Rent a tree house
A tree house stands on stilts or hangs among the branches, usually three to ten metres above the ground. You climb up by stair or ladder. It is smaller up there than in a holiday flat, but every window looks into the crown. At night you hear the forest working, and in the morning the light sits differently than it does below. Many have a terrace, some a bathroom of their own, others share the sanitary building of the site.
What to check before booking
- On stilts or in the tree?
- Both count as a tree house. On stilts it stands steady and carries more weight; among the branches it sits closer to the trunk. The photographs usually show the difference better than the text.
- How do you get up?
- Stair, ladder or rope bridge. With small children, heavy luggage or at night, that is the difference that counts.
- Where is the bathroom?
- On board or in the sanitary building at the foot of the tree. Anyone who gets up at night should know beforehand.
- Is it heated?
- That decides whether a booking in October still makes sense. Unheated houses close over the winter.
- How far away is the car?
- Some houses stand by the access road, others a few hundred metres into the wood. You carry the luggage yourself.
Who it suits
Made for
Couples who want one night that is different, and families with children who climb safely. Anyone who likes being out early gets the morning in the forest without having to camp for it.
Less so for
A tree house is not step free, and without a bathroom of its own every trip at night becomes a climb down. Anyone who needs space or travels with two weeks of luggage is better off at ground level.
Where it comes from
Tree houses to sleep in are young in Germany. The first tree house hotel in the country opened in 2005 at the Kulturinsel Einsiedel near Görlitz, after seven years of planning and building. Twenty-five individually designed houses stand there today, and almost every federal state now has some.
Good to know
The climb is part of it
Stair, ladder or rope bridge takes you up. A tree house is therefore not step free, and luggage goes up on your own back.
Dogs not everywhere
Where the way up is a ladder, dogs usually stay below. Hosts with a staircase often take them along.
You hear the rain
A wooden roof under a crown makes every shower audible. Light sleepers do better expecting it than being surprised by it.
