LTU Sale Fares
LTU International Airlines flies to several points in Germany from New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Orlando. High season June 1 to September 30 fares are $898 from L.A., $798 from Miami and Orlando and $749 from New York. For travel during October subtract $100 from those fares, providing tickets are purchased by June 30. Book through a travel agent.
An Easy Bike Trip
For the traveler who would like to do a little - but not too much - bicycling in Europe, and not forgo fine accommodations and cuisine, World Travelers of Mercer Island, Washington, offers a four-day Frankfurt to Heidelberg bike tour. The $575 per person price tag includes hotels, breakfasts, dinners, bicycles, bilingual guides and a support van to carry the heavy stuff. Call 1-800-426-3610.
Northern Rentals
Thatched roof, Friesian houses, some of them with such diverse amenities as pianos, windmills and swimming pools, can be rented in Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein for prices beginning at 1,400 DM ($860) per week. Contact: Gittas Landhäuser Seestrasse 5, D-W-8757 Karlstein/Main, phone 06188-77134.
For Archaeology Buffs
Seminars entitled "Archaeology on the Spot" are offered July 23-29 (480 DM/$298) and November 10-14 (340 DM/$211) in Trier. New discoveries, mostly from Roman times, are constantly being made in the Mosel region between the Eifel and Hunsrück. Amateur archaeologists can take part in excursions to dig sites. Contact: Trier Tourist Information Postfach 3830, D-W-5500 Trier, Germany. Telephone 0651-978 080.
Black Forest Vacation Rentals
Gemütlichkeit believes the best European travel bargains involve renting an apartment, house or condominium. Where does one find good deals? How about the small, southern Black Forest towns of Görwihl and Herrischried where vacation apartments begin at 245 DM ($152) per week.
Opera Tickets
Opera fans should know about Eventnet, a New England firm which can book tickets to all Europe's major opera houses including Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Hamburg and London. Contact: Eventnet, 319 Woodford St., Portland ME 04103-5609, phone 800-729-5609, fax 800-795-7469.
"Fly" an Intercontinental Jet
Aviation enthusiasts yearning to sit at the controls of a Boeing or Airbus jet can do so in one of Lufthansa's flight simulators in Frankfurt, Bremen or Berlin for from 500 DM to 700 DM per hour ($310 - $435). Contact Lufthansa at its main Frankfurt office, phone 069-696 2777, fax 069-696 4599.
Lufthansa Flights from Detroit
Detroit now has new Lufthansa service in the form of three non-stops per week to Frankfurt. The flights are operated by Condor, a Lufthansa subsidiary, and depart Mondays and Thursdays at 5:05 p.m. and on Wednesdays at 9:20 p.m.
Cook's Tour
Gemütlichkeit espouses independent travel to Europe and that is why most of the many tour brochures that cross our desk are discarded. Occasionally, however, when we get wind of something a bit out of the ordinary we pass it on to you. In that category is Herzerl Tours "Austrian Cooking, Wine and Coffeehouses" tour, which claims to give participants an insight into "three things Austrians adore and do well - cooking, growing wine and making coffee." The tour includes cooking classes, private visits to wineries and stops at some of Vienna's oldest coffee houses. From New York, the October 23-30 tour is priced at $1,830 and includes airfare, transfers, first class hotel, breakfast and lunch or dinner each day, two operetta or concert tickets, cooking classes, lectures at coffeehouses and heurigen and an English-speaking guide. Phone Herzerl Tours 212-867-4830.
Heidelberg Packages
We receive many press releases from local tourist offices promoting discount prices for multi-night stays. It indicates to us that one of the first places to start looking for bargain hotel rates is the tourist office of the towns one plans to visit. Heidelberg, perhaps Germany's most expensive small city, offers "Three Days in Heidelberg with a Heart" priced from 197 DM ($121) and including two nights lodging, breakfasts, entrance to the castle, a city tour and a Neckar cruise. Contact: Heidelbert Marketing, Postfach 105860, D-W-6900 Heidelberg, phone 06221-10823, fax 06221-165108.
Lugano Package
Lugano, another town that can wreak havoc with a travel budget, offers a "Romantic Lugano" package that includes three overnights, breakfasts and dinners, unlimited travel on local urban transport, a funicular ride to Mont Bre, a train trip to Ponte Tresa, a boat ride to Morcote and entrance to several museums. Per person prices are 214 Sfr. ($146) for a two-star hotel, 319 Sfr. ($217 ) for a three-star hotel, 433 Sfr. ($294) for four-star accommodations and 595 Sfr. ($405) for a five star hotel. Contact: Ente Turistico Lugano Riva Albertolli 5, CH-6901 Lugano, Switzerland, phone 091-21 46 64, fax 091-22 76 53.
(U.S. Dollar prices quoted in this issue of Gemütlichkeit may be inaccurate for these reasons:
* Prices in local currency have not been updated since the date of publication of this newsletter, and...
* The dollar prices shown were obtained by using exchange rates in effect at the time of publication.)
May 1993
