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Accommodation

Hotels, inns, guest houses and bed & breakfast

For most of the route there is a wide variety of accommodation. Hotels vary from expensive five-star properties to modest local establishments. Hotels and inns usually offer a full meal service, guest houses do sometimes. B&Bs, which in Germany and Switzerland can be recognised by a sign zimmer frei (rooms available), generally offer only breakfast. Tourist information offices will normally telephone for you and make local reservations. After hours, many tourist offices display a sign outside showing local establishments with vacancies. Booking ahead is seldom necessary, except on popular stages in high season, but it is advisable to start looking for accommodation soon after 1600. Most properties are cycle-friendly and will find you a secure overnight place for your pride and joy.

Prices vary between countries, with Switzerland the most expensive. On stages following the Swiss–German border, it is cheaper to cross to the German side of the river for overnight accommodation. Compared with equivalent accommodation in the UK, Swiss and Dutch rooms are more expensive, Austrian, French and German rooms are around the same. One unusual way of overnighting in Switzerland is schlafen im stroh (sleeping in the hay), where you stay in a haybarn, often on a remote farm. To use this facility you need a sleeping bag and torch. It is strictly no smoking of course!