Your favorite relaxing village hang-out spot in August?

We loved Lech am Arlberg in the Austrian Alps: http://www.lechzuers.com/lech-in-summer/
We stayed at Pension Juliana, which is very family friendly. When you stay in Lech you get the Lech card which gives you free access to all the lifts, hiking buses, and I believe the water park.

Hüttenfeld, but that's only because I live here (not much to offer a visitor). "simple local experiences to soak up real-life culture." Not sure exactly what you're getting at... most people I know here don't like to be told their lifestyle is "simple"- a friend visiting me from the US once made that mistake. I love Lech, but other than indoor pools, I'm not sure there's any place to swim. I could be wrong. It's one of the more expensive Alpine resort towns, however. I also love the mountain town of Flumserberg in St. Gallen canton in Switzerland. Kind of like a weekend get-away place for people who live in Zurich. Not so much a distinct village or town as a number of hamlets spread across the side of a mountain. I'm pretty sure there's an indoor public pool. There's also swimming in the nearby Walenssee. You couldn't imagine a more attractive Alpine lake. The region is relatively inexpensive for Switzerland, but still not that cheap. If you want an attractive Alpine resort in Germany that the Germans have largely kept to themselves (other than a few Brits and Dutch here and there), consider Oberstdorf in the Allgäuer Alps. It also isn't generally the cheapest of locations, but you can find plenty of family-friendly budget options. If you want something with a beach closer to Amsterdam (to escape the August heat), I can recommend either De Haan in Belgium or Domburg in the Netherlands. Both are cute as a button, and haven't become too big for their own good (the Germans seem to have adopted Domburg for their own).

Tom, Lech has an outdoor waterpark. It is on the trail to Zuers I believe. We found the village to be much cheaper than Switzerland. Food and wine at Hus#8 is fantastic.

"simple local experiences to soak up real-life culture." Not sure exactly what you're getting at... Tom, when I read similar phrases I understand it not to mean simple (as in backwards), but doing simple things. For example, I hate the simple chore of grocery shopping at home, but quite enjoy a look around the grocery store in other countries.

Andrea, thanks for translating for me - that's just what I mean. I should've said "every-day" rather than "simple" - we're looking for a place where we can experience the little things like buying our picnic ingredients, playing a game of chess at the table out front of the pastry shop - strolling, browsing, chatting, and getting to know our "neighbors" for a few days...

And thanks Alex and Tom for your suggestions - I really appreciate it!

Since you're between Geneva and Amsterdam, investigate Alsace. Many relaxing villages, scenic as I'll get out. I remember lots of family friendly activities around, but ignored them for the classic tourist sites, castles, museums, churches, wineries.

I recommend renting an apartment for the week. Alsace is a good choice. Colmar, Ribeauville, Strasbourg (bigger city, not village, but perhaps more to do). Also suggest--Beaune, France. Luxembourg. Tongeren, Belgium (awesome antiking-cute village-great restaurants).

Bad Urach, Germany. You get there on the train from Tubingen or you can drive. Undamaged by the war, its beautiful, relaxing, restful, small, good food, and definately not on the tourist trail, unless you are German.

How about a village in the Oetztal in Austria, where you can walk in the mountains and then swim in the outdoor pools at the Aqua Dome? http://www.aqua-dome.at/de

I have stayed a few times in a village in Germany called Bad Gronenbach and really did not see other tourists. We were there for a festival, went to a town a few miles away for a local horse show, visited a blacksmith's shop, and just wandered around a lot. There was also a b&b out in the country a few miles away that had fabulous food. It was just a wonderful town to hang out in. Very few people however spoke English.

I lived in GM for 3 years and made many trips to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. With castles nearby, Munich a 1.5 hr cheap train ride away, and the Austrian border 15 minutes away it's a great place to kick back or not. I will send you a private message on where we stayed (apartment with great views).

Sarah; In 2009 we spent a week in a very nice resort in the Alps in Austria close to the German border. We stayed in a small village Hinterthal. We stayed at the Marco Polo Club. Here is the URL to Trip Advisor for more information. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1194476-d1194521-Reviews-Marco_Polo_Alpina-Hinterthal_Austrian_Alps.html
on the Hochkönigstrasse. From there you can drive over the pass to Werfen and the Hohenwefen Castle. We also drove to Berchtesgaden and the Eagles nest. There is so much to see and do. It is a destination for the locals for hiking and outdoor activities. You would need a car to stay in this location as it fairly remote.

Thank you Sam, Kathy, Monte, Lola, Terry kathryn, Brian & Vanessa - this is SOOO helpful and I'm having a great time looking into all these places. Travel is SUCH a fine gift!!!

I was semi-kidding about the Aqua Dome; it is an amazing complex but I don't think there is a town there, and most of the pools are hot water! so I will second the suggestion for Garmisch-partenkirchen, which has a lot to offer for relaxed recreation, including a 50-meter public pool, and lifts and cablecars up three different mountains surrounding the town. A great variety of family-friednly lodging, including FeWo (vacation apartments). If you would like something smaller, try nearby Grainau, about 2 km away, where you can swim the the beautiful Eibsee (apline lake): http://www.grainau.de/en/leisure_and_activities/experience-nature/eibsee This is right at the foot of the Zugspitze. The gorge hikes (Parnachklamm and Höllentalklamm are fantastic, expecially on a hot summer day (you get wet from the spray). At the end of the day be sure and stop in Dolomiti eiscafe in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen pedestrian zone for Bavaria's best Spaghetti-Eis.

August and water to splash around in will be difficult because August is when Europeans take their summer vacations, and most of them flock to the water, so most places that would be fine any other time of the year will be teeming with tourists and prices will jump up. Maybe consider somewhere that the tourists are fleeing from? Germany is largely inexpensive compared to other places in Europe. The town of Tubingen in Southern Germany is absolutely lovely, on the Neckar river (boat rides!), within an hour by train of Stuttgart if you want a big-city diversion (which is a lovely city that gets very few tourists and has some great attractions), there's a swimming lake maybe 10 minute drive from Tubingen...I think it would be a great place to chill out for a week. You're also not far from the Black Forest or the Bodensee (lake constance), which would be my first recommendation if it wasn't August.