Germany....Any help?

cheepskate_2

As the title implies, I am totally lost here, booking a holiday to Germany. It has never been a country I have ever looked at when booking a holiday, thus know so little about it.

We are picking Germany, as one of our party is learning German , so we thought this would be ideal to improve them.

This is to be a family holiday with a teen.

I do not want way out in the middle of nowhere,but anything else I am open to.

Anybody any help or advice in what areas to stay in, and what attractions are worth visiting

Many Thanks

John259

Will you be driving or flying?

How about the Black Forest? Freudenstadt is a medium sized town, or you could pick somewhere within reach of Freiburg or Pforzheim. Bad Liebenzell is another possibility.

cheepskate_2

John259, We will be flying and will not have the use of a car while there.

richardw

You'll see and hear lots of German in Cala Ratjada, Majorca if you want a sun and beach holiday.

If you fly to Frankfurt Hahn on Ryanair the Moselle Valley is easily accessible.

http://en.sylt.de looks quite interesting if you fancy the coast.

Backbiter

The Black Forest is very pretty, with lakes and mountains and lots of idyllic small towns and a pretty idyllic medium-sized city in Freiburg. There's also a nice theme park not far away (Europa Park).
Munich is a great city with loads to see and do, and fabulous public transport. You've got lakes and mountains within easy reach, and Salzburg is an easy train ride away. You've got Dachau concentration camp nearby, and a fabulous thermal spa/ waterpark in Erding. Plus great food and beer.
The Rhineland is nice as well, with some great cities like Cologne and Düsseldorf, and loads of castles, boat trips, vineyards etc. There's also a great theme park near Cologne (Phantasialand).
You won't need a car if you choose the right base.

814man

I think you need to narrow down to a specific area as Germany is a pretty big country. The two main areas I'm familiar with are Berlin and its immediate surrounds which are a fantastic start and the Rhein area from Dusseldorf following the river south. Both of these would offer a great introduction to a wonderful country. My personal favorite would be Berlin, but then I also love the Hartz mountains.

Voyager2002

Decide what interests you and what kind of things you want to do, then ask the German tourist board how to find that kind of holiday in Germany.

And just to make things even more difficult, remember that German is spoken in Austria and most of Switzerland as well. So there is a vast range of attractive places to consider.

joerugby

Backbiter wrote: »

The Black Forest is very pretty, with lakes and mountains and lots of idyllic small towns and a pretty idyllic medium-sized city in Freiburg. There's also a nice theme park not far away (Europa Park).
Munich is a great city with loads to see and do, and fabulous public transport. You've got lakes and mountains within easy reach, and Salzburg is an easy train ride away. You've got Dachau concentration camp nearby, and a fabulous thermal spa/ waterpark in Erding. Plus great food and beer.
The Rhineland is nice as well, with some great cities like Cologne and Düsseldorf, and loads of castles, boat trips, vineyards etc. There's also a great theme park near Cologne (Phantasialand).
You won't need a car if you choose the right base.

I would vote for Cologne and the Rhineland. Easy to reach from UK by air or by train. Lots to see and do by public transport including Rhine cruises and ferries. Mild climate. Plenty of wine festivals in the summer months. Excellent food from bockwurst and bratwurst to asparagus, stone-mushrooms and hearty meat dishes. Fine local beer, sekt and chilled white wines (plus ample imported reds). Reasonably priced good quality accomodation

We're going again in May!

skint_chick

If you're not going to have a car then a city break would be better, there will be plenty to see and do and German public transport is great so you can take a train out into the countryside too. I love Munich, there's lots to see - museums - including the Deutsches Museum, Olympic stadium, BMW Welt, Dachau, Nymphenburg, the Englischgarten etc. You can take a free walking tour, public transport goes everywhere and up to 5 people can travel on a group ticket. You can do day trips to Neuschwanstein castle and Salzburg.

The Black forest is beautiful but to get the most out of it you would be better with a car, there's plenty of other options too - Berlin for the amazing history and huge amount of things to do, Cologne is lovely and there's lots of things to do outside of the city too, you really need to check out flight prices and destinations from your local airport to narrow down where you're going to a region. One thing I find despite speaking fluent German is that the majority of people speak English and once they hear my partner speaking to me in English they then tend to speak English to us so your German speaker may find it tricky to practice their German!

Blue264

I agree with Backbiters post. Munich to Salzburg is a fantastic area to explore. You've got two great cities and the Austrian lake district within easy reach by public transport.

I'd break the train journey from Munich to Salzburg with an afternoon in Chiemsee, and spend a good few days in Salzburg itself. The city is glorious...one of the least visited gems in central Europe, but well worth your time. I must have spent almost 2months there all told, and still haven't seen everything. From there, you can go to St.Wolfgang and the other lake towns, or a bit further south to little towns such as Hallein and Kuchl.

andygb

We went to the Black Forest around the Freiburg area last year and it was stunning. I have also heard that Lake Konstanz is spectacular, and would be really suitable if you have not got a car.