What city for 2 days?
 

I'm headed to LHR soon and have 15k Lufthansa Miles and More I can use while I'm there. There are mileage bargains to basically every major German city. Which one would you recommend for a 2 day visit for someone who has never been to Germany before? So many choices, it seems: Düsseldorf, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover, Munster, Friedrichshafen, Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden. Thanks for any advice in advance.

We flew in to Frankfurt and spent 2-3 days in Boppard, then out of Cologne. It was really lovely----we had a hotel along the river, and spent the days going from castle to castle. It was quite different from the here's-another-city-oh-look-a-museum trips that we had usually done. The airports were easy to get to and from, and we even took one day to go to Luxembourg.

I haven't been to all of them. But I really liked Berlin. Beautiful modern city. Good public transportation. Lots of History. I'd say the perfect city to visit Germany for the first time.

Any particular interests that might help us narrow it down?

My favorite place in Germany is Bamberg (just north of Nürnberg). Old town pretty much undamaged by war, pretty scenery, outstanding beer (10 breweries in town, another two dozen by easy public transport). Only place north of the Alps that has a Pope's tomb. Even She Who Must Be Obeyed -- a non beer drinker -- enjoys it. You won't find a Starbucks or McDonalds on every other corner, which I like.

For larger places, I like Düsseldorf and Berlin (headed there in 10 days or so) - but I sometimes find Berlin a bit too hipster for this old fart. I feel I need a man-bun. a beard and a pork-pie hat :)

I used to enjoy Heidelberg (still have friends there) but the number of tour groups makes it less fun for me (a growing problem with Bamberg as river cruise boats now stop there)

Assuming you'll be staying for 1 night and just stay downtown to experience the city:

1) Berlin: Probably your best bet as a first-timer. Obviously lots of history plus quirky shops and restaurants. Not a huge fan of Berlin myself, but given your options and the fact you've never been to Germany, Berlin is a good start.

2) Munich: This is my favorite city in Germany on your list. There's plenty to do see and do in 2 days. There's great food and beer, although not much nightlife. Convenient public transportation to/from the airport is another thing (not sure how this would play out in Berlin). One reason Munich isn't at #1 here is that there's so many places to visit in the vicinity so you might as well save it for another trip where you have more time on your hands.

3) Hamburg: Great city, similar amount of sights to see and things to do as in Munich. Plus, both St Pauli and Schanzenviertel are experiences in themselves, particularly in the evenings. If you're into partying, this would be the place to go.

4) More or less in this order: Dresden, Nuremburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Bremen, Leipzig and Hanover are all cool cities to visit and all have their individual sights to see and things to do. Some more than others, but they simply don't compare to the top 3. You wouldn't get bored in either of them in 2 days, but I wouldn't recommend them for a first-timer that has the list of choices you do.

5) Munster and Friedrichshafen are small, cute cities that are definitely worth visiting. Once you've been to other places.

Hamburg is probably the more "active" city, with the Hamburger Dom around St Pauli (check the dates, I believe it's on in July and August), an early morning visit to the fish market and a boat trip along the Elbe our through the docks, which is pretty impressive. Munich would be more about food, churches and a stroll through the English Garden and Nymphenburg Palace gardens.

While I generally don't like the idea of trying to squeeze another city into a weekend trip to an awesome city like Munich, in your particular case (and based on the description of your wifes preferences) it might be a viable option to do so. But make sure you take the direct train which will get you there in 1.5 hours. Spend 4 hours there and be back for dinner. Do not take a bus or car - good chance the trip can turn into a 4 hour nightmare on the Autobahn.

I don't know about that. I fell in love with Hamburg the first time I was there.

2 days is not much time for any of these major cities. Don't forget about Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. It is pretty astounding how much work and attention to detail has been put into the place. https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/ The airport is amazing. They're open late during the summer. I went in the evening and it was fairly quiet. Book in advance online and it's a little cheaper and you can skip the line

I love Munich, especially in the spring. However, you don't have much time, so I'm tempted to suggest a smaller place such as Aachen or Bonn. A compromise would be Düsseldorf or Stuttgart. Trier is nice too, but I don't think of it as such a good example of Germany since it's close to the border and known for its history during Roman times.

Not from LON. Current mileage bargains are from Glasgow only.

There might be Fly Smart awards available for 20k M&M miles. However, except for a few locations (LON not being one of them), economy redemptions on M&M are mostly poor value. Keep in mind there'll be a co-payment (taxes and fees) of over 150 GBP for a r/t flight LHR-Germany.

You’re right I didn’t have the filter on the only current mileage bargain from LHR is to Zurich within Europe.

... which would be a nice to go to city as well ... (though probably a bit more expensive than Germany)

I just looked at LHR-ZRH for some random dates. I did find decent availability, multiple LX flights open each day I searched for.

The price was 35k miles plus 67 GBP. That's terrible value. Cash on BA for those dates is 87 GBP. A cash booking with LX is 95 GBP.

I agree with you that ZRH is a nice city but nevertheless, it's a bad idea to burn M&M miles for an economy flight LHR-ZRH.