Sure, this is perhaps a bit of a personal question, but I figured that I might as well abuse this blog for it.
Basically, I’m currently planning a holiday tto Germany somewhere in the upcoming summer, and I’ve been wondering:
– What are some of the must-visit places?
– What are some cheap places to stay?
– Perhaps we could meet up or something?
In any case, for everyone who is not German: apologies for wasting your time.
I loved nearly my whole life in Germany, don’t live there anymore though, but you could’ve specified a few more informations.
– How long are you gonna stay?
– must-visit places? Well that depends on your preferences of course: I would go to Berlin and Munich. Also visit the Rhine River between Koblenz and Rudesheim. The many castles are really great, especially the Neuschwanstein Castle.
– cheap places: Oh well, try to find cheap hotels online, that depends on the season of course, if you want to stay in a 3* Hotel I guess you need about 50 EURO per night. The best would be to try online-deal websites like groupon, they often have great vouchers for hotels.
– I can’t meet up right now, but I might be in Germany later in the summer, so tell us when you want to visit Germany.
Out of interest, can you speak German?
depends on what you like.
there’s the Cologne Cathedral, the Brandenburg Gate or maybe the Nymphenburg Palace.
every city has very cheap places to stay, that shouldn’t be a problem. also the couch surfing community is pretty big in germany.
meeting up would depend on when you are coming and where you’d stay.
summer has some anime conventions, maybe you could meet up with some people there.
I’d second previous posters, must-visit depends very much on your personal preferences. We are a pretty diverse country, east, west, north and south are very different from each other. I’d say the Wikitravel article about Germany ( http://wikitravel.org/en/Germany ) is a very good reference.
You want culture & history? Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Rhine and Mosel valleys.
You want party & nightlife? Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin.
You want nature & recovery? Schwarzwald, Lake Constance (Bodensee), the Alps, Wattenmeer.
… and the list could co on.
I live close to Trier at the Mosel valley, and there are many many Dutch tourists coming here. A reason might be the wine and stuff, they seem to like it here. Many if not most of them seem to camp with caravans. Otherwise you might give couchsurfing a try, if this sort of thing is up your alley.
As for Anime conventions, there’s Animagic in Bonn in August, it’s huge but quite boring and chronically sold out. To be honest, the Dutch Animecon in Almelo is much more fun, been visiting that one regularily. Connichi in Kassel is much better but that’s in September.
tl;dr. Sounds like fun times coming up. Been following your blog for a while and it’d be quite cool to meet up if possible.
I tend to travel quite a bit in Germany and I definitively like the youth hostels (but they are not the cheapest in big cities – http://www.backpacker-network.de/ helps). The youth hostel in Hamburg is great and Hamburg is a must-visit.
Camping is also a cheap thing to consider.
I wouldn’t miss Berlin and check through some arts/history stuff there.
My personal favourite place is actually the Königsstuhl in Heidelberg short before sunset and then down into the city to get a cocktail.
You should walk the Himmelsleiter to the top.
I tend to be around there quite frequently because i am living in Tübingen right now.
The IC in the Rhine valley takes the left/slower / more beautiful way through the valley with Loreley and all.
In Mannheim, there should be a convention in the summer but I don’t know any details.
I have heard of Leipzig and Dresden to be very interesting as well.
Depending on your degree of nerdiness, there is the CCC-Camp near Berlin in August by the way.
Hm, Köln and München are already mentioned. Always grab some local food (Fischbrötchen, Currywurst, Bier, Wein, Brot, Spätzle) and I bet, you’ll have a nice time here.
Well, I am not German but live there for some time now. So, Berlin, Cologne and Munich offer the best choices for site-seeing, on the other hand for entertainment, Berlin is a good choice, but there is also Hamburg, depends on your tastes.
I’m the opposite of Malkuth. I’m German but have never been to Germany. :-/
In any case, I don’t think it’s a waste of anybody’s time — I’m learning cool things here!
I’m living in Duesseldorf, which is quite nice if you’re interested in the more urbanized area of Germany. The Ruhr-Area is quite nearby, where I originate from…so if you need a guide or someone to give you some ideas, just tell me.
It’s been quite some time since I showed somebody around, but I could also recommend the Japanese quarter here in Düsseldorf (there’s some great food here).
Munich is nice: if you like technology and or history, the Deutsches Museum is one of the best technology/industry museums I’ve ever seen, plus they have some nice aircraft samples (like fancy stuff from second world war).
If you like art/history, there’s also lots of museums that cater for that (Pinakothek, etc). The mountains and nature in the region are also nice, and you have the biergarten, although it’s too early yet for that.
This is not exhaustive, and other regions have their charms, but those are some highlights I’m fond of.
You’re going to Germany!? You lucky squid you!!
Well, I’m not German and I don’t know many places, but I know there’s a nice city called Wien.
You should go to Düsseldorf! Like said above, the Japanese quarter is very, very nice, and the food is delicious. And it’s also very huge, in my humble opinion. They also have shops with japanese Anime magazines, mangas, artbooks and so much more.
But say, where are you going to go? I live in a town that’s 1-2 hours or so from Berlin. I most likely will have school when you come to visit, but that’d be interesting to know anyway. There are some great places here, you should definitely visit Berlin as well.
Of course we’re all expecting that during your holiday you will continue to post an ungodly number of posts about anime each week :))
Just kidding. Have a great break :)) If you ever feel like popping ‘Down Under’ I could give you some tips of where to go.
I’m going there too! Although I haven’t been to there or Europe at all, I’ll be seeing Munich and Berlin, as well as trying to get a tour of Neuschwanstein castle.
I don’t live in Germany, but I have family members who do, so I stay with them for about a month every few years. Since they live along the Rhine in Baden-Württemberg, most of the places I’ve been have been in the Black Forest and Bavaria, so I have no idea what the rest of the country is like. Of the places we’ve gone, I’d have to say Heidelberg, Hohenschwangau, and Neuschwanstein Castles were my favorites. If you’re the outdoorsy type, I liked the Mummelsee, Chiemsee with it’s Versailles copy palace, and the Bodensee. The Black Forest area also has lots of old ruins if you prefer that instead of the big tourist attractions. If you like to wander around cities, Baden-Baden and Munich are quite nice.
Interesting places to see… Rhine river valley, cologne cathedral,Castle Neuschwanstein, and probably go to Berlin to see the remains of the wall. and if you’re going in fall, Munich for Oktoberfest. and speaking of Germany, I’m amazed you haven’t done a review for Monster, considering its set in Germany. really good series as well, Naoki Urasawa is famed for his storylines.
and for the madoka fans out there who are getting impatient, found fan compilation of ost http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGlRtgUVyz4&feature=player_embedded
Ooh, thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone. I didn’t mention the length of the trip because I’m not exactly sure of how long I’m planning to go (it really depends on how much I end up wanting to see). t’s probably going to be about a week and a half. I’m in any case going to try and include two weekends and try and schedule those around meeting various people here. I’m planning to make some concrete plans for everything this weekend.
While we do speak German over here as well, Wien is actually the capital of Austria. Too and psgels isn’t planning to take a trip there though. Nothing against Germany, but naturally, I am quite fond of the city I was born in =)
I live in Germany (in Frankfurt; this here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt xD) so I also agree with things said before, like:
“Also visit the Rhine River between Koblenz and Rudesheim. The many castles are really great, especially the Neuschwanstein Castle.”
There are really many places there (along the Rhine) someone could enjoy, atleast for people who like medieval atmosphere (also near Rüdesheim across the river lays Bingen where St. Hildegard von Bingen came from). There are also often medieval events through the summer in old castle ruins which could be checked out.
Trier is also an interesting city (the oldest of germany). But if you rather want to see many skyscrapers, visit Frankfurt 😀
Maybe the traditional Bavarian things are also to be mentioned, since they stand somehow for the stereotype of Germany and Germans.
Maybe this could be also interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Road (quick summary only, but there should be many sites about it).
Oh, so you’re visiting Germany =D
The suggestions of the people before me were pretty much most what’s worth seeing.
But a city which wasn’t mentioned is Heidelberg. Which has a really really pretty old town and a Heidelberg castle is worth a visit. It’s actually one of the top tourist places in Germany.
Or the Minster in Freiburg is really pretty as well, especially the tower. It’s said to be the prettiest church tower in the world.
When it comes to castles & culture & nature and such south Germany is your destination.
Moreover in the Schwarzwald/Black forest there’s LOT to see. Another city to visit in the south is of course Munich.
In the north as most of the people said Cologne (the Dome especially), Düsseldorf (there’s a japanese quarter (you can eat really good ramen there!) and a pretty old town (and I’ve never seen as much nightlife in any other town in Germany)), Berlin of course, I’ve never been to Dresden but I’ve heard it’s worth a visit, also Hamburg.
omg I just felt like I’m trying to sell you something. lol.
It would be interesting to meet you, maybe if you’re somewhere near the place I live, we could meet up.
hm, i’m the third person who’d recommend duesseldorf! ^^
there is the rhine river, a lot of shopping places, delicious beer and the japanese street.
next to duesseldorf, there is cologne~
but if you’re staying almost two weeks, then it’ll be better to move around the cities (although the train system in germany really s**ks (sorry)) because there isn’t so much to see~
If you’d like to see some nice historic city centers with lots of timbered houses, I can recommend Dresden and – more of an insider tip I guess – Bamberg.
Personally, I’m from Kassel, but that’s not too much to look at. Sure, we do have some nice parks and Connichi in September, but apart from that…well, there’s also the Documenta every four years, but I can’t remember when the next one is scheduled right now ^^°
Other nice cities I’ve been to are Hamburg (beautiful), Munich and Cologne. I’m not a great fan of Berlin though – Potsdam, however, which is nearby, is very pretty and has its own castle 🙂
Pensions are often really nice places to stay, too, and not too costly either. Once you’ve decided where you want to go, you might want to check out the tourist section of the respective city – they have lots of options for you to stay, including hotels, pensions and hostels.
This is kind of random but you don’t happen to teach writing at a university?
Dortmund has the best soccer team and the greatest stadium on earth!
I live in germany since 1990 and have not seen most of it. I’m through with most of the big citys. Since i’ve lived in Düsseldorf, Cologne and now Bonn I know the west best. But I prefer the landscapes in south-, central, and east germany. I think it’s a hard decission what you should do. Very much depending on your personal preferences. But if you want to visit cologne I can recommend you a very nice and cheap youthhostel. It’s stands out of the rest of youthostels i know.
I’m American myself, but I went to Germany three years ago. I have to say, don’t miss Neuschwanstein. I wasn’t a huge fan of the interior of the castle, but the area around it is absolutely amazing. If you like mountains, there is no way you will not be awed by Neuschwanstein. It was definitely the most memorably part of my trip. Otherwise, the museums in Berlin are excellent and are definitely worth a visit.
You should take a trip to Eastern Germany and experience deserted landscapes and neo-Nazis in their natural environment. Its like a zoo, but unfortunately they aren’t jailed away behind curtains 🙂
I live in Berlin and I think it’s a nice place to visit with a lot of different cultures and social backgrounds clashing here. We have proud residences, greening gardens and next to them are indie parks and technical builidings o_o well it’s a city of contrasts that can be as beautiful as it can be ugly. It gives off a great feeling anyway.
There is a cool hanging monorail in Wuppertal (near Cologne and Düsseldorf), if you’re planning to travel to that area, take a look and a ride. 🙂
I don’t recomment visiting Germany unless you can speak the language.
Oberhausen – Gasometer & Centr0
Duisburg – Industry Culture & more
Köln – Kölner Dom
etc. ;D
I live near Freiburg and think it’s a very nice place, not too crowdy and with many cultural places. You can go visit Elsass from here (in France), which has awesome houses. If you need a free guide for my area, feel free to contact me.
I also can recommend Cologne/Köln since it has a huge church/Muenster, Berlin is a good place, if you are interested in german history and Munich/Muenchen represents many of the stereotypes of Germany, even if they don’t fit for the most parts of it. 🙂
So, yes, as the other writers say, it much depends on, what you would like to see – I also recommend to visit at least 2 places and not only 1 location. 🙂