Tell us a little bit about your most recent Untour.
It’s been several weeks now since we returned from our Rhine Untour and we quite often wish we were back there.
The ‘Mittelrhein’ is simply gorgeous, especially so when blessed with the perfect weather we were lucky enough to get. It’s wine country wrapped in history — or is it the other way around? Our trip went off without a hitch — the UnTours preparations were, as usual, spot on and we had no trouble getting to the charming village of St. Goar. Our apartment was better than we had hoped for, ideally located, comfortable, and supported by a charming and helpful landlord, Herr Huppertz. The village was an excellent base from which to use our railroad and river boat passes to explore the region and visit several other equally, or nearly equally, charming villages and towns along “Vater Rhein”. We got out and about every day and covered quite a bit of the region but we surely could have enjoyed a second week there (we booked only one week as we had commitments in Berlin).
What is your favorite UnTours memory?
If I can cite a favorite memory, it would be an unspecific one: it was simply the feeling of being back in Germany again. Both Meg, my wife, and I have extensive, if long ago, previous experience of living in Germany. But neither of us had ever visited the Mittelrhein before! Just to be footloose and fancy free in Germany again, and in a completely new-to-us part of Germany, was wonderful; entirely new and yet comfortable and familiar at the same time.
How is UnTours different from other approaches to travel?
Our experience of other means is somewhat limited because “tours” are not for us: on the bus, off the bus, see this, eat that — definitely not for us! We have mostly traveled on our own, making our own plans and arrangements. With UnTours, we have experienced an autonomy and freedom similar to that of being entirely on our own, but with the added benefit of well-informed advance preparations and available support, if needed, during the trip.
If you could describe an Untour in just 3 words, what would they be?
UnTours in three words? Freedom! With Support! (Yeah, that may sound like an ad for undergarments, but what can you expect on a three word budget?)