Category: Germany
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Christmas Garden on Island Mainau 🇩🇪
Just visited the magical Christmas Garden on Island Mainau, and it set the stage for the holiday season! The sparkling lights, festive music, and unique experiences made it the perfect way to end the evening.
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Hohenzollern Castle Winter Magic 🇩🇪
Hohenzollern Castle, sitting high on the mountain, is about 1,000 years old and was the ancestral home of the Hohenzollern family, who helped shape German history. With its breathtaking views and fairy-tale design, it’s a must-see for history buffs and travelers alike. We were fortunate to catch the Christmas festivities 👑 🎄
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Pumpkins & Play Bricks: Autumn Fun in Germany 🇩🇪
This fall, we kicked off the season with a visit to the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival, set against the stunning backdrop of Ludwigsburg Palace in southern Germany. From giant pumpkin sculptures to seasonal treats like pumpkin soup and pumpkin waffles, the festival was a colorful, creative celebration of autumn. We explored the palace gardens surrounded by…
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Return to Cannstatter: Stuttgart’s Own Oktoberfest 🇩🇪
Visiting the Cannstatter Volksfest in the evening reveals a whole new side of Stuttgart’s beloved celebration — one that rivals Munich’s Oktoberfest in energy and spirit. As twilight settles over the Wasen fairgrounds, the lights flicker on, music swells, and the air fills with the irresistible mix of sizzling bratwurst, roasted almonds, and laughter. The…
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🇩🇪 Rothenburg ob der Tauber: A Step Back in Time
There are few places in Germany that feel like stepping straight into a storybook, but Rothenburg ob der Tauber does just that. Perched on a plateau above the Tauber River, this medieval gem is a town of winding cobbled lanes, half-timbered houses, and fortified walls that seem unchanged for centuries. A Walk Along the Castle…
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Reichsstadt-Festtage: A City on Fire 🇩🇪
Each September, the medieval jewel of Rothenburg ob der Tauber bursts into life for the Reichsstadt-Festtage, or Imperial City Festival — a vibrant celebration of its proud history as a Free Imperial City. In 1274, King Rudolf I of Habsburg granted Rothenburg this coveted status, freeing it from the control of local rulers and allowing…
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Afternoon Above the Clouds: Eagle’s Nest & Alpine Tobogganing 🇩🇪
After leaving the chill of Austria’s ice caves behind, our road trip crossed into Germany for an afternoon at the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) — a place where natural beauty and history stand side by side. Perched 6,000 feet above Berchtesgaden, this mountaintop retreat was originally built as a 50th birthday gift for Adolf Hitler in…
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Bavarian Peaks & Alpine Streets: Our 4th of July Road Trip 🇩🇪🇦🇹
While fireworks were lighting up the skies back home, our family celebrated the 4th of July 2023 with a different kind of adventure — a road trip through the heart of the Alps. From the heights of the Eagle’s Nest overlooking Berchtesgaden, to the cool depths of the Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave, and the storybook charm…
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In the Shadow of the Elector: A Day at Mannheim Palace and the Quadratestadt 🇩🇪
Stepping into Mannheim is a disorienting experience, and that’s precisely what makes its history so compelling. I’ve traveled through countless European cities whose streets curl and twist with the natural chaos of a medieval past. Mannheim is different. It is a city of pure, uncompromising order—a perfect grid, a military chess board of 144 “squares”…
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The Perfect Loop: Spending the Day on the Rüdesheim Ring 🇩🇪
If there is one day trip that perfectly encapsulates the magic of Germany’s Upper Middle Rhine Valley (a UNESCO World Heritage site, by the way), it has to be the Rüdesheim Ring. We’ve done this loop many times—and every single time, it feels like an entirely new adventure. It’s a triple-threat of transportation—cable car, chairlift,…