Families living in Bavaria who receive child benefit and earn a modest income can have a family holiday part-paid by the state – up to €19.50 per person per day. The scheme has existed for years but few people know it, and it has a trap: book too early and you get nothing.
The Zentrum Bayern Familie und Soziales (ZBFS) in Bayreuth runs it. It funds stays in a recognised family holiday facility – mostly non-profit houses run by churches and welfare groups, not hotels or holiday flats. The subsidy is a fixed sum: up to €19.50 per meal day for every person travelling, and up to €25.50 for a child with a permanent disability. The state pays at most 90 per cent of eligible costs, so families cover at least 10 per cent themselves.
Who qualifies, and what does it add up to?
The conditions: main residence in Bavaria; child benefit (Kindergeld) for the child, or receipt of Bürgergeld or social assistance, housing benefit or child supplement; a stay of at least six meal days, with up to 14 funded, where arrival and departure together count as one day. There is also an income ceiling, based on net income two calendar years back: €31,000 for a single parent with one child, €34,000 for two parents with one child, plus €4,800 for each additional child – €38,800 for a couple with two children. One trip a year is funded.
A worked example, also cited by Sonntagsblatt Bayern: four people, seven meal days, €19.50 – a maximum of €546. The real figure depends on accommodation costs, because the 90 per cent cap always applies. Travel, admission fees and incidentals are not reimbursed. Money is paid only after the trip, so families have to advance the cost.
One unusual requirement: during the stay the family must take part in a parenting or family education offer – courses or discussion groups run by the facilities themselves. The authorities do not say explicitly how the scheme applies to parents with Ukrainian protection status; the published rules turn on residence, child benefit and income. Anyone unsure should ask the ZBFS first.
Order matters: apply first, book second
Applications go in online via the forms portal or by post to the ZBFS – before the booking becomes binding. You may book only after confirmation of receipt; the ZBFS advises at least three weeks’ lead time, and processing takes two to four weeks. A non-binding reservation is allowed. Attach your income tax assessment from two years back (or an income questionnaire) and proof of child benefit or your benefit notice. After the trip you have three months to send the facility’s confirmation, a declaration and the invoice.
The scheme has changed. In 2019 the rate was up to €15 a day, with income limits of €19,000 for single parents and €20,500 for couples with one child; about 520 families received grants. Rates and limits are now much higher, so more families can try. There is no legal entitlement, though, and funds are limited.
Our assessment: the current framework agreement runs to 31 December 2026, while the BayernPortal page was updated in July 2026. Whether it will be extended unchanged has not been officially confirmed, so for 2027 trips it pays to ask early. The authority’s list of recognised houses dates from 2023; as examples Sonntagsblatt names Evangelische Sulzbürg near Neumarkt and the Langau education and recreation centre near Steingaden.
Sources: BayernPortal (ZBFS), Federal funding database, Sonntagsblatt Bayern
