Any recommendations for a holiday in Germany?

[jellymaker]

Just that really - wanting to go this year as DS is taking GCSE German and thought it would be a good plan to go and visit but I can't get excited about any of the things I have read so far online.
thanks

Go to Bavaria, it’s fantastic
Warm in summer, snowy in winter. Loads of outdoor type things and cultural stuff too. Swimming in lakes and rivers
Lovely food and drink too

I was thinking bavaria but the holiday lets that I have looked at are not great. Do you have any good websites that you could recommend?

Bavaria is gorgeous - Lake Constance is a real hit for us. Or anywhere in the Black Forest! What kind of things do you like to do?

combination of culture / sun / outdoors. I guess I just want to go back to the south of france but want to do the right thing by my DS! I'll look at lake constance

Try airbnb. Look around Nuremberg as flights there are pretty cheap
I also gave a fellow Mner the details for the place we went last Summer and she’s booked!
I can send you the details too if you want

I would also suggest Airbnb for accommodation. You could look at Freiburg which is a beautiful, old university city. Lots of culture, right at the south end of the Schwarzwald so plenty of nature. Weather would tend to be very good in the summer to very hot.

Or go to the other end of the country, few days in Hamburg which is a fantastic city, loads to see and do, huge port and canal system, plenty of culture and pretty cool place overall. Then you could combine with a week or so on the North or Baltic coast which has some gorgeous beaches. Either hire a car or take the train. There’s also lots of islands you can visit.

When are you thinking of going? If in summer holidays, check out the school holidays for the region you want to go to as they vary greatly throughout the country. My kids go back on 12th August already whereas in Bavaria they only start the holidays end of July. That might help you decide where to go as some places might be much more expensive or have very little availability.

Centerparcs in Germany is pretty good value, we looked at going for a week and then catching the train to Berlin before flying home. The trains in Germany are fantastic and people are generally very helpful. My SIL is German and my BIL lives over there with his family.

Bavaria is beautiful. Be warned that the Bavarian dialect can be hard to understand (it's like taking a German child to Glasgow to learn English)
But lots of beautiful places to visit. Maybe a couple of days in Munich, then Füßen for walking and Schloss Neuschwanstein?

Munich and travel around.

What sort of things does he like doing/do you have other children?

There are a lot of places easily accessible from Munich by trainor hiring a car for a few days.

Driving up from Munich you get to Dinkelsbuhl and Rothenburg which are just ridiculously cute. Or Bourghausen which lays claim to the longest castle in the world - it is a v high quality castle

Living in Munich we also did day trips to Wurzburg which has high quality castle and palace action, and Regensburg - and Valhalla which is just weird.

Or you can go by train into the Alps to Murnau and Kochel - lovely lake + culture in the art museums there.

Finally there is the classic trip round King Ludwig's castles - Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Personally the first 2 are the best nuttiest plus also opportunities to burn off vast amounts of energy if you walk everywhere.

Sport Quarter in Garmisch Parkenkirten is a lovely holiday let, right beside the ski jumps and the old winter Olympic stadium. Lots of lovely walks, gorges and cable cars. And Rodel bahns! Like tobogganing on rails, my DC loved it.

Munich is lovely too. And Berlin is fun.

Thank you. I will have to look these up.

I went to Berchtesgaden a few years ago, which was really nice. Lots of outdoor activities, you could go up to the Eagle's Nest, if the buses are running, the salt mine is quite nice, too.
Lake Königssee is beautiful, so you could take a boat trip on there.
And Salzburg is only 40 minutes or so by bus away.
I stayed at the Explorer Hotel, which was reasonably priced and is a fairly new, eco-friendly hotel.

Two years ago I went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. You've got mountains, Zugspitze, Alpspitz and the Wank (yes, really, they are aware of the connotation) , Partnach Gorge, the old Olympic Stadium and the Ski Jump.
Nearby you've got Linderhof Palace, Ettal Monastery, Oberammergau, Eibsee and Mittenwald. Not too far away is Innsbruck in Austria, I think it took me about 40 minutes by car.

Both Berchtsgaden and GaPa could be done in combination with Munich, but for both I'd recommend a car, it makes getting around a bit easier.

For the Black Forest, it really depends on where you are going. In the South you've got the Lakes, Titisee and Schluchsee, the Feldberg, the highest Mountain in the Black Forest. In Titisee (town) there is "Badeparadies Schwarzwald", which is a large Waterpark

Just be aware that some locals in the South of the Black Forest speak a dialect which is closely related to Swiss German, so they can sometimes be a bit hard to understand but will usually repeat themselves or try to speak "high German".

Between Freiburg and Offenburg, there's Europapark, Germany's biggest themepark, which might appeal to your DS. Europapark

Further towards the North of the Black Forest there's Baden-Baden, Freudenstadt, Calw and Bad Wildbad, which are lovely.

Lots of hiking trails all over the Black Forest, in varying lengths and difficulties.

A Berlin city break would be good too. So much history to get into. I first went at GCSE age and it has been one of my favourite cities since.