Wally4

Would be interested in knowing where a good location is in Germany not to expensive to be located for 30 days and have the ability to travel to various cities in Germany and elsewhere.

KemiRad

Would be interested in knowing where a good location is in Germany not to expensive to be located for 30 days and have the ability to travel to various cities in Germany and elsewhere.


Personally I would split it between three major locations: Bavaria (take your pick depending on your interests), Western Black Forrest with easy access to Strasbourg, Colmar, Freiburg, Basel, Baden-Baden, etc. and the general Rhein-Mosel areas (access also to Trier, Luxembourg, Bastogne, Cologne, etc.). With a car it would be easy to undertake day trips from an apartment on a Bauernhof (farm) in the suggested areas where one can still find prices from € 25-35 pro night.

annetti

I know a lot of people won't agree with this suggestion, but I would recommend Frankfurt. We did a home exchange there for 5 weeks, had a Eurail pass, and found it incredibly easy to go all over Germany without backtracking. We visited Cologne, Nurnberg, Wurtzburg, Marlberg, Heidelberg, and other towns on day trips.

We took the train to Berlin and then to Dresden and returned to Frankfurt. The Berlin - Dreseden - Frankfurt trip was not a day trip. We spent ten days away from Frankfurt. We rented a car to see the Mosel Valley, but it was not really necessary; we could have done that by train, too. You could with some pushing do that in a day, though we spent four.

We, also used the Eurail pass to go to Mainz and then took a cruise up the Rhine for a day trip from Frankfurt.

We took the local trams to Bad Homberg for the day. We seldom ran out of things to do and when we did not feel like taking a train, we found Frankfurt was an interesting town to explore. (Lots of smaller tourist attractions can be found in the Michelin Green Guide. For example we enjoyed the Palmgarden, a lovely enclosed park with an open air music area, exhibition area, restaurant, pond, etc.)

Sorry, I can't recommend an inexpensive hotel, but I remember there were some cheaper hotels near where we stayed, about 10 minutes from the train station that looked reasonable. Perhaps, if you chose a place a bit further from the city center you could find something less expensive. Good luck and I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to do.

rachw

What about a vacation apartment (Ferienwohnung)? You'll have your own living room, kitchen, bath and bedroom--live among the locals, shop in neighborhood groceries, get a real feel for living the culture....Choose a site with good rail connections if using the train, etc. Most all apts come with your parking space, if driving.
Once you decide which city(ies) or town(s), investigate online.
Ex: if you choose trier, look at www. trier.de under accomodations for descriptions and prices. Most will rent for a week minimum, no problem...

Gary_Mc

This has been a pipe dream of mine. Much depends on what your interests are and how you would travel.

I would like to travel by train and really like the area known as Franconia (Franken) having been stationed therein for 3 years. I have looked at Ochsenfurt as it is close east-west and north-south train connections (Würzburg nearby). It has some not too expensive hotels and some Ferienwohnungs. It also lies along some long distance bike routes, another interest of mine.

http://www.ochsenfurt.de/

I suspect that a similar case could be made for many cities depending on your interests.

Regards, Gary

bellacqui

Wally,

Most people will suggest the South of Germany since that is the culture/area most people associate with all things German. My suggestion would be, however, to experience what Germany really is and stay in a location which would allow you to experience all cultural aspects of German life.

An idea would be to locate near Frankfurt for two weeks. This would enable you to visit most cities in Central and Southern Germany within about five hours travel. For example, Munich is about four hours, Freiburg three, Köln 1.5, Heidelberg 1.5, Nürnberg 2 hours, Dresden, five hours.

Then take two weeks and stay in the north, between Berlin and Hamburg. Maybe in Mecklenberg Vorpommern, where you can find someplace for little money. Take a look at Schwerien... from there you are in Hamburg in an hour, in Berlin in an hour, in Lübek in an hour, in Timmendorfer Strand in 1.5 hours...and you will have the total German experience, not just the lederhosen experience of the south, but also the hanseatic experience of the north...two diametrically opposed opposites, both interesting, and both German.

treplow

balacqui's suggestion of splitting the time between two cities makes eminent sense. Also, his suggested cities are good locations.

logos999

>lederhosen experience of the south
A rather bizzare point of view. ;-)