The Bottom Line
- Cheap way to see Germany - as little as 8 euros per night
- Great experience for the family - kids will love it
- Food is plentiful - breakfasts are included and other meals are available
- Hay hotels are generally in lovely pastoral settings
- Service is personal and the experience unforgettable
- You need to generally bring your own sleeping bag
- You are sleeping in a barn - so if you have allergies, you may suffer
- You will probably want to rent a car as opposed to using trains
- Bath and shower accomodations are often limited
Description
- Hay hotels are just that - you sleep in the barn on the hay. You generally need to bring your own sleeping bag.
- You are in the country - if you are combining a city-country tour make sure to pack accordingly.
- Some hay hotels have bungalow or room rentals as well so if you get cold feet it is possible to change accommodations.
- Look for a hay hotel that has horses, cycling, or activities that you know your family will enjoy.
- Staying in a hay hotel is rustic and similar to camping with a few extra amenities thrown in - don't expect room service.
- A hay hotel stay is a great way to see another facet of Germany and German life in a pastoral and relaxed setting.
- Web sites with listings of hay hotels and farm stays in Germany include heuhotel.de and heuhotelferien.de.
- The greatest number of hay hotels are in Northern Germany (Schleswig Holstein), Lower Saxony, and around Lake Constance.
- Hay hotels offer some of the cheapest lodging available - a great way to beat the high cost of the Euro and enjoy Germany.
Guide Review - Hay hotels - (Heuhotels) in Germany
If you do decide on a Hay Hotel stay, you will probably want to have a car or possibly combine your visit with a cycling tour. The largest number of hay hotels are in Northern Germany in Schleswig Holstein and in Lower Saxony. If you are more inclined to vacation in the region of the Black Forest, the Bodensee offers several opportunities to vacation in Hay Hotels as well.
Certainly, if you have younger children it will be a great deal of fun for them and a lot more interesting then a traditional sight-seeing tour that includes a preponderance of castles and museums. Combining a few days at a farm after some city sightseeing might be just the ticket for your family vacation.
I personally like the option that cycling packages offer - you can obtain packages where you stay at various farms along the way while enjoying a tour of the German countryside and cycling in a good portion of Germany is easy enough for even less seasoned cyclists to take advantage of a leisurely ride along one of Germany's thousands of kilometers of bike paths. Nothing like a good farm breakfast, a ride through the countryside and a home cooked meal back at the farm accompanied by a cold beer and then retiring to a soft (if rather prickly) pile of hay. No television, no video games, just good old-fashioned farm living.
