I'm relocating (ok - being relocated) to Hannover for 3-4 months... any tips regarding interesting things to do in the area, or interesting things to see would be great.

Also - any advice on how the culture in Hannover is different than here in Munich? (besides the fact that they don't speak Bayerishe, of course!)

According to the Germans. Hannover is where they speak the purest form of 'hochdeutsch'.

I've been to Hannover - not too exciting. I'd probably got to Hamburg a lot - under an hour and a half on the train...

Hiya
I've only been there a few times for CeBit (tech fair) and have to agree with Hazza - go to Hamburg (or Amsterdam, or Copenhagen, or Berlin...).
Thankfully due to Hapag Lloyd, it is pretty easy (and cheap) to leave Hannover.
They do indeed speak beautiful, clear Hochdeutsch German and if you want to learn it well, you will have no better chance than there. Mind you, all the tram announcements are in German and English so you might not need to.
Hannover.de website (also in English - click langauge at top
Good luck,
Katrina

deewat,

I have lived in Hannover for one year and a half before I moved to Toytown. Like any city it has its ups and downs. Here's my honest opinion of the city, starting with the bad things:

the weather is almost always worse than Munich, cold, rainy, and damp. The people suck. They are the most frickin uptight, cold, horribly dressed people I have ever seen. There are tons and tons of bums, homeless people in the streets that bother you and beg for money. Stay away from Steintor area at night - been a lot of stabbings. The food is horrible - no nice restaurants to go to and nobody has an appreciation for food. At least in Munich you have international influences. There are no mountains and just a few dirty lakes around. The inner city "innenstadt" just makes me feel depressed. In the 1.5 years I lived there I flew back to Boston at least a dozen times just to get the hell out of there.

ok dude, and here's the good things just to leave on a positive note

the apartments are MUCH cheaper than Munich - about 50 percent cheaper than Munich. You can get a totally rockin flat for about 700 Euro. I real place to bring back lots of chicks. If you are a native speaking english person - you are instantly cool. In Munich, you're just another out of a few thousand. But in Hannover - just speak a few phrases now and then in public and people will look at you like you are special. I know it sounds cocky, but its funny. Going out to clubs are cool. Its so much cheaper than here and there are hardly issues with Türstehers. Deewat, I don't know if you're a dude or a chick, but if you're a dude - -man you can score mega chicks in that town. You are the cats meeow as an expat there. If your a chick - well then save some money for plane tickets. And lastly, you are very close to Hamburg and to the North See and some nice beaches. Wish you lots of luck - try to make the best of it. I actually still go back to "Hangover" a few times a year to party.

Thanks for the advice folks... seems I'll do a lot of vacationing while I am there (at least on the weekends).

Snake: As a "dude", I'm not sure that my wife will appreciate how English will make me attractive - though I must say that if the fact that I speak English will overcome what I like to call rough good looks (emphasis on the "rough"), then I won't complain at all...

So, I especially appreciate the advice on the flights, and the areas to avoid (due to stabbings? Wow.)

I guess I also will have to just wean myself off Weissbier and learn to appreciate Pils!

Thanks again for the advice.

Cheers,

Deewat

Whoa, I totally disagree with the above comments.

Hannover is a really nice place to live. It is very green - lots of parks, forest, etc. It has a nice, walkable, smallish Innenstadt with lots of different shops, etc.

Top-notch police force due to the Chancellor's house being there.

There is definitely a night life - might not be your taste, but it exists. Lots of students. The only thing that I really missed was English language cinema - not much of that. However, you can rent dvds pretty easily.

I would happily move back there - no question!

am in Hannover this weekend for the first time ever! can anyone recommend any good Irish/English pubs for watching the rugby and football in that also serve decent food? my boyfriend found an English pub the other week but said it's shite (shit food and service) so any tips'd be welcome!

MacGowans is a nice Irish pub in the Bruderstrasse, and Shakespeares is a good English/Irish spot in the Gutenberghof in the city, despite being run by Germans. The Copthorne Hotel in Laatzen by the Messegelände has an "authentic" Irish bar called "The Dubliner" if you really want to be ripped off. I think MacGowans is the only one with English TV (inc. Sky). It's very similar to GMs, but a little smaller...

In every other respect, the earlier response from Snake is spot on...it's an awful place...

YL6