Visiting Germany with kids, places to visit, things to do and more.
Hi my name is Angelica. I am a mom, wife, photographer and I love to travel. Recently my family and I visited Germany, specifically the Garmish, Bavaria area and I fell in love with this beautiful country. We visited during the end of June and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. So I wanted to share our experience with you. We are a family of four with our kids age 4 and 10. This trip was by far our favorite family vacation ever! The kids loved every single minute of it, below is the break down of our family vacation.
We travelled by car via the ferry in Dover - UK. This was the cheapest way for our family to travel with our own vehicle and be able to drive everywhere we wanted without having to rent a car.
Dover Port, UK
We arrived in Dunkirk France, at the ferry port. From there we drove 5 hours to Ramstein and spent the night. In the town outside of Ramstein there is a place called Big Emma’s and the food was the best food I have ever had, they lived up to their name by offering huge portions of food and even bigger beers. The next morning we headed to Garmish but on our way there it made sense to stop and see the beautiful Disney inspired Cinderella castle, Neuschwanstein Castle . Parking was €7. You can book to do a tour of the castle our you can just go hiking up the mountain to sight see (which is what we did). We wanted to see the castle from Queen Mary bridge, which is one of the best views of the castle and surrounding area.. You can get to the bottom of the bridge by hiking, bus shuttle or by horse and carriage ride. I got impatient because I could not find the stop for the shuttle bus and decided to hike it. Wrong move! You can hike straight up through the woods or follow the road. Well I did not want to lose the light to take my photos so I decided to hike through the woods and half way up I felt like I was dying lol . So I do not suggest this unless you are crazy and love hiking up the side of a mountain. To be honest it was a beautiful hike just crazy difficult. We took the shuttle down and it was only €1.50 per adult. (if I go back this will be my choice for sure). Also there is another castle near by that is called Hohenschwangau Castlewhich we did not visit but I was able to snap a few photos of it. If you have plenty of time and want to visit the two castles, to see them inside and out will be an all day trip.
Neuschwanstein Castle Hohenschwangau Castle
After the castle we continued our journey to our final destination Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Where we stayed at the beautiful Edelweiss Lodge and Resort with gorgeous mountain views.
Next day we decided to go hiking in the scenic mountains. We were directed to check out Partnach Gorge this was a super easy hike and kid friendly. We parked at the bottom near an Olympic sized ski jump where parking was €7. We walked with our kids for about 20 minutes and when we arrived we discovered that you can either hike above the gorge (which is free) or you can pay €5 per person (my 4 year old was free) to hike through the caves directly inside the gorge. Going through the caves is absolutely a must do! It is simply breathtaking, our kids even loved it. If you have a child younger than 4 I would recommend a carrier for them so they don't slip and fall on the path.
Next we head to the amazing Alpine coaster- Kolbensattel Oberammergau. We paid for a lift ticket and a ride ticket. You can hike all the way to the mountain top but it will be an 1.5 hr up hill hike. We had small kids so we decided to take a ride on the lift which was breath taking. On top of the mountain there is a play area for kids and a restaurant where you can grab quick bite.(Keep in mind you can pack your self a picnic and eat up there., but if you decide to eat at the restaurant, I highly suggest the apple strutle it was amazing!!. After our lunch and playing in the mountains we rode the Alpine coaster all the way down hill. This was so much fun and one of our favorite experience ever and yes our 4 year old was able to ride the coaster down with us.
Afterwards we went back to the resort and decided to relax for the rest of the day at the pool and hot tub.
Later that afternoon, we visited the beautiful Goldsee Lake and took in the iconic little wood shacks. It really looks like the whole area is out of a painting and I had to see it to believe it . You can swim at the lake or just walk around, again the area is super kid friendly and you just park by the road at the bottom of the hill to hike to the lake.
Tips for photographers: The best time to photograph this is early morning at sunrise.
Next day we decided to have a relaxed day, we packed up our bag with snacks and headed to Lake Eisbee where we went swimming. The water temperature was perfect for the sunny day , the view was just amazing . If you walk on the left hand side of the lake for about 15 minutes you will find a beautiful beach where the water is perfectly clear and you can spend your afternoon. We were there for 5 hours, remember not to forget sunscreen and a floaty for the little ones. After a few hours we decided to rent a paddle boat, we paid €12 for an hour and paddled all over the lake and got to see the beautiful islands that are within the lake. Suggestion: Get the boat longer than an hour we ran out of time too fast. We were able to swim in the lake from the boat, we just stopped and just jumped in to cool off. Warning if you get too close to the shore line you will pass by the opposite shore where clothing is very apparently optional. So yeah there is a portion of this lake where there are naked people just hanging around. So you may want to stay away from this side if you have young children.
Lake Eibsee
After our fun filled day at the lake, we went back to the resort and finished our night with an amazing dinner at Mukenfuck restaurant the food was by far the best food I had during our stay to Germany. It was so fresh and healthy we were not left with that yucky stomach feeling. FYI just so you know food portions in Gemrnany are big, so in most of the restaurants you will be able to share with a kid or spouse. After our yummy food it was time to rest since we were heading out next morning to go back to Ramstein to break our trip in half again. So the next day we headed back to Ramstein and spent the night. Of course we went to the German grocery store and got our selves lots of German snacks for the road trip. Make sure you are open to new experiences go shopping at a German market to take some treats that you can snack on later. We drove from Rammstein to Dunkirk, the following morning, took the ferry and returned home with an amazing vacation to talk about with family and friends. I hope this information helps you to make the best of your vacation if you decide to visit Germany.
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