A city trip with children, it had been on our list for a while. At least on mine and Frank's. Just enjoy a few days of culture in a city instead of a lazy holiday of a few weeks or wandering around in our own village. But even though that city trip was at the top of my wish list, I was also dreading it. I think because I just didn't know exactly how our kids would experience this. So we put it to the test and did a Hanover city trip. Of course I will tell you our experiences with regard to our first real city trip with children below!
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Perhaps Hanover is not so obvious and when you think of a city trip to Germany, you think of Berlin, Cologne or Düsseldorf? Hanover was not my first idea either, but I started snooping around on the internet and fell in love with the idea of 'the Red Thread' in Hanover and the beautiful photos. Sufficient 'food' for me to plan the Hanover city trip in collaboration with Hanover city marketing.
Update April 2020
I thought it would be a good idea to prepare the children for the city trip we were going to undertake with them. I started a few days in advance to tell them some things about Hanover. What we were going to see and how the days would be divided a bit. In addition, I also thought it would be a good idea to 'announce' them that we would not sit on our lazy wammes there. There is a lot to see so we have prepared a busy program. Then we rest in the car again. And that paid off!
In retrospect I can say that the Hanover city trip was not the only thing that surprised us, but also the attitude of our own children. Just for your image. Luc is our oldest and he is 11. He is an avid gamer and Pokémon Goer and is at the beginning of his high school career. Our youngest is Lotte, already 7 years old. A studious girl, but a bit of a diva 😉 and ready for group 4.
I can still envision a city trip with children who are not yet out of the pram. Such a sweet cute baby that still sleeps a lot, you can actually take it everywhere with you (at least we did). But with children who no longer hide their own will…
You can prepare yourself for your Hanover city trip by reading my blog 😉 , reading a travel guide and already viewing this 360° view of Hanover.
You may say 'Oh, but that's a great age to take a city trip with children', but 'somewhere' I had to experience that proof myself first. Fortunately, they passed Cum Laude.
However, we have also partly organized the Hanover city trip for our children. As far as I'm concerned, no more than normal, especially if you want them to have a good experience. After all, you want to take your children with you again next time.
At this age (7 and 11), that meant for us that we went to the Erlebnis Zoo, for example. Watch and play with animals. But also that we regularly had a snack and a drink. Good thing too, because walking around in Hanover City at 30° causes the necessary moisture loss 😉 .
If you have children who are a bit younger than ours, I think it would be useful if you added some more playgrounds in between so that they can relax for a while. Although… Ilse went to Berlin with children and that went really well!
We started our journey on Thursday morning and had 2 overnight stays. Saturday afternoon we drove back home. Looking back now, I regret we didn't leave earlier that Thursday, but I still had a few things to do before work, so that wasn't an option. It does indicate that we were far from bored! We took so many photos that I'm just sorry I can't show them all, but I tried to make a nice mix for you.
Since we visited the city at the invitation of Hannover Marketing and they also wanted to get acquainted, we took the bus together with Sandra to the Neues Rathaus after arriving and checking in on Thursday. I don't think I've ever seen such a fantastic town hall before. Not only ourselves, but also our kids were convinced that it looked more like a palace than a town hall! Have a look; ).
Inside on the ground floor, they have recreated Hannover City in model form. Four models from 4 different periods of Hanover. Not only nice to see the differences, but also immediately clear to the children in the story about the destruction during the war and the reconstruction afterwards.
But that is not everything! With the stairs and the elevator you can get to the top of the tower. Your reward? An indescribably beautiful overview of Hanover. Speechless.
Nice detail: the elevator that takes you up a bit is made entirely of glass. So you look through the floor and through the ceiling, down and up into the narrow elevator shaft. Nice! And a bit exciting if you suffer from fear of heights.
Fanatic as we have been these days, we walked all the way to the gardens from the bus stop further up, instead of taking the tram that stops in front of the gardens. For us, that meant walking down a very long avenue. And what do you do then? Right! Playing Pokemon Go, because a city trip with children should also remain fun for the kids of course 😉 .
The Royal Gardens of Hanover. Let's put first. I don't have a particularly green thumb. But I do like nature. I am in awe of the people who maintain this hotspot in Hannover City. With beautiful fountains and enormous precision, the Herrenhäuser Gärten gives the impression that it couldn't get any bigger and more overwhelming.
Tip:Make sure you are on location within the set 'water times', otherwise you will miss the beautiful fountains that make it complete. These are not on all day. We were just in time to see them. Walking along the way to take a closer look at the largest fountain, it became smaller and smaller to our shock. Which also leads to a hilarious memory when I think of those faces of the children. Below you can see that we were able to photograph the fountain beautifully at this distance. Once arrived at this fountain, there was no fountain left 😉 .
I am not a fanatic card reader myself. I can do it, but I always feel like I'm missing everything around me. Normally I like to leave it to someone else to map out the route, so that I can enjoy the area myself. They have found something nice about that in Hanover. The Red Thread. The Red Thread is a 4.2 km red line that runs through Hanover and takes you past architectural, historical and beautiful sights in the city. No card needed anymore!
You just follow the red line and at the round dots with number you will find one of these sights. If you really want to know the ins and outs, make sure you get a booklet from the Tourist Information with all the information about the hot spots.
The center of Hanover is a mecca for shopaholics. This time I didn't venture too much into that, because of the kids, but just strolling through the city and listening to some jam sessions, they love that again. In all conviviality, therefore, looking for the Starbucks…
In our case, following the Red Thread also turned into a game of 'find the wire' as some pieces were broken up and we had to search for the Red Thread in the area again. Good for the boy scout noses and the necessary entertainment.
A zoo that not only makes it beautiful for the animals, but also wants to create an experience for its visitors. From Egyptian style with the elephants to a real sea feeling with the polar bears and from a ship full of penguins to the 'best playground ever' according to our children. Everyone will get their money's worth here!
It's also nice to have a delicious snack at the end of the day in the zoo at Gasthaus Meyer and then later in the evening to leave the zoo through the back entrance 😉 . I just call it something like 'having a nice glass of wine together while the kids are enjoying themselves in the playground'.
Our last morning was devoted to Marienburg Castle. A fairytale. Not only the castle, but also the story behind it. And to think that it wasn't all that long ago that this was inhabited. King George V of Hanover had this castle built for his beloved Marie of Saxe-Altenburg to once again show his love for this future queen. Since the king himself was blind, the castle was recreated for him in a scale model, so that he could feel what it looked like.
Even the miniscule carvings inside the rooms of the castle have been deliberately applied. In the library, for example, the King could find out where which books were. Each cabinet had its own carvings.
You can see from the photos how magical the castle is. But if you also consider that the Marienberg - the mountain on which this beautiful castle is located - is also the mountain on which the seven dwarfs of Snow White worked, then the story becomes even more beautiful! When Lotte, together with us from the castle, also saw the seventh mountain of the mountains where Snow White 'found' her seven dwarfs, then the party was complete.
She stood breathlessly for 2 hours listening to our guide… who spoke English 😉 . And of course I had to translate everything literally.
Read more about a Berlin city trip with children and the most beautiful places in Belgium
It was a small party. From the beginning to the end. It is an excellent drive, 3.5 hours from Den Bosch and there is a lot to do. I would actually really like to go back. But of course there are many more places I'd like to see, so I'm afraid we won't get to this one any time soon.
One of the things that is still on my to-see list is the 360° Beachclub Hannover where you have -you guessed it- a 360° view! Maybe better to chill out here without the kids 😉 .
But if we go again, we don't think there's any discussion about where we're staying. We were thoroughly spoiled in the Novotel, with its beautiful appearance and interior and of course the delicious breakfast buffet. The best start to the morning. First have a good breakfast with the four of you and then drink a cappuccino together while the children are in the game room 🙂 .
Now that I'm reading this back, I think that we could perhaps have started a city trip with children much earlier. In any case, our Hanover city trip was a very good kick-off and I hope to be able to make many more of these city trips with my children. We loved every second!
Info:About all the places we've been:Hanover Marketing and Tourisme – Herrenhäuser Gärten – Erlebnis Zoo – Marienburg Castle – Novotel
