Picture by freestocks.org from Unsplash
Many people tell us: The Hackathons are great, but it is always a hard decision to swap the weekend together with my partner for it.
Our suggestion is to bring your partner along and share a fun time in Leipzig.
So maybe you discuss with your partner to come along and the resulting thoughts might be:
What should I (we, if you have kids) do there?
I don’t know anybody?
I don’t think the others want me there, nobody brings his partner!
So this blog post is all about, why it’s a good idea to come and some tips for what to do in Leipzig:
So, dear partners,
First off all a FireGento hackathon is not a private party. We are more than happy to get to know you. You won’t be the first to come and hopefully not the last. Often it’s an unpleasant feeling, when you have the impression being the only one, we have all been there. We are excited about meeting our friends loved ones – often enough this is how new friendships form, isn’t it?
This year we have two activities around the hackathon itself (the PreParty and the kayak tour). Please come – the more the merrier!
And when you want to say hello during the day, our doors are always open and to be honest, there is always a group of people chatting in the kitchen 😉 so grab yourself a coffee and join in.
Activities nearby to escape the magento crowd
If you want to explore the area around the hackathon location, here are a couple of tips:
- Take a walk at the Karl-Heine-Strasse and the small streets around. Little shops, unique cafés and restaurant are worth a visit.
- Visit the Spinnerei the art centre of Leipzig in an old factory.
- Right behind the Spinnerei is the old cemetery of Plagwitz, a little bit dark and old and very Tim Burton
- Nearby is an interactive exhibition with renaissance art
- Take a beautiful walk along the Karl-Heine-Kanal to explore Plagwitz (there’s an amazing water playground for kids)
- Go to the park and forest around the Elsterflutbecken including mini golf and a lot of nice playgrounds
- In the Zschochersche Strasse (yes, no typo, it is really the name) is the Unikatum, a museum for children with areas to play and explore
You want to see more from Leipzig? Here we go:
- The Zoo is amazing, (but) a little bit pricy and to see everything you should plan a whole day
- The Wildpark in between the Auwald (Riparian forest), reachable via bus, free of charge, with plenty of playgrounds and a cute Russian café
- The magical and very quite Lütschena castle park, an English landscape garden at the edge of Leipzig, to reach with the tram and a short walk
- The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum is a museum about the GDR/DDR and free of charge.
- The Grassi Museum includes three museums. Especially the museum of instruments is worth a visit with kids because you can actually play some instruments. Behind the beautiful building is the old Johannes cemetery, which you might know from Goethes Faust.
- The Monument to the Battle of the Nations/Völkerschlachtdenkmal is not only an impressive (kind of) building, you also have an amazing view over the city (you can choose to reach the top by steps or elevator)
- Explore the Rosental. The forest right in the centre of Leipzig, take a look at the Zoo (there are couple of animals you can see from outside without paying) and climb all the way up to the Rosental tower with a great view over Leipzig
- Dive to the Titanic
- Visit the old city hall at the marketplace, the museum inside is worthwhile and it’s a good starting point to explore the downtown area with all their small alleys and passages
Every tip above is reachable with bus and tram and there is no need for a car.
If you don’t want to take the bus or tram, I can recommend lending a bike, you can find them everywhere.
As you can see there is no need to spend the weekend completely apart nor the need to hang around the Hackathon all day.
If you have any question, please feel free to ask.
So hopefully this makes your decision a lot of easier and maybe we see us in Leipzig!