Travel Service With a Personal Touch

Three generations of the Bestor family and an extended network of editors, writers, and travel professionals are the Europe travel experts behind Gemütlichkeit: The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria & Switzerland. Based in Ashland, Oregon, we strive at all times to make our customers feel like family.

Over the years, we have saved our customers money by directing them to bargain hotel and rental car deals, suggesting ways to manage their money overseas, and warning how to avoid expensive tourist traps. But we believe the real value of Gemütlichkeit is in guiding travelers to experiences that will create memories for a lifetime: to charming, little-known, off-the-beaten track villages and small, welcoming, family-run hotels. Many of our readers have become regulars at some of the hotels and restaurants we introduced them to, and they continue to return year after year.

What makes us the experts?

We’ve been doing it for a long time. Gemütlichkeit will complete its 20th year of publication in 2006. We are also committed to in-person, onsite research. In 2005, our three main writers—Bob Bestor, Jim Johnson, and Nikki Goth Itoi—spent a combined 120 days in Europe. Our new Switzerland correspondent, Canadian travel writer Roland Reimann, lives there. Editor and publisher Bestor has lost track of how many trips he’s made to Europe, but figures he passed a million commercial air miles a few years ago, and the majority of those have been over the Atlantic.

Andy Bestor, our car rental guru, has booked thousands of rental cars in Europe. He spends all day on the phone guiding our customers to the best deals and warning them about the pitfalls.

To learn more about our approach to travel and the services we provide, read a recent interview with publisher Bob Bestor or see what our some of customers say about their experiences with us.

Ready to plan your trip?

• Start by making your car and hotel reservations at Gemut.com, or call us for advice: 800-521-6722.
• You can also sign up to receive our free e-mail newsletter, Europe Travel Alert.
• Learn about our monthly print subscription options, or subscribe now for instant access to our back issue archive and database of hotel reviews.
• Change the address at which you receive Gemütlichkeit
• Read more about our travel services.