I will be in Germany for the last 2 weeks of November. Not exactly the best time of the year, I know. I'm looking for November activities to do in Germany. I'm open-minded and ready to try new things. I need suggestions for activities that can only be done in November or best done in November. Any German November aficionados out there? Tx.
ps: Nuremberg Christmas Market is already on the list.
pps: flying to the Canary Islands doesn't count.
You could visit one of the many spa towns in Germany, Baden-Baden http://www.baden-baden.de/en/ for instance, around Baden-Baden are a lot of castles too http://www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de/en/
Otherwise there are always Museums, this one in Munich is pretty big http://www.deutsches-museum.de/index.php?id=1&L=1
Maybe there is snow in the Alps already and you could do some winter sports? Look for things you can do indoors since Nov is often cool, wet and dark, but then it might not like last year it was pretty good weather.
The carnival season kicks off in Germany at 11:11 on 11 November. You'll find a big outdoor party in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz - and pretty much only these cities (although "proper" carnival with parades isn't till February)
See youtube for 11:11 on 11.11 in Cologne e.g.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNGDYcT8mLc]
Oops - just noticed you wrote the last 2 weeks of November. Too late for carnival then - sorry!
"The carnival season kicks off in Germany at 11:11 on 11 November. You'll find a big outdoor party in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz - and pretty much only these cities (although "proper" carnival with parades isn't till February)"
My favorite is the washing of the instruments in Schwaebisch Gmuend on 11Nov. It hosts the largest international Guggenmusik festival later near the end of carnival. On this day, the local bands assemble in the evening near the lovely fountain with the Madonna smiling down. Each band approaches with only their percussion instruments playing. Men dressed in heavy winter coats in the fountain then wash the brass instruments as they are offered to them. After cleansing, the band then plays several numbers and marches off while a new band approaches. Seeing that I love that unique Guggenmusik, this is the event of the year for me especially if you can take it if you can stand in the front row and have bass drums bashed near you and trombones blaring in your face!!!!!, but moving back a few rows is much more enjoyable.
As stated above, this event is too early in November as are Saint Martin's Day activities (involves geese and children with geese laterns). However, at the end of the month is the beginning of Advent and the start of the Christmas Markets all over Germany. Stuttgart ( http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) has an excellent one ( http://www.stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de ) which attracts twice the number of visitors as Nurembergs. Note also that the weather is the warmest, sunniest and least rainy in the SW corner of Germany, Baden-Wuerttemberg ( http://www.tourismus-bw.de ). This German state has over 4,500 special events during the year, and there will certainly be many in November. If you choose to visit this part of Germany, have a look at what I wrote in #1 of http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187275-i116-k6068438-Stuttgart_as_a_base-Germany.html#49932873 .
@ fwoggie:
Hello from Canada. Germany, a big place? Really? :-)
Seriously, I need to be in Frankfurt in November. After that, I'll go wherever is interesting. Spending 4-5 hours on a train to go from A to B is no big deal for me if B is worth it.
Well, if you're in Frankfurt check out the Taunus Therme http://www.taunus-therme.de/en/index.html in Bad Homburg next to Frankfurt, that way you find out if you like the experience.
By country size Germany is small to someone from Canada, but in Canada you can drive for hours without passing anything worse stopping for, try that in Germany, if you drive one hour you have already passed a lot of places worse stopping for, marcopolko gave you good advise for Baden-Wuertemberg, but the same holds true for Hesse or Bavaria, even a livetime will not be enough to see everything in those 3 states and that is only 3 out of 16, things to see vary from celtic to roman ruins to newer sites.
Fair comment about size of Germany - I'll rephrase - it's a dense place here. We're roughly 2.4 times your population but with only 3.5% of your land area; hence #7's comment; travel time's not a major issue with the incredibly efficient train system we have but it's all the stuff that gets missed out en route that can be problematic in planning an itinerary.
Seeing as you have Nuremberg xmas market on the list - which is E of Frankfurt, and assuming your flight home is ex Frankfurt, let's do a looped itinerary.
In 2 weeks, hit Nuremberg (2 days inc travel), down to Regensburg (2 days inc travel), down to Munich (4 days inc travel + a day trip to Dachau concentration camp and another day trip to Neuschwanstein castle), any of the villages outside Interlaken (Interlaken itself is rather dull, just a convenient transport hub) in central Switzerland for mountain scenery (3 days inc travel), Heidelberg (2 days inc travel), return on the last day to Frankfurt to fly home.
Of course, if you're from British Colombia the Swiss mountains may not appeal too much; in which case do (days in brackets include travel allowance) Nuremberg (2) Regensburg (2), Prague (3), Munich (4), Heidelberg (2), fly home.
Refer to http://www.bahn.co.uk to figure out how to get around. Tickets go on sale 3 months in advance on a first come cheapest served basis. You can compare the difference in price by picking a date 90 days from now vs the prices for travelling today to see what I mean.
Thank you all for your comments.
I meant no disrespect to Germany's size. Anyway, size doesn't matter as we all know.
I'm sure you can probably take any 100-km2 square in Germany and spend two weeks there without being bored a single minute. I was just trying to explain your suggestions could be for anywhere within Germany.
Anyway, thanks again for all your suggestions.
(ps. I worked as a forester for 20 years in BC, and I'd take the Alps anytime. Maybe the grass is indeed greener in your neighbour's yard).