Sunday, May 6, 2007

How To See The Best Of Germany In Two Weeks

If you only have 14 days in the beautiful German countryside, it’s important to make the most of your time. However, it’s not possible to take in everything, so here are some tourist tips to ensure that your two weeks are spent in the most efficient, memorable ways.

1. Pick a Few Sites to See

It’s critical that you not spend your vacation running around the country, taking quick snapshots and then dashing to the next attraction. Instead, plan on only focusing on a handful of “must see” sights.

For instance, if you and/or your traveling companion(s) are “into” history, why not devise a “castle tour” of southern Germany? That way, you’ll have a theme vacation, but you won’t be locked into trying to see everything you possibly can in such a short amount of time.

If sports are more your personality, you could plan on exploring the central parts of Germany and maybe even turning your holiday into a hiking and camping excursion.

2. Choose One Region of the Country

To make the most out of your two weeks in Deutschland, it might be beneficial to pick only one area of the country to visit. For instance, northern German towns like Bremen and Hamburg have much to offer, but you won’t get to explore them to capacity if you leave too soon.

Though you may be tempted to try and tour the entire country, it’s simply not feasible and you’ll spend a great deal of your vacation on trains, buses, and planes. Yes, it’s do-able, but we all know how exhausting it can be to check in and out of hotels, not to mention pack and unpack your bags.

3. Stay in One City

Who says that you can’t see the “best of” a country if you stay in only one city? Certainly, a large place like Berlin has enough to satisfy you, and you can always take day trips.

By lodging in only one hotel, spa, hostel, bed and breakfast, or private rental property, you’ll take the worry out of traveling, and you’ll be able to relax. This will also give you a sense of a “home base”, which often makes touring much more fun.

Staying in one spot will allow you to get to know the locals better, too, so if you’re visiting Germany in an effort to get to know more about the German people, planting yourself in one location is a great way to find out how people really live in this country.

4. Spend a Week in One Location and a Week in Another

If you’re not sold on the notion of staying in one place for a whole two weeks, why not divide your time between two larger cities or regions? For instance, you could spend your first week in the Berlin area and the second in Bavaria. This way, you’ll get the flavor of the distinctive cultures of two different places, but you’ll still be able to de-stress each evening by coming back to the same room.

5. Join a Tour

Finally, should you be too confused or uncomfortable to plan your trip to Germany, one of the best ways to spend your two weeks seeing some of the hotspots is to book your travel with a tour group. That way, your itinerary will be planned out for you (though you’ll most likely have some free time to enjoy yourself alone or with your traveling companion). This can often come at a premium in terms of price, but it’s a handy way to take the worry out of picking the “right” or “best” locales to visit.

Remember – only you know why you’re going to Germany and what you hope to get out of your experience while there. Plan your trip according to your hopes and desires, and never forget that this country will be there for a long time. If you miss seeing something this time around, you can always go back.

No comments: