Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg Minster (Freiburger Münster) is the landmark of Freiburg im Breisgau and one of the finest Gothic churches in Germany. Built of red sandstone on the edge of the Black Forest, it is crowned by an openwork spire that the Swiss histo…
Museums
Neu-Anspach
Hessenpark in Neu-Anspach is the open-air museum of the German state of Hesse and one of the top family day trips from Frankfurt. Spread across about 65 hectares (160 acres) in the Taunus hills, it brings together more than a hundred histo…
Gardens & parks
Berlin
The Gardens of the World (Gärten der Welt) in Berlin take you on a botanical trip around the globe without leaving the city. In the eastern district of Marzahn you can wander through a Chinese garden with a lotus pond and pavilions, a tran…
Industrial heritage
Oberhausen
The Gasometer Oberhausen is a former gas holder turned into Europe's tallest exhibition hall, and one of the top things to do in Germany's Ruhr region. Standing 383 feet (117.5 m) high beside the Rhine-Herne Canal, it hosts large-scale nat…
Historic sites & memorials
Rasdorf
Point Alpha on the former border between Hesse and Thuringia is one of the best places in Germany to grasp what the Cold War looked like on the ground. A US Army observation post and the East German border fortifications face each other ac…
Museums
Nürnberg
The Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is the largest museum of cultural history in the German-speaking world and one of the top things to do in Nuremberg. Spread across a medieval Carthusian monastery and striking modern wings, it t…
Mountains & peaks
Bayerisch Eisenstein
The Großer Arber is the highest mountain in the Bavarian Forest, rising to 4,775 feet (1,455.5 m) on the border region between Bavaria and the Czech Republic. Locals call it the "King of the Bavarian Forest." A gondola lifts you almost to…
Gardens & parks
Berlin
Großer Tiergarten is a 210-hectare (about 520-acre) park in the heart of Berlin and one of the largest urban parks in Germany. Lakes, a rose garden, memorials, and open meadows lie between the Brandenburg Gate, the zoo, and the government…
Historic sites & memorials
Messel
The Messel Pit (Grube Messel) near Darmstadt is Germany's oldest UNESCO natural World Heritage Site and one of the richest fossil sites on Earth. A former oil-shale mine, it preserves animals and plants from the Eocene, including early hor…
Industrial heritage
Sankt Andreasberg
The Samson Mine (Grube Samson) in Sankt Andreasberg is a visitor mine in the Upper Harz mountains of Lower Saxony and home to what is described as the last working man-engine in the world. The former silver mine is part of the UNESCO World…
Landmarks
Magdeburg
The Green Citadel of Magdeburg (Grüne Zitadelle) is the last building designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser: a pink apartment and shopping complex with golden domes, wavy window lines, and trees growing from its roofs…
Museums
Mainz
The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz is one of the oldest printing museums in the world, dedicated to Johannes Gutenberg, the Mainz-born inventor of printing with movable metal type. While a new museum is being built on its historic site, the col…
Landmarks
Berlin
The Hackesche Höfe are a set of eight connected courtyards in Berlin's Mitte district, a short walk from Hackescher Markt station. Built in the early 1900s, the complex mixes Art Nouveau architecture with shops, cafes, a cinema, a variety…
Landmarks
Hamburg
HafenCity in Hamburg is Europe's largest inner-city urban development project, a brand-new waterfront district built on former port land along the Elbe River. Since 2000, old docks and warehouses have given way to striking modern architect…
Historic sites & memorials
Busdorf
Hedeby (Haithabu in German), near Schleswig in northern Germany, was one of the great trading towns of the Viking Age and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the shore of the Haddeby Noor, a quiet inlet of the Schlei, merchants from ac…
Castles
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Hambach Castle (Hambacher Schloss) near Neustadt an der Weinstraße is called the cradle of German democracy. In May 1832 about 25,000 people gathered here for the Hambach Festival, calling for freedom, a free press and German unity under b…
Gardens & parks
Hamburg
The Hamburg Stadtpark is a 148-hectare (366-acre) city park in the Winterhude district, north of the city center. It is Hamburg's big green escape, with a lake, a huge central meadow and a brick water tower that now houses a planetarium. I…
Viewpoints
Mörsdorf
The Geierlay suspension bridge near Mörsdorf in the Hunsrück hills of Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the longest rope suspension bridges in Germany and one of the region's most popular outdoor attractions. Stretching 360 meters (about 1,18…
Theme parks
Sierksdorf
Hansa-Park in Sierksdorf, on the Bay of Lübeck in northern Germany, calls itself the country's only theme park by the sea, and from several rides you can look straight out over the Baltic. Its roughly 46 hectares (114 acres) are split into…
Old towns & squares
Nürnberg
The Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg is the main square of the Old Town and one of the most famous market squares in Germany. Two of the city's icons, the Gothic Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) and the gilded Beautiful Fountain (Schöner Brunnen),…
Old towns & squares
Trier
The Hauptmarkt in Trier is the main market square of Germany's oldest city and one of the most photogenic squares in the Moselle region. Gabled houses from the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque eras frame a market cross from the 10th centur…
Old towns & squares
Heidelberg
The Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg is the long, car-free main street of one of Germany's most romantic old towns. Running from Bismarckplatz almost to the Karlstor gate, parallel to the Neckar River, it links baroque mansions, churches, museum…
Museums
Bonn
The Haus der Geschichte (House of History) in Bonn is Germany's national museum of contemporary history, telling the story of the country from the end of World War II to today. Located in the former government quarter of the West German ca…
Palaces
Rudolstadt
Heidecksburg Palace (Residenzschloss Heidecksburg) in Rudolstadt is a Baroque palace that stands about 200 feet (60 m) above the old town, on a ridge above the Saale river in Thuringia. It was the residence of the counts and princes of Sch…