louipivac

We are travelling in Europe next summer (2014) with kids (4&9) and I am trying to avoid moving around to much, it's mostly 7 day stays. But I am wondering if people could please suggest a place we could settle into for longer and just enjoy rather than using it as a base to travel out from. Some time at home as it were, to get some homeschooling done and hopefully meet some other kids to play with.

We will arrive from Paris on 12 July and will have 11 days (which I can stretch to 18) before moving on to Lauterbrunnen.

My plan was overnight is Strasbourg and then 5 nights each in Cochem and somewhere in the Black Forest, but this seems too rushed.

I would be so greatful for suggestions for somewhere we could make a temporary home?

louipivac

So sorry I didn't make myself clearer and thanks for the links.

To clarify we will arrive Strasbourg or Cochem on Sat 12 July 2014 and will have between 11-18 days that I need help to divide between Mosel/Rhine/Black Forest or a nearby destination people would recommend for families with young kids. Day trips are great but would like to be able to have great days in the town we are staying at playgrounds, parks, strolls through town to get icecreams etc

quokka

Self-advertising of yourholidayshomes has been reported to the moderators.
None of the places mentioned is in Bavaria, by the way...

louipivac: If you intend to explore both the Rhine/Mosel area and the Black Forest, there is no way around having two bases. These areas are too far apart to be covered from one single base.

isabel

Boppard might work. It's kind of central for Rhine/Mosal and a little larger than some of the villages yet not a city. Any place really if you just want to 'stay home' and get ice cream, etc. In terms of exploring the town I think you'd be done with that pretty quickly. It's certainly good for day trips (we went as far as Trier on a day trip and didn't feel rushed) and some of the villages/castles you'd want to visit are so close that you could do some 'half day' day trips if you wanted some days with time to do home schooling, etc also.

DeborahAnn

If you would like to base in the Mosel, we stayed in a town a few kilometers from Cochem located along the Mosel. It was at a winery that had apartments.

The Mosel biking path was behind the house across a road. As part of our stay we were given complimentary Mosel bus passes for the length of our visit. The owners have a young child and there was a nice backyard. Even though it is a working winery I think it would be a pleasant stay for a family.

We did daytrips to the Rhine on several days. After spending time on both rivers, I was happy we chose the quieter/smaller Mosel river for our stay

This is the link
www.weingut-clemens.de

Deborah

louipivac

Thanks Deborah, I have book marked that guesthouse, it looks terrific. How long would you stay before you thought it too long?

Thanks Isabel, I'll take a look at Boppard too thanks.

I guess I was thinking if you chose one place (Mosel or Black Forest - or even Alsace) to stay extra time you could see the sights but at a slower pace and perhaps have a short stay (or no time at all) at the other.

Are any of these destinations somewhere to spend more than a week ( I can save my spare week for an extra week in Tuscany or Paris but they are more expensive)?

So some thoughts, after hours of reading today, was maybe a week in Cochem and four nights in Gengenbach, Strasbourg or Colmar? What do you think/suggest please?

bilboburgler

The Mosel is normally steep sided on one side, on the other side it opens up and often you find public campsites, swimming pools, canoe hire, bike hire etc. I ought to know where the best place is but I don't what I would suggest is follow up Deborah's idea because it makes perfect sense. German town tourist websites are pretty good and easy to find. You may find this link is useful as it lets you see the key towns along the valley and their websites, these websites often rent out local gites etc.

http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Mosel_Route.php

Pegontheroad

I really liked the town of Staufen, which is in the Black Forest. Freiburg is larger and more accessible to other places.

DeborahAnn

If you wanted to stay a week or longer my first choice would be Strasbourg--we stayed in Stasbourg 4 nights then moved to Ribeauville for one week. I could have easily stayed longer in Alsace without running out of things to do.

We stayed 5 days in the Mosel but if you were interested in doing some biking along with the driving day trips there is certainly enough for a longer stay.

I prefer slow travel. We were in Germany during May and there were a number of wine festivals we could attend. A very pleasant way to spend the day Deborah

suburbiadeutschland

While in Cochem you should definitely spend a day at the Klotti Amusement park, it is located above the village in Klotten...best to take the bus there and the ski lift back...not the other way as the entrance is still a ways from the lift and the hill is steep/Stoney...wear good shoes, no sandals!
www.freizeitpark-klotten.de is a combination of animal park and amusement park, we have visited it many times with our children and there are always families from all over Europe there. There are snack bars, but you can bring in your own picnic and drinks if you like. The grounds are clean, the animals seem very healthy. You may purchase food boxes to feed the pygmy goats, pot bellied pigs, deer...there are also local animals such as wild boar, deer, mufflons...they even have bears and ostriches. There is an excellent bird show, you must pass through an open wild area and sometimes the animals troughs are being filled so it is easy to help feed them. The birds are set free to soar over the steep valleys. The amusement park has something for all ages, there are water rides (scooters, a boat slide), a squirting game, caged trampolines, swings, roller coasters, carpet slides (here I would be a little careful, not all people keep an out for the little ones and they could get run by another little one that didn't know better)...very clean and fun, there tend to be long lines for the food p,aces but they opened up another one so it moves well. there is a 'kasper Theater' (German punch and Judy type puppet show) as well. End the day by taking the ski lift back down to Cochem, with your feet dangling over the vineyards and views of the castle and Mosel. Might pack a change of clothing if your kids like to go on water rides...have a great trip!

bigtyke

Take a look at trip reports at www.bensbauernhof.com, I think that a stay at a farm would be a great idea (I wish I had discovered them when my kids were smaller!). There are many that cater to families. Usually much cheaper than staying in hotels.

louipivac

Sorry to take so long to come back to say thank you for the wonderful suggestions, researching them has kept me very busy indeed, thank you all!

Bigtyke thanks for the link to bensbaurnhof, what a wonderful resource and generous person for sharing his knowledge of German farm stays. We have decide that we will try alternating between farm stays, camping grounds and apartments throughout our holiday.

It is also clear that we could spend a week each in Cochem, Strasbourg and the Black Forest but we will have to choose two for summer and come back to see the third at Christmas time after our three months in Croatia otherwise our Schengen days will run out

Many thanks again

jgwagner4

My family enjoys the Rhine and we have stayed in Bacharach multiple times. There is a lot to do in the area. You can make easy trips all along the middle Rhine and even to Mainz or the Mosel river. Also, we found many things in the area more geared towards our children when we there in 2010 (our girls where 5 and 2).

We have stayed twice now in the same Ferienwohnung (vacation rental) just above the town...

http://www.ferienwohnung-rheinhoehe....ch/index_e.htm

I have already reserved a week for our third stay in this house in June.

If you are interested in details about what we did and found on our trip, you can read my trip report 'Wagner Germany and England Travelogue.'