DS (16) would like to holiday in Germany... where should I look up?

[LewisFan]

I have no idea about what there is to do / where.

We would be driving over via the channel tunnel, so would probably stop over in Belguim for a night too...

Help!

I don't know really* but omg Lewis your boy isn't SIXTEEN! He's 9, tops, surely?!

*Black Forest? The Neander valley? Berlin? See told ya I don't really know.

Black forest is fab

The Mosel Valley, The Rhine Valley and the Black Forest are all on "this side" of Germany and easily reachable from Belgium or even in one long stretch from Calais.

Trier, Heidelberg, Freiburg are all beautiful cities.

Germany is a stunning place. Specially the southern regions. It's quite big though so don't underestimate the distances!

Further east is Bavaria which is of course also fabulous. Multiple interesting cities and the Alps.

Flibberty, I know, right!!! GCSEs in 5 weeks #stressedmother

Thanks for the suggestions ... I'll start googling!

Black Forest is beautiful- but we were there last year and it was easily empty and a bit depressed. Lots of closed hotels and for sale signs up. A bit further away, Bavaria. If you camp it’s heavenly, beautiful clean quiet campsites, fantastic food. Cakes and castles.

The 'Little Switzerland' area looks beautiful en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Switzerland_(landscape)

And the Schwarzwald is lovely too.

Garmisch- Partenkirchen. It's beautiful, had great restaurants, you can get a train to the highest mountain in Germany, and there's always the Wank Mountain which provided my 18yo with much hilarity when we holidayed there in December.

I'm very jealous!

Trier (Roman city), Mosel valley (wine!), Heidelberg (ancient university town).

we had a brilliant time in nuremburg
several museums in the city - train museum, toy museum (that one was brilliant), documentation centre, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
you can day trip Rothenburg ob der Tauer or one of the other gorgeous medieval towns from there.

I had great fun on a trip to Berlin at that age

Place marking. Hoping to take DS’s 16 and 14 to Germany in the summer!

I’m in agreement that the Schwarzwald is very beautiful. The area around Schluchsee is my favourite. Not too touristy, but still with things to do and you’re not far from Freiburg, which is worth a visit.

Personally, you’re coming from Belgium so I’d look at Bonn or Cologne. In Bonn, you have the benefits of being in a city with lots of history and interesting museums but also you are near to the beautiful scenery. Drachenfels is a must-see in my opinion. You can hike to the top of the mountain or take a train for stunning views.

There are also lots of smaller towns nearby and boat trips along the Rhine.

Jumping on the thread as my DD really wants to go and see 'Some German Castles' and I'm wondering where and how to do that.

I can recommend Bremen, Lubeck, Travemünde, Rostock and Wolfsburg for teenagers. Lots to see and do. (They are in Northern Germany) The Baltic coast is lovely in the summertime.

For scenery, try a drive from Bodensee along the Austrian border to Schwangau (where the two famous castles are), it's all hairpin bends, mountains, wild flowers and gorgeous chalets.

My teenagers' favourite city is Hamburg - tons to do.

My teenagers' favourite city is Hamburg - tons to do.

Impeccable taste! Even if I am a little biased. . .

DrMadelineMaxwell Another idea . . . when I was a kid, we took a school trip to Koblenz and along the river. There are some beautiful castles along that route (head south along the lower Rhine) and it’s a nice part of the country. There are also opportunities to sample some of the best wine in the Mosel Valley nearby, so I would say that’s a win-win. There are good transport links to Koblenz from the major cities in NRW (Cologne, Düsseldorf etc). Obviously the ‘must-see’ Castle is Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, but personally, I find it too full with tourists.

If you’re heading north, as a previous post recommends, don’t forget about the Schweriner Castle. It’s my favourite in all of Germany. Schwerin itself is a nice place, but rather sleepy, however, lots to do during the day.

Hope this helps!