I'd love to hear some feedback in this travel forum from travellers who followed the advice and what they experienced. Did it meet or exceeded their expectations? Were they disappointed or even disgusted with situations or circumstances?
As an example: Rick Steves writes about Bacharach and Burg Stahleck. Our son and I decided to stay at the hostel one night (tough to get a reservation in the summer). We were assigned 2 beds in the Turmzimmer (tower room). The 3rd bed in the room was not taken. We were quite happy with that arrangement. But at 9 pm a Japanese student showed up and claimed the 3rd bed. It was his first day in Germany and he spoke very little English. He had no clue how to make up the bed with the bedding provided. We helped him with lots of laughter. We met him the next day for breakfast and exchanged a small gift. As it turned out - the late surprise turned into a pleasant experience.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32249 posts
Herb,
I don't have any comments to offer on "feedback on travel advice". However the situation you encountered in the Hostel is quite typical in my experience. I've been assigned to dorm rooms with other travellers who didn't speak English on several occasions, and always managed fine with that (as you did). I find that one of the most interesting aspects of staying in Hostels.
These days, Google Translate provides some help, but it's not perfect.
Posted by
Ind., United States
318 posts
We have used the RS guidebooks for advice as we traveled many times and have enjoyed some of the best local cuisine we could have hoped for and stayed in hotels that were recommended and were very satisfied. Of course when on a RS tours much of those details were handled for us and we were quite happy. The most outstanding example that comes to mind is when we decided to find a private driver in Poland. We toured Warsaw on our own with our RS guidebook in hand with great success. But in Krakow we not only wanted to tour the city, but we also wanted to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine and The concentration camp of Auschwitz which required transportation outside the city. While planning our itinerary with RS book in hand we found a driver that is recommended. we were afraid that it would be fruitless to contact Andrew since his name was in this guidebook, he surely would be booked. We send him an email anyway, after all, he could only say that he was not available, right? Well he returned our email in less than 24 hours and we were set. He communicated with us between then and our visit and was prompt in picking us up. He is very knowledgable, accommodating, and so helpful. Our visit to this area was greatly enhanced by having Andrew with us! Thank you Rick for the endorsement.
Posted by
San Francisco area
1843 posts
My view, not specific to the Germany forum, is that the information here is quite good. I think of these forums like I think of a wiki page. The more people who have knowledge about a topic then the more likely I am to get an accurate answer from varied viewpoints. So questions involving local transportation or areas to stay etc are likely to be spot on. Narrower topics less so.
Posted by
OP
Langley, BC, Canada
122 posts
Thank you for your replies - especially Pat for sharing your experience using the RS guide book.