What did you pack? What did you bring that you used alot and what could you have left at home? What was the biking like? I ordered a tandem for myself and my 6 year old. Is it a long or fairly short ride? How many kids were on your trip? I hear we have 10 ages from 6-13. Also, I can't decide if I should bring my high tech camera or will a little digital work fine? How was entering Germany? I am doing this on my own with my 2 children and I guess I am getting a little nervous. Thanks
We packed mostly shorts and t-shirts, although we did bring a pair of jeans and a light sweatshirt or sweater. It was warmer than we expected and we mostly wore shorts/capris. I could have left some of my shoes at home. In the summer, I normally wear flip flops or sandals - hardly ever tennis shoes. On this trip, there is a lot of walking (on cobblestone streets) and going up and down stairs. I wore my tennis shoes every day except for the one nicer dinner when I wore a sundress and sandals (not high heels!). I could have left my other shoes at home.
The biking was fun. It was a pretty long ride and there were a few hills. It was beautiful, though and on a very nice (mostly paved) path. Part of it is in the woods and we did have a little trouble with mosquitos when we were in that section. Once you get to the destination, you have a choice to bike back or ride back on the bus.
We had a good group of kids on our trip. I was a little worried before, b/c mine are a little older (11-16) and I expected more younger kids. Our group actually ended up being mostly kids around my kids' ages, though, so it worked out great. Other than my kids, I think there were around 7 or 8 other kids.
As for the camera - I don't know what to tell you. There is so much beautiful scenery to take pictures of! It would definitely be more convenient to have a smaller digital camera. We had 2 with us - my husband had a small digital one that fits in his pocket. I carried our slightly larger digital one that has a bigger zoom in my day bag. We took literally thousands of pictures between us!
Don't be nervous about going on your own with your kids. It will be fine. There is no problem getting into Germany. I speak a little German, but even if I didn't we would have had no problem. Everything in the airports is in English as well as German and most of the people in the airports and tourist areas do speak at least a little English. We had a mom with her 6 year old son on our trip and they did just fine. They even came in the day before and had some time on their own the day before the tour started. During the tour all your luggage is handled for you. You never have to lug it around so that will help with you being by yourself with the kids.
If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help!
You will have an awesome time!