When your average German goes on summer holidays, it is usually for a minimum of one week, and can last up to four weeks.
As one of my friends once stated, ‘Anything less than three weeks is not good for relaxing!’ or ‘Weniger als drei Wochen lohnt sich nicht!’ (less than three weeks isn’t worth it).
An Asian friend told me in German, she would be going on a holiday “Wir fahren in Urlaub”. When I asked her about it in more detail, it turned out to be a one-day trip…
Well, this holiday question depends on your cultural and social background. The Americans I knew while working in the States usually took a one-week holiday. The Asians I know also take a week off in the summer. So, in regards to our different perception of what a holiday is, we need to break it down the German way.
Urlaub (holiday): anywhere from one to four weeks
Kurzurlaub (short holiday): three to five days
Städtereise (city trip): three or four days to a European capital city
Reise am langen Wochenende (long weekend trip): weekend with a public holiday either on Friday or Monday
Wochenendausflug (weekend trip): Saturday and Sunday
Tagesausflug (day trip): one day only
When Germans have so many paid vacation days (30 days per year) and 13 public holidays to add to it, of course the vocabulary gets bigger and more detailed.
When a German tells you he’s going on holiday, he really means it. 🙂
“Have a good trip!” in German: Gute Reise!
Biarritz, France
Taken on our two-week summer holiday in Biarritz in 2012.
