38 attractions in Lower Saxony, including New Town Hall Hanover, Norderney Island and Pilsum Lighthouse. Map, details and practical tips before you go.
Landmarks
Hannover
Hanover's New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) looks more like a palace than an office building: a grand early 20th-century structure crowned by a green copper dome and reflected in a park pond. Inside you'll find a soaring main hall with four ci…
Coast & islands
Norderney
When the first sea-bathing establishment on any East Frisian island opened on Norderney on 3 October 1797, the island was a poor fishing village. Two centuries later it is the best-known bathing island on the North Sea: white resort archit…
Landmarks
Krummhörn
Pilsum Lighthouse near Krummhörn in East Frisia is one of the most photographed landmarks on Germany's North Sea coast. The small tower with red and yellow rings stands on top of the sea dike and looks almost painted against the flat marsh…
Industrial heritage
Scharnebeck
The Scharnebeck ship lift (Schiffshebewerk Scharnebeck, also called Lüneburg ship lift) is a giant double vertical boat elevator on the Elbe Lateral Canal in Lower Saxony. Two huge troughs raise and lower inland vessels by up to 38 meters,…
Palaces
Bückeburg
Bückeburg Palace (Schloss Bückeburg) is the residence of the princes of Schaumburg-Lippe and one of the most striking palaces in the Weser Uplands of Lower Saxony. It grew from a medieval border fortress into a Renaissance palace with a mo…
Palaces
Sögel
Clemenswerth Palace in Sögel, in the Emsland region of northwest Lower Saxony, is a Rococo hunting lodge laid out like a star. A central main pavilion is surrounded by eight smaller pavilions, with a monastery garden, a gazebo and a large…
Castles
Pattensen
Marienburg Castle (Schloss Marienburg) near Pattensen, about 25 km south of Hanover, is a Gothic Revival fairy-tale castle built for the royal House of Hanover. Rising above the Leine Valley, it is one of northern Germany's most striking 1…
Palaces
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg Castle (Schloss Wolfsburg) is the historic heart of Wolfsburg, the Lower Saxony city best known as the home of Volkswagen. The castle is more than 600 years older than the city, which actually took its name from it. A medieval mo…
Zoos
Hodenhagen
The Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen is a combined safari park, zoo and amusement park in Lower Saxony, and at 220 hectares (540 acres) it bills itself as Europe's largest safari park. Around 2,000 animals live here alongside more than 100 att…
Lakes
Wunstorf
Steinhuder Meer is the largest lake in Lower Saxony, about 30 kilometers northwest of Hannover, and a favorite day trip for cyclists, sailors and families. Covering roughly 29 square kilometers but only a few meters deep, it feels like a s…
Lakes
Cloppenburg
A reservoir in the lowlands sounds like concrete banks, but the Thülsfeld Reservoir in the Oldenburger Münsterland looks more like a Swedish archipelago: branching bays, sandy beaches, pine woods, bog and one of the largest heathlands in L…
Zoos
Walsrode
Pelicans, parrots and secretary birds rather than just falcons and eagles: the flight show is the highlight of a day at Walsrode World Bird Park, the largest bird park in the world. On 24 hectares at the northern edge of Walsrode live arou…
Mountains & peaks
Bispingen
The Wilseder Berg is the highest hill in Lüneburg Heath at 169.2 meters, and the summit of the district of Heidekreis. It rises in a car-free nature reserve near the heath village of Wilsede, with sweeping views over heather, juniper and w…
Old towns & squares
Worpswede
Worpswede is northern Germany's best-known artists' village, set in the Teufelsmoor moorland northeast of Bremen. Painters, sculptors and architects have settled here since 1889, and today you can wander past galleries, museums and cafés o…