We are a happy patchwork family of six (51, 44, 43, 14, 11 years and a toddler boy): Sometimes we travel all together, sometimes only some of us participate in the exchange.

We live in a bright appartment in an Art Noveau house built in 1902. It consists of six rooms: Living room, dining room, master bedroom, second bedroom and two kids' rooms, a spacious kitchen, two bathrooms with showers and bathtub, and a balcony. In the living room, we have two sofas, one of which can each be converted into an additional guest bed for two. Our house has a backyard with a 3-metre-trampoline for children. We also own an allotment garden only 5 minutes away from our home. The allotment has a swing and a tiny fish pond as well as a wooden hut with a small kitchen and a barbecue grill.

Our home is situated in a friendly neighbourhood close to parks and numerous playgrounds. There are several shops, restaurants and cafés in the vincinity. A small supermarket and a bakery are just around the corner. Two blocks away is the estate of the Hoepfner brewery castle - winner of the 2016 World Beer Award (http://www.worldbeerawards.com/2016/). You are welcome to use our four bicycles (incl. bike trailer for 2 children) as well as our kids' bikes and scooters.

Karlsruhe is one of the sunniest spots in Germany situated in the Rhine rift at the foot of the Black Forest and very close to the French border. The city has a beautiful palace with adjacent park and forest which is a popular leisure venue for all citizens to have a picnic, play a round of Boule or do all kind of sports. It also offers a wide variety of cultural pastimes such as theatres, cinemas, museums including the internationally renowned media museum ZKM (www.zkm.de/en), a natural history museum and a zoo. There are several swimming pools and lakes nearby. Karlsruhe is a laidback city surrounded by lots of beautiful nature.

It's a great point to start an outing either to go hiking in the Black Forest or the Palatinate Forest, visit the city of Heidelberg, Baden-Baden or Straßbourg or simply to go shopping and dining in one of the cosy little Alsatian villages in France. You can get by tram to several destinations in the Black Forest, cities in Alsace/France and Rhineland-Palatine. There even is a direct TGV train connection to Paris (2.5 hours). In late summer, it's a nice idea to visit one of the many wine festivals and castles in close-by Rhineland-Palatinate. The Europa Park in Rust, Germany's largest theme park with huge rollercoasters is one hour by car.

Further links:
Karlsruhe: https://www.karlsruhe.de/int/i1

Nearest airports:
Karlsruhe-Baden (FKB), bus connection to Karlsruhe
Frankfurt (FRA), trains running every hour directly from the airport to Karlsruhe main station
Stuttgart (STR), train & tram connection to Karlsruhe