Karlsruhe, Germany

 
Karlsruhe has excellent public transport which takes you to attractive locations in and around Karlsruhe: there is a tram stop three minutes walking distance from our home and the tram takes you into the city centre in about 15 minutes. From Market Square you can catch other trams that take you to the beautiful Black Forest ( nice places easily reached by tram are e.g. Baden-Baden [ famous spa and casino], Bad Herrenalb and Forbach (picture 6 ).  There are endless possibilities for beautiful hikes in the Black Forest. We have 3 bikes because Karlsruhe is good for cycling ,too.
Right next to our tram stop there is also a railway station from which you can catch trains to Karlsruhe main station, this takes less than 5 minutes. In both trams and trains people can transport their bikes . In the other direction the train takes you for example to Schwetzingen (1st picture) with its castle  and spectacular park in about 40 minutes.

For smaller children there are some lovely playgrounds in our neighbourhood.
If you like swimming there is a big sports centre with indoor and outdoor swimming pool in walking distance to our house.
(Fächerbad, see  www.ssc-karlsruhe.de).
An indoor climbing centre owned by the Deutscher Alpenverein DAV,German alpine club,is right next to it. You can hire climbing equipment on the site.
The popular outdoor pool in the 2nd picture is  the Albgaubad which you can reach by car in 15 minutes and by tram in about half an hour. There are several other excellent indoor and outdoor swimming pools with slides, wild water canals etc. in Karlsruhe e.g.
http://www.europabad-karlsruhe.de
http://www.ka.stadtwiki.net/rheinstrandbad
A bit further afield there is the Wörther Badepark see
http://www.wörth.de
In the third picture there is Karlsruhe Castle. In its castle grounds you'll find the miniature train which is very popular with children children and adults alike (picture 4).
Karlsruhe Zoo is another main attraction, see polar bears in picture 5.
There is lots of culture, too, e.g. the Museum of Natural History (8) or the internationally acclaimed ZKM (Centre for Art and Media ).Further cultural highlights are the Festspielhaus and the Frieder Burda Museum of Modern Art in Baden-Baden.  www.festspielhaus.de and www.museum-frieder-burda.de
The city of Heidelberg in the second but last picture is extremely popular with tourists. By car it's  less than an hour from Karlsruhe. Likewise the beautiful city of Strasbourg, France and the surrounding Alsace can be reached in about an hour. 
Other especially interesting places to visit nearby are e.g.Maulbronn ( Cistercian monastery, registered as Unesco world heritage), http://www.maulbronn.de ,
Speyer with its Technique Museum and the splendid cathedral Kaiserdom ( burial place of German emperors) http://www.speyer.de/de/tourist?
Schwetzingen with its magnificent Rococo theatre and the enchanting castle and grounds. 
http://www.schwetzingen.de 
Europa Park in Rust is Germany's best loved theme park, from Karlsruhe it takes you about an hour by car to get there.
www.europapark.de