Where to Sleep?

One of the big challenges is trying to find places where a family of seven can stay in various German cities. We don't want to stay in American style hotels, we'd rather stay in a place that give us a flavor for living in the country.

Here are some of our ideas:

1. The Lutheran Church in Berlin has a retreat center which we hope to use.
2. The Colleg Wittenberg would be ideal since it is located in the middle of the old city of Wittenberg.
3. Renting an apartment or house through a place like Vacation Rentals By Owner in Munich.

But we aren't sure what to do about the other cities, like Eisenach or Erfurt or Leipzig.  We know that if it was only the two of us, we could easily go and find a place from one of the "bed and breakfasts" that are prevalent.  But we are going with our children, all five of them, and are concerned with going and not having reservations.  We plan to use our Rick Steve's Germany guidebook and the help of a friend who is an immigrant from Germany to find more leads on resting our weary bodies while on our dream family trip.

We'll keep you updated as we figure out what works and what doesn't.