Need Help Picking German City for Christmas
Jun 21st, 2006, 05:47 PM
#1
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Need Help Picking German City for Christmas
We are doing a home exchange over Christmas and New Years. We have several options to choose from. They include:
1. A home 30km north of Wurtzburg
2. A home 10km east of Mainz
3. A home 20km NW of Dusseldorf
4. A home 30km N of Hannover
All of them are in little villages.
We like the peace and quiet of that but we also like to get out and visit towns or cities with historical sites, museums, art, shopping, craft shops. Weather permitting some hikes or cross country skiing.
We know nothing of Germany except from books.
Can anybody suggest which of these places might be the best??
1. A home 30km north of Wurtzburg
2. A home 10km east of Mainz
3. A home 20km NW of Dusseldorf
4. A home 30km N of Hannover
All of them are in little villages.
We like the peace and quiet of that but we also like to get out and visit towns or cities with historical sites, museums, art, shopping, craft shops. Weather permitting some hikes or cross country skiing.
We know nothing of Germany except from books.
Can anybody suggest which of these places might be the best??
Jun 21st, 2006, 07:05 PM
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My vote would be for the Wurzburg area due to the many lovely small towns surrounding it:
Wertheim (http://www.tourist-wertheim.com/) - On the Main and Tauber Rivers northwest of Wurzburg. Nice old town with beautiful half timbered buildings and castle ruins overlooking the town. From here we traveled along the Main River to Miltenberg, another lovely town with castle ruins.
Iphofen (www.iphofen.de), a small but amazing wine village southeast of Wurzburg. The Knauf Museum (http://www.knauf.com/?diac=b0b460de9...7ac&lang=EN)in Iphofen is certainly worth seeing.
Dettlebach (http://www.dettelbach.de/sites/gensi...87286&Art=0646), a small gem with narrow streets, half timbered buildings and a medieval town wall with towers. One of our favorites.
Of course, Wurzburg itself offers many wonderful tourist sites.
Wertheim (http://www.tourist-wertheim.com/) - On the Main and Tauber Rivers northwest of Wurzburg. Nice old town with beautiful half timbered buildings and castle ruins overlooking the town. From here we traveled along the Main River to Miltenberg, another lovely town with castle ruins.
Iphofen (www.iphofen.de), a small but amazing wine village southeast of Wurzburg. The Knauf Museum (http://www.knauf.com/?diac=b0b460de9...7ac&lang=EN)in Iphofen is certainly worth seeing.
Dettlebach (http://www.dettelbach.de/sites/gensi...87286&Art=0646), a small gem with narrow streets, half timbered buildings and a medieval town wall with towers. One of our favorites.
Of course, Wurzburg itself offers many wonderful tourist sites.
Jun 22nd, 2006, 12:30 AM
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Although I think the North-Rhine Westphalia region (including Dusseldorf) is vastly under-rated, the particular area where that home exchange in strikes me as kind of bland. And ditto for the area north of Hannover. I agree with Betty, the home north of Wurzburg is probably the best option.
Whether you'll have a white Christmas in any of those area is up for grabs and I would say it's more likely you won't have enough snow for cross-country skiing. But it's not all that UNlikely you'd have no snow, either.
Whether you'll have a white Christmas in any of those area is up for grabs and I would say it's more likely you won't have enough snow for cross-country skiing. But it's not all that UNlikely you'd have no snow, either.
Jun 23rd, 2006, 11:02 AM
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Another vote for Wurzburg. If you get there earliy enough to visit the Christmas markets be sure to hit Michelstadt, Bamberg, and a bit further away, Bad Wimmpfen.
Could you tell us how you arranged the exchange?
Could you tell us how you arranged the exchange?
Jun 25th, 2006, 05:39 PM
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This will be my 3rd exchange. The first two were done with GTI home exchange (http://www.gti-home-exchange.com). The first was 3 weeks in Edinburg. The woman only wanted someone to be at the house. So we got the house and her car for that time. I think we paid $10/day for utilites. The second was 3 weeks in Den Haag, Nedeland. There the family had family in the bay area and all they wanted was our cars, and someone to take care of thier dogs. We loved it. both homes were just wonderful. This time I have found that GTI does not have a good selection of German homes so we went to homelink.org. We have come up with lots of possibilities.
The biggest thing to overcome is the trusting of complete strangers to stay in your home. But I have never heard of any problems. Between free lodging, free cars, cooking at home. Its like going to Europe for nearly nothing (well there is the airline tickets) ( and the other problem is that you convince yourself that you are saving lots of money so then you spend more).
But you also get to meet the people, neighbors, other friends. You have to go to the markets for food. You meet more people there. You will see stuff that you would never see if you stayed in a hotel.
It is just great. It does take a little work to set up your site. If you live in a tourist challenged area like Sacramento you have to do a little sales job on why your place is just as good as going to West Palm beach or NYC or San Francisco. But you will find that some people are looking for exactly what you have.
Hope that helps
The biggest thing to overcome is the trusting of complete strangers to stay in your home. But I have never heard of any problems. Between free lodging, free cars, cooking at home. Its like going to Europe for nearly nothing (well there is the airline tickets) ( and the other problem is that you convince yourself that you are saving lots of money so then you spend more).
But you also get to meet the people, neighbors, other friends. You have to go to the markets for food. You meet more people there. You will see stuff that you would never see if you stayed in a hotel.
It is just great. It does take a little work to set up your site. If you live in a tourist challenged area like Sacramento you have to do a little sales job on why your place is just as good as going to West Palm beach or NYC or San Francisco. But you will find that some people are looking for exactly what you have.
Hope that helps
Jun 26th, 2006, 12:37 PM
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The Würzburg area is certainly a good choice.
The Düsseldorf location doesn't sound bad, either. Where is it exactly?
Düsseldorf is famous for its nightlife. It will be fabulous for New Year's Eve. And you are close to Cologne, another splendid city.
The Würzburg area will be quiet and romantic, the Düsseldorf area bright and vibrant.
The Düsseldorf location doesn't sound bad, either. Where is it exactly?
Düsseldorf is famous for its nightlife. It will be fabulous for New Year's Eve. And you are close to Cologne, another splendid city.
The Würzburg area will be quiet and romantic, the Düsseldorf area bright and vibrant.
