copilot

Many thanks to Ingo and all those who responded re: our itinerary for Eastern Germany. Your comments helped us tweak our plans, and we are so excited! This travel opportunity came up at the last minute, or we would have planned much further in advance. Now though, we are encountering problems booking hotels in the smaller towns.

I have located hotels in Erfurt and Dresden, but cannot find anything in Quedlinburg or Annaberg-Buchholz. Any suggestions? We would prefer to be in town, and find something cheap (40-90 Euros per night), but obviously that isn't going to happen since we couldn't plan in advance. We don't need fancy accommodations, as long as they're clean, with hopefully a private bath. But we are in Quedlinburg for 5 nights, so I'd like something we don't dread going home to each night.

For Quedlinburg, there is a Hotel Garni just outside Wernigerode; any thoughts on that? www.hotel.de also lists some other hotels 10-15 miles from Quedlinburg.

For Annaberg-Buchholz, the only options are 15-20 miles away. I found one hotel listed under Scwarzenberg, (which we planned to visit too), the Parkhotel, which says it is 15 min from Schwarzenberg's Old Town.

Ingo, or others who know the area, are we better off, since we have a car, just choosing hotels a few miles from the towns? The only other option I can think of is to e-mail the town tourist offices to see if they can assist in booking rooms in private homes. We just returned from a trip to Croatia where we did that, and it generally worked out fine. Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Fernweh

In Q-burg check out the Hotel Zu Goldenen Sonne. It is located downtown not far from the train station or if you drive has a private parking lot. The hotel (www.hotelzurgoldenensonne.de) dates back to 1671 and offers a breakfast buffet, has a restaurant and an (inside) biergarten.

GSteed

Small towns usually have hotels not listed internationally. Highway motels abound in today's Europe. December is a 'slow month' especially in large cities.

chtiet

Also try www.hrs.de

Ingo

It is late for booking (especially Erzgebirge and Dresden, btw - I am surprised you found a cheap accommodation in Dresden for this time!) but not too late!

For Quedlinburg: sorry, no personal recommendation. But you might consider staying in Wernigerode, which is similar, charming and picturesque too (and more centrally located if you plan to stay for 5 nights). There is a very nice hotel in W. called "Am Anger" where I personally and American friends of mine have stayed before. We were very pleased.

http://www.harz-online.de/index.html...niger/amanger/

You can even check availability and book through this site. English version available too. Room rate is about 80 Euro.

For Annaberg-Buchholz: If you speak/read German, you might try www.annaberg-buchholz.de They have listed a good number of hotels/pensions/apartments.

I check the site and found these:

Hotel Garni Alt-Annaberg, 46-60 Euro, breakfast not included
http://www2.annaberg-buchholz.de/allsuite.htm

Pension Winkler "Am Wolkensteiner Tor", 46-52 Euro
www.winkler-reisen.de

Gasthaus and Pension "Zum Türmer", from 40 Euro,
www.zum-tuermer.de

Apartments Kamprad, rates about 70 Euro per night, still available the days you'll be there.
www.ferienwohnung-kamprad.de

Schwarzenberg is a good choice, too, though I think there is more to see and do in Annaberg and the latter is more centrally located for day trips.

If you choose Schwarzenberg, there is an old inn right at the market square wher you can rent an apartment.
www.gasthaus-sonne-schwarzenberg.de

The Parkhotel, which you mentioned, is a nice hotel, but unfortunately located 15 minutes walking outside the town. Beautiful views, though. Please keep in mind it will be (hopefully!) winter with snow covered paths and streets ... I would not want to walk a couple of times a day 15 minutes uphill ...

Please let me know if I can help further.

Ingo