Hanover was a last minute trip that I took when my friend invited me (like me, she was traveling alone with her children). I decided to go as part of my new experiment of just saying yes when I get asked on a trip. Crazily enough that happens more often than I thought it would and it’s only March!
Hanover was such a breath of fresh air. I think I’ve had this image of Germany as a bit bleh and uninteresting, but this trip had just the right amount of these elements… probably these are quite key to make up a satisfying mini break:
- Ease: I know the culture, have been before and it’s a fairly easy 4-hour train ride (ICE is great with kids if you can get the private baby compartment)
- Cheapness: everything was so affordable! Train tickets were €150 round trip for us 3; the hotel was a staggering €72/night including breakfast. February, even during Dutch half-term, is clearly peak non-tourist season.
- Novelty: I’ve decided I love tier 2 cities! They are mostly unknown to me, so have the right amount of novelty, with interesting museums and easy-to-walk city centres. Plus, you can take day trips to even more obscure locations once you’ve done a bit more in town. It was great!
We stayed in the Grand Palace Hotel Hannover. Only a 7 minute walk from the station. They provided a comfy crib for my son, the room was spacious (and kept the kids entertained without any breakables around), and it was impressively cheap including breakfast – 72 eur / night. It was very warm in the room, so I would not recommend it in summer. But other than that, no complaints and I would stay again.
So here you go — my itinerary for 3 nights in Hanover, solo with a 1 year old and a 5 year old:
Day 1: August Kestner Museum, burgers and free diapers
The Museum August Kestner caught my eye for its Egyptian collection. After checking in, we weren’t that worn down. Our train ended up being 4.5 hours, but I managed to get us the private kids compartment for the last leg. They loved it. My baby got only a bit fussy towards the end, wanting to run around. My 5-year-old loves long journeys for the rare permission to watch unlimited iPad.
So, we left our hotel to head to the museum. 18 minute walk. My 5 year old is really a trooper. We walked nearly 20,000 steps each day! We walked past the New Town Hall, which I’d loved to visit for its interesting old elevator, but it is closed during the winter.
On a Wednesday at 4pm, there was literally NO ONE visiting the museum — except for an economics conference which got a bit awkward when my youngest started screeching during their presentation.
This was an easy 45min visit and I loved that it was so empty. One plus is that almost all the ancient exhibits are well shielded from kids behind glass so I could actually look at a lot of it on my own while the youngest toddled around (until he tried to touch the Roman mosaic). My eldest loved the ancient coins with magnifying glasses.
Afterwards, we went on an expedition for my son’s Hanover souvenir. He insisted he wanted a Kinderegg. No luck. But I was pleased to find that the drugstore chain DM has a changing table and free diapers and wipes to use in-store. This is a game changer!
We ate at Kuhnstwerk burgers which was really good! And with my NeoTaste card, I got 2for1. Tha discount really helps when I know I’m ordering something my 5-year-old will hardly touch. You can sign up for it here (we’ll both get a discount if you do).
Day 2: Day trip to castle town Celle
Celle is only 20-30 minutes from Hannover. It has one of the best preserved old towns in Germany. The day trip was a really lovely day out! It’s a 20min walk to the castle from the station, which was perfect because situated halfway is a park, Triftanlagen, with a great playground to stop and rest at. My kids loved it.
We were pretty tired by then so got babyccinos, coffee and marzipan cake at Betty’s before we stopped in at the castle.
The castle did not take us long. It had a few kids’ corners which my son liked. It wasn’t very toddle-able for the baby, though. We probably spent only 30-40 minutes in there. But the park surrounding it was really nice. You could see the flowers peaking out of the grass, everything was calm and lovely and it just felt like spring is so close!
We walked around the Old Town for a bit before getting lunch at a Mexican place called Sombrero that was just meh. They called it a burrito but it was more like a doner kebab… and I forgot my sunglasses there. Price to pay I guess. I’ve decided from now on I only go to Mexican places if I know it’s good – otherwise we will stick to fast casual Chipotle-type places abroad (if only they had actual Chipotle).
We were quite exhausted by this point, went and found some ice cream, and walked back slowly. I have to say that the best part of this day was lying in the grass in Triftanlagen Park while my kids played. This was the first day of the year I really got to enjoy the sunshine and that alone made Hanover worth it!
For dinner we ate at Shin-Ramen right next to our hotel, using my NeoTaste card again and spending a happy 18.50eur for the whole dinner. They had a highchair and were able to serve us quickly which was exactly what I needed at the end of the day with two tired kids.
Day 3: Herrenhäusen Gardens, the best focaccia sandwich and playtime in a church
Our last full day in Hanover, when our friends would join us. First, we spent the morning on our own at these fantastic baroque gardens, the Herrenhäusen Gardens. They are a short tram ride from the centre. If it is a sunny day, GO! I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did. These are some of the largest baroqe-style gardens in Europe.
I honestly loved it more than my trip to Versailles. I’m sure this is partly because it felt so hidden and lovely. We got there shortly after opening (9am) and there was absolutely no one there. It felt like we had the palace to ourselves! The scale of it was really enchanting and my kids loved playing in the dirt. Even in the winter, with very little foliage or flowers around, I loved the gardens so much we didn’t spend any time looking around the inside-museum bit. I also totally skipped out on going to the German Caricature Museum, which I had originally wanted to see (over the gardens). I’m so glad we went there instead.
The ticket also included access to the botanical gardens (Berggarten) across the street, which my son really enjoyed. He loved the cactus / tropical rooms in the greenhouse and spent ages playing with a ladybird he found.
Around 1pm, I was getting quite hungry and wished we’d packed a picnic to enjoy the park more. Anyway, it was time to go see our friends who had made their way into Hanover. We met up with them by the riverside in the old town. I had found this well-reviewed sandwich place, Farina Spritz, and OMG. It was so good. I had a ricotta-aubergine-courgette cream sandwich and after a morning of wandering around it was the perfect lunch to enjoy in the sun. We got some ice creams after and watched the surfing on the river – very cool (and also very dangerous-looking!). This was the perfect lunchtime activity.
Afterward, we were trying to find a nice playground for the kids to enjoy, to no avail. Hanover does not really have any good kid-friendly zones within the old town. But we did wander into the Marktkirche, a church dating back to the twelfth century with a little kids’ colouring corner. They loved it! So the other mum and I had a nice catch-up while they were drawing, my toddler danced to the live organ playing, and we averted a crisis when he went for the candles.
It was at this point that I went back to the supermarket (Rewe) to grab snacks and fun German goodies for our trip home (mainly marzipan-related). I went a bit overboard. But it was so exciting to go through a foreign supermarket and fill my basket with interesting food.
I had a LOT of stuff to carry with the baby in the baby carrier on top of all that, so we were ready for that German beer when we went for dinner! My friend was hankering for some real German food (something I hadn’t even considered doing). We found a traditional German-style beer garden, Paulaner am Thielenplatz. We were able to book a cosy large booth, the kids did more colouring together and even my exhausted 1-year-old wasn’t too much of a fuss during a somewhat late dinner. The beer was so refreshing after a long day, the vibe was loud and friendly, and I actually had delicious veggie dumplings. I was not expecting the food to be good, just the beer, haha. All in all, this was the perfect last night of our trip while my friend and I got a bit tipsy and the kids played.
Day 4: Morning in the park
So it turned out our hotel was only a 10min walk to one of the largest parks in Europe. Twice the size of Central Park, Eilenriede City Forest has a wonderful playground (the Sonnenspielplatz) with leftover toys sprinkled around and lots of sand and space to play in. When the cafe is open, I can imagine it’s a really nice place to hang out for families. They even had a free (and clean) public bathroom complete with changing tables. This was a really nice, chill way to end our trip.
We then headed back to the station with our luggage, I used my NeoTaste card one more time to get 2for1 Dunkin Donuts and coffee/hot chocolate for our train ride, and we hopped on board ICE. We had seats, but the train was insanely busy. I had to fight a lady to get our seats. But by the time the train got out of Germany, things had quietened down and we were able to head to the family car where my friend was. The whole place had turned into one giant play area (to the disgust of the train staff!). The kids had a great time and the journey really did fly by.
All in all this was a wonderful trip. I’m so glad I went. I have a new appreciation for German mini-breaks! Now I want to go to Hamburg and Lübeck (for the marzipan). Usually I need a few days to decompress before I start planning my next trip, but I started looking for train tickets right away! The train ride wasn’t too bad, but for a 6-hour train (like Hamburg), if I know I can book the baby compartment in advance, it would be perfect. So, let’s see when I can plan that one…
