Commuter tourist not for everyone

Getting a hotel in a suburb of a major city may seem attractive when booking the accommodations, but there are other factors to consider, such as the cost of the commute.

Last week, I read a travel article that encouraged tourists to stay in suburbs of major cities such as Paris, Berlin and Vienna. The author said that visitors could save a bundle of cash by becoming a tourist commuter.

Depending on your lifestyle, this could be true. However, there are several other factors to consider. Personally, one of the aspects of new cities I enjoy most is checking out the night life. This becomes infinitely more difficult - or exponentially more expensive - if you are not staying in the actual city.

For example, my friends and I stayed in Asnieres, a suburb of Paris, in an attempt to save money. What we found was a sleepy town, sans nightlife, Internet cafes and interesting restaurants. We took the train to Paris each morning, but had to catch the last train back before midnight or endure a hefty cab fare. Now, if you know anything about nightlife in Europe, things are just getting going at midnight.

Also, the money we spent taking the train to town and back each day could have almost paid for the higher hotel cost in Paris. And really, what were we there for? The experience. By missing out on the nightlife (I consequently, I believe, have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude about Paris. I never really had a good time there, which has a lot to do with how I view a city), my friends and I missed our opportunity to really experience Paris.

We had similar experiences in Dresden, Germany and Prague. In each of those instances, we stayed either in a suburb or on the outskirts of the major town and every time we had issues with transportation. One friend and I were actually fined in Prague for failing to get our tram tickets stamped. Yes, staying in town would have definitely been cheaper for us in the end.

Now, maybe you’re not into the nightlife. You’ve come to Paris or Vienna or Berlin for the amazing museums, the cuisine or other attractions. By staying in the Paris suburb, my friends and I missed out on a number of those things because of the time we spent on our daily commute. You could easily fill every minute of a week in Paris, and taking time to get back and forth each day is a waste of precious time.

So yes, while it is generally more expensive to stay in the major cities rather than their suburbs, the price of the hotel should not be the only determining factor. Think about the cost of transportation, the time it will take from your vacation and the things you will end up skipping because of the need to catch the last train.