Which part of Germany

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My dd has just started learning German at school and has asked if we can have a holiday there. We have mostly done UK breaks in the past but last year really enjoyed visiting Italy.
We like going somewhere with a bit of history, love a museum and some gentle walking where there are interesting things to see. We are not a sit by the pool family but equally not into climbing mountains and roughing it.
So can anyone recommend an interesting area of Germany for us to visit?

Just been to the black forest and it was glorious. The Open Air museum was great, scenery beautiful and so many lovely towns to explore.

Bodensee area

SW, Bodensee (Lake Constance). Close to Swiss and Austrian borders. Great for families, good weather in summer, lots of activities.

There seems to be agreement then! Actually the idea of being able to border hop for the odd day out appeals. Will have to look into airports, train etc.

Bavaria also super, combine countryside with Munich. There are loads of small towns with lakes for swimming in summer.

If you really want history though, Berlin cannot be beaten, such an interesting city. Could easily be combined with a summer break on the Baltic Sea - Warnemünde for example, or Rügen.

You could visit Munich and hop over to Salzburg - it’s a nice train journey and you can get cheap train tickets using the Bayern ticket.

Don't forget Austria - beautiful mountain villages. They have some some differences in words and pronunciations but nothing too out there.

Grüß Gott !

Bodensee then catch the train to Munich

Bavaria - Munich, mountains, castles, lakes, interesting culture and beer, this place in Erding is amazing…

www.therme-erding.de/en/

Heidelberg! History, Castle, shopping, trips on the river, hills, forests, walks

Be warned I learned my basic German from a standing start in a Bavarian gasthof, aged 17/18.

I now sound like the German equivalent of a Dorset farmer stereotype... 🤭

Hamburg is worth a look. Loads to do and the GermN spoken is very ‘standard’ acent etc (except down the docks of a morning). Yes it does have seedy parts but these can be avoided.

Seriously, try and include Austria into your trip. We have spent two summers there and it was nothing short of amazing

I definitely agree with this. Did this trip in 2008. Loved it.

The further north, the clearer the pronounciation of German.

Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg (where Lake Constance is) has a very heavy accent, my DD who is bi-lingual defintiely struggled this Summer hearing some people.

Hamburg is a great city (I may be biased, DH is from there). You have lots ot see and do for a couple of days with a day trip to Lübeck. You can then either go on to the Baltic Sea or the Holsteinische Schweiz (a lake district north of Hamburg).

If you want more hills, the Fränkische Schweiz, Frankonian Switzerland, is good. That's the area north of Nürnberg, walks, history, good food, watersport on the rivers.

I would recommend getting a car though.

Another alternative is a couple of days in Berlin and then off to the Spreewald or - what we did - going down to Bavaria for some walking. We were at the Chiemsee, a long trip down but flew into Berlin, drove down and flew back from Munich. You can take the train though.

Bavaria is lovely for the scenery.

We've stayed in Hamburg and certainly wouldn't stay within a 30 min walk of train station. Parts look nice enough, but we both agreed it had no soul, restaurants are limited and spread well apart. DD studied near there at age 19, didn't like it either.

Luneberg is a town about half an hour from Hamburg, that's lovely to spend 2-4 days pottering around, has a river, lovely buildings, loads of cafes and restaurants, locals very friendly. You can easily travel to Berlin and Hamburg if you decided to explore out if curiosity.

Berlin is a vibrant city, lots to do and see, with lots if history. We stayed just north of river, somewhere starting with H I think. DD loved Berlin at 16, and at 19 felt safe to travel from Luneberg and stay on her own there.

Berlin is a fantastic city and has lots of green space, lakes and woodland, on the outskirts around Potsdam, Wannsee etc.

Echoing those who have mentioned the thick Bavarian dialect.

If language practise is your main aim then I'd suggest north of Heidelberg. Hoch deutsch is spoken in northern Germany, although you'll find pockets of dialect everywhere.

E.g. Heidelberg diction is quite clear but head 15 miles over to Mannheim and you're in a whole new territory!

There are many beautiful places all through Germany, some very well known, others not so recognised. It might be worth your daughter asking her teacher if there's an area they'd recommend visiting?

My dd is just back from her Erasmus where she spent a year in Konstanz. It is absolutely beautiful. The town is gorgeous and you can swim in the lake, all the usual touristy things like Pedalos and restaurants, along with an old town, with history, walking, hikes etc.
Fly to Zurich and get the train right into the town. Its Amazing and very very doable.
We did a summer trip to her and the xmas markets.
Would totally recommend Konstanz.

My nephew also did his Erasmus year in Konstanz and loved it. Berlin has loads to do. I like Cologne and it's easy to visit the Rhein valley.

Rhein valley is a great shout and very easy from Koblenz. I also recommend Bonn and a trip to Burg Eltz and Cochem.

Stuttgart and surrounds also lovely.

While it is correct there are a variety of dialects in the German speaking world, it is not a problem - it’s not like your daughter is going to be in a family where she won’t understand them - she will learn from signs and announcements etc which are all in standard German. With the exception of Switzerland, everyone speaks standard German to foreigners or even people they don't know and dialects are not strong in cities and big towns. Just go wherever you think is interesting and enjoy the culture.

Depends what you want exactly. For most teenagers I would think Berlin will be popular, although the level of spoken english is really high here. If you want somewhere she has to speak German you may need to go somewhere a bit less international.

Dd spent a uni year at Bonn University... we went to visit a couple of times. Bonn and Cologne are very close on cheap public transport, and there are flat walks along the Rhine through some lovely villages (all have tram stops so you can hop on and off if you need a sit down) with much delicious ice cream, cherries and waffles for lunch.

For us it was a no brainer as the flight from Bristol to Cologne was £24 each way, and hotels in Bonn were cheaper for better facilities than here. The cathedral at Cologne was fantastic, Beethoven's house and the science and technology museum were well worth a visit each and shopping in both cities was fun. The Haribo shop and Lego shop were huge and parted us from a fair bit of money.

Heidelberg is gorgeous

Based on the amount of Spanish DD learnt after 1 year in school, I think it's not so much about actually speaking the language but hearing and reading it.

Maybe ordering a drink but DD definitely wasn't able to hold a small conversation at all.

And if you hear a very strong dialect you do struggle. I work for a German company and have colleagues who spent time in one of our German branches in Stuttgart after a year of 1-2-1 German lessons. He really struggled getting some rolls in a bakery or understanding a shop assistant as he didn't understand the dialect. He found Frankfurt or Berlin a lot easier.