The Best Sunny Day Afternoon for Families in Bavaria

This past weekend was the best weather I've seen in Germany in March, EVER. Nothing but blue skies and warm temperatures (close to 60). We took advantage and spent all Saturday outside climbing with friends.

Our friends Elke and Henry cooperating by letting me practice with my new lens out climbing.

On Sunday, we spent the entire day outside again with friends at the Wildpark Hollhohe (a nature area with a petting zoo, lake to hike around, and huge playground for kids in the woods). Sort of like a zoo, but not really. Much more of a hiking destination/sanctuary, but amazingly awesome because of the eclectic playground. Our friend Elke knows all kinds of great places to hike/bike because she is from the area, so we were thrilled when she showed us this gem of a place for families.

Pano of the Play Area in Hollhohe

The park is totally free, but if you want to feed the animals, you can pay for food from machines in various locations throughout the park. We saw sheep, goats, deer, storks, chickens, peacocks, geese, storks, and apparently in the warmer months they have bunnies, turtles and reptiles. The kids loved it, especially the playground in the forest which stretches the length of a football field and even has sandbox toys galore for the kids to play with.

Aren't they adorable! Baby Wild Boars!

Perfect place for a picnic and hike with little ones, and I plan on going back one day with our parents when they visit later this year. If you are in Germany and are interested, the park is located in Teublitz, not very far from Regensburg and you can find more information here. I couldn't keep thinking about how wonderful a place like this would be to have in the states. I can't quite think of anything like it in Kentucky. How about you all? Have you encountered a huge park like this with playgrounds, hiking, and animals other than a zoo?