Rick et al---
I'm traveling to Bavaria in August 2014. Ten years ago, I enjoyed not making many reservations and stay in "Zimmer Frei's" when I saw the sign posted in people's home windows. Does this phenomenon still occur? I'd love to do this again when I go there in Aug.
I can't confirm that there will be empty rooms in August, but last week as we drove across Southern Bavaria there were 'Zimmer Frei' signs out on many of the houses along the way. The concept appears to be alive and well.
Yes, you still see these commonly.
Thanks everyone! Appreciate the replies.
zimmer (noun) - - room
frei (adjective) - - available/free/vacant
A large/permanent zimmer sign without the frei placard attached, or obviously missing, won't be of much help.
A place might have nothing on the fence today, but may have a zimmer frei sign hanging there tomorrow.
German nouns are capitalized, thus it's Zimmer.
A Zimmer is either "belegt" (occcupied) or "frei" (unoccupied, or a vacancy). If you came back from a trip in this country and said you stayed in vacancies, people would think you were kind of weird. No one can stay in a Zimmer frei because, if you are staying in it, it's belegt, not frei.
And, yes, people still post a sign if they have a room (Zimmer). Usually it has sliding part the shows if the room is currently frei or belegt.
But wandering around aimlessly looking for a Zimmer that is frei is kind of wasteful. If you come into a town without a reserved room, go to the TI office. Better yet, plan your trip better and use the town website in advance to find your accommodation, usually found under Privatzimmer. That allows you to optimize your accommodations for cost, location, and facilities.
You might be surprised at the rise in prices of such accommodations over the last 10 years, veewoolfie. They can vary quite a bit as well. Also, they seem to be dwindling in number, and vacation apartments tend to be somewhat more numerous nowadays (you can see for yourself when you browse the TI accommodations lists that Lee has recommended.)
I routinely reserve rooms in private homes - "Privatzimmer." The more general term, "Privatunterkunft" - private accommodations - includes vacation apartments ("Ferienwohnungen.") And I book those in advance as well. That way I don't have to waste vacation time looking around, and I'll be OK with the price. Apartments can be a very good option - I've traveled solo and used studio and 1-BR apartments at prices roughly equivalent to single Privatzimmer prices (you normally do your own breakfast of course in apartments.)
But if you want to plan day by day, just do as Lee suggests and check the local TI websites in advance - these will have the most comprehensive listings - for whatever towns you hope to visit. Then make a list of your top picks with contact information (well, that's what I would do since my travel goodies never include devices that access the Internet.)
About "Zimmer freis"... Rick Steves himself stays in "Zimmer freis" - at least that's the convoluted wording he uses to refer to Privatzimmer in his TV series - so it's no shocker that his followers do too. He uses "Zimmer Frei" in his B&B article as well, as though it's some different sort of room that is distinct from a Privatzimmer.
"Look for Zimmer Frei, Privatzimmer, or Gästezimmer. These are very common in areas popular with travelers..."
http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/sleeping-eating/bed-and-breakfast-europe
I'm sure his followers also pronounce "Zimmer" with a big impressive "Z-as-in-zoom" sound as well. Oh well. Such skewering of German and other European languages is unavoidable when you only speak English.
And if you check out the ricksteves link above, veewoolfie, you should take with a grain of salt this assertion of Rick's:
"Don't confuse Privatzimmer with Ferienwohnung, which is a self-catering apartment rented out by the week or fortnight."
Most Ferienwohnungen (plural form) in Germany can be rented out for less than a week. Yes, owners would generally prefer to clean up only once per week, but some will give you the same rate per day for just 4 or 5 days. And most will rent for only 2-5 days as long as you pay a small supplement (usually 10% or so) or a cleaning fee or a short-stay rate. I wonder how many folks have been discouraged from trying Ferienwohnungen after reading Rick's assertion that they rent only by the week (or "fortnight," a minimum I have NEVER seen for any apartment rental in Germany.)
I have never stayed at a fewo for a whole week. Once when staying only 3 days, I was charged a higher rate. Once I paid a separate 'final cleaning' fee, which is often, but not always, waived if you stay a week. One of the places I stayed had no minimum stay.
Only once have I stayed in a FeWo, for a week. We had kitchen facilities, but there was no breakfast room in the complex, so we had to fix our own breakfast. They did deliver, for an extra charge, fresh rolls to our doorstep in the morning. The first day we went out and stocked up on coffee, milk, juice, butter, cheese, sliced meat, jam. Well, of course, we ran out of a lot of things around the fifth day and had to restock, but we couldn't buy small enough quantities and had to leave a lot behind. Just something to think about.
And, about Privatzimmer (the plural of Zimmer, by the way, is Zimmer - like sheep). Someone on this site once referred to them as "Frau Schmidt's spare room". Nothing could be further from the truth. Usually, they are in a multi-story private home built for a large family but now occupied by fewer people, and they have converted one floor to rooms, each with its own bathroom. In most places there is a common room for breakfast; in one place our hostess greeted us cherrily each morning in our room with coffee and a basket with rolls, etc. Privatzimmer are not common in the core of larger cities since there are not a lot of private homes there, but I find them common in smaller towns. You are not likely to find them on booking websites, as they are usually economical operations without extra money to spend on commisions; use the town website.
I can think of a lot of Privatzimmer in which I've stayed where there has not been a "Zimmer frei/belegt" sign in the front.
"Well, of course, we ran out of a lot of things around the fifth day and had to restock, but we couldn't buy small enough quantities and had to leave a lot behind. Just something to think about."
Yes, this is inevitable with Ferienwohnungen (FeWos for short) but it's also true that FeWos often come stocked by the owners not only with kitchen tools but with staples like sugar, salt, coffee, tea and the like. After checking in, it's wise to snoop through the cupboards to see what you DON'T need to pick up at the local market.
