Travel

#Germany Travel Guide - Trip Planning Info by Rick Steves

Places

At a Glance

▲▲▲ Munich Lively city with a traffic-free center, excellent museums, Baroque palaces, stately churches, rowdy beer halls, convivial beer gardens, and beautiful parks (such as the English Garden) plus the sobering concentration camp memorial at nearby Dachau.

▲▲▲ Southern Bavaria and Western Tirol Pair of Alps-straddling regions (one in Germany, the other in Austria) boasting the fairy-tale castles of Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, and Linderhof; inviting villages such as the handy home base F ssen, Austrian retreat Reutte, and adorable Oberammergau; the towering Zugspitze and its high-altitude lifts; and hiking, luge, and other mountain activities.

▲▲▲ Salzburg and Berchtesgaden Austrian musical mecca for fans of Mozart and The Sound of Music. offering a dramatic castle, concerts, Baroque churches, and an old town full of winding lanes; plus nearby Berchtesgaden, soaked in alpine scenery and Nazi history.

▲▲▲ Berlin Germanys vibrant capital, featuring world-class museums, gleaming modern architecture, and trendy nightlife, along with evocative monuments and memories of the Wall that once divided the city and country.

▲▲ Rothenburg and the Romantic Road Well-preserved medieval city full of half-timbered buildings and cobbled lanes surrounded by intact and walkable medieval walls; jumping-off point for the Romantic Road scenic route through lovely countryside and time-passed towns, including Dinkelsb hl and N rdlingen.

▲▲ Rhine Valley Mighty river steeped in legend, where storybook villages (including charming home-base towns Bacharach and St. Goar) cluster under imposing castles, such as Rheinfels and Marksburg.

▲▲ Mosel Valley Peaceful meandering river lined with tiny wine-loving cobbled towns, such as handy Cochem and quaint Beilstein, plus my favorite European castle, Burg Eltz.

▲▲ N rnberg City with old-fashioned sandstone core and great museums, with reminders of Nazi past thoughtfully presented on the outskirts of town.

▲▲ Dresden Art-filled city offering exquisite museums, Baroque palaces, a delightful riverside promenade, and hard memories of a notorious WWII firebombing.

▲ Baden-Baden and the Black Forest High-class resort/spa town of Baden-Baden, with decadent bath experiences, a peaceful riverside stroll, and a grand casino; lively university city of Freiburg and cozy village of Staufen; and a thickly forested countryside rife with healthy hikes, folk museums, cute hamlets, and cream cakes.

▲ W rzburg Residenz complex (with a palace, manicured gardens, and dazzling Rococo chapel) and lively wine bars and restaurants.

▲ Frankfurt Europes bustling banking center, offering a stunning skyscraper skyline and a look at todays Germany.

▲ Trier Germanys oldest city, with a lively pedestrian zone and imposing Roman monuments, including the Porta Nigra gate.

▲ Cologne Spectacular Gothic cathedral looming above a busy, museum-packed riverside city.

▲ Lutherland Charming university town of Erfurt, where Martin Luther spent his youth; Wartburg Castle, where he hid out from the popes goons; and Wittenberg, where he taught, preached, and revolutionized Christianity.

▲ Leipzig Formerly derelict second city of East Germany, now rejuvenated (if architecturally dull) with excellent Bach and Cold War sights, and a funky nightlife district.

▲ Hamburg Big port city with emigration, World War II, and Beatles history, and Las Vegas-style nightlife.