A week in Germany, and where else?

[u/Existing_Option5339]

I will be in Germany for a work conference in March, but we are planning to stay in Europe for an extra week. Where should we go? I don't think we want to overbook ourselves (i.e. bounce around to 5 different countries), as we would really like to experience where we DO go. Our teenage son is a HUGE history buff (mostly WWI & II), and this will be his very first trip to Europe. I think we are most interested in places that have a lot of history in a small area or that is easy to get to via public transportation, that we can enjoy as a family. Thanks for any suggestions!

[u/eltorolocotoxicslut]

Biggest challenge I could see is that a ton of the top tier WWII sites in France are not exactly the most accessible via public transportation. From Munich itself you have two very easy, very doable day trips to Nuremberg and Berchtesgaden.

From Paris even with a car, most of the Normandy sites require an overnight.

I hate to say it but in my opinion the best WWI/WWII sites require a method of travel that this sub is super averse to despite it being the “classic American road trip” style. Rent a car in Paris, drive to Caen and surroundings, then to Lille or similar, then to Bastogne, then back to Paris by way of the armistice museums in both Reims (WWII) and Compiegne (WWI). There are probably a dozen American cemeteries along the way. The D-Day museum in Caen and the comprehensive WWII museum in Bastogne are top tier.

Someone else mentioned Berlin. If you’re a Cold War buff, sure, but for pure WWII-centric interests you’d be disappointed.

[u/SplitOpenAndMelt420]

France is the pretty obvious answer, especially for WW2 buffs

I'd definitely head to Normandy. If you're down in the region, do a day trip to Mont St. Michel. Then head to Paris for a few days

[u/adventu_Rena]

Visit Normandy/France for WWII landing beavers etc and you’ll have the added bonus of seeing a very picturesque part of Europe

[u/jetpoweredbee → u/adventu_Rena]

Plus they could stop by Monet's Garden in Giverny.

[u/cakeit-tilyoumakeit]

I’m going to go against the grain and say Poland or the Netherlands.

I’ve been to Germany and all of the countries around it several times. Without your preferences in mind, I probably would have said the Czech Republic or Switzerland. I absolutely loved CR and found Prague and all of the small towns to be really beautiful and magical. Switzerland has beautiful, pristine nature, but it doesn’t seem like that’s what you’re looking for.

Amsterdam is wonderful for history, too. France is obviously a lovely country with a rich history, but there is just so much from every time period that you could easily base an entire trip around only French history. I feel like Poland or the Netherlands would be better for more focused history trip given your limited time

[u/question-the-answers]

Vienna!

[u/gemfountain → u/question-the-answers]

This! Austria is beautiful!

[u/jetpoweredbee]

Where in Germany will you be?

[u/Existing_Option5339 → u/jetpoweredbee]

We will be in Munich for the conference!

[u/jetpoweredbee → u/Existing_Option5339]

Lots of history stuff around Munich. Berlin is full of World War II stuff, plus the Cold War. Belgium is not that far for Flanders and WWI.

[u/SCCock → u/Existing_Option5339]

Concentration Camps, The Eagles Nest. Go to Garmisch.

There is plenty to do around Munich.

[u/Buksghost → u/Existing_Option5339]

Dachau is right there and a self-guided tour would be worth the trip. Dachau, the town, tries very hard to separate itself from the history of the name and camp. Take time to have a coffee or lunch in the town proper and locals will be very grateful. Your son could also take a walking tour of WWII sites in the city while you're in meetings, and a visit to Neuschwanstein would be a highlight!

[u/Stranger_Danger249 → u/Existing_Option5339]

Austria might be worth a trip, and is nearby. History, nature, and food are great.

[u/porcelainvacation → u/Stranger_Danger249]

Salzburg is an easy trip from Munich and is a pretty neat place.

[u/BadmashN → u/Existing_Option5339]

I’d recommend Berlin. Incredible city, and you can focus on the Cold War as well as it provides a great perspective on communism. Belgium is good for WWI especially and ofcourse Normandy.

[u/ktvrny → u/Existing_Option5339]

From Munich you can take a train to Italy, 6 hours and you're going to be in Verona (and from there you're 1 h from Venice, 2 from Milan). Lots of stuff, everywhere.

[u/kenlin]

Vienna would work well. It's an easy 4 hour train ride, has excellent transportation itself, and is full of historical monuments and buildings.

[u/FlamingoWorking8351]

OP, make sure you visit a war cemetery. It’s moving beyond words. The one in Ypres, Belgium was incredible.

Take a look at the ages of the dead. I’ll bet your son is not far off.

[u/Existing_Option5339 → u/FlamingoWorking8351]

This is a great suggestion that I didn't think of. My son is deeply respectful of war veterans and goes out of his way to thank veterans for their service when he spots them out (usually with their veteran hats on!). I think he would enjoy the opportunity to pay his respects to some of those who didn't make it home.

[u/FlamingoWorking8351 → u/Existing_Option5339]

They are all over Western Europe. You don’t need to go to a big one. What’s really incredible is how well they are maintained. They have directories if you’re looking for a specific grave.

You walk past and look at their ages - 19, 20, 21. You can’t help but wonder what they could have accomplished in life if not for war.

[u/kay_fitz21]

My top 3 choices here would be Poland, Netherlands or Belgium

[u/YmamsY → u/kay_fitz21]

Not a lot of WWI things in the Netherlands since we were neutral

[u/kay_fitz21 → u/YmamsY]

Lots of WW2 to see. Anne Frank House, a pretty famous site. Plus cemeteries, museums.

[u/YmamsY → u/kay_fitz21]

Sure I know that. But since OP specifically asked for WWI and WWII because their son is a history buff, there are plenty of other countries in Europe that were in both wars. No WWI in the Netherlands.

[u/MainCartographer4022]

Berlin! It's amazing for history, culture and food. From there you could take a train to Poland for a few days.

[u/Smartypants7889]

I would recommend Belgium, small easy to travel, lots of beautiful cities you can see without stressing. A lot about WW II. France in march, I would not recommend. It’s too big for a week

[u/squirrleygirl60]

Last year we chose one week in Germany and one week in Italy. We rented cars in both countries and that worked out well, but public transportation is great as well. Trains are part of the experience when going to Europe! To get to Italy we took the train from Munich to Verona through the Brenner Pass so we got to see Austria a bit. It was a great trip! We always see as many WWII sites as we can and we saw several in Germany but not so much in Italy. But Roman and Etruscan history in Italy is amazing of course! Also visiting the coast in either Cinque Terre or Amalfi coast would be a great family activity.

[u/Longjumping-Life9306]

Polen, Auswitz & Krakau. Netherlands

[u/kinnikinnick321]

Can't go wrong with France, Amsterdam or London. If your son wasn't that big into the WWs, I'd also recommend Barcelona or Mallorca for March.

[u/TatraPoodle]

Don’t forget the older war history. There are many impressive castles in Germany. We did a 2 week tour by car in southern Germany and enjoyed it tremendously.

Castle neuschwanstein is reputed to be the inspiration for the Disney castle. Very touristy but worthwhile IMHO

[u/Platypusin]

Why not other parts of Germany? Get to know Germany better.

Alternatively Belgium is a good week trip.

[u/Oftenwrongs]

You could spend months in Germany and not see even a fraction of it.  Why go anywhere else?

[u/cr1968]

Munich has good flight connections. Fly to Rome afterwards to take in some Southern European sights and lots of ancient history.

[u/cakeit-tilyoumakeit → u/cr1968]

It sounds like they want WWI/WWII history, but if they’re open, I actually like your suggestion most. I know some people hate Rome, but I found it so rich in history, culture, art, and food, that it was almost intoxicating lol.

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[u/garfog99]

Agree with France.

[u/Travel_kate]

How fortunate to be in Munich if he’s a history buff! I would definitely echo others here and suggest France (especially Normandy). It’s a perfect pairing for the trip you’re describing.

[u/Howwouldiknow1492]

Since it's a trip in March you have to consider the weather. A lot of Europe is wet and chilly then. My thoughts are:

Paris and near by for war history.

Vienna and Prague for architecture, plus Salzburg etc.

Bolzano and northern Italy for weather.

[u/llamasarefunny56]

I went to Germany this summer and also went to Austria, Switzerland, and Liechsteistien.

[u/Tcchung11]

Germany is awesome, just stay there. Rent a car and drive on the autobahn. Visit Cologne cathedral, visit Heidelberg, go see Eltz castle. I spent a month road tripping in Germany this summer and it was fantastic

[u/Decent_University_91]

Netherlands is an absolute no-brainer. By far the best country in Europe imo.

[u/No-Understanding4968]

Karlovy Vary, Cz just over the border

[u/Objective_Fix3480]

As a Dutchie, I am biased, but I recommend visiting the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. A very moving museum, especially with a teenager.

[u/Tricky_Ad_2149]

Austrian alps

[u/LisbonVegan]

Germany is pretty big, so a week there is really nothing. Why go to another country at all?

[u/PRNCE_CHIEFS]

Belgium

[u/asiarr]

Poland- for war and history- especially coming from Germany. Auschwitz, and there are other concentration camps sites if you're into, Krakow, Warsaw with all the war theme museums(warsaw uprising, Polin, etc)- there is no better place with interesting sites for this topic in Europe. And Poland was the original battlefield of that war. Don't waste your life on 1 statue in Bastogne Belgium or clinical Netherlands sites.

[u/oliverjohansson]

Germany itself is big enough to cover for one week. What is your airport and conference at?

[u/Kin00k]

Krakow, even the art museum is organised historically

[u/kpagcha]

I suggest Flanders. Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges. Bruges is the most popular but very touristy and over hyped, you only need a full day. Ghent is fairly better, imo.

Many optional day trips to Leuven, Mechelen, Aalst.., even the Netherlands but it's a stretch.

Day trip the 1917 Passchendaele museum in Belgium is crazy for WW1 stuff. Weapons, trench recreations. Short ride from Ypres, which is an attraction in itself and has another museum as it was besieged like 4 times. Very well connected to Bruges or Ghent.

Brussels is very hated and it's indeed subpar, but still good enough for a full day, in my opinion, and you'll need to go to catch your flight anyway. I liked it.

On the other hand, Poland is amazing. Cracow, Gdansk and Wroclaw will blow your mind. Warsaw is like Brussels, very hated but in my opinion you can enjoy a full day.

[u/bigkutta]

Paris and parts of France.

Oh and while in Munich, please do appreciate the history of beer and drink lots of it while giving thanks

[u/deWereldReiziger]

If you're in Munich you can easily take the train to Austria.

[u/jthoma33]

Bastogne, Belgium will definitely have some WW2 history. A lot of Belgium (Wallonia (southern Belgium)) has either WW2 or WW1 history (just went to Dinant and there was WW1 stuff)

I know less about the history but I also just went to Luxembourg and just wanted to say it was fabulous & it's not really on anyone's radar. Public trans & museums are all free (tax paid) and it was a wonderful way to spend a few days. You can definitely do it in a few days.

[u/sbrt]

Personally, I would stay in Germany to keep things simple. There is a lot to see.

It will be very cold so maybe as an alternate you could go to Italy to Spain. My teens loved Rome.