Family Holidays: Bavaria family holidays

Take the Family holiday rating 4½ stars out of 5

Why

Bavaria is one of Germany’s most popular family holiday destinations. Historic castles, crystal clear lakes and breathtaking mountains can all be found at arm’s length from interesting cities such as Munich and Nuremberg in this southern region. The kids will love discovering the hidden animals and plants in two National Parks, visiting the Legoland theme park and enjoying Bavaria’s great outdoor activities.

Top left: Berchtesgaden
Top right: Hiking

Bottom left: Munich christmas market
Bottom right: Tegernsee

When

Any time of year. Summers in Bavaria are generally a little warmer than in the UK. A good time for skiing and the traditional Christmas markets is December.

How

take the plane

There are flights from most major UK cities to Munich airport. From London Stansted you can also fly to Nuremberg. And you can also fly to Frankfurt and Salzburg from numerous British airports, from where Bavaria is very easy to reach by train or car.

Stay

Bavaria has a good range of high quality hotels, including one of the well known family friendly Kinderhotels, as well as various self catering options from chalets to forest bungalows.

Do

Munich

– Take the Film Express through Germany’s Film City Bavaria Filmpark
– The German Museum is one of the first scientific-technological museums in the world and with an area of 50,000 square meters the biggest of all.
– Hellabrunn Zoo, situated on the plains of the river Isar, was established as the world’s first "geo-zoo" in 1928. The natural designed enclosures are the perfect setting for breeding endangered species.
– A walk across the Viktualienmarkt can be a sensual revelation. Stalls not only offer the freshest fruits and vegetables in Munich, but traditional Bavarian pork knuckles and sausages, sea food, delicious cheeses from all over Europe, herbs, honey products, sushi and hand-made straw puppets are also for sale.

Franconia

– Nuremberg is world famous for its Christmas Market in December.
– The German Toy Route leads directly to the dreams of your childhood – to toys in all shapes and sizes, to workshops and showrooms, to museums and fun parks.
– The Spielzeugmuseum in Nuremberg (Toy Museum) presents toys from classical times to the present day. In the supervised playroom "kids on top", children can play with toys or do experiments, draw or do crafts and play games to their hearts' content. English tours by appointment.

Eastern Bavaria

– Explore the historic city of Regensburg
– Discover unspoiled nature in the Bavarian Forest National Park, with a network of more than 300 kilometres well-signposted hiking routes, nearly 200 kilometres bicycle routes and about 80 kilometres cross-country ski runs
– The Freyung resort offers cycling tours or hikes in summer, children’s skiing schools with child-safe lifts, cross country skiing and toboggan rides in winter.

Upper Bavaria

– There is plenty to do in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, located at the foot of Germany’s highest mountain ‘Zugspitze’. Alpine skiing, snowboarding, river rafting, mountain biking, hang gliding, tennis and golf are all on offer.
– The whole family will enjoy spending a day in the award winning “Stone Age Siegsdorf”, Chiemgau. The kids have the chance to experience just what life was back in the Stone Age.

Allgäu/Bavarian Swabia

– Hiking and wildlife in the Berchtesgaden National Park Berchtesgarden.
– More than 50 million LEGO bricks, countless attractions and great shows at LEGOLAND Deutschland.

Eat

Every region has its own typical products. In Allgäu and in Bavarian-Swabia, the roast is served with Spätzle noodles, in Upper Bavaria with Semmelknödel, a type of bread dumpling, whilst in Franconia, dumplings are filled with croutons. The cities also have their specialities: Munich provides its Weißwurst sausages, Nuremberg and Regensburg love the barbecued Bratwurst.

Cost

Bavaria offers good value for money. You can get cheap flights with the low cost carriers. Cost for accommodation and ski passes vary depending on the season.