After years of studying german in highschool and undergrad, i will be leaving July 1 to study in Germany during July/August. Specifically, I will be taking class in Freiburg, but am still putting together travel plans for weekends and days after the program.

My train pass will allow me to travel in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

If there are suggestions as to where I should visit, then post post post!

otherwise, this thread will operate as my official correspondence on the happenings of my trip.

Have fun at the beer gardens.

yeah i do plan on going to Munich (probably July 11-13), so i'll be seeing the "major" beer gardens

what i'm stuck on is narrowing down decisions like whether to visit luxembourg or brussels, or to just stick it to germany and see several cities.

notably, i'll be flying into and out of amsterdam schiphol, so at least i won't miss the coffee shops

I hear there are lots of cool small villages in Bavaria.

You should try to hit up Austria while you're in the general area.

sich auf sicherem Boden bewegen!

Too bad you just missed the Documenta in Kassel, Germany...it's a big contemporary art fest that only happens every five years. But it's still a really pretty town that even smells nice!

you're a bit away from Belgium or North Rhine/ Westphalia but to be honest, no visit to Germany is complete without seeing The Dom, drinking several Kolsch at Paffgen or Malzmuhle and shooting the shit with the enormously friendly and hilarious people of Koln (I'm biased). perhaps you can pass through Brugge, Aachen, and Koln on your way to Freiburg.

Jaymo, I travel to Germany quite often for work and to see family but the lion's share of my experience is in North Rhine/Westphalia.

Munich and surrounding area is great and Augustiner beer garden is my fav although the best garden I went to was Augustiner in Salzburg (these are less touristy places).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Plinko,

your base may in fact be in closer proximity to some of the amazing places in Switzerland (if you haven't been there). Bern, Luzern, and Berner Oberland (incredible mountain/lake scenery...well, basically nearly every part of German/Italian Switzerland is incredible mountain/lake scenery). Switzerland is small and once there, you can hit a bunch of places.

I'm insanely jealous. You're going to be only 6 hours from Austria, which is on my list of places I have to visit before I die.

Post lots of pictures!!!

thank you for the info folks -- i am hoping to get to berlin, but probably won't get to extensively travel the northern reaches of the bundesrepublik

any thoughts on Wurzburg? (sorry i'm shitty with typing umlauts)

quote:

Originally posted by sheztat2ed:
I'm insanely jealous. You're going to be only 6 hours from Austria, which is on my list of places I have to visit before I die.

Post lots of pictures!!!

i will post as best i can --

i likely won't make it to Austria; during the weeks i will be taking classes and mostly traveling between Freiburg and Strasbourg for "work" in the criminal courts

alright i'm at Dulles airport waiting to depart... goodbye USA!

Strasbourg is a nice little town! have a great trip! say hello to the storks for me.

COLOGNE! cologne is wonderful,i exchanged there for 3 weeks and worked in wdr production studios it was awesome! seriously you gotta go, der dom is amazing and its just wow!

if you go to heidelberg think of me- i was born there.

my first stop will be amsterdam -- wish me a happy/hazy start

have an awesome time
my folks are going over there soon for leonard cohen actually.. bastards i wanna go

whoa whoa whoa whoa when is leonard cohen????

i'm no expert, but ibee and i liked the 420 cafe in amsterdam. stupid name, but it's a nice, chill place- a lot of locals- it's not loud and sleazy and crowded like a lot of the other places.
takemewithyou!

i'll check it out... other places i like there (from the 48 hours i spent there last year):

- dutch flowers
- umm... shit can't remember, but its around the corner from where i'm staying (hotel euphemia)

i will also go the melkweg one night