I am interested in spending some time in at least one of the following areas in June: the Ahr, Sauerland, Siegerland and Teutoburger Wald.

Anyone have any recommendations on places that must be seen in these areas or reason why I would want to choose one area over another?

Also does anyone have any information on good Fereinwohnung (vacation rentals)? I have checked out the various websites but am hoping to get personal recommendations.

Thanks

This is a rather unusual request, so I may ask you how much time you would like to spend and what are your interests.

For, Sauerland and Siegerland are not very exciting areas. You have forests and a few picturesque towns (Freudenberg in Siegerland is most impressive with its half-timbered houses) and lakes. If you like hiking or if you look for a remote place to write a book it is okay. But still, I would recommend other areas with more atmosphere (like the Black Forest or the Hartz).

I terms of attractions, I would recommend the Ahr. The Ahr valley is scenic, there are vineyards, wineries, excellent restaurants, ruins of a Roman villa, and many other destinations nearby (Bonn, Cologne, the Rhine..).

Besides, Sauerland and Siegerland still suffer from the winter storm, and many trails are still closed.

The reason we are looking in these areas is because of location...

We are flying in to Düsseldorf and then will be spending 7 nights in Münster to visit my wife's parents. We then have 4 nights open (hence the question) before staying in Bacharach for 5 nights. We will spend our last night back in Düsseldorf. We do not want to drive more than about 4 hours in the car at any stretch, because we have a 19 month old child.

So we are looking for something that is somewhat between Münster and Bacharach and not more than four hours from either.

We have already been to Köln, Aachen, Mainz, Frankfurt and much of the surrounding areas, so we are looking for something new. My wife would also prefer something rural.

Currently she prefers the Teutoburger Wald and I prefer the Ahr. but we are still pretty open to suggestions.

Thanks!

We spent several days in the Teutoburgerwald last fall and really enjoyed it. Our base was Detmold, a small city home to a top music school, so there were plenty of concerts to choose from...students recitals, performances by faculty, visiting groups, etc., all very inexpensive. As we walked through the leafy streets of the town at night, we would turn a corner and hear the sound of classical music from practicing students. It also has its own brewery.
http://www.brauerei-strate.de/
Detmold is a delightful, low-key place and a good base for exploring Externsteine, the hiking trails, and the absolute highlight of our fall Germany trip (which included the Black Forest), a day spent at the Freilichtmuseum just outside town, generally considered to be the finest outdoor museum in Germany.
http://www.lwl.org/freilichtmuseum-d...startseite.php
This would be a great place to visit with your child as you can ride in horse-drawn wagons or walk on your own. Plenty of places to relax and let your baby toddle about on the green grass.

We stayed at the 4-star Best Western hotel in Detmold (I posted an in-depth review on tripadvisor.com). Very spacious rooms start at around 60 € per night, quite reasonable. Right by the pedestrian district with lots of cafes, shops, etc. Secure underground parking, small indoor pool and wifi on all floors. I don't know of any vacation rentals in town, sorry.
The people in Detmold were very friendly, by the way. Too bad you'll miss Federweisser season.

Lucky you going to Muenster! I hope you will spend some time in Muensterland and take in the beautiful water castles and the rose garden at Seppenrade.

Wow! Thank you for this very good reply. I am definitely leaning more towards the Teutoburgerwald now. Actually my wife had suggested we stay in or near Detmold. She also thinks we might want to visit the town of Lemgo (I think that is right) as well.

We will probably try to secure our lodging this weekend, so unless we hear some convincing advice about one of the other places we were considering I think it will be Detmold.

I will make sure to post my travel log when we return.

We went through Lemgo a couple of times and it struck us as a little too quiet, kind of bland. But we didn't explore it fully, so perhaps our impression is off base. Some of the villages we passed through looked like they "shut down" at night so we were glad to be staying in Detmold.
There are many spa hotels in the region, you might want to check into those as well.
FYI, if you are considering a stay at the Best Western, we found better rates on the hotels.de site than on the BW site.

How was your trip? Where did you end up going? I hope you enjoyed Muenster and spent some time exploring Muensterland...Nordkirchen, Luedinghausen, etc.