Bavarian Forest National Park celebrates 40th birthday

The Bavarian Forest National Park, the oldest National Park in Germany, will celebrate its 40th birthday this year with a range of events and the active support of its National Park Partners.

The 76 Partners - hotels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, restaurants and self catering accommodation providers - work with the Bavarian Forest National Park to provide holidays in harmony with nature right through the year. One of these is 'Bavarian Forest Holidays' in Bayerisch Eisenstein, whose English owners came to the Bavarian Forest from England in 2004.

More and more English speaking international visitors are making their way to the Bavarian Forest - thanks to the marketing activities of Margaret Leach and Martin Holborow who have also designed their 9 holiday apartments (8 with 5 stars and 1 with 4 stars, awarded by the German Tourism Association) to specifically meet the needs of international guests.

“We are always particularly pleased when we can introduce foreign guests to our adopted home and the unique natural features of the National park region,” says Margaret Leach.

The National Park, which includes the largest area of forested wilderness between the Atlantic and the Urals, offers opportunities for peaceful walking and cycling as well as seeing rare indigenous wildlife such as lynx, wolves, brown bears and capercaillie in vast enclosures in the forest. The National Park visitor centres also provide education and entertainment related to the National Park. The Bavarian Forest National Park also directly borders the Sumava National Park in Czech Republic, providing access to nearly 100,000 hectares of protected nature.

The National Park Partners offer quality accommodation and comprehensive information on the area to their visitors. They make an important contribution to sustainable tourism and exceed the usual criteria for eco-friendliness and quality. All are passionate supporters of the motto of the National Park 'Let nature be nature'. Once they have qualified to become Partners they are obliged to attend regular briefing sessions and hikes in the National Park in order to keep their knowledge up to date.

This year the Bavarian Forest National park celebrates its 40th birthday with many events during the year and a major celebration on 9th-10th October in the Lusen National Park Centre.

For more information on Bavarian Forest Holidays, go to: bavarian-forest-holidays.com

For more information and an overview of all National Park Partners, go to: nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.de/partner