Vacation Rentals in Thuringia

Magnificent forests, gentle mountains and enchanting reservoirs are first-class conditions for a relaxing family holiday or for active days in the middle of the unmistakable landscape. In the southern Thuringian Forest you will find a multitude of hiking trails and can practice skiing during the cold season. Here you live for example in the national park Hainich in a holiday house or a apartment in Bad Langensalza, in Meiningen or Sonneberg. In the southeast you reside in a chalet in the holiday region Thüringer Meer on the banks of the Saale. In villages such as Bad Lobenstein or Bad Blankenburg, imposing dams and bathing areas await you.

A wealth of sights awaits you in Thuringia's cities, surrounding your vacation rental or apartment. Here you will experience literary history, reformations and craftsmanship up close. Travellers who rent a townhouse or apartment in Weimar live in the immediate vicinity of numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Medieval flair awaits you in the Schmalkalden specialist workshop, the weapons town of Suhl or the imperial town of Mühlhausen. In addition, you can visit museums and castles in Gera, Eisenach or Erfurt or enjoy a leisurely stroll through the city.

Surrounded by the states of Saxony in the east, Bavaria in the south, Hesse and Lower Saxony in the west and Saxony-Anhalt in the north, the Free State of Thuringia covers an area of around 16,000 square kilometres. The region has more than 2.2 million inhabitants, most of whom live in the conurbations of the state capital Erfurt, Jena, Gera and Weimar.

The landscape of Thuringia is very varied. In the centre of the region runs the fertile Thuringian basin, which is used for agriculture. The Thuringian Forest expands in a southerly direction, which merges into the Thuringian Slate Mountains in the east. In the north-east of Thuringia extends the Harz Mountains, which are surrounded by the Goldenen Aue valley area and the hilly landscape of Eichsfeld.

Surrounded by forests and family-friendly hiking and cycling trails, you will spend peaceful and exciting days in Thuringia. For a variety of leisure activities you will find numerous adventure pools, indoor playgrounds, zoos and child-friendly guided tours of the regional museums. The leisure and miniature park "mini-a-thür" in Ruhla shows Thuringia in a small format and offers fun on the adventure playground and the summer toboggan run. Equally interesting is a visit to the Gaudipark in Jena or the Rumpelburg children's adventure world in Bad Langensalza.

Winter sports enthusiasts get their money's worth in the Thuringian Forest. The snow-covered low mountain range offers a number of ski and toboggan runs that are also suitable for inexperienced athletes and children. Among the attractions are the freestyle ski area in Heubach, which offers snowboarders a 600-metre-long piste with various stations, or the Ski Arena Silbersattel in Steinach. At an altitude of up to 840 metres you will find seven downhill slopes with a total length of 4,200 metres. One of Thuringia's highlights is the Rennsteig ski trail, which runs 142 kilometres from Aschersbrück to Brennersgrün in Lehesten. The natural toboggan run in Ilmenau, the ice sports centre in Erfurt, the DKB-Skisport-Halle in Oberhof or the 250 metre long snow tubing slope in Siegmundsburg round off the winter fun.

Impressive cultural sites, unique reserves and historical sites in Thuringia are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Among the natural habitats that are specially protected are the World Natural Heritage Site of the Hainich National Park, which includes the oldest beech forests in Germany, and the two UNESCO biosphere reserves Thüringer Wald and Rhön. The UNESCO World Heritage Site "Classical Weimar" includes 13 sights in honour of world literature. They include the princely tomb, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, the Roman House and the Wittum Palace. Architecturally, UNESCO honours the World Cultural Heritage Site "Bauhaus and its Sites", which shaped the design of the 20th century. Another highlight of Thuringia is the World Cultural Heritage Site Wartburg in Eisenach.

Two friends and geniuses of the 19th century chose Thuringia as their home and coined the term Weimar Classicism here. As a poet, statesman and artist, Goethe left behind an impressive legacy of his work. The Goethe National Museum in Weimar is home to the permanent exhibition "Lebensfluten-Tatensturm" (Flood of Life - Storm of Action), which contains valuable original exhibits from his life. In addition to numerous monuments, the Goethe Hiking Trail is a highlight that leads over 20 kilometres from Ilmenau to Stützerbach past its places of activity and places of inspiration. The poet, philosopher and physician Friedrich Schiller taught at the University of Jena and is also honoured in several institutions. Especially worth seeing are Schiller's house in Weimar, Schiller's garden house in Jena or the Schiller Museum in Bauerbach.

The fact that 500 years have already passed since Martin Luther presented his 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg gives rise to a great jubilee in 2017. The day of the Reformation still commemorates the work of Martin Luther, who spent some of his most important periods of his life in Thuringia. In a summary of his life he once said about Eisenach: "no city knows me like this". Here he spent his school time from 1497 and preached later in the Georgenkirche. In 1521 he lived for more than 300 days at Wartburg Castle and translated the New Testament into German. Other monuments of Luther in Eisenach are the Nikolaitor and the Luther House. You will encounter the Reformation legacy up close on the 900-kilometre Luther Trail in Thuringia. The 46 stages of the pilgrim path lead through places such as Eisfeld, Gotha or Weida.