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5 best things to do in Germany for nature and relaxation seekers

As the New Year finally approached , I now feel closer than ever to travelling the world and I am slowly planning my future trips. It brings me so much joy and hope these days! My next desired destination is Germany, a country so close to where I come from ,that I’ve never had a chance to explore.

Frankly, after not planning trips for so long, I struggled where to start! Thankfully I found out about German information skill capsule on Alexa from the German National Tourist Board! It’s a great source of travel inspiration and information. 

When asking Alexa about Germany Travel tips, you’re being asked two questions : if you prefer nature or culture and action or relaxation. Based on your answers Alexa suggests the perfect travel programme for you. Normally when travelling, I like the mix of both – couple of days of pure relaxation in the nature followed by some exciting and fun outdoor activities. However after a stressful year, I go for relaxation this time. This travel guide is perfect for relaxation and nature fans. I hope it will make you put Germany on your 2021 bucket list!

For those who seek the total relaxation and the beauty of the nature, Alexa will offer many incredible walks and hiking trails such as a walk along the magical Wilhelmshöhe hillside park in Kassel. It’s located only two hours drive from Frankfurt. You can also get there by train using the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway. It’s the largest hillside park in Europe, famous for its cascading waters. During the walk you can admire the incredible water features : fountains, waterfalls and get to them top of the hill to see the Hercules- the most famous landmark. It looks absolutely stunning! Would absolutely love to visit!

Strolls in Wilhelmshöhe hillside park in Kassel
Copyright notice ©GNTB /Florian Trynkowski

Next recommendation I was given by Alexa is a visit to Tropical Islands Resort. Yes, you heard that right! There is a tropical paradise located only 50 kilometres away from Berlin! 100 000 square meters of rainforests, blue lagoons and lovely warm temperatures. Sounds like a dream? You can get there easily either by car or by train. You need to get off at Brand Tropical Islands train station. From there you will be collected by a free shuttle bus and taken directly to Tropical Islands. When arriving you’ll be blown away by how huge and amazing this place is! You can either head there for a day of relaxation in their incredible heated pools and spa or even book an overnight in the Tropical Islands dome, from tents in the rainforest camp to premium lodges. You can also choose to have your overnight-stay experience outside the dome in a gorgeous holiday apartment. Let’s add the
most awesome news ( at least for me, haha!) Apparently you can even find
flamingos inside! Say what? Count me in!

Fun in the tropical paradise- The Tropical Islands Resort
©Tropical Islands Artist Bernhard Ludewig

Another tailor-made tip was a Riverboat cruise on the Rhine– Germany’s Most Romantic River. Turns out the best way to see the castles in South-West Germany is by boat! Rüdesheim is one of the best departure ports for day-trip excursion riverboat cruises to see the Rhine Valley, castles and Loreley Rock. Imagine relaxing on the water with a glass of wine and admiring the most gorgeous views over astonishing castles, charming small towns and peaceful vineyards. A dream right now!

A romantic riverboat cruise on the Rhine
Copyright notice ©Rheintouristik Tal der Loreley, St.Goar/ Mahlow Media, Winningen

Next activity suggested for nature and relaxation lovers is a visit to The
Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
, which is a part of the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’ve seen so many magical photos of this place and it’s been on my bucket list ever since! It will make you fall in love at first sight with its sand dunes, sandbanks, beaches and incredibly rich flora and fauna. Just visualise yourself stepping on the sand, feeling the breeze in your hair and connecting with nature. You can either walk around or admire the views on the bike ride. You can also visit the small inhabited Halligen islands in the middle of the mudflats by boat. With a bit of luck (and a great guide) you can spot starfish, snails, mussels and lugworms. How wonderful is that? I would absolutely love to stay there overnight and spent a day relaxing on a beach! 

Visiting The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
Copyright notice ©GNTB/ Francesco Carovillano


Alexa also told me about the famous Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz located in Saxony-Anhalt, between the city of Dessau and the town of Wörlitz in Central Germany. What makes this place so special? It is one of the first and largest English landscape garden in Germany and continental Europe, constructed between 1769 and 1773. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. It’s perfect for cycle tours, walks, horse-riding as well as boat trips. The main attractions to visit are : Georgium Palace, the Luisium Palace, Wörlitz park and many more. The space is huge- about 140km2.  You can spend days exploring yourself or book a special tour. Just looking at the photos of this place makes me feel so relaxed and inspired. I would love to visit it in spring when the garden is at its full bloom! That must be magical!

Tours around the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
Copyright notice ©Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz

I hope you enjoyed my Germany Travel Guide with a help of the new “Germany Travel Tips” Alexa Skill from the German National Tourist Board. I had a lot of fun planning my future trip and chatting about the ideas with Alexa! I am amazed how much Germany has to offer and I hope to make this bucket list trip happen as soon as possible! Have you been to Germany before?

Post in collaboration with German National Tourist Office 

Mexico Travel Guide- my recommendations for adventure lovers

Finally back to blogging! Yay! Sorry I was absent for a over a week now! This month has started with crazy amount of work- so many campaigns, photoshoots, and trips- I have been all over the place! But I am currently sitting in Fuerteventura in the cutest little bar by the sea and I decided to take a little break with my current work and finally write the Mexico guide for you.

As you already know from my previous blogpost during our Mexico trip we’ve spent most of the time in Tulum, however as the beach full of seaweed was a struggle, we did go around and explored the most magical beaches and places that I would love to share with you.

Puerto Aventuras

This place was recommended to us by locals who promised it’s worth driving to as there’s no seaweed on the beach. Puerto Aventuras was more of residential complex- restaurants, bars, tennis courts, golf courses two big marinas and beautiful sandy beaches. At the gate ( this place has the entrance like a regular resort) the security stopped us and ask if we’re staying there but we say we’d like to come for a lunch to the beach restaurant and they let us in without any problem. They have mentioned something about the minimum spent but we assured it’s not a problem at all. We did spend the entire afternoon on the private beach- so beautiful and clean compare to Tulum. There was a little bit of seaweed but on the shore rather than everywhere in the water so it was no problem at all to us. The beach was stunning. Also there’s a big choice of bars and restaurant. We’ve had a really nice Italian lunch there ( I really missed pasta after eating tacos and burritos for days haha!) I think if you’re looking for a beach not far from Tulum, Puerto Aventuras is a great option as it’s only around 40 mins drive. It wasn’t super crowded either ( we visited in mid May). Here’s some photos from this incredible place :

Bacalar

Another place recommended to us by locals- Bacalar- a small town in southeastern Mexico. It’s on a Lake Bacalar, also called Laguna De Los Sietes Colores – lagoon of seven colours. When we got there we understood why. The shades of blues were absolutely incredible. No wonder why this place is called the Maldives of Mexico! What’s also very special about this lagoon is high conceration of rare rock formations that are among the earliest life forms on earth. However sadly, I have been reading that Bacalar’s recent tourism’s growth is a real threat to both- lagoon and the stromatolites. Tourists are advised to only use organic sunscreens when swimming, avoid single-use plastics and use kayaks rather than motorboats .What you need to know aswell before travelling here is that there’s no beach. Most of the people are tanning on the long wooden docks. I found it super fun! Well, I have spent more time on the swings in the water anyway, haha!

Cenote de Los Ojos

Ok so you can’t leave Mexico without visiting cenotes! Our time was quite limited as we’ve spent 2 days super sick from the food poisoning but we made it our priority to visit at least one cenote before flying back home. Cenote de Los Ojos was a perfect choice as it wasn’t far from where we were staying in Tulum. The ticket price was about £18 per person ( they offer different options at the desk but as our time was limited we went for snokerling and swimming option in two cenotes without the guide). It was honestly one of the most magical experiences of my life, even though the water was soooo cold. It took me like 15 mins to make a decision if I can survive this cold or not- I really hate the cold water but seeing this beautiful cave, hearing the sounds of the bats and being there completely on our own was just an insane experience I will never ever forget! You should definitely visit when in Tulum. I know there’s plenty of choice in cenotes but I could truly recommend Dos Ojos. PS. Excuse these weird poses but this is how I seriously look when I swim hahaha! I did not shoot a typical blogger content here with flowy dresses. I wanted to really enjoy this place and admire the nature around me rather than run around with a camera!

Las Coloradas

And my favourite part of the whole guide- Las Coloradas. This place was the main reason I wanted to visit Mexico- of course I am talking about the pink lake and possibility of seeing the flamingos! I’ve read so many blog posts about this place before and honestly they didn’t really make me feel like it’s worth going. But my heart was telling me I have to see it with my own eyes. You know the famous quote „ Don’t listen to what they say, go see?” Well, here I go! Las Coloradas town was about 4 hours drive from Tulum one way. Was it worth it? O M G yes! First thing I saw was a sign with flamingos- this is where I knew I am going the right direction.

When we got to Las Coloradas Town I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was a real flamigo town!

Of course I fall in love with this place straight away! Then we’ve headed to see the pink lake first. Was it pink? HELL YES. And it had a magical purple reflection from the blue sky! I had a tears in my eyes already. But I didn’t know what I am going to see half an hour later. After we’ve seen the town and the pink lake we continued driving along the coast. It was so wild, empty and beautiful. We’ve literally passed one car on our way- that’s it. We’ve had a pink lake on one side of the road and the baby blue ocean and white sandy beach on another. It was just incredible. And then suddenly – I have spotted a flamingo. I cried. Got off the car and cried. I start running towards him without even realising I was running on the mud rather than a sand so I went into the mud and lost my shoes haha. But I didn’t care. I was speechless. Seeing a flamingo in its natural environment was my biggest dream. I was so emotional and said „thank you” to my boyfriend milion times who drove me all the way there despite still feeling ill. I wish to say that was it, but it wasn’t. I got back to the car and few minutes later my boyfriend pointed something out of the car’s window. I couldn’t deal. I was screaming, shouting and crying. It was a flamingo float. I have seen hundreds of flamingos. I just couldnt deal! Those of you who follow me on Instagram probably remember the Instagram story of me screaming and crying haha. Ok that was the most beautiful day of my life. I felt like I walked into a National Geograpic movie set! Seeing flamingos and enjoying the little flamingo town was my favourite experiences in Mexico. Some people written on their blogs there’s nothing to do in Las Coloradas, but in my opinion it depends what you’re looking for. As a busy Londonder what I truly need and look for is the contact with nature, pureness, wildness, authentic experiences and this place had it all. Two little local restaurants, tiny grocery store with the sweetest Mexican grandma, the most beautiful local beach- it was only us and local fisherman! I mean what else do you need? To me it was all I could ask for and the most beautiful day of my trip! As I lost my shoes there I truly believe I will be back one day!

I hope that this little guide will inspire you to visit these places! Mexico is not just Tulum and Playa Del Carmen. There’s so much beauty in this country and I honestly hope I will have an opportunity to explore more in the future!

Let me know if you have any questions about these places!

Love,

The Blonde Flamingo