Europe: off-the beaten-path with kids

[Your Mom 4,828]

I'm taking my boys to Europe this summer.  We are researching places to go.

Considerations:

6-7 days.  No London, no Paris, no Italy.  Two boys ages 11 and 14, both love history and appreciate local cultures.  We have no interest in London.  Been to Ireland and Scotland, loved it but don'y need to go back his year.  Saving Italy for a longer trip another year.  Been to Ypres, Belgium and they absolutely loved the small old town and all the WWI history around it.  Been to Paris and don't need to do a bunch of touristy stuff like that again.

Flying direct from Austin to Frankfurt on Lufthansa would be nice but I'm not sure we want to spend much time there.  Considering starting there and taking a train to Switzerland or a combination of Bruges and Amsterdam.  Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh museum would be nice but otherwise not looking to stand in line and be around big crowds.  The boys would love to see the Swiss alps, but I've never spent time there and not sure where to start.  It's just the 3 of us, no need for pubs and nightlife.  

Any input is welcome, thanks

Edited May 9, 2019 by Your Mom

[Hagbard Celine 10,896]

Kids are too young for Amsterdam in my opinion.  Switzerland trains are incredible and incredibly expensive.  Summer = no such thing as no lines and no crowds.

 

[rage-a-holic 4,415]

If you don't care about budget, do Switzerland. Bavaria and Austria are cool as well.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

Pripyat in the summer

[midtown 3,346]

36 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Kids are too young for Amsterdam in my opinion

Completely disagree.   My kids are 12 boy and 9 girl and they would have loved Amsterdam.  If you are saying this because of the weed and red light district I have news for you.  They are already starting to see and hear about this stuff at school, through friends, and the internet.  Might as well use it as a chance to have a conversation with your kids about it.

 

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

Bruges and Amsterdam.  Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh museum would be nice but otherwise not looking to stand in line and be around big crowds.

I was just in both of these cities at the beginning of March.  There are some photos in the Brussels/Amsterdam thread.   You won't stand in line at either of these places because they sell tickets for time slots.  Show up about 10 mins before and bam. You're in.

If you want to get off the beaten path consider Ghent, Rotterdam, and or Antwerp.  I didn't make it to any of those places but  a lot of people I met said good things.

Edited May 9, 2019 by midtown

[Your Mom 4,828]

35 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Kids are too young for Amsterdam in my opinion.  Switzerland trains are incredible and incredibly expensive.  Summer = no such thing as no lines and no crowds.

 

I've been to Amsterdam and I think there's stuff there for them, just not sure about the crowds.  They're not into typical Disney vacations and beaches.  My 14 year old already wants to go to college in Edinburgh and then live in Belgium.  He likes the old towns, cobblestones, architecture, cafes, etc...  There are houseboats on the canal in AMS available as AirBnBs.  Something like that with some good food and wandering the streets for a couple days is appealing to them.  

[Your Mom 4,828]

32 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

If you don't care about budget, do Switzerland. Bavaria and Austria are cool as well.

I do care about the budget.  Hoping to spend less than $200 a night on lodging and have reasonably priced cafes around.  We usually Airbnb it.  I really know nothing about Switzerland though.  

[sidis 9,832]

just fyi, there are going to be plenty of crowds in the swiss alps (and everywhere else) in the summer.  so you're desire to avoid people is going to have to extend much farther "off the beaten path" than amsterdam or the swiss alps. lol

that said, the swiss alps are incredible...strongly recommend the berner oberland and hq'ing out of interlaken.  hikes starting out of lauterbrunnen, grindelwald, etc... are incredible and all are accessible by short train rides from interlaken.

that said, outside of luzern, while there are a ton of old towns, they aren't anything like amsterdam that you described the 14 year old enjoying.  it is incredible natural beauty and outdoorsy-ness. 

if you want the "old towns, cobblestones, architecture, cafes, etc... " aspect of it in addition to outdoors/hiking like switzerland, it is a quick trip over to salzburg and vienna...

[Js1 85,449]

Quote

not looking to stand in line and be around big crowds

Then skip summer in Europe, honey.  

[Your Mom 4,828]

Yeah, "off-the-beaten-path" is relative.  Mainly I meant not looking at London, Paris, or Italy.  Alps vs Amsterdam... I realize they are nothing alike, just two separate places each with their own qualities my kids have shown interest in.  Hiking in the Alps would be amazing.  We do some backpacking, mountain biking, etc.. back home but I doubt we'd fit that in over there.  But they'd enjoy the mountains.  I'm just not sure what else we'd occupy our time with after a morning hike.

[crash_davis 23,114]

i too was going to suggest svizerland and interlaken..  think colorado in the summer time but in the swiss alps with centuries old postcard perfect villages.

https://www.holidaystoeurope.com.au/home/european-destinations/switzerland/1160-things-to-do-in-interlaken-switzerland

[Your Mom 4,828]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Then skip summer in Europe, honey.  

We've been three summers in a row, but thanks for this helpful hint.  I realize Amsterdam isn't one, but there are small towns all over France and Belgium that are amazing and not overcrowded.   

[crash_davis 23,114]

the other place i was going to suggest was provence but you are flying into frankfurt so it will take some time to get to provence.  

i've done this 3 times.  think of tubing/kayaking a texas hill country river but you get to float under a 2000+ year old massive roman aqueduct.  easily one of my all time favorite memories. you can swim and jump off cliffs and boulders along the way.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard

also you can head to cassis and take a boat tour of the calanques along the french med coast.  you can also hike to some coves, spend the day swimming and jumping off the cliffs.  

Edited May 9, 2019 by crash_davis

[lemonlime 5,503]

Not sure if it's off the beaten path, but Croatia.  Dubrovnik, Split, and Zagreb--old towns with a lot of history.  There's great hiking near those towns if you wanted to do outdoors stuff -- Plitvice Lakes.

In the Alps, not sure if it's what you're looking for, but did some hiking in Val d'Anniviers a few years ago, near Sierre.  It was incredibly beautiful.  We went in September, and the ski resort area was not crowded at all.  That said it was like sidis was describing, without the old town, cobblestone streets you're describing.

[sidis 9,832]

1 minute ago, Your Mom said:

Yeah, "off-the-beaten-path" is relative.  Mainly I meant not looking at London, Paris, or Italy.  Alps vs Amsterdam... I realize they are nothing alike, just two separate places each with their own qualities my kids have shown interest in.  Hiking in the Alps would be amazing.  We do some backpacking, mountain biking, etc.. back home but I doubt we'd fit that in over there.  But they'd enjoy the mountains.  I'm just not sure what else we'd occupy our time with after a morning hike. 

the pursuit of the other swiss "mountains?"

you're with a 9 year old and a 14 year old...what did you have in mind?  like i said, it would probably make sense to split it up between the alps and a spot like vienna or salzburg for the variability.  however, if you want to do smaller towns in france, then there are a zillion options and that is totally different.

i don't know what you mean by "fit in over there" but i will say a lot of the hikes will be too much for a 9 year old.  here are some pics from my last hiking trip over there.

[Your Mom 4,828]

What I meant by not fitting it in over there is that we probably wouldn't be doing it.  Youngest is 11.  He carried a 20 pound pack for 3 days in Big Bend last year, but that's no Swiss Alps and I realize it.  Short day hikes with views would be great, but then I'm not too familiar with what else to do there.  That's why I asked.  I appreciate those pics!  Beautiful!  Definitely on the bucket list as they get older.  

[closetojumping 62,763]

One my favorite trips I've taken is to Munich and Salzbourg. My wife and I took our then 4 and 2 year olds to Munich in the late summer of 2013. She was pregnant and didn't want to do one of the really big cities in Europe and she'd never been to that part of Germany or Austria, and I'd never been to either country, so we said "fuck it" and made a go of it. 

Munich is terrific and not as expensive as other well-known places in Europe. It's not exactly cheap, regardless. There's shit to do there of every sort. They have surfing on the river in their massive park which was cool to watch. Riding bikes in the park itself was fun. The beirgartens are great and low stress. Plenty of museums and shopping. Town square is vibrant and fun. There's also lots to do within short train rides. Neufschwanstein was a fucking awesome experience. We went to Dachau (15/20 minutes from downtown Munich, which shocked me) and that was a brutal but mindblowing history lesson. It was one of the most impactful things I've experienced. 

Salzbourg is about a 90 minute? train ride away. It's also amazing, beautiful, etc. It's much more quiet and quaint than even Munich. Plenty to see and do. Town square is great people watching. There are open markets and such for wandering. Believe it or not, the Sound of Music tour was awesome. I was pissed off that it was on the schedule, but my loves the movie, so I had to go. It blew away my expectations and I'd do that again. 

We talk about going back with all 5 kids now, but have other things we always wind up wanting to see first, but I am sure we will at some point. The food was also awesome everywhere, btw. 

Anyway, apologies if my spelling of places is off a bit, same as my view on timing of getting to and fro, because that's all off of memory. Good luck, whatever you do.

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

I'd do a Croatia + Slovenia trip.

 

Hit up Dubrovnik, Split, Ljubljana, and Lake Bled

Edited May 9, 2019 by SimonBolivar

[midtown 3,346]

My 9 and 12 year old like nature and scenery but as beautiful as those places are my kids would take towns and cities over nature and hikes by a billion.  

[rage-a-holic 4,415]

49 minutes ago, sidis said:

just fyi, there are going to be plenty of crowds in the swiss alps (and everywhere else) in the summer.  so you're desire to avoid people is going to have to extend much farther "off the beaten path" than amsterdam or the swiss alps. lol

that said, the swiss alps are incredible...strongly recommend the berner oberland and hq'ing out of interlaken.  hikes starting out of lauterbrunnen, grindelwald, etc... are incredible and all are accessible by short train rides from interlaken.

that said, outside of luzern, while there are a ton of old towns, they aren't anything like amsterdam that you described the 14 year old enjoying.  it is incredible natural beauty and outdoorsy-ness. 

if you want the "old towns, cobblestones, architecture, cafes, etc... " aspect of it in addition to outdoors/hiking like switzerland, it is a quick trip over to salzburg and vienna...

 

40 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

i too was going to suggest svizerland and interlaken..  think colorado in the summer time but in the swiss alps with centuries old postcard perfect villages.

https://www.holidaystoeurope.com.au/home/european-destinations/switzerland/1160-things-to-do-in-interlaken-switzerland

3rd on the Berner Oberland/Jungfrau region. Personally, I'd base out of Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, and if you want tiny towns that sit in the alps with no cars allowed, Wengen or Murren. I stayed for a week in Wengen and loved it. Super quiet, great hiking and views. The only noise you will hear are cow and sheep bells.

I stayed at the Alpenrose but there are cheaper options.  https://www.booking.com/hotel/ch/alpenrose-wengen.html

 

This is Wengen from above after a 2 hour hike.

[52-80 19,205]

Tons of paths in Europe you and your boys can beat off on. 

[crash_davis 23,114]

18 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

Tons of paths in Europe you and your boys can beat off on. 

[Bone3421 716]

If switzerland....interlaken, great spot and jumping off point if you want to do some bungee jumping, river rafting, etc....also have a rope course and a mountain coaster

[Bone3421 716]

If still up for ideas...dont rule out prague/budapest from frankfurt

[Grippe 313]

Young men that age should see some of the US Memorial Battle Monuments (graveyards) overseas.  It's off the beaten path and are incredible memories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Battle_Monuments_Commission

Normandy is obviously the most popular one, but damn they're all beautiful in their own ways.

[Js1 85,449]

15 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Tons of paths in Europe you and your boys can beat off on. 

"Roman Polanski Molests Europe" was a great travel guide. 

[bobcat1995 71]

Spent Spring Break 2019 in Germany with our two kids ages 16 and 15, Berlin and Munich.  Berlin was great and emotionally heavy because we visited a lot of WWII sites or memorials.  While in Munich, we contemplated taking a day trip by train to Salzberg but decided to save that for another vacation.  Munich and Southern Bavaria were awesome.   Lots of great places to eat and if one of your kids is a picky eater like my 15 yr old, there are plenty of McDonald's around as well.  Also Starbucks for the wife.  We rented a car for a few days to drive ourselves around Southern Bavaria and then took the subways in Munich.      

 

    

[Spankytoes 1,742]

I swear, Shaggy/Surly has the most cultured children per capita of any website. If I told my kids at 11 and 14 that I was going to take them to Amsterdam to check out museums or Bruges to people watch and embrace the local culture, because there isn't shit to do in Bruges except drink cherry beer in a tavern, they would have pissed and moaned about it. Especially when you add in a 10+ hour flight to get there. I don't deny that your kids have a passing interest in these things, but I think it's more of what you want to do than anything. If you offered them Disneyland Paris, a Harry Potter studio tour in London or a small town in Croatia, I don't think there would be a contest.

Having said that, Interlaken is a fantastic suggestion for what you are trying to accomplish. Switzerland, Alps, scenery, camping, plenty of activities...it checks all the boxes. Just know that a mountain becomes "just another mountain" after Day 3. I would work my way through Germany/Austria and down to Switzerland. Do the Romantic Road all the way to Munich. Then a day trip to Salzburg. Then down to Castle Neuchwanstein and Innsbruck and then to Interlaken. Fly an open jaw back from Zurich.

[Js1 85,449]

If I was 11 - I'd be pissing and moaning about why we aren't going to Disneyland Paris

If I was 14 - fuck, I didn't want to be stuck with my parents for 1 or 2 weeks on vacation

[4th and 5 4,915]

20 hours ago, midtown said:

Completely disagree.   My kids are 12 boy and 9 girl and they would have loved Amsterdam.  If you are saying this because of the weed and red light district I have news for you.  They are already starting to see and hear about this stuff at school, through friends, and the internet.  Might as well use it as a chance to have a conversation with your kids about it.

 

I was just in both of these cities at the beginning of March.  There are some photos in the Brussels/Amsterdam thread.   You won't stand in line at either of these places because they sell tickets for time slots.  Show up about 10 mins before and bam. You're in.

If you want to get off the beaten path consider Ghent, Rotterdam, and or Antwerp.  I didn't make it to any of those places but  a lot of people I met said good things.

I'm taking the kids to Europe soon. First time for all of us.

@midtown I enjoyed your post and because of the thread, yesterday morning I just added three days in Amsterdam to the front end of our trip. 

20 hours ago, Your Mom said:

I've been to Amsterdam and I think there's stuff there for them, just not sure about the crowds.  They're not into typical Disney vacations and beaches.  My 14 year old already wants to go to college in Edinburgh and then live in Belgium.  He likes the old towns, cobblestones, architecture, cafes, etc...  There are houseboats on the canal in AMS available as AirBnBs.  Something like that with some good food and wandering the streets for a couple days is appealing to them.  

I read this thread for the first time this morning. Mind blown.

Total coincidence: last night I booked a houseboat on a canal in AMS. 

20 hours ago, crash_davis said:

the other place i was going to suggest was provence but you are flying into frankfurt so it will take some time to get to provence.  

i've done this 3 times.  think of tubing/kayaking a texas hill country river but you get to float under a 2000+ year old massive roman aqueduct.  easily one of my all time favorite memories. you can swim and jump off cliffs and boulders along the way.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard

also you can head to cassis and take a boat tour of the calanques along the french med coast.  you can also hike to some coves, spend the day swimming and jumping off the cliffs.  

Total coincidence: We leave AMS and fly to join our friends in Marseille, where we are staying one night, and then doing the boat tour of the Calanques.

Total coincidence: then we join our friends in Collias, where we are staying in their chateau for a week.....just 3 miles away from the Roman Aqueduct.  

4 hours ago, Grippe said:

Young men that age should see some of the US Memorial Battle Monuments (graveyards) overseas.  It's off the beaten path and are incredible memories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Battle_Monuments_Commission

Normandy is obviously the most popular one, but damn they're all beautiful in their own ways.

Total coincidence: then we fly from Marseille to Caen, staying in Bayeux, for two days of guided tours of Normandy. I love WW2 history. Can't wait.

And then two days in Paris.

And a day in Dublin.

1 hour ago, Spankytoes said:

I swear, Shaggy/Surly has the most cultured children per capita of any website. If I told my kids at 11 and 14 that I was going to take them to Amsterdam to check out museums or Bruges to people watch and embrace the local culture, because there isn't shit to do in Bruges except drink cherry beer in a tavern, they would have pissed and moaned about it. Especially when you add in a 10+ hour flight to get there. I don't deny that your kids have a passing interest in these things, but I think it's more of what you want to do than anything. If you offered them Disneyland Paris, a Harry Potter studio tour in London or a small town in Croatia, I don't think there would be a contest.

Having said that, Interlaken is a fantastic suggestion for what you are trying to accomplish. Switzerland, Alps, scenery, camping, plenty of activities...it checks all the boxes. Just know that a mountain becomes "just another mountain" after Day 3. I would work my way through Germany/Austria and down to Switzerland. Do the Romantic Road all the way to Munich. Then a day trip to Salzburg. Then down to Castle Neuchwanstein and Innsbruck and then to Interlaken. Fly an open jaw back from Zurich.

My kids are so excited!

And @Spankytoes thanks for getting me started in points and miles years ago, because a lot of it is free. First/Biz free DIRECT (SCORE!!) to AMS via AA sAAver awards, AMS-MRS free Chase points, MRS hotel free Chase points, free stay with friends, AMS-Caen free Chase points, Paris hotel free Chase points, CDG-DUB free Chase points, DUB-home Biz free AA sAAver award....... 

[RDCanecutter 26,457]

Small-town Alsace. Smurf villages, fantasy book castles, plenty of paths up into the hills to keep their young selves worn out. Kids will love tarte flambee, dad can get hammered on beer and wine.

[shnsajax 3,591]

Fly into Amsterdam, spend a night or two or none. Take a full day trip to Apeldoorn and go to https://apenheul.com/, your kids will love it. I will be taking mine once they are a little bit older.

Go spend a night in Maastrict which a really cool college town and check out the St. Peters Caves. https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/maastricht/caves-of-st-peter.htm. Lots of history and pretty amazing.

Take the train to Brussels. Spend a couple of hours and go see Mannequin Pis and the Grand Palace, then get on another train and head down to Ypers. Lots of WWI stuff to do, good for another night. Take the train down to Poperinge and explore another town and a really great hops museum. From here you will need to get a belbus to take you down to Watou and stay at least 2-3 nights at the St. Bernardus B&B. Free beer in the beer fridge, can do a tour, and the breakfast is really great. Rooms are typically under $100 per night. They give you bikes to ride into Watou and all over the country side. Watou is a town of a couple hundred people and on the French boarder. While staying here take another belbus or ride bikes to St. Sixtus and get yourself Westvletren beer. 

Here is the B&B

https://www.sintbernardus.be/nl/guesthouse-nl

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1081543-d2687902-r144642978-Guesthouse_Brouwershuis-Watou_West_Flanders_Province.html

[crash_davis 23,114]

15 minutes ago, 4th and 5 said:

 

Total coincidence: We leave AMS and fly to join our friends in Marseille, where we are staying one night, and then doing the boat tour of the Calanques.

Total coincidence: then we join our friends in Collias, where we are staying in their chateau for a week.....just 3 miles away from the Roman Aqueduct.  

 

for the pont du gard kayak trip, we used these guys twice.  you can choose how long you want to stay on the water.  if you paddle and quickly float, it's about a 3 hour trip.  you can stay on the river longer as there's a take out/pick up point about 30-45 mins pass the pont du gard.  the pick up at regular intervals.  just plan with them when you want to get out.  take water and snacks to eat on the river.  you'll see topless chics sunbathing on the river banks.

https://www.kayakvert.com/descente-en-canoe-kayak-sur-le-gardon.html

 

for the calanques, research which hike and calanque you want to hike to and swim in.  

https://lelongweekend.com/calanques-cassis-family-friendly-hike-provence/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g196673-d548838-Reviews-Calanques-Cassis_French_Riviera_Cote_d_Azur_Provence_Alpes_Cote_d_Azur.html#REVIEWS

[Your Mom 4,828]

7 hours ago, Grippe said:

Young men that age should see some of the US Memorial Battle Monuments (graveyards) overseas.  It's off the beaten path and are incredible memories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Battle_Monuments_Commission

Normandy is obviously the most popular one, but damn they're all beautiful in their own ways.

The kids have been to Normandy and several of the WWI battlefields in Flanders and along the Somme.  You are absolutely correct, kids or no kids, no trip to Europe is complete without seeing some of those spots and appreciating what happened there.   

[Your Mom 4,828]

 Many thanks to everyone in this thread. Lots of great ideas and lots for me to start looking into. I appreciate it!

[Your Mom 4,828]

4 hours ago, Js1 said:

If I was 11 - I'd be pissing and moaning about why we aren't going to Disneyland Paris

If I was 14 - fuck, I didn't want to be stuck with my parents for 1 or 2 weeks on vacation

Guess I’m lucky. Amsterdam and Switzerland were their ideas.   There are definitely times when the 14-year-old wants some independence to do his own thing and I oblige.  But it’s just us 3 boys and when it comes to travel and adventures we’re thick as thieves.  

[Napoleon 8,692]

In Europe, you can still take the path where you beat your kids.

Thankfully everywhere hasn't spared the rod.

#bible

[strangulation! 1,716]

Arnhem is an hour and a half-ish outside of Amsterdam. Learn them up on market garden, see the airborne museum then go to the cemetery there:

entering through those trees and then it's so silent and peaceful.

[Anastasis 23,480]

11 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Small-town Alsace. Smurf villages, fantasy book castles, plenty of paths up into the hills to keep their young selves worn out. Kids will love tarte flambee, dad can get hammered on beer and wine.

Flammenkugen, imo. 

 

I like where your head is at. 

[RDCanecutter 26,457]

17 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Flammenkugen, imo. 

 

I like where your head is at. 

Yeah, at first I was all Flammekuchen Flammekuchen, but even in towns where they spoke Alsatian they were calling it Tarte Flambee. After a while I was like, "fine, just cook me some o that good shit." Also, don't miss out on Choucroute Garnie, that's sauerkraut with all the meat from the surrounding area on top of it.

(To speak proper Alsatian, learn both French and German, then drink cough syrup until you've forgotten them both. Dude who ran the hotel in Selestat, next consonant I hear him say will be his first.)

La Montagne des Singes. Feed the monkeys popcorn.

[Anastasis 23,480]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

Yeah, at first I was all Flammekuchen Flammekuchen, but even in towns where they spoke Alsatian they were calling it Tarte Flambee.

post WWII linguistic suppression, imo. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,126]

If they love history, why not look at Greece?

[RDCanecutter 26,457]

3 hours ago, Anastasis said:

post WWII linguistic suppression, imo. 

Alsatian was gonna get suppressed no matter what-- it's not standard Hochsdeutsch, and when they were part of Krautland they were treated as Reichs territory, like Namibia or Kameroon.

They were pretty pro-German though, until Hitler. Hitler made it much more popular to be French.

People will say there's no Alsatian spoken but they don't know jack. There are people who never speak it, people who always speak it, and a fuzzy middle group who act like they don't speak it if you speak standard German or French to them and they think you'll make fun of them, but if you hit them with a similar Baden dialect, or just show some respect, then yeah they can speak it.

I was told by one guy that Alsatian was good practice for learning English, another mixed German/French mutt. So maybe we set up some Alsatian language schools in China.

Lorraine is a similar case. Split between "French" and "German", but neither variety was like anything they spoke in Paris or Heidelberg. Whoever owned it, they were going to reteach the kids.

[Ted Lange 16,110]

Heading to Alsace this summer., just 4 days with home base in Strasbourg.  I know the obvious things, but if anyone has some random things or places to visit, I’d love to hear it. 

[PittsburghTiger 6,192]

4 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Heading to Alsace this summer., just 4 days with home base in Strasbourg.  I know the obvious things, but if anyone has some random things or places to visit, I’d love to hear it. 

For some simple fun, really close to Strasbourg, how about Europa Park, just over the border in Rust?

The Black Forest has a lot of really nice little towns. Or take a drive over to Lake Konstance (the Bodensee) to swim or bike. It’s a nice and relaxing area of Germany.

Bade-Baden is really nice too

[RiceOwl 74]

If you’re still looking for ideas, might I recommend Western Norway? Road trip from Bergen to Alesund. 

Second Slovenia as a good suggestion too. Don’t go to Croatia if you want off the beaten path.

[Player 4,575]

Timely thread is timely. We're capping off a longer trip in June with our last 4 nights in Germany - flying home from Munich. 

Thinking about houses in Garmisch-Partenkirchen area as a base to do some outdoor stuff, see the castles (Linderhof & Neuschwanstein), Eagle's nest. Anyone familiar with this area, or have any recs?

[RDCanecutter 26,457]

10 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Heading to Alsace this summer., just 4 days with home base in Strasbourg.  I know the obvious things, but if anyone has some random things or places to visit, I’d love to hear it. 

Rent a bicycle and zip down the canal paths west of town. There will be an elf village every couple of miles where beer and good chow can be had. You won't be deep in the woods but you'll see stuff you'll never catch from a car or train.

Colmar is a nice canal town a little south of Strasbourg. Selestat is about halfway between the two, and has a small city feel. Right up the mountain from it is the Mountain of Monkeys, if you like monkeys. It's a colony of North African critters than roam free inside an enclosure, and you can go in there and feed them popcorn from your hand. When they get enough popcorn-fed monkeys to reproduce, they send some of them back to reforested parts of North Africa.

If you like the Smokies you will love the Vosges.

[Thetexashammer 1,062]

On 5/10/2019 at 9:08 AM, Spankytoes said:

Having said that, Interlaken is a fantastic suggestion for what you are trying to accomplish. Switzerland, Alps, scenery, camping, plenty of activities...it checks all the boxes. Just know that a mountain becomes "just another mountain" after Day 3. I would work my way through Germany/Austria and down to Switzerland. Do the Romantic Road all the way to Munich. Then a day trip to Salzburg. Then down to Castle Neuchwanstein and Innsbruck and then to Interlaken. Fly an open jaw back from Zurich.

Your mom has an open jaw.

[52-80 19,205]

4 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Rent a bicycle and zip down the canal paths west of town. There will be an elf village every couple of miles where beer and good chow can be had. You won't be deep in the woods but you'll see stuff you'll never catch from a car or train.

Colmar is a nice canal town a little south of Strasbourg. Selestat is about halfway between the two, and has a small city feel. Right up the mountain from it is the Mountain of Monkeys, if you like monkeys. It's a colony of North African critters than roam free inside an enclosure, and you can go in there and feed them popcorn from your hand. When they get enough popcorn-fed monkeys to reproduce, they send some of them back to reforested parts of North Africa.

If you like the Smokies you will love the Vosges.

Pretty sure that's how AIDs first proliferated