The old city with its gothic buildings is beautiful, especially the Markt Platz. We enjoyed strolling along the dike and Weser river. We had lunch at the unique Ratskeller and a very tasty dinner a couple of times at Camillo's, very close to to Ferienwohnung Fesenfeld. A walk through the Bürger Park was especially enjoyable.

Bremen is a beautiful Hanseatic city with UNESCO heritage buildings right in the city centre. There are also medieval buildings an an area called the 'Schoor' and Boetcherstrasse a few minutes walk from here. There are many opportunities to taste traditional German food in numerous restaurants, pubs and cafes (try Ratskeller at least once!), as well as buying some of these items to take back home with you (if you want local hams or cheeses, many places offer vacuum sealing so you don't have any accidents in your luggage). Wine shops will wrap bottles in extra paper or cardboard if you tell them you want to check it in your bags. Bremen is also conveniently located on a major train line, so you can use 'Die Bahn' to make it to neighbouring towns and cities and experience the local country side. There is also a lovely network of bike paths (not shared with cars!) that take you out to artist towns such as Worpswerde, or along the river to 'Das Alte Land'. Buy a ticket to watch the local Werder Bremen play, or make it for the indoor track cycling event (the 5 days of racing). The Christmas market in Bremen is stunning, and the local harvest festival, the Friemarkt rivals the Oktoberfest in the south of Germany.

I spent 11 nights at Motel One which was modern, clean and attractive. I was able to walk along the river promenade and watch the boat traffic. Old Town was also within walking distance. I took minibus tour, narration only in German but driver brought me an English copy of the sites we passed. He helped me on and off the bus as I am elderly and disabled. I ate at Cafe Bellini near the river . There was an English menu. Reasonably priced., outdoor seating. Steep steps to indoors, waiter helped me when it was raining. Shopped at C&A using my walker.

I am furious with the town of Bremen. It is very picturesque, and we loved our hotel. However, they have a very tourist unfriendly law for cars brought into the city. You have to have a green placard on your windshield or they will ticket you as many times as they want. We had a rental car from the Netherlands which did not have a placard, even though we told them we were going to Germany. We got a ticket about 5 minutes after we parked on Friday evening and another one first thing Monday morning right before we checked out. They are very predatory and seem to watch until you pay for your parking then swoop in and ticket you. We could not go buy a placard because the rental car does not have a registration card in it, and that's what you need to get one. They say the law is for pollution control, but we had a brand new Opel Meriva, so it should be obvious that it was not a big polluter. It is simply a money making scheme, and I would not recommend going to Bremen because of this. It really ruined what had been a very nice vacation up until then. I plan to warn as many people as I can to stay away from a town that is so unfriendly to people who are actually going to put money into the local economy!

I go each year for the Christmas Market. The Pirate theme along the river is my favorite. I like the holiday feel mixed with the medieval marketeers. Walk a few minutes and enjoy the city's main Christmas market. It's a very friendly city so I'm sure you will meet new friends during your visit..

We enjoyed the friendliness of the people, the Kunstmuseum, the food at the Cafe Classico, the ability to walk everywhere and the proximity of public transportation. The medieval Schnoor area was charming, and we enjoyed walking near the Weser, too.