Where's nice in Germany?

[sparkybabe]

Have been to Germany several times. I would like to take my 2 dses (13 and 15) over in the easter hols, as they are both doing german at school.

Been to Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg, Detmold, Trier ... where can we go that is nice, easy to get to from Gatwick, preferably with something for teenage boys to do? (not nightclubs!)

Munich is lovely. Lots to do.

Or a hiking trip in the black forest if you are that way inclined.

Or come and visit me! I've got loads that they can do. Dusting, sweeping, mopping....

Bavaria - beautiful countryside - mountains and lakes and castles.

Another vote for Munich and Bavaria, but I wouldn't plan on much hiking at that time of year. End of March you are more likely to be doing some downhill skiing in the spring sun.

Dresden, Meissen and Leipzig are also very nice, although I haven't been at that time of year.

I'm from Bremen best place ever. My dad still lives there and I go every chance I can get. Lots of nice places to visit, things to do, beautiful city. Oh I want to go now!

Lake Constance is beautiful and Black Forest too. You could do them both if you split the week, train travel is fantastic.

Another vote for Munich and Bavaria, have family there and I love visiting

Yep Munich and Bavaria are a must!

Something your sons might enjoy if you stay in Munich is a day trip into the Bavarian Alps by train - you can get a train/cable car to the top of Germany's highest mountain Zugspitze, which is great fun and spectacular on a clear day.

One thing to consider though is that I've been told that the dialect spoken in Munich is quite different from the German they learn at school.

It's Munich and Bavaria from me too! Garmisch-Partenkirchen is easily accessible by train from Munich and is great for outdoorsy stuff. Lake Eibsee is ace.

A couple of points.

Munich especially and Bavaria in general is quite expensive, more iMO than further north. Also, for learners, the German in southern Germany can be quite hard to pick up/understand, quite different frm the standard German taught in schools. Although all of Germany has dialects, you may find the area round Cologne /Bonn/other parts of north has more 'standard' speech. .

I love Bremen BTW, used to live near there, in a previous life, really want to go back. I like some of the smaller cities - I've taken my teenagers in alst few years to places like Bonn and Magdeburg. M's yh very near train station BTW. Every German city has at least one museum, if your boys like that. Both ahve very nice youth hostels - excellent breakfasts!! Magdeburg has interesting history, though not loads to do, but we used it as base for other day trips. eg Berlin is within easy train journey. We used train a lot, indeed went by boat from harwich as I don't like flying. BUT Magdeburg is between airports like Hanover and Berlin. Also leipzig - we did day trip there from Magdeburg too.

Bonn (also near airport) is great base for other places, as welllas lots of historical/cultural stuff in its own right, like Cologne, and also the spectacular views of Rhine valley. Lots of lovely little towns/villages to visit. Bonn YH very popular though, as lots of German school groups visit. Bonn has hugely significant ofr post 1945 German history, obviously. And is part of curriculum. Another lovely hostel is Stuttgart - another useful base and a lovely, smallish city in own right.

We've had some lovely weather in Germany in March, T shirt wearing weather. Quite a contrast too when we got abck to Scotland, to inches of snow. That was March 2010, maybe 2009, i think.

Have dug out my Rough guide to Germany this AM. I can feel another 'trip plan' coming over me. Swoon, swoon. I love Germany. I've been ill (and poor!)and not got to travel as much as I'd like. If you ahven't got a book like RG, i think you might find find it useful.

I could go on. What 'sort' of teemagers are your boys? My boys a bit 'geeky' so history and museums v popular here. But germany huge and has something for all, methinks.

Gute Fahrt!!

Another one for Munich, I'm afraid. I went with DS (6) at half term for three nights and it was fantastic. Beautiful city, friendly people, good child-friendly food and lots of open spaces. The BMW museum is fantastic, as is the zoo.

Munich and the Bavarian Alps are a lovely, if somewhat obvious choice. The Alps are really well signposted and the paths and mountain huts are looked after by the Alpine Club. It's all very comfortable, if you don't mind sharing your trip with a few million Americans and Japanese. If you want somewhere a bit more unusual and unvisited by English tourists (or indeed anyone except Germans), you could try some of the gorgeous regions which used to be in East Germany. Some of our favourites are:

• The islands of Rugen, Usedom and Hiddensee. On the Baltic Sea, thus very calm water, no tide, stunningly beautiful sandy beaches. Hiddensee has no cars allowed, so it's wonderfully quiet. Rugen and Usedom have been beautifully renovated and have some lovely 19th c. villa architecture.

• The 'lake district' in the region of Meckenburg-Vorpommern - Müritzsee etc. We once did a wonderful canoeing and camping holiday there, canoeing from lake to lake with our stuff in the canoe.

• The wooded Spreewald region. The Spree river separates into lots of narrow streams and locals punt around them, speaking a Slavic dialect called Sorbisch. I'm not sure I've ever seen a non-German tourist there. You can either go on a punt or rent your own canoe. The big culinary speciality there is pickled gherkins.

• The hilly district south of Dresden (which is worth a visit in its own right) called the Sächsische Schweiz, which winds down a river valley until you get to the Czech border. I've been on a climbing holiday there, but it's also great for wandering.

I suppose I sound a bit like a tourist board for the ex-East Germany - but we've lived here a long time and been to each of these places a lot, and I'm always amazed how few international tourists they get.

For all of these destinations you can fly to/from Berlin.

Oops, sorry, teenagers, not teemagers! Fat finger syndrome here. Trains in Germany very good, and good value. You can get a Landkarte day ticket for within the one region, or more than one if travelling over Land/regional borders. The Deutsche Bahn website would give you an idea of distances, times etc. And has button for translations if necessary.

The Black Forest is lovely (although I may be biased as I used to live there!) Freiburg is a great town to be based in, with lovely restaurants, bars & other usual town stuff & from there you can catch the train into the Black Forest. Great if your DSes like walking, too. Also, from Freiburg, you can very easily take a day trip to Basel (Switzerland) & Mulhouse (France)

Also agree that Munich is lovely & if you go in September you may be able to catch some Oktoberfest activities (suitable for families despite impressions of beer festivals!)

Oops, just seen you are going around Easter, please disregard last bit

Another one who likes the east! I travelled by train through Thuringia, the area round Jena, from Munich to Magdeburg, and couldn't get out of my head thebeauty of it all, very like parts of Scotland, esp Perthshire where I live now.

When i first visited germany, in my teens, and then did mod languages at uni, Germany was split of course. So much of it was inaccessible. I then had a 20 yr hiatus while our 4 boys were little, and we never had money for foreign travel. A couple of years ago i got talking to a lad in railway station in Edinburgh, largely cos I was reading a German newspaper, and he was utterly amazed to find somebody who remembered the divided Germany :-)).(I know I need a MN emoticon here, but find them too fiddly and life is too short ....). I think maybe just because nobody had talked to him about it, despite him studying German at uni and been through the school system doing German. Yet it's only just over 20 years. (I joke, though not usually with young lads at Waverley station!) that my eldest was conceived while the Berlin Wall was falling - he was born August 1990, so quite plausible. It's okay, some people do give me funny looks .... I'm used to it.

My point being, for Germans it's a very important part of their recent history, the divsision of Germany I mean, and lots of museums on the subject/refs to to in Germany. Your boys might like ....

Another 'visit' you might consider, if you think your boys are ready for it, is a visit to a concentration camp. Hugely emotional possibility, but I think a very valuable and important and 'tangible' history lesson. I haven't done this yet, with the boys, though i visited Dachau years ago, pre children, and more recently on a trip to Munich to see a friend. Belsen is in north near Celle. Quite hard to reach by bus etc form nearest town, but possible all the same. One near Berlin, on train line (weren't they all/ says Baskets bitterly), i think is Sachsenhausen/Oranienburg.

Just a/nother thought.

Lindau on lake constance is lovely. There was a huge lido there when we went some years ago.

can i do the funny?
please?
pleeeeeeease?

"it isn't in Germany - Nice is in France"

boom boom

Oops, sorry, more fat fingers above! I am all excited.

Hameln, of Pied Piper fame, near Hanover. Also Goslar for beautiful mountains. Both accessible frm Magdeburg YH!!!

And if you stay in Dresden you can see Colditz castle of film fame. Things like that do excite my teenaged boys.

There is a cable car on the Rhine, more than one, but thinking of one near Bonn. Winter-something? Much smaller mountains than in the south, but stilll ...

Are they interested in rivers? Mine found seeing the route/part of route of some of the big, famous ones interesting. eg the big barges travelling on the Rhine. Though you'd need to travel more for a good innings. Cos we travelled frm Hoek of Holland and back, we saw a good bit of the Rhine, and it does give you an idea of the geography/distances than froma book/film.

Right, enough. I must do other things with my day, sadly.

Okay, another thought, hire bikes. Germany has brilliant, safe, sensible, well established cycle paths. There are places to hire bikes all over.

Boom, boom, nickel. I was going to quote my son's rather sick joke about the trains running on time, thought better of it. I need my coat now too.

Been to Munich (DS1 was 19mo at the time) and cannot wait to return one day. Fabulous place with lots to do for all ages.

I cannot see past Germany, tbh. I think many friends and family think we're slightly odd because I talked about it loads after returning from Munch but I honestly cannot think of a nicer place to go on holiday, with lots to do and see, and delicious foods everywhere.

Fancy going to Berlin one day....oh to win the Lotto!

Hamburg is the most beautiful city in the world, and they can speak proper German if they want to!
Lots to do, good museums, the harbour, shopping, you could go to the North Sea for a day and be amazed by the Wattenmeer, ...

The 2nd best city in Germany is, of course, Berlin. Fantastic museums, e.g. Checkpoint Charlie, and the history could be quite exciting for teenagers. Again, great shopping and beautiful surroundings like the already mentioned Spreewald.

From a strictly linguistic point of view you should stay in the North. I am German and have trouble understanding the locals in the South and East!

continental I remember waiting for a lift in the U-Bahn in Munich and two young German guys (in their late teens from what I remember) were puzzled by the signs all around them. They said in English that they are from another region of Germany and could not understand what the sign meant! What hope have we got when we speak English?!

Will visit Hamburg too hopefully, sounds really delightful