Lodging

We have a general idea of how we want to move about the countries with regards to lodging. We don't want to spend a lot of dough. We don't really want to stay in hotels for money reasons, plus it's a bit isolating from the real community. Ideally we'd like to stay with local families as much as possible. It's much cheaper, and it would allow us to get to know some locals that are eager to boast of their town or country. On the other hand, we aren't necessarily interested in staying at the party-central type of hostels.

Europe:

• HomestayWeb - http://www.homestayweb.com/euhome.html - Families that have registered to provide lodging for fellow travellers as ourselves for a fee. as 10/8/2008
• HospitalityClub - http://www.hospitalityclub.org/ - 400,000+ members across the world registered to meet up with you in their city for a brew, some to show you around the city, and some to provide lodging at their place. bcl 10/7/2008
• http://www.exchangezones.com/

Switzerland:

• http://www.ferienzentrum.de/fotos/ferienwohnung-unterseeblick.html - Stephan and Hester's apartment in Switzerland. Our friends apparently rent out an apartment of theirs in Switzerland; this one is right on the lake. Note: only available for weekly rental between June and September, long-term any other months. bcl 10/9/2008
• Valley Hostel - http://www.valleyhostel.ch/. This hostel appears ok. I'd read good things about it elsewhere. bcl 10/7/2008