Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Old towns & squares
Potsdam
The Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel) in Potsdam is a compact neighborhood of 134 red-brick gabled houses that looks as if it had been lifted straight out of Amsterdam. Built in the 18th century to lure Dutch craftsmen to Prussia, it i…
Other
Grainau
The Höllentalklamm near Grainau is one of the most dramatic gorges in the Bavarian Alps. The Hammersbach stream has cut deep into the limestone of the Wetterstein range, and a narrow trail runs through tunnels and across footbridges right…
Fortresses
Wunstorf
From the shore at Steinhude, Wilhelmstein looks like a small green islet with a few houses, but it hides one of Europe's most unusual fortresses. Count Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe had an island built in the middle of Lake Steinhude from 17…
Nature parks
Ivenack
The Ivenack Oaks near Stavenhagen in Mecklenburg are among the mightiest oak trees in Europe and stand in Germany's first National Natural Monument. In the Ivenack deer park, an open wood-pasture landscape in the rolling Mecklenburg Switze…
Palaces
Binz
Granitz Hunting Lodge (Jagdschloss Granitz) near Binz on the island of Rügen looks like a fairy-tale castle hidden in a beech forest: four crenellated corner towers, a slender central tower and pale pink walls. Built for the princes of Put…
Palaces
Berlin
Jagdschloss Grunewald, a Renaissance hunting lodge on the shore of Grunewaldsee lake, is the oldest surviving palace in Berlin. Hidden in the Grunewald forest in the leafy Dahlem district, it combines a lakeside walk with an excellent art…
Landmarks
Würzburg
The Juliusspital has been a hospital, care home and winery all at once for more than four centuries. Behind the long yellow façade on Juliuspromenade lies an arcaded courtyard with a Baroque fountain, then a park with a garden pavilion, an…
Mountains & peaks
Winterberg
The Kahler Asten near Winterberg is the best-known mountain in the Sauerland, the hilly, forested region east of Germany's Ruhr cities. At 2,762 feet (841.9 m), it is the second-highest peak in North Rhine-Westphalia, crowned by the stone…
Monuments
Porta Westfalica
Where the River Weser squeezes between the Wiehen Hills and the Weser Hills, a stone canopy topped by an imperial crown stands high on the slope, sheltering a bronze emperor with his hand raised. The Kaiser Wilhelm Monument at Porta Westfa…
Landmarks
Bad Wimpfen
Look up from the Neckar bridge at Bad Wimpfen and you see a picture-book skyline: towers, gables and walls on a ridge above the river. What stands up there is what remains of the largest Hohenstaufen imperial palace in Germany, about 215 m…
Fortresses
Düsseldorf
The Kaiserpfalz Kaiserswerth (Imperial Palace of Kaiserswerth) is the ruin of a mighty medieval stronghold on the banks of the Rhine in northern Düsseldorf. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa turned an older royal palace into a near-impregnable…
Historic sites & memorials
Trier
The Trier Imperial Baths (Kaiserthermen) are among the most impressive Roman ruins north of the Alps. Begun around 300 AD as a monumental bathhouse for the imperial residence of Trier, they were never finished as baths and later became bar…
Nature
Nürnberg
The water here does not simply run downhill; it flows over little moss-green steps, pools and cascades. The sinter terraces in the Lillach valley near Weißenohe were built by the stream itself: limestone dissolved in the spring water is de…
Coast & islands
Putgarten
Cape Arkona (Kap Arkona) near the village of Putgarten is the dramatic northern tip of Rügen, Germany's largest island, on the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Chalk and clay cliffs rise up to 43 meters above the sea, crowned…
Monuments
Chemnitz
Locals affectionately call it the "Nischel", a central German word for head or skull. In the middle of the city centre, Karl Marx gazes over Brückenstraße as a 7.1-metre bronze head; with its plinth the monument stands over 13 metres tall…
Caves
Sonnenbühl
The Bärenhöhle (Bear's Cave) in Sonnenbühl-Erpfingen is one of the best-known show caves of the Swabian Alb, about an hour south of Stuttgart. It combines two caves: the Karlshöhle, known since 1834, and the Bärenhöhle, discovered in 1949…
Viewpoints
Berchtesgaden
The Kehlsteinhaus, better known as the Eagle's Nest, sits on a rocky ridge high above Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps. Built in the late 1930s for the Nazi party, it is now a mountain restaurant with one of the finest views in Germany,…
Museums
Glauburg
He carries a sword, a shield and a neck ring, and on his head sits a strange cap that looks like two large leaves. The Celtic Prince of the Glauberg is an almost complete stone figure from the 5th century BC and is considered the most impo…
Old towns & squares
Frankfurt am Main
The Kleinmarkthalle in Frankfurt is the city's best-known indoor food market, a lively hall in the old town where regional produce, sausages, cheese, spices and international delicacies are sold side by side. If you want a taste of Frankfu…
Museums
Bremerhaven
The Klimahaus Bremerhaven is a climate science center on the harbor front of Bremerhaven, in northern Germany, where you travel around the world in a single afternoon. Following one line of longitude, you walk through desert heat, tropical…
Churches & monasteries
Alpirsbach
Alpirsbach Abbey (Kloster Alpirsbach) is a former Benedictine monastery in the Black Forest, founded in 1095 and famous for its plain Romanesque church built of red sandstone. A Gothic cloister, a museum and a quiet village setting make it…
Churches & monasteries
Andechs
Andechs Abbey (Kloster Andechs) crowns the "Holy Mountain" above the Ammersee lake, about 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Munich, and is one of the most rewarding day trips from the city. Here a dazzling Rococo pilgrimage church, a working B…
Churches & monasteries
Bad Staffelstein
Banz Abbey (Kloster Banz) crowns a hill above the Main valley near Bad Staffelstein in Upper Franconia. Facing the Basilica of Vierzehnheiligen across the valley, the former Benedictine monastery forms the heart of the scenic area known as…
Churches & monasteries
Tübingen
Bebenhausen Abbey (Kloster Bebenhausen), just north of Tübingen, is one of the best-preserved medieval monasteries in Germany. The former Cistercian house sits in a forest clearing inside the Schönbuch Nature Park, with a late Gothic clois…