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!)

I think you lot have persuaded me to look at Hamburg/Bremen for Easter next year - we are doing cologne in a few weeks and Nuremberg for the xmas markets, so will be getting a bit of north, south and west!

Both boys are interested in football so a trip to a stadium is a def possibilty, will have to look into that. I'm sure we willbe able to travel about a bit while we're there, i know trains are fab over there.

Hope all who want to go, go! Maybe see you over there

Not sure who asked about smoking, Kleptronic? Not me!

Baskets45 - Have made a mental note to go to Bonn by train when we go to COlogne in august - cassius Garten, you say?

Munich is fab, sister lived there for a few years and loved it. I visited and would of stayed if I could, loads to do and great weather.

I loooooooooooooooooooooooove Munich

sparkybabe, that could very much be a possibility :-)

Munich & Bavaria (konigssee and Partnach-gorge in Garmisch-patenkirchen are lovely)

Agree with prettying everything mentioned.. Hmmm, Marzipan.

Can recommend M📶f

Sorry, that should have said Muenster and the Muensterland at any time of year but especially for cycling (flat!) and for the fantastic Christmas Markets.

'prettying'? That was 'pretty much'

When looking at accomodatin in germany esp in the south - i have struggled to find attractive places, even nicer hotels - ie up a bracket - look like 1970's hostels? horrid beds and rooms, any one else found this?>

Yay! onto page 4 already!!

Eliza - i've stayed in a good few youth hostels in Germany in last 5 yrs. A good mix of ages ( I was def not the oldest - I am 51 now), good prices, excellent breakfasts, modern buildings, mostly, good choice of rooms (single, double, family, shared dorm), beds very comfy. You do have to book quite far ahead, esp for major cities and the mountain areas, as very popular with toursits and German youth/school groups, but definitely a good option in my view. And Bavarian YHs no longer have under 26 rule.

Baskets, I agree with you.

Apart from Bavaria, which does Christmas markets well, what places are especially good for them? For the last few years i've wanted to take ds4 to see them, something always gets in way, usually lack of spare cash, but maybe this year ....

I really couldn't say. I don't know. Here in Hamburg it is cute and beautiful and lots of different Christmas market all over town, possible 10 of them (no actually for sure) in the city centre, each one has its own little spin on it.

And yet the weather is just so terrible, too much rain, which of course turns quite easily into ice, super dangerous, and all the Eisschnee und Matsch, sorry don't know the words in Englisch.

and people are sort of from home to work and back to home or somewhere indoors, pubs, etc. It#s just awful and the wind here up North combined with that icy rain is just gruesome for people not used to it.

even if used to it, why would one want to expose yourself to that, if you have that at home already :-)

As they say in Yorkshire, allegedly ' It's grim oop north', according to my husband who is English and likes quoting this in a pretendy Yorkshire accent. He's from London! By the way, Matsch is mud and I think Eisschnee is sleet. Right, must go and do some work.

Thanks baskets :-)

Koblenz - my daughter went on a school trip and had a great time - very pretty town, river trips etc etc. www.koblenz.de/stadtleben_kultur/stadtrundgang_e.html

Sparkybabe, if you're going to Hamburg then the Minatur Wunderland is well worth a visit. We spent hours in there and hadn't seen nearly everything! It takes model villages to a whole new level.

Baskets - if you want Xmas markets I've done Cologne, zurich, berlin and bonn. I think the best was Berlin, there are about 12 in various places, with lots of 'different' stalls and foods - even food from across the border into Czech rep.

I love 'em! Will be interesting to see how Nuremberg stacks up, tho with the mountain and castle and everything I'm expecting great things.

Nürnberg, that's right sparkybabe. Now, you've mentioned it, that's got to be the one most recommended here.

Ooh Cassiusgarten... I love it! Didn't know they did Birne Marzipan, but going to Bonn next week and will try it then! Cant wait!

Guten Abend
We have moved this from chat to short haul so these German gems don't get sucked in by the auto delete vortex.

Can I weigh in on the Hamburg vs Bremen debate?

Much as I loved living in Bremen, it would be a bit like going on holiday to Canterbury or somewhere. There's maybe two days' sightseeing there, and then you really would need some decent weather to go out cycling and do day trips.

Hamburg on the other hand has got a few good museums, some trendy areas for shopping and mooching, the harbour boat trip, just a bit more life to it. Plus some fun historical connections including the Beatles, and the nautical tradition. If you go, I also recommend hunting down a copy of 'My Past is Myself' which is the memoirs of Christabel Bielenberg, who was married to a German who resisted the Nazis. Lubeck also a nice trip for a spot of Niederegger marzipan and Thomas Mann.

I loved loved loved Munich when I went as a teen. My German wasn't great then, but I did get hang of the accent, and there is tonnes to do within fairky easy reach of the city.

Sadly, would give Switzerland and Austria a miss for exam prep purposes, the accents really can be hard to understand, to the extent that I have seen a swiss farmer subtitled on German TV.

Now, can anyone recommend anywhere in Germany with toddler and baby for a week in November? This thread makes me want to go back....

Matsikula, it would recommend a trip to Hamburg with Bremen and Lübeck, as all these three cities are Hansestädte, and also Bremen and Hamburg are 2 of the 3 city-states(counties) Stadtstaaten as we would say, the third one being Berlin.

Also Bremen and Hamburg were the major ports where folks from large parts of Europe as far as what is today, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, for example have emigrated to America.

Hamburg is also the largest non-european capital and if the trip is also intended to be a sort of hands-on educational fieldtrip, then comparing those major port cities, say with Bristol and Liverpool then and now, and also London, I am thinking here docklands etc., then it could be really interesting as well.

I wanted to say something about the suggestions to "visit" camps...I personally think, a good preparation is needed and I am also not sure, if 13 is a good age for that. But this might be too heavy to discuss here. Sorry, if I stepped on anyone's toes.

I love Germany for holidays. Freiburg and the black forest are great. I also love Munich. There are some really lovely areas in the north too, particularly if you're into cycling and beer. It's possible to fly with easy jet from gatwick to dusseldorf. The German used in Switzerland and Austria is so different to hoch deutsch that it's a bit confusing for someone learning the language.

Thanks to this thread I'm thinking of going to ruegen. Does anyone have any recommendations of where to stay? I've always wanted to go to sylt but hotels and apartments are so expensive. Is it worth it?