Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Mountains & peaks
Wernigerode
The Brocken is the highest mountain in northern Germany at 1,141 meters (3,743 feet) and the best-known peak of the Harz Mountains in Saxony-Anhalt. Most visitors ride a historic steam train to the summit, where wild granite moorland, swee…
National parks
Neuschönau
Bavarian Forest National Park is Germany's oldest national park and one of the wildest woodlands in Central Europe. Stretching along the Czech border in eastern Bavaria, it protects mountain forests around the peaks of Rachel, Lusen and Fa…
Mountains & peaks
Feldberg (Schwarzwald)
The Feldberg is the highest mountain in Germany's Black Forest and in the state of Baden-Württemberg, rising to about 1,494 meters (4,902 feet). Its bald, grassy summit offers views that on clear days stretch from the Vosges in France to t…
Lakes
Titisee-Neustadt
Lake Titisee in Germany's Black Forest is one of the country's most famous lakes and a favorite day trip from Freiburg. Carved by an Ice Age glacier and surrounded by dark fir forests at about 845 meters (2,770 feet) above sea level, it of…
Landmarks
Erfurt
The Krämerbrücke (Merchants' Bridge) in Erfurt is a medieval stone bridge lined on both sides with half-timbered houses, still lived in and filled with small shops. Erfurt bills it as the longest continuously built-up and inhabited bridge…
Theme parks
Krausnick-Groß Wasserburg
Tropical Islands near Krausnick, south of Berlin, is Europe's largest tropical resort: a gigantic dome housing a sandy beach, a warm lagoon, a rainforest and water slides, all kept at summer temperatures year-round. The resort fills a form…
National parks
Tönning
The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park is Germany's largest national park by far, covering about 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) of tidal flats, salt marshes and sandbanks along the North Sea coast. Part of the Wadden…
Coast & islands
Helgoland
Heligoland (Helgoland) is Germany's only offshore island in the open North Sea, a tiny outcrop of red sandstone about 48 km (30 miles) from the mainland. Visitors come for the dramatic cliffs and the 47-meter Lange Anna sea stack, nesting…
Museums
Dresden
The Green Vault in Dresden (Grünes Gewölbe) is one of the richest treasure chambers in Europe and a highlight of any trip to eastern Germany. Housed in Dresden's Royal Palace, it displays the jewels, gold work, ivory and rock crystal amass…
Landmarks
Dresden
The Semperoper in Dresden is one of the world's great opera houses and the centerpiece of Dresden's Theaterplatz. Home to the Saxon State Opera and the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra, it saw the world premieres of operas by Richard Wagner…
Historic sites & memorials
Augsburg
The Fuggerei in Augsburg is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use, and one of the most unusual things to do in Bavaria. Founded in 1521 by the merchant banker Jakob Fugger "the Rich," it still houses around 150 people in n…
Castles
Meersburg
Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance is often called the oldest inhabited castle in Germany. Its stocky Dagobert Tower rises above the old town of Meersburg, and inside, more than 35 furnished rooms trace castle life from the dungeon to the…
Castles
Braubach
Marksburg Castle above the town of Braubach is the only medieval hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed, which makes it a must-see on any trip through the Rhine Gorge. Perched high above the river in the UNESCO-listed…
Monuments
Rüdesheim am Rhein
The Niederwald Monument above Rüdesheim am Rhein is one of Germany's best-known national monuments, crowned by a giant bronze Germania gazing out over the vineyards of the Rheingau. Built to celebrate the founding of the German Empire afte…
Old towns & squares
Frankfurt am Main
The Römerberg in Frankfurt is the city's historic town hall square and the most photographed spot in Germany's banking capital. Framed by the stepped gables of the Römer, Frankfurt's city hall since 1405, and a row of colorful half-timbere…
Museums
Frankfurt am Main
The Städel Museum in Frankfurt is one of Germany's most important art museums and the star of the city's Museum Embankment along the Main River. Its collection spans some 700 years of European art, from medieval altarpieces and Botticelli…
Landmarks
Gablenz
The Rakotzbrücke in Kromlau, often called the Devil's Bridge, is one of the most photographed sights in Germany. Its slender stone arch is reflected so perfectly in the still waters of the Rakotzsee lake that bridge and reflection form an…
Viewpoints
Mettlach
The Saarschleife near Mettlach is the symbol of Saarland, Germany's smallest non-city state, and one of the most dramatic river views in the country. Here the Saar River doubles back on itself in a near-perfect hairpin bend through a deep,…
Old towns & squares
Berlin
Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin is widely considered the most beautiful square in the German capital. Framed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Konzerthaus and two near-identical domed churches, the French and the German Cathedral, it feels more like a…
Landmarks
Berlin
Potsdamer Platz in Berlin tells the story of the 20th century in a single square. In the 1920s it was one of the busiest traffic hubs in Europe; after World War II it became a no-man's-land cut in two by the Berlin Wall; and since the 1990…
Industrial heritage
Völklingen
The Völklingen Ironworks (Völklinger Hütte) in Völklingen, Saarland, is a vast former ironworks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. It was the first industrial monument from the age of industrialization to receive that status, and…
Museums
Berlin
The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is a vast museum and cultural center housed in the rebuilt Berlin Palace, right across from Museum Island in the historic heart of the city. Behind its reconstructed baroque facades you'll find world cultures c…
Museums
Berlin
The Jewish Museum Berlin in the Kreuzberg district is one of the most visited museums in the German capital and among the largest Jewish museums in Europe. It traces Jewish life in Germany from medieval communities to the present day, insi…
Churches & monasteries
Berlin
The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche) on Breitscheidplatz in western Berlin is one of the city's most powerful landmarks: the bomb-damaged tower of a 19th-century church, flanked by a modern church whose wall…