Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Museums
München
The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich's Maxvorstadt district is one of Germany's largest museums for modern art, architecture, graphic art and design. Opened in 2002 and designed by Stephan Braunfels, it houses four independent museums unde…
Museums
Hamburg
The Hamburg Planetarium sits in a striking brick water tower in the city's Stadtpark, and it has been showing the night sky since 1930. Under a dome more than 20 meters wide you can watch live star shows, 3D journeys through space, music s…
Castles
Kulmbach
Plassenburg is a massive hilltop castle above the town of Kulmbach in northern Bavaria, and one of the most impressive Renaissance fortresses in southern Germany. Once a stronghold of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the family that later ruled P…
Museums
Stuttgart
The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart stands right next to the sports car maker's main factory in the Zuffenhausen district and tells the story of the brand through around 80 cars, from the very first Porsche to Le Mans winners. The futuristic w…
Historic sites & memorials
Binz
Prora on the island of Rügen is the huge, never-completed Nazi seaside resort near Binz, and today one of the most visited sites of contemporary history on the Baltic coast. The complex originally stretched for around 4.5 km along the Balt…
Churches & monasteries
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg Cathedral (Ratzeburger Dom) stands on the cathedral island in the town of Ratzeburg and is one of the best preserved Romanesque brick churches in northern Germany. It is the oldest of the four "Lion Cathedrals" founded by Henry t…
Churches & monasteries
Regensburg
Regensburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter) is the finest Gothic church in Bavaria and the centerpiece of Regensburg's UNESCO-listed Old Town on the Danube. Its twin spires rise 105 m above the medieval rooftops, and inside you will find one of t…
Castles
Annweiler am Trifels
Trifels Castle (Reichsburg Trifels) near Annweiler am Trifels is one of the most storied castles in southwestern Germany. Perched on a sandstone summit in the Palatinate Forest, it served the Salian and Hohenstaufen emperors as a stronghol…
Palaces
Rastatt
Rastatt Palace (Residenzschloss Rastatt) is the oldest Baroque residence on the Upper Rhine, built in the style of Versailles for the Margraves of Baden-Baden. Its pink facade and huge forecourt make a good stop for anyone looking for thin…
Viewpoints
Düsseldorf
The Rheinturm in Düsseldorf is the city's tallest structure at 240.5 m (789 ft) and its best-known landmark. This telecommunications tower rises right on the Rhine between the state parliament and the MedienHafen, and its observation deck…
Museums
Hamburg
The Rickmer Rickmers is a green three-masted sailing ship from 1896 that now serves as a museum ship at the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken in Hamburg. It is one of the best things to do in Hamburg's harbor: you can go aboard, explore an exhibit…
Historic sites & memorials
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
The Saalburg Roman Fort near Bad Homburg, just north of Frankfurt, is the only Roman fort on the Limes frontier that has been almost completely rebuilt. Walls, gates, and buildings of a 2nd-century army camp stand again on the forested Tau…
Museums
Homburg
The Schwarzenacker Roman Museum in Homburg is an open-air archaeological museum in Saarland where you walk through the excavated remains of a Gallo-Roman village. Reconstructed houses, columns and a Baroque garden bring the everyday life o…
Museums
Köln
The Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne (Römisch-Germanisches Museum) tells the story of how a Roman colony on the Rhine became one of Germany's great cities, with a world-class collection of Roman glass, sculpture and everyday objects. Befo…
Gardens & parks
Feldafing
Rose Island (Roseninsel) is the only island in Lake Starnberg, a short boat ride from the shore at Feldafing, about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of Munich. King Maximilian II of Bavaria turned it into a romantic retreat with a rose garden an…
Caves
Saalfeld/Saale
The Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes (Saalfelder Feengrotten) in Saalfeld, Thuringia, are a former alum slate mine that has been open to visitors since 1914 and holds the Guinness World Records title of the world's most colorful show grottoes. Unde…
Zoos
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken Zoo sits on the southern slope of the Eschberg hill and is the most visited zoo in Saarland. More than 1,000 animals live across its hilly grounds, including gorillas, giraffes, Humboldt penguins, meerkats and cheetahs. It make…
Industrial heritage
Berchtesgaden
The Berchtesgaden Salt Mine (Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden) is Germany's oldest working salt mine and one of the top things to do in the Berchtesgaden Alps, close to the Austrian border near Salzburg. Miners have extracted salt here continuou…
Other
Breitscheid
The Herbstlabyrinth (Autumn Labyrinth) near Breitscheid is the show cave of the largest cave system in the German state of Hesse. Hidden in the Westerwald hills, it leads you down a staircase into the Knöpfchenhalle, a tall chamber packed…
Museums
Frankfurt am Main
The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is one of Europe's best-known venues for modern and contemporary art. Its original building between the cathedral and the Römerberg is being renovated for energy efficiency, so for now the Schirn presents it…
Churches & monasteries
Schleswig
Schleswig Cathedral (St. Petri-Dom) is the landmark of the town of Schleswig and one of the most important historic churches in Schleswig-Holstein. Its tall neo-Gothic tower rises above the Schlei inlet, and inside you will find the Bordes…
Palaces
Ahrensburg
Ahrensburg Palace (Schloss Ahrensburg) is a white Renaissance moated palace in the Hunnau valley near Hamburg and one of the best-known manor houses in Schleswig-Holstein. Completed in 1585, it mirrors its green-capped turrets in the surro…
Palaces
Dresden
Albrechtsberg Palace (Schloss Albrechtsberg) in Dresden's Loschwitz district is the grandest of the three Elbe palaces, a Neoclassical villa-palace on a hillside above the river with terraces, ponds and landscaped parkland. If you are look…
Palaces
Brühl
Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, between Cologne and Bonn, is one of Europe's finest Rococo palaces and, together with the nearby Falkenlust hunting lodge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Its grand staircase by Balthasar Neumann is a…