Tree house & four-poster bedA different kind of overnight stay

An entire mountain village has been built in Schmallenberg in the Sauerland: LiebesGrün, probably the most northerly mountain village in the German-speaking region, is just the thing for anyone looking for real peace and relaxation - cars are taboo here. Handcarts or free luggage transport are available for luggage. For the night, guests are spoilt for choice: sleep in one of the comfortable mountain huts, which boast their own spa area, or would you prefer an Indian tipi? An added bonus in winter: the cosy, warm stove and your own ski lift, which starts right outside the hut door.

Also in the Eifel, the Vogelsang IP International Centre naturally offers beautiful overnight accommodation: Small houses for two to four people with panoramic windows, Finnish sauna and fireplace offer an undisturbed winter idyll in the middle of the Eifel National Park - and are starting points for hikers who are travelling along the Eifelsteig trail and want to visit the former Nazi Ordensburg castle and exhibition.

The Panarbora nature adventure park in Waldbröl in the Bergisches Land region offers a special nature and sleeping experience: visitors can spend the night in tree houses. Those who are not free from giddiness can also spend the night in African huts, Asian yurts and South American stilt houses. And the next day, a walk along the 1.6-kilometre barrier-free treetop path with its 40-metre-high observation tower is the order of the day.

There are a total of 22 tree houses at Hotel Fire & Ice in Alpenpark Neuss. They have a large terrace and surprise guests with individual highlights such as an outdoor whirlpool, a sauna or a slide into the forest. Right next door are various attractions, such as a climbing park, the unique fun football facility and a cosy beer garden.

Houseboats are moored directly on the Diersfordter Waldsee lake in Wesel, offering guests a unique view of the diverse flora and fauna. They have been appropriately christened "cormorant", "common tern" or "kingfisher". Some boats even have a Finnish sauna with a large panoramic window and a view of the lake. The landlord of the houseboats is Volker Dingebauer. DeinNRW visited the houseboat owner and dairy farmer in his natural gem on the Lower Rhine.

Is this Sweden or NRW? Nature lovers can experience a Nordic holiday feeling in the tree houses Nils, Clara, Michel and Nele on Lake Sorpe in the Sauerland region. The tree houses are located directly on the shore of the lake, giving guests a marvellous view of the water. With their own canoes, tree house residents can take a trip across the lake at any time.

White steam rises, the pounding of machines in the background and a revolutionary flying machine shoots into the sky - the pulse of progress is omnipresent in the world of Rookburgh at Phantasialand. And if you want to experience this world beyond your own imagination during the day and at night, you can stay overnight in an aeroplane cabin in the Hotel Charles Lindbergh. Right in the heart of the theme world. And very close to the sky towers of the Flying Launch Coaster F.L.Y. Your heart will race with a thirst for adventure.

In Xanten on the Lower Rhine, visitors can stay overnight in the historic city gate, the Klever Tor. The 14th century building connects the historic old town with its cosy cafés and individual shops with the city's green belt - an ideal starting point for shopping trips and excursions into the countryside.

At the V-Hotel in the centre of Bonn, visitors can spend a night on the outskirts of the city and surrounded by nature at the same time. Birds and squirrels are the only neighbours in three cosy Swiss stone pine tree houses called "Rotkäppchen", "Rostlaube" and "Waldgeist". But if you're thinking of the wooden huts from your childhood, you're wrong: the four metre high tree houses are 20 square metres in size, have a bathroom and balcony and are located in the middle of the Kottenforst city forest. Fruit and eggs from the neighbourhood are served for breakfast, as sustainability plays an important role in the family-run accommodation.

Nature lovers can spend the night in a listed railway building right next to the Ringelstein Forest. The Ringelstein signal box, which was built in 1941 and decommissioned in 1962, can accommodate two to three people. Neighbouring hiking routes and cycle paths, such as the Almeradweg, lead directly into nature. Simply romantic, the holiday flat right by the tracks!

The highest hotel in North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the Sauerland, more precisely on the Kahler Asten. At 841 metres plus four storeys above sea level, the hotel with the beautiful name "So close to heaven". The mountain inn offers guests peace and relaxation above the treetops of the Sauerland.