Folks,

I have three days to fill.

Here;s the story.

I'm spending 8 weeks studying German with the Goethe Institut. I was supposed
to be 4 weeks in Dresden, 4 weeks in Bonn.

So I decided to go early and spend the four days before the class in Berlin.
I made reservations at a youth hostel in Berlin.

Then the Goethe Institut switched me to Berlin. And I was assigned to a great
homestay location in Mitte. My hostess invited me to stay with her starting
on the 30th of SEptember.

So I cancelled my youth hostel reservation.

Today I got a very apologetic email that the Goethe Institut will be placing
someone there early, and I can't go in until the 3rd of October.

SO I now have NO reservations in Berlin.

So I think I'll take the opportunity to go somewhere else. The only question
is where? I'm thinking about Dresden, since I won't be there, Hamburg, some
place in wine country (possibly for a festival)?

NOT any of the places already on my itinerary: Bonn, Berlin, Leipzig, Witten-
burg, Eisenach, Erfurt, Freiburg am Bresigau. Not Munich - I've been there a
lot. In fact I'll probably skip Bavaria, since I can't stay in a youth hostel
there.

Where do YOU suggest? Let me know where and WHY!

Julie


--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Juliana L Holm wrote:

    > So I think I'll take the opportunity to go somewhere else. The only question
    > is where? I'm thinking about Dresden, since I won't be there, Hamburg, some
    > place in wine country (possibly for a festival)?

What about your first thought, Dresden? I have never been there myself
but I have recently talked to a guy from Dresden and I have concluded
that it seems to be worth a visit. You'd have plenty to see in Dresden
itself as I was told and you could then take a car to nearby Sächsische
Schweiz (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sächsische_Schweiz) for a day trip.

Ulrich

"Juliana L Holm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...


Goslar or Quedlinburg

Beautiful medieval towns that are not far from your ultimate destination.

I wouldn't want to go much farther with onyl three days to spare.

Claim Guy <[email protected]> wrote:

    > "Juliana L Holm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...


    > Goslar or Quedlinburg

Actually my last three days are in Goslar, as I have a friend there, and I
have been there for five days in the past. Quendlinburg I've visited, but
only in a rush.

julie

    > Beautiful medieval towns that are not far from your ultimate destination.

    > I wouldn't want to go much farther with onyl three days to spare.




--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

I'm biased toward Stuttgart since I live there. It's a real city and
has been called the greenest city in Europe (having vinyards, forests
and parks throughout the city), has Europe's largest combination
zoo-botanical gardens in Wilhelma with its wonderful moorish
architecture, Europe's second largest mineral waters, and the world's
first reinforced concrete TV tower. The ballet and opera are
excellent, as is the Staatsgallerie art museum and the enjoyable (even
by those not liking cars) Mercedes Benz museum. The downtown palaces,
Stiftskirche, Markthalle, and palace park are nice. Public
transportation is good and there is a lot of nice scenic nearby
attractions reachable by it, such as one of Germany's largest baroque
palaces at Ludwigsburg- the Swabian Versailles which contains four
museums (as well as two smaller palaces) and the fairy tale gardens,
the old center of Esslingen, and the old centers of almost any town at
the end of the S-bahns. There are a fair number of museums and
hundreds of staeffele (stairways between streets on the steep hillsides
which used to lead up to the vineyards) many with associated small
quiet pleasant parks. There is even a cable car.

The Canstatter Volksfest will also be occuring at that time. It is
Germany's second largest "Oktoberfest" but should have little effect on
other things to do. For non-beer drinkers, there is also the French
Village section with wine and French food.

Leaving the public transportation area, there are also a large number
of nearby nice places to visit such as the college towns of Tuebingen
and Heidelberg, Ulm, Schwaebisch Gmuend, etc. There are also some
excellent cloisters (Maulbronn, Bebenhausen) and castles (Hohenzollern,
Lichtenstein) nearby, but I don't really know how easy they are to
visit by public transportation, we just drive our car.

Alexander 30 Hostel is one possible inexpensive place to stay as is the
Espenlaub Hotel. The youth hostel itself has been newly remodeled so
it should be qute nice.

If you come to Stuttgart, I'm sure you would have a pleasant visit.

George

On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:55:03 +0000 (UTC), Juliana L Holm
<[email protected]> wrote:


    >So I think I'll take the opportunity to go somewhere else. The only question
    >is where? I'm thinking about Dresden, since I won't be there, Hamburg, some
    >place in wine country (possibly for a festival)?
Hamburg is definitely worth a look - you could take in a boat trip
around the docks and the "Speicherstadt" - old warehouses where
exotica like Persian carpets and coffee are stored.

A trip to Lübeck (only an hour by train from Hamburg) is a must -
lovely town with old gabled houses, the Holstentor city gate - town
resembles Brugge in some ways.

If you've another day to spare, you could get a day ticket for
Schleswig-Holstein and do some exploring.

Train to Berlin is around 2½ hrs,


Keith, Bristol, UK

DE-MUNG for email replies

Thanks, George. I'm receiving a number of suggestions and researching them all
I may not decide until next Friday in the Frankfurt train station.

One question, with the festival going, will there be last minute space in the
hostels?

Julie

george <[email protected]> wrote:
    > I'm biased toward Stuttgart since I live there. It's a real city and
    > has been called the greenest city in Europe (having vinyards, forests
    > and parks throughout the city), has Europe's largest combination
    > zoo-botanical gardens in Wilhelma with its wonderful moorish
    > architecture, Europe's second largest mineral waters, and the world's
    > first reinforced concrete TV tower. The ballet and opera are
    > excellent, as is the Staatsgallerie art museum and the enjoyable (even
    > by those not liking cars) Mercedes Benz museum. The downtown palaces,
    > Stiftskirche, Markthalle, and palace park are nice. Public
    > transportation is good and there is a lot of nice scenic nearby
    > attractions reachable by it, such as one of Germany's largest baroque
    > palaces at Ludwigsburg- the Swabian Versailles which contains four
    > museums (as well as two smaller palaces) and the fairy tale gardens,
    > the old center of Esslingen, and the old centers of almost any town at
    > the end of the S-bahns. There are a fair number of museums and
    > hundreds of staeffele (stairways between streets on the steep hillsides
    > which used to lead up to the vineyards) many with associated small
    > quiet pleasant parks. There is even a cable car.

    > The Canstatter Volksfest will also be occuring at that time. It is
    > Germany's second largest "Oktoberfest" but should have little effect on
    > other things to do. For non-beer drinkers, there is also the French
    > Village section with wine and French food.

    > Leaving the public transportation area, there are also a large number
    > of nearby nice places to visit such as the college towns of Tuebingen
    > and Heidelberg, Ulm, Schwaebisch Gmuend, etc. There are also some
    > excellent cloisters (Maulbronn, Bebenhausen) and castles (Hohenzollern,
    > Lichtenstein) nearby, but I don't really know how easy they are to
    > visit by public transportation, we just drive our car.

    > Alexander 30 Hostel is one possible inexpensive place to stay as is the
    > Espenlaub Hotel. The youth hostel itself has been newly remodeled so
    > it should be qute nice.

    > If you come to Stuttgart, I'm sure you would have a pleasant visit.

    > George


--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Juliana Holm wrote: with the festival going, will there be last minute
space in the
hostels?

I checked two of the places, Alex 30 Hostel and the Hotel Espenlaub
which were full 30Sept-2Oct, but the Espenlaub has rooms available both
sides of that date. I don't think that the problem is so much the
Canstatter Volksfest but the German holiday weekend, you may have
problems anywhere. We are vacationing ourselves that weekend. I
didn't check the Youth Hostel Stuttgart which you can check yourself at
http://www.jugendherberge-stuttgart.de/ . Cheaper hotels are probably
available away from central Stuttgart along the U-bahn and S-bahn
lines, but they will be more expensive than my suggestions in central
Stuttgart. Unfortunately my hotel listings for Stuttgart from the
tourist information office have been mislaid, but I can go to their
office tomorrow and get another copy and advise you on the better
located less expensive hotels if you're interested.

George

Juliana L Holm wrote:

    > I'm thinking about Dresden, since I won't be there, Hamburg,
    > some place in wine country (possibly for a festival)?

If you are interested in wine and wine festivals, Rheinhessen - the "german
tuscany" - could be of some interest for you. The cities of Mainz, Worms
and Speyer are worth a visit and Rheinhessen is very scenic especially
during autumn. Mainz is just a short ride from Frankfurt airport.

Oliver

Thanks to all who responded. Someone (thank you VERY much) suggested that
I might have trouble finding space due to the holiday on Monday. They were
right. This morning I tried several of the suggestions, and failed to find
space in a half dozen youth hostels before I got a space in the one in
St. Goar, which is on the Rhine. So I will spend my first two nights (and
first three days) in St. Goar, then take a night train to Berlin on the
night of the 2nd.

Julie

--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Four days from Frankfurt? Why not think outside the box a bit? Catch a
Ryanair flight from Frankfurt/Hahn to Venice or somewhere. Take the
train to the Netherlands or Belgium. Add some days in French Alsace
(great time of year to visit). Your German will serve you well in
Alsace, allowing you to enjoy France while still using and practicing
your German (in many instances).

I see you have Freiburg i.B. on your list. Freiburg's a very nice city,
but since you are spending so much time in cities this trip why not
head over to the nearby small town of Breisach, right on the Rhine, and
stay there? (To be honest, I get bored of Freiburg quickly.) There's a
youth hostel there that is right on the river [
http://www.jugendherberge-breisach.de ]. The surrounding "Kaiserstuhl"
wine region is one of the nicest in Germany (as you may already know).
And, it has easy commuter train connections to Freiburg. Rent a bike
and poke around the Alsatian plain. Plenty of beautiful, flat rides.
Take one of the scheduled boat trips up to Strasbourg or over to Colmar
in France. Or simply wander the many wanderwege in the area.

I'd also suggest the Mosel region. Cochem is the most well known town,
but the city of Trier also has much to recommend (Roman ruins, etc.).
Trains run from Frankfurt. Of course, there's always Rothenburg and the
Tauber valley region (don't they still have a Goethe Institut there?).

See, I didn't say a word about Bayern. :-)

Viel spass und guete reise/studieren!
Brian W.

BrianW wrote:

    > I'd also suggest the Mosel region. Cochem is the most well known town,
    > but the city of Trier also has much to recommend (Roman ruins, etc.).
    > Trains run from Frankfurt. Of course, there's always Rothenburg and the
    > Tauber valley region (don't they still have a Goethe Institut there?).
    >
    > See, I didn't say a word about Bayern. :-)

Yes, you did - Rothenburg belongs there.

SCNR ... Martin

BrianW <[email protected]> wrote:

[]
    > I'd also suggest the Mosel region. Cochem is the most well known town,
    > but the city of Trier also has much to recommend (Roman ruins, etc.).

I agree it's a nice area to visit. Also, though my partner was
non-plussed, I thought Burg Eltz was worth the visit (pretty walk
through the woods from Moselkern.) That time of year might require a
little bit of advance planning though. We arrived in Cochem on a Friday
in early October, and could not get a room anywhere that day. We ended
up staying in Trier, which I agree has a lot of interest.

It was lovely weather too- sunny and pleasant- which might in part
explain why it was so busy. The castle in Cochem was shrouded by gentle
wisps of mist- really quite magical.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
photos at http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer

BrianW <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Four days from Frankfurt? Why not think outside the box a bit? Catch a
    > Ryanair flight from Frankfurt/Hahn to Venice or somewhere. Take the
    > train to the Netherlands or Belgium. Add some days in French Alsace
    > (great time of year to visit). Your German will serve you well in
    > Alsace, allowing you to enjoy France while still using and practicing
    > your German (in many instances).

Alsace is a good idea (I have other weekends) but I'm trying this trip to
stay in the German-speaking world, since the top purpose of the trip is
language immersion. Also been to Venice last year.

    > I see you have Freiburg i.B. on your list. Freiburg's a very nice city,
    > but since you are spending so much time in cities this trip why not
    > head over to the nearby small town of Breisach, right on the Rhine, and
    > stay there? (To be honest, I get bored of Freiburg quickly.) There's a
    > youth hostel there that is right on the river [
    > http://www.jugendherberge-breisach.de ]. The surrounding "Kaiserstuhl"
    > wine region is one of the nicest in Germany (as you may already know).
    > And, it has easy commuter train connections to Freiburg. Rent a bike
    > and poke around the Alsatian plain. Plenty of beautiful, flat rides.
    > Take one of the scheduled boat trips up to Strasbourg or over to Colmar
    > in France. Or simply wander the many wanderwege in the area.

Ah, but I have friends in Freiburg; that's why it's on the list. So it's not
really negotiable.

    > I'd also suggest the Mosel region. Cochem is the most well known town,
    > but the city of Trier also has much to recommend (Roman ruins, etc.).
    > Trains run from Frankfurt. Of course, there's always Rothenburg and the
    > Tauber valley region (don't they still have a Goethe Institut there?).

Actually, Mosel is a top desire of mine, but for the weekend in question,
youth hostels were full. I hope to get there for a weekend while I'm in
Bonn.

I ruled out Rothenburg (and Munich, actually) since they are big American
tourist destinations, so LOTS of people speak English to you.

    > See, I didn't say a word about Bayern. :-)

Actually, isn't Rothenbur in Bayern?

Julie


--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Yeah, I know, I realized that after I posted; I went back and added the
Rothenburg suggestion at the last minute! :-)


Martin Bienwald wrote:
    > BrianW wrote:
    > > I'd also suggest the Mosel region. Cochem is the most well known town,
    > > but the city of Trier also has much to recommend (Roman ruins, etc.).
    > > Trains run from Frankfurt. Of course, there's always Rothenburg and the
    > > Tauber valley region (don't they still have a Goethe Institut there?).
    > >
    > > See, I didn't say a word about Bayern. :-)
    >
    > Yes, you did - Rothenburg belongs there.
    >
    > SCNR ... Martin