Planning a family trip to Germany? TripNest turns it into its own app: 10 narrated story podcasts about Germany for the drive, games and a quiz for the kids, an audio phrasebook, and the day-by-day plan and map the whole family shares.
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A river valley packed with towers
Sail down one stretch of the Rhine and you pass castle after castle, some perched on cliffs and some sitting on islands in the middle of the water. They were built by lords who charged passing boats a toll, a bit like a river tollbooth. We will work out why so many of them ended up as ruins.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm go hunting for tales
Two hundred years ago, two brothers travelled around asking people to tell them the stories they had heard from their grandparents. They wrote them all down, and that is how we still know 'Hansel and Gretel' today. Find out which parts of the tales the brothers changed, and why.
The very slow story of Cologne
Builders laid the first stone of Cologne Cathedral in 1248 - and the last one in 1880. That means generations of stonemasons were born, grew up and grew old while it was still half finished. We will find out what made everyone stop for centuries, and who finally decided to finish the job.
A wall, and the day it opened
For 28 years a wall ran right through the middle of Berlin, separating streets, parks and even families. In November 1989 the crossings opened and crowds climbed up onto it to celebrate. Today you can walk along a painted stretch of it that artists turned into an outdoor gallery.
How printing changed everything
Before the 1450s, every single book in Europe had to be copied out by hand, which took months. In the city of Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg built a press with tiny metal letters that could be rearranged and reused. Suddenly books could be made by the hundred, and ideas travelled faster than ever.
Two composers, hundreds of years of tunes
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in the town of Eisenach in 1685, and Ludwig van Beethoven in Bonn in 1770. One wrote enormous amounts of church music for organs and choirs; the other kept composing even as his hearing faded. Listen for the moment you recognise a tune you already know.
What is for lunch in Germany
German bakeries are serious places, with shelves of seeded loaves, poppy seed rolls and pretzels with their arms crossed over. We will learn how a pretzel gets its knot and its shiny brown crust. Plus: why so many German meals come with potatoes in some clever new form.
Germany's rooftop in the Alps
At 2,962 metres, the Zugspitze is the highest point in the whole country, and there is snow up there even in summer. A cable car and a mountain railway carry visitors to the top, where on a clear day you can see into neighbouring countries. We will meet the animals and plants that manage to live on the slopes.
Wooden huts, lights and warm spices
Every December, town squares across Germany fill up with wooden stalls selling carved ornaments, roasted almonds and spiced gingerbread. Dresden's market goes back to the 1400s, which makes it older than almost anything else you will visit. Find out what a 'Stollen' is and why it needs so much sugar on top.
Stadiums, scarves and singing crowds
In Germany, football clubs are owned partly by their fans, and whole towns turn out on match day in club colours. The Bundesliga is famous for its noisy standing terraces. We will listen to how a crowd of 80,000 people sings together, and learn a chant or two.
Munich / Hamburg / Berlin / Frankfurt
The Zugspitze / The Brocken / The Feldberg
The Elbe / The Rhine / The Oder / The Weser
The Germany podcast has 10 narrated story episodes for the car or the plane: Castles Along the Rhine, The Brothers Who Collected Stories, 600 Years to Build a Cathedral, Berlin: The City With a Line Through It, Gutenberg and the Machine That Copied Books, Bach, Beethoven and a Country Full of Music, Bread, Pretzels and Sausage, Up the Zugspitze, Christmas Markets and Gingerbread and Football, Germany's Favourite Sunday.
"Danke schön", said DAHN-kuh SHERN. It's one of the phrases in the Germany audio phrasebook, recorded so the kids can hear it before they try it.
112 (Ambulance & Fire) and 110 (Police). TripNest puts it in your trip's contacts page next to your own contacts.
Every trip starts free: the day-by-day plan, map and contacts. Premium adds the Germany podcasts, kids' games and the audio phrasebook for $24, once per trip - no subscription.
No. Your trip is one link that opens on everyone's phone, grandparents included, without an account. You can add it to your home screen so it works offline once you land.