in the Harz mountains in germany there is a nice vegan hotel. the owners are a young couple with a son (10ish).
nice place to relax, good food, perfect for hiking and mountainbiking.

http://www.vegane-bergpension.de/

That seems like quite a nice place: fairly inexpensive, only a few minutes drive from Harz National Park and quite centrally located in Germany - maybe someday I'll stop by for a visit!

you really seem to fall in love with Germany....you should come, loveliberate!

[quote="hakko"]
Hitch-hiking (I'd say it's pretty safe)

Thanks again. Didn't hitch in Iceland though I would've if I felt the need. I'm primarily a food tourist with nature and culture a distant 2nd and 3rd. I've got museum fatigue and my feet are too mangled to go on needlessly long walks. In Edinburgh now and off to Liverpool tomorrow. Will decide on next week of travel tonight.

[quote="mo!"]you really seem to fall in love with Germany....you should come, loveliberate!

those loves are the best ones, cause they change you and make you fall so very deep till forever!

And btw...im the best tourist guide there is ...really, i love travelling and making a good guide to fully grasp a city ^^ ...So if you ever make it here, give me a note.

(but i dont know what you mean by "and perhaps beyond, too" )

Ha! You may be right about that and I hope that you are!

It sounds like we would get along quite well - except that its *me* thats the best guide for visiting travellers! Joking aside I also love travelling & showing folks around. I'll definitely say hallo whenever I do make it to Berlin - please do the same when you visit Portland!

As for "and perhaps beyond" -I am curious what would you guess that I meant? (Perhaps something quite exciting!) What I mean is that if/when I do visit Berlin I hope to also visit other parts of Germany & Europe too. At the very least, I'd like to do a trip for a couple of days to experience nature & small towns.

Where would you suggest - near Berlin, around Germany & around Europe?

Well, my first serious love with a city was Stockholm (<3!!!!) ....Ive been there in a february, so i know its cold snowy lovely side ....Id send every novice there ....
Also Barcelona is really, really worth a trip!! So cool people, weather, architecture, and tonns of vegan food.
And, if youre young, youd have to see Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Pretty small town, with old houses, but its full of students that like to party with low budget ^^ . There is a really cool festival every July and the whole town is full of stages with all sorts of music and cool small indi bands for 4 days-AWESOMENESS!!..besides the dutch are such nice and cool people. If youre same wave length youll never wanna leave again ^^
As for Germany....I come from Hamburg and its a very varied city plus not too far from the ocean. Oh, and ofc there is the Reeperbahn ...So id check that. Vegan scene increasing by day...
For beautiful nature youd have to go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blautopf ...i havent been there yet, but i really want to go there this summer. Its just cool. Its just a 6/7 hour drive from Berlin -__- ...
If you wanna meet nice "german people", its safer to stay in big cities or go to the very South of Bayern ^^ ...I dont know how it is for a foreigner here, but i learned that when youre sweet and nice people are always nice in return -some just need a few minutes to adjust ....But THE german doesnt really exist....the german mentality is rather introverted and not to heartly....so its nothing really "fun" to explore ...lol

Stockholm is just behind Berlin on my wish list - it would likely take the top spot if it were a bit more affordable & more vegan friendly. Bar-th-elona also sounds great. Nederland is less interesting to me though I've quite nice things about the country. Everything else being equal, I do generally prefer small towns, forests and mountains to cities. Low budget is also definitely my style of travel: couchsurfing, squatting, camping, street food, hitching - though I do want to check out at least some of the wonderful trains & ferries over there! I don't think I'd hang around the Reeperbahn much. Blautopf looks neat - please take pictures when you go! This is the German natural area that has most caught my interest so far: http://www.nationalpark-berchtesgaden.bayern.de/ - Have any of you visited?

The Reeperbahn isn't all that seedy really. Yes, there are transvestite prostitutes, but they also had a lovely Christmas market and you can get good felafel there.

seedy=transvestite prostitutes?

We´re talking Germany here...its not seedy at all. The Reeperbahn is such a fun colourful place. You get cool concerts, varieté shows, a few good dancing locations, and a stripbar (dollhouse) which is quite boring after all and yes...colourful-fun people. GOSH, thats the best about it!!

You should deffenitly go to Amsterdam, they've got these great 'heerenhuizen' on small waterstreets and there are also a lot of vegan restaurants to go for dinner, didn't remember the names though.. You should also go to the big shopping street called 'P.C. Hoofdstraat', a lot of famous people go here aswell. It was the first time I finaly got to trie on a Rolex in one of the shops, I've wanted one since I was a little kid and saw my grandfather walk around with one. Now I'm saving up my money so I can buy a Rolex Milgauss Green like the one you can find here. All because of Amsterdam, because there I had the opportunity to try one on! Oh and what you deffenitly have to do aswell: you HAVE to trie a 'waterfietstour' on the water through the city, it is just amazing!