In which city would you prefer to spend 3 wks taking German language classes this July?

Given the German language class aspect, I would say Munich. I find the Bavarians less reticent to talk to you.

In Vienna, I find that the locals will speak English if they know it. So will the people in Munich, but they will go along with a foreigner trying to speak German a little more -- at least in my limited experience.

In both nations, English teaching is good, and both Austrians and Germans don;t hesitate to speak English to an American. Often they will know the language very, very well.

But that is not what you want. You want the chance to speak German. You may need to lean to say in German, please let me try it in German and you help me.

Though I like both cities equally, I agree with Bob. In addition, I think Munich is more centrally located for day trips to other German speaking areas of interest where English might not be so prevalent.

Hi cal,

If you go to Vienna, you will learn German with an Austrian accent.

Munich has terrific pretzles, beer and sausage.

Vienna has terrific knoedles, schnitzle, wine and pastries.

What about Salzburg? It's beautiful, smaller and more compact but still a bit international. A friend of mine learned German there and loved it. (And he speaks it without an Austrian accent.)

Bavarian accent?

Thanks everyone for your reply. I'm actually inquiring for my teenager who went to Vienna last summer.

I'm leaning toward Munich for a different experience. Everyone says Munich is very safe- would you be comfortable letting a responsible, mature teen ride public transportation alone at night back to her Munich homestay?
The Vienna program was in a school residence with a curfew.

She'll be going to Austria again in May (exchange) with her high school so that's another reason to go to Munich this summer.

I need to decide in the next few days. She prefers big cities otherwise I'd consider Salzburg as suggested or Nuremberg, Weisbaden or Cologne.
Thanks for any additional comments.

We decided on Munich and I got a pretty good deal on the air (970 without taxes) via kayak.com -it directed me to the AA website. American is now advertising their flights without taxes and fees so it's a little deceptive.


I also had an interesting experience recently using itasoftware.com
I found a super cheap domestic fare and called in the trip "details" and booking numbers listed on itasoftware as if I were a travel agent and the airline honored it!

Too bad the parents can't afford to go to Europe this summer.