Hamburg Area with 3 kids March 07??

Question

My wife wants to take our 3 kids aged 9, 6, 5 to Germany (north of Hamburg). Are there enough kid friendly things to do in that area or would we have to travel a great deal (great deal meaning over 3 hours). I'm not sure what to do since I do not enough about the area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

To start with: in the northern area of Hamburg, what is the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein, you can't drive longer than 3 hours one way ... everything in Germany is just a lot smaller than in the US :-)
Not knowing, where you exactly will stay, I can't tell you what's closest to that town, but there's a lot to do with kids. Even in winter or early spring - which is definitely not the best time to travel the area (I spent more than 40 springs there, and they normally start only in the beginning of May)
Hamburg is a great place with tons of family friendly activities. You should not leave Germany without having seen "Hagenbecks Tierpark", Hamburg's Zoo, the Museum fuer Hamburgische Geschichte (Hamburg Historical Museum) has some very hands-on exhibitions, including a huge, pictoresque model train installation. The harbor is a place to spend days. The Dungeon is, sorry, nothing for 5 or 6 year olds, maybe not even for a 9 year old. But there's a spice museum. And there is so much more to see, that you should have a look to:
http://international.hamburg.de/?ok=18338 ,
http://www.hamburg-tourism.de/Exhibitions___Museum.266.0.html?&L=1 , (both english)
http://www.hamburg-magazin.de/erholung.htm , (unfortunately only german, but maybe you can find some interesting keywords for further research)
Oh, and the city of Flensburg, at the Danish border, has a great Kids' Museum, and from there, it's not far to Billund, where the only "real" Legoland is.
If you need a place to warm up at the Baltic Sea: the "Ostsee Therme" is a huge pool and sauna fun center near Sierksdorf. Luebeck is a treasure chest not only for Marzipan lovers, the Lake District "Twins" Moelln (where Till Eulenspiegel's grave can be found - don't forget to rub the statue's thumb and toe to make a wish) and Ratzeburg, the cities of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (former GDR): Schwerin, Rostock or the smaller towns along the Baltic Coast.
The more I think about it, the more comes to my mind - please ask back, if there's more you want to know.

Answer 2

you can take a tour to the coasts North or Balticsea....there's a Familypark (Hansapark) in Sierksdorf/Balticsea

http://www.hansapark.de/saison2006.php?lang=DE

in Hamburg you can take a Harbourtour by boat or you can visit the Minirailmuseum at the Speicherstadt

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/data/cms/en/000/

or learn about the scary Hamburg history at the Hamburg Dungeon

http://www.thedungeons.com/index_gr.htm

have a great time here.....

Answer 3

Magenta's suggestions are fine. If you can do only one of the things, you should definitely choose the miniature wonderland. Your children will absolutely LOVE it. The only drawback is that it might be crowded.