Germany with teens

[LIttleMissTickles]

We are planning a trip to Germany with our two teenage daughters (19 and 16) in December. We will have 3 weeks. None of us have ever been before, but we don't want to be rushing nonstop either. So far our list includes: Berlin, Munich, Garmish Partenchigen, Heidelberg. Any other suggestions? We'll be coming from Australia, and really want to experience some of heart of Germany.

The Mosel Valley is lovely. A trip up the Rhine is also a good call - lots of castles and cute places to see.

Munich, Garmisch and Heidelberg are in the south and probably a good 5 or 6 hours apart. Berlin and Hamburg are in the north which is a long way!

Obv not compared to Australia - but Germany is pretty big.

Heidelberg is my all time favourite of the places you have mentioned.

You simply can't go wrong anywhere in Germany. It's a wonderful country!

Freiburg is also beautiful and in the Black Forest. Or simply stick to what you have on your list already, which gives you a decent few days in each place. You will have an amazing time!

I love Trier, which has some great Roman ruins and Baden-Baden in addition to the places you already have on your list. It should be a great trip!

DH is German and we go most years, we are going in August for the first time in a couple of years.
We are going to Bavaria, which is our favourite area. Staying 15 minutes by train from Munich in Bodenhsusen (sp?). We also love Erding
We have teens and they love tv

Konstanz, Nuremburg, Cologne. Mosel valley as mentioned above. Mittenwald, which is not far from Garmisch.

The coast. From Berlin, you can get to Usedom in under 3 hours, which has three historic seaside resorts, Ahlbeck, Bansin and Heringsdorf. Gorgeous old seaside hotels and you can spend some time on the beach.

Potsdam is a must - a day trip from Berlin.

I would also add on more time in Bavaria. Go up some mountains. Visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. The Tegelberg mountain is in that area too and a couple of beautiful lakes so you could easily spend a few days around Füssen.

Yes to the Rhine valley and its castles and vineyards. But it only takes a day or so to ‘do’ it. I’d stay in a castle. The Schönburg in Oberwesel is fantastic. Great food, too. You can then do a boat trip up the Rhine from near there.

For something totally different, a couple of days in a theme park? We love Phantasialand and if you’ve come up the Rhine valley it would be an easy next stop. Or Europapark in the Black Forest.

The Black Forest is worth a visit if you can squeeze it in and Freiburg would be a good base - or Baden-Baden. Both are very pretty.

Dresden in the East is absolutely beautiful.

Then there are lots of beautiful towns and villages with timber-framed houses… Marburg is a beauty. But there are hundreds and a lot of them are in the south so best to consult a guide book!

Are you planning to hire a car? You’ll probably need one to get to the more scenic places. Try to avoid driving south on the motorways during August weekends, everyone will be driving to Italy etc and there are always huge traffic jams.

So sorry. I just saw you’ll be in Germany in December! Forget about the lakes and beaches then

Christmas markets. Nuremberg, Aachen, Dresden, Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. Berlin has several of them.

Baden-Baden for its thermal baths and spas.

Neuschwanstein should still be open but best to check on their website.

There could be a bit of snow in the Black Forest but it’s not guaranteed.

Not sure the Rhine valley is any good at that time of year.

Thank you all so much, plenty of googling to do!

@Schulte I love the idea of staying in a castle for a night or two, thank you for the suggestion.

Sorry I also missed the December part! The weather might be pretty bad so be prepared for that. It can get very cold and icy at that time of year. Most likely to be snow in the mountains and yes to Neuschwanstein - which is high enough to have snow.

Having said that - lots of cosy hotels and "pubs" will be nice and pretty much everywhere has a Christmas market of some description going on so you can usually warm up on gluhwein there!

Not sure I would bother with the more "generally scenic" parts in mid winter as they will be a bit baron. So maybe not Mosel Valley. More going on in Rhine Valley in terms of towns.

december will be lovely with the christmas markets.

I would add the north, hamburg, lübeck to your list.
and east leipzig, dresden.

try some adventure baths like tropical island, berlin (inside an airship hangar)

Lots of my favourite places in Germany already mentioned. You could also look at visiting Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

theboutiqueadventurer.com/most-beautiful-cities-in-germany/

Def more time in Bavaria.
My mother is German and spent most of our summers there. Munich of course but look at Chiemsee lake which is not to far and just gorgeous. Known for windsurfing , sailing and great food and scenery.

Also Visiting a salt mine near Satzberg was a very unique trip !

@ClaireFraser2018

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I really didn’t like it Far too touristy, although it is a beautiful city But then so are many others in that area

Mittenwald, Neuschwanstein, Munich beer gardens, Berlin, Potsdam, Wannsee, although Berlin and Munich were different holidays for us. The far east border is supposed to be lovely. We also went variously to Dusseldorf, Essen, Celle, the Heide mountains (Heide Park), Hanover, Hamlin (Hameln), the Eifel mountains, the Black forest.

How about doing Salzburg, Basel or Strasbourg too? Strasbourg particularly for the good and Christmas markets has the best of both Germany and France. Spend a couple of days skiing round Munich. Langlauf is much more chilled and German than downhill, and easier if you're a beginner

Regensburg: approx 1 hour from Munich is a beautiful city. From here you can visit Walhalla and also the Befeiungshalle in Kelheim and the brewery in Weltenburg.

Harz mountains are beautiful tiny place Bad Lauchstadt had not lost its charm, naked sauna if it’s just the adults, teens would probably die of embarrassment. All the above mentioned too. Germany is a stunning place and it’s people funny, kind and hospitable. Have a wonderful time, I’m jealous!

Depends how much you want to travel between areas. Are you ok with driving in bad weather or just public transport?

Car travel between North and South can easily be 8 hours plus.

What kind of things do you want to do? You will have Christmas markets everywhere in December up to the 23rd mostly. Some smaller towns may only have a long weekend but cities like Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Nürnberg - you have it the whole month. It will be very busy on weekends and in the late afternoons though.

I would stick to two areas and see what you can do locally and with trains journeys, maybe an overnight stay inbetween.

It will be cold, definetely budget for winter coats and boots.

Hi

are you planning to spend all 3 weeks there ? As it's December the day light hours are only from around 8am-3pm. In the South it'll be freezing with lots of snow. It'll be a totally different country experience compared to the spring / summer.
It'll be a cosy atmosphere everywhere with xmas markets, snowy villages.
Life is more indoors than out.
The flat North will be more windy/wet.
Driving from Munich to Hamburg takes around 8 hours.
I'd embrace the cold and focus more on the South, the North is much better in summer with the beautiful beaches and lakes.

I lived in Marburg for a year, small but really beautiful.

Also lived in South Germany for a period of time, just outside Stuttgart. Absolutely bitterly cold in winter but the Christmas markets are wonderful!

So many great suggestions here. I lived in Germany for nearly four years and know many of these places. Feeling quite envious of you OP. Have a wonderful time and report back with what you thought.