Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Castles
Lichtenstein
Lichtenstein Castle in the village of Honau, part of Lichtenstein in Baden-Württemberg, is one of the most photogenic castles in Germany. Perched on a narrow limestone pillar at the edge of the Swabian Alb, about 800 feet above the Echaz v…
Palaces
Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust Palace (Schloss Ludwigslust) in northern Germany's Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was the main residence of the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and is often called the "Versailles of Mecklenburg." A palace, a stone cascade, a cour…
Palaces
Bedburg-Hau
Moyland Castle near Bedburg-Hau on the Lower Rhine is a neo-Gothic moated castle that doubles as one of the region's most important museums of modern art. It holds the world's largest collection of works by Joseph Beuys, and its historic p…
Palaces
Rheinsberg
Rheinsberg Palace, on the shore of Lake Grienerick about 100 km northwest of Berlin, is one of the most charming palaces in Brandenburg. Here the young Crown Prince Frederick, later Frederick the Great of Prussia, spent what he called the…
Palaces
Mönchengladbach
Schloss Rheydt (Rheydt Castle) in Mönchengladbach is a Renaissance moated castle on the Lower Rhine and now a city museum. Surrounded by water-filled moats, the complex of gatehouse, outer court and manor house is a rewarding stop in North…
Palaces
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken Palace (Schloss Saarbrücken) rises above the Saar River in the old part of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland on the French border. The white Baroque facade is the city's best-known landmark, but the real surprise lies beneat…
Palaces
Memmelsdorf
Schloss Seehof in Memmelsdorf, just outside Bamberg in northern Bavaria, is the baroque summer palace of the former prince-bishops of Bamberg. The yellow four-winged palace with its distinctive onion-domed corner towers stands in a large f…
Castles
Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen Castle (Schloss Sigmaringen) sits on a limestone rock high above the Danube and is one of the most striking castles in Baden-Württemberg. Once the seat of the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, it combines a huge hall of arms…
Palaces
Koblenz
Stolzenfels Castle (Schloss Stolzenfels) near Koblenz is a neo-Gothic palace high above the Rhine and a key example of Prussian Rhine Romanticism. It belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage site Upper Middle Rhine Valley and faces the mouth o…
Palaces
Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim Palace (Schloss Veitshöchheim) is the former summer retreat of the prince-bishops of Würzburg, set in one of Europe's finest surviving Rococo gardens. Located about 5 miles (8 km) down the Main River from Würzburg in northern…
Churches & monasteries
Höxter
Corvey Abbey near Höxter on the Weser River is one of Germany's most important monastic sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Its centerpiece is the Carolingian westwork, built in the 9th century and the oldest surviving struc…
Palaces
Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen Palace and its gardens, the former summer residence of the Electors Palatine, rank among the finest historic gardens in Europe. Set between Heidelberg and Mannheim in Baden-Württemberg, the roughly 70-hectare (170-acre) park b…
Palaces
Edenkoben
Villa Ludwigshöhe near Edenkoben is the summer palace King Ludwig I of Bavaria built on the edge of the Palatinate Forest. Set above the vineyards of the German Wine Route, this neoclassical villa in Italian style offers sweeping views ove…
Palaces
Müglitztal
Weesenstein Castle (Schloss Weesenstein) in the Müglitz valley is an eight-story castle clinging to a rock above the river, famous for having been built partly from top to bottom. Located south of Dohna in Saxony, it is one of the more unu…
Palaces
Weikersheim
Weikersheim Palace (Schloss Weikersheim) is a Renaissance palace in the Tauber Valley of northern Baden-Württemberg and the ancestral seat of the Hohenlohe family. Its highlights are a splendid knights' hall with a painted coffered ceiling…
Palaces
Pommersfelden
Schloss Weissenstein in Pommersfelden is a showpiece of Franconian Baroque and is still owned by the Counts of Schönborn. Built as a country residence for a prince-bishop, it has a spectacular staircase hall, a marble hall and a picture ga…
Palaces
Wernigerode
Wernigerode Castle (Schloss Wernigerode) rises above the half-timbered town of Wernigerode on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains, and it looks like it was lifted from a fairy tale. Its towers and steep roofs date largely from a lavish…
Palaces
Kassel
Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel is the grand Neoclassical centerpiece of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013. Behind its columned facade hangs one of Germany's finest Old Masters collections, with paintings by…
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…
Palaces
Oberschleißheim
Schleißheim Palace in Oberschleißheim, just north of Munich, is a complex of three Baroque palaces set in a vast French-style garden. The New Palace, with a facade more than 300 meters long, is the centerpiece, flanked by the Old Palace an…
Churches & monasteries
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
The Castle Church in Wittenberg (Schlosskirche) is where, according to tradition, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Luther Memorials,…
Museums
Gutach (Schwarzwaldbahn)
The Black Forest Open Air Museum Vogtsbauernhof in Gutach is the best-known open-air museum in the Black Forest and one of the most rewarding things to do in this part of southwest Germany. Historic farmhouses, mills and workshops were mov…
Other
Ahorntal
The Sophienhöhle (Sophie Cave) near Ahorntal is one of the most beautiful show caves in Franconian Switzerland, a limestone landscape in northern Bavaria between Nuremberg and Bayreuth. It sits on the slope of the Ailsbach valley next to B…
Churches & monasteries
Nürnberg
St. Lorenz in Nuremberg (St. Lawrence's Church) is the great Gothic church of the southern Old Town and one of the finest medieval churches in southern Germany. Its twin towers and huge rose window dominate the pedestrian zone, and inside…