suites, Residence Inn, Citadines, Fraser Suites, Hyatt House, Adagio, Staycity (Including Wilde by Staycity) and Native hotels.

OP: thanks. And wow - sounds like a lot to manage!

Since pork, dairy, and eggs are triggers, and you need GF, could you specify “vegan GF” plus “no tomatoes?”

Yikes. Yes. You probably do need a kitchen. But asking for GF vegan might be a place to start. Good luck!

You might want to look closer at Germany, where being vegan is really popular, and finding gluten free items is fairly easy too. Staying away from tomatoes and fruits shouldn't be too difficult then. Every grocery store has a plethora of vegan and gluten free items to choose from. Bakeries and cafes that are also gluten free and have vegan items too? Germany has them, especially in the larger cities like Frankfurt, Berlin, etc.

Frankfurt is a good hub for seeing the Rhein, but also for going to medieval towns like Marburg, Büdingen, Limburg, Seligenstadt, Michelstadt, Gelnhausen, Idstein. Nearby is Hessen Park Open Air Museum, the Saalburg Roman fort, Bad Homburg with the only original palace left from the Kaisers, original Staufen castles in Kronburg or Ronneburg. There are a lot of apartment/hotels here.

Ooh I hadn’t thought medieval towns. My history nerd self would love that.

I probably won’t use the vegan/ GF hack (although I can see how that might work for some). I’d be pretty limited and it would feel disingenuous to me to say I was vegan when I’m not. Besides, I do like meat; it keeps me going. Duck, lamb, fish, seafood, snails, beef, horse, goat, chicken. It’s all good to me.

We are on the road today (camped this weekend). When I’m back to my computer I will post a more proper reply to everyone. So many great suggestions!

That is a long time for traveling from one place as a base. Consider dividing into two and do a home base twice.

A great place to do a base is the Cotswolds in England. We used Chipping Campden as a base for six nights (of course you need a rental car). The Volunteer Inn is a great Inn with spacious rooms at affordable prices. You can do the Cotswolds, Bath, Stonehenge, Avebury, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, Blenheim Palace and more.

There are many great places in Europe:
1) Strassbourg, France: From there you can visit the Alsace area of France, the Black Forest in Germany, some of the Rhineland, Switzerland.
2) Salzburg, Austria: you can visit Vienna, Berchtesgaden, Munich, more places in Southern Bavaria and Austria.
3) Tuscany, Italy: Siena or Florence. There are many great small towns and cities to see, including Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra, Lake Trasimene, and more.
4) Take a Greek Island cruise where your cruise ship is your base to visit ports on the mainland and its many islands.
5) Budapest: Take in that wonderful city and visit more places in Hungary as well as other nearby cities in Romania.

If you want castles have a look at Wales, particularly north Wales, you are spoilt for choice.

https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/attractions/castles-and-heritage/10-great-castles-wales-visit

Nearby towns with a medieval flavour include Chester and Shrewsbury.

https://visitcheshire.com/locations/chester
https://originalshrewsbury.co.uk/