Today's words · 🏝️ Holiday plans
Planning time off? 10 German holiday words
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There's one thing Germans look forward to all year: Urlaub.
In the office kitchen, your colleagues are already talking about next summer. "Wohin fährst du im Urlaub?" "Wir haben schon gebucht!" But it's only October!
Today's ten words are what you need to plan a holiday. With them you can take time off, pick a destination, book it and, when you're back, tell everyone you had a great rest. 🏝️
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Urlaub — holiday, vacation (from work)
- die Pauschalreise — package holiday, package tour
- die Reise — journey, trip
- reisen — to travel
- verreisen — to go away (on a trip), to travel
- buchen — to book
- das Reiseziel — (travel) destination
- das Reisebüro — travel agency
- der Strand — beach
- sich erholen — to recover, rest, recuperate
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Urlaub
[OOR-lowp]holiday, vacation (from work)(Pl. die Urlaube)
📌 Ich nehme nächste Woche Urlaub.
→ I'm taking a holiday next week.
💡 Same root as erlauben (to allow) 🏖️ Time your boss allows you to leave!
⚠ School and university holidays are die Ferien. Working people take Urlaub.
die Pauschalreise
[pow-SHAHL-ry-zuh]package holiday, package tour(Pl. die Pauschalreisen)
📌 Bei einer Pauschalreise sind Flug und Hotel im Preis enthalten.
→ With a package holiday, the flight and hotel are included in the price.
💡 pauschal (all-in) + Reise = flight and hotel in one bundle 📦
Bonus pauschal also means ‘sweeping’: Das kann man nicht pauschal sagen.
die Reise
[RY-zuh]journey, trip(Pl. die Reisen)
📌 Gute Reise!
→ Have a good trip!
💡 The noun of reisen 🧳 Wish travellers Gute Reise!
⚠ Don't confuse it with der Reis (rice). With -e, it's a trip!
reisen
[RY-zen]to travel(reist – ist gereist)
📌 Ich reise gern allein.
→ I like travelling alone.
💡 It originally meant ‘to rise and set out’ ✈️ Pack up and go!
⚠ Perfect with sein: Ich bin nach Italien gereist.
verreisen
[fair-RY-zen]to go away (on a trip), to travel(verreist – ist verreist)
📌 Wir verreisen nächste Woche.
→ We're going away next week.
💡 ver- (away) + reisen = to go away on a trip 🚗
Bonus When someone's away: Er ist gerade verreist. = He's away at the moment.
buchen
[BOO-khen]to book(bucht – hat gebucht)
📌 Wir haben einen Flug nach Wien gebucht.
→ We booked a flight to Vienna.
💡 Writing your name in the Buch (ledger) = booking 📖 Just like English book.
Bonus ausgebucht = fully booked
das Reiseziel
[RY-zuh-tseel](travel) destination(Pl. die Reiseziele)
📌 Spanien ist das beliebteste Reiseziel der Deutschen.
→ Spain is the Germans' most popular holiday destination.
💡 Reise (trip) + Ziel (goal) = where the trip is aiming 🎯
Bonus das Ziel alone means ‘goal’ or ‘destination’.
das Reisebüro
[RY-zuh-bü-roh]travel agency(Pl. die Reisebüros)
📌 Wir buchen die Reise im Reisebüro.
→ We're booking the trip at the travel agency.
💡 Reise + Büro (office) = travel office 🏢 Büro comes from French bureau, and it's das.
Bonus Lots of people book online now, but some still ask at a Reisebüro for package trips.
der Strand
[shtrant]beach(Pl. die Strände)
📌 Wir liegen den ganzen Tag am Strand.
→ We lie on the beach all day.
💡 Same root as English strand (shore) 🏖️ Picture yourself standing on the sand.
⚠ Plural with umlaut: die Strände
sich erholen
[zikh air-HOH-len]to recover, rest, recuperate(erholt sich (von + dat.) – hat sich erholt)
📌 Im Urlaub habe ich mich gut erholt.
→ I had a good rest on holiday.
💡 er- + holen (to fetch) = fetch your strength back 🔋 Fully recharged!
Bonus To someone going on holiday: Erhol dich gut!
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In Germany, school summer holidays (Sommerferien) fall at different times in different states. If everyone went at once, motorways and resorts would be packed, so the dates rotate.
Germans tend to plan their holidays early. At many workplaces, colleagues agree on their holiday dates at the start of the year, and popular places can be booked up months ahead.
On holiday, people usually set an out-of-office reply (Abwesenheitsnotiz) and genuinely switch off. That's what holidays are for! 🌴
✅ Quick quiz
Q. Your colleague is going on a two-week holiday tomorrow. What do you say?
- ① Ich reise gern allein.
- ② Wir haben einen Flug gebucht.
- ③ Schönen Urlaub! Erhol dich gut!
Show the answer
③ Schönen Urlaub! Erhol dich gut!
Erhol dich gut! means ‘Have a good rest!’ — the usual send-off before a holiday.
Say "Ich nehme nächste Woche Urlaub." out loud today. And on your next holiday, make sure you really erholen! ☀️
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🎨 Hobbies