Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Coast & islands
Rostock
Warnemünde is the seaside resort of the Hanseatic city of Rostock and one of the most popular beach towns on Germany's Baltic coast. It combines one of the widest sandy beaches in the country with a historic lighthouse, a striking 1960s se…
Palaces
Isselburg
Anholt Castle (Wasserburg Anholt) in Isselburg, near the Dutch border on the Lower Rhine, is one of the largest and most beautiful moated castles in the Münsterland region. The princes of Salm-Salm have owned it since 1647 and still live h…
Mountains & peaks
Gersfeld (Rhön)
The Wasserkuppe in the Rhön Mountains is the highest peak in Hesse at 950 meters and is known worldwide as the "cradle of gliding." Its broad, open summit plateau near Gersfeld, about 20 km east of Fulda, draws hikers, glider and paraglide…
Industrial heritage
Magdeburg
The Magdeburg Water Bridge, or Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg, near Hohenwarthe is a rare piece of engineering: the Mittelland Canal crosses the Elbe river on an 918-meter steel trough bridge, so ships sail over the river instead of detourin…
Mountains & peaks
Bayrischzell
The Wendelstein is a 6,030-foot (1,838 m) peak in the Bavarian Prealps, about an hour southeast of Munich, and one of the classic viewpoint mountains of Upper Bavaria. Its rocky summit, crowned by an observatory and a transmitter mast, can…
Castles
Eichstätt
Willibaldsburg Castle towers over the town of Eichstätt and the Altmühl Valley in Upper Bavaria, roughly halfway between Munich and Nuremberg. For centuries it was the seat of the prince-bishops of Eichstätt. Today it houses the Jura Museu…
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…
Other
Hayingen
The Wimsener Höhle (Wimsen Cave) near Hayingen in the Swabian Jura is the only cave in Germany you can explore by boat. A boatman guides a small punt across crystal-clear, turquoise water into the mountain while explaining how the cave for…
Gardens & parks
Oranienbaum-Wörlitz
Wörlitz Park (Wörlitzer Park) in Saxony-Anhalt is one of the first English-style landscape gardens on the European continent and the centerpiece of the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Lakes, canal…
Industrial heritage
Wuppertal
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is the world's oldest electric suspended monorail still in regular service and the symbol of the city of Wuppertal in western Germany. Since 1901 its cars have hung from a steel frame, gliding mostly above the Wup…
Landmarks
Dresden
The Yenidze in Dresden is a former cigarette factory built to look like a mosque, complete with a colored glass dome and a chimney disguised as a minaret. Nicknamed the "Tobacco Mosque," this quirky landmark stands just west of the Old Tow…
Museums
Leipzig
The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig (Forum of Contemporary History) is a free museum in the heart of Leipzig that tells the story of dictatorship and democracy in East Germany after 1945. Located on Grimmaische Strasse between the Market…
Museums
Friedrichshafen
The Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen holds the world's most important collection on the history of airships and is one of the top things to do on Lake Constance. Housed in a listed 1930s harbor station right on the waterfront, it tells t…
Fortresses
Erfurt
The Petersberg Citadel (Zitadelle Petersberg) in Erfurt is one of the largest and best-preserved Baroque city fortresses in Europe. Rising directly above Cathedral Square, its bastions offer the classic view of Erfurt Cathedral and St. Sev…
Fortresses
Berlin
The Spandau Citadel (Zitadelle Spandau) is one of the best-preserved Italian Renaissance fortresses in Europe and a rewarding day trip within Berlin. It sits at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers in the city's west, far from the…
Zoos
Dresden
Dresden Zoo sits in the leafy Großer Garten park, a short walk from the city's baroque old town. Opened in 1861, it is the fourth-oldest zoo in Germany and covers about 13 hectares, making it an easy half-day outing. Its newest attraction,…
Zoos
Duisburg
Duisburg Zoo, on the edge of the city forest in Germany's Ruhr region, is famous for animals you will not find anywhere else in North Rhine-Westphalia: koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils and dolphins. The zoo says it keeps more than 5,100 a…
Zoos
Gelsenkirchen
ZOOM Erlebniswelt in Gelsenkirchen is a themed zoo that takes you around the world in a day. Across more than 30 hectares in the heart of Germany's Ruhr region, you walk through recreated landscapes of Alaska, Africa and Asia, with almost…