After a happy and successful first trip, we immediately started planning for our next getaway. At 11 months Berlin was eating solids, his sleep routine was very well established, still relatively light and follows us wherever we went either on stroller or carrier.
So for our second trip we chose Germany & (a bit of) France because:
- After our successful first trip we wanted to go further!
- Towns we were planning to visit are relatively baby friendly
- These towns are also easily reachable by train and short walk
- We were planning to go in January (off season), so not busy with tourists
- We did plenty of research and preparation for the long flight
- At that time Berlin still fly for free!
- Stress free eating & drinking
We have always loved going to Germany, having previously visited Munich and Berlin (obviously where we got the name for our son).This time we mainly intended to visit smaller country towns to avoid crowds and have a more relaxing time. These towns do not come with big department stores so shopping was not the priority here, but there were a LOT of little unique shops (especially Christmas craft shops) and kid friendly museums like the Toy Museum we visited in Nuremberg.
While researching for destinations we found that most German destinations (unlike other European countries) are relatively stroller friendly. Also department stores and most disabled toilets there have baby facilities, however most restaurants didn’t. So sometimes we had to improvise. In one occasion Alfred changed Berlin’s nappy on the floor of Augustinerkeller bathroom (using our Skip Hop change mat), all while Berlin was busy giggling.
During the trip we managed to visit nine different towns! Frankfurt, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Rothenberg, Bamberg, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mainz & Wiesbaden. By using Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Strasbourg as our base we only needed to move accommodation three times. We wouldn’t want to move too many times as the packing and unpacking can get a bit much. Most of the days we did daytrips to a nearby town (usually take about 1 hour train ride). Being low season we easily covered the things we wanted to see or visit during daytime.
We picked roomy family friendly hotels, all within 5 minutes walk to the train station. We paid $150 average per night. In Nuremberg, we stayed at the Novotel and they even had a dedicated playroom for toddlers which helped burn off Berlin’s energy before bedtime.
Mid-January is off season and there were hardly anyone around! Most Europeans tend to escape the snow in winter, whereas it is quite the opposite for most Asians. When we visited Bamberg’s Residenz and joined the 1pm English tour, we had the whole place to ourselves! Definitely a VIP moment for us. Low season also made for great photo ops and no big tour groups!
At 11 months Berlin still flew for free although the bassinet was a bit short for him length wise. We booked return tickets with Singapore Airlines and Berlin only paid around $80 of airline tax. The super long haul flight – almost 23 hours of flying and transit really wasn’t that bad! The Singapore Airlines flight crew were simply fantastic. During our Singapore to Frankfurt leg, the baby next to us unfortunately had diarrhoea. The stewardess would check up on him regularly, reassuring the parents that they have extra nappies and other medications on board if needed. When serving meals they always asked which parent would like to eat first and noting down waiting parent’s meal preference for later. Top notch service all the way!
On the way back home Berlin did not really want to sleep on the plane, maybe a total of 4 hours out of the 15 hours between Frankfurt to Singapore. There was this one German grandma in particular who always came over to our seats (she was seated few rows behind us) to sing German songs to Berlin and cuddle him. Yes, do not worry. You will meet many extremely kind people offering help during your travels.
Last but not least we specifically picked Germany because health and safety wise it is comparable to Australia. We can drink the tap water and didn’t have to worry about catching mosquito borne illnesses, nor food poisoning. The only concern we had was the change in weather (40 degree Celsius temperature drop). We went from 36degrees in Perth to -9degrees in one day. Luckily Berlin was not bothered at all. Not even a runny nose!
Overall, it was a very memorable trip and Berlin had a big milestone. He finally properly crawled in Frankfurt at 11 months after months of commando crawling! We reckon it was because his knees were fully padded wearing those fleece snowsuits.
Check out our packing checklist for this trip
As we say after each trip – Can’t wait until our next adventure!
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