Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Bamberg
Bamberg Cathedral (Bamberger Dom) is the crown of Bamberg's UNESCO-listed old town and one of Germany's great imperial cathedrals. Its four towers rise from Cathedral Hill above a sea of red roofs in this beautifully preserved Franconian c…
Churches & monasteries
Köln
St. Gereon in Cologne is one of the city's twelve great Romanesque churches and one of its most unusual: a basilica with a ten-sided domed hall that grew out of a late Roman oval building. If you have already seen the cathedral and want to…
Churches & monasteries
Bad Staffelstein
The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (Basilika Vierzehnheiligen) near Bad Staffelstein in Upper Franconia is one of the finest Baroque churches in Germany. Designed by Balthasar Neumann, the architect of the UNESCO-listed Würzburg Res…
Old towns & squares
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is one of the most charming wine towns on the Moselle River and one of the best things to see in the Moselle Valley. Its medieval market square is lined with colorful half-timbered houses, a castle ruin watches over the old…
Nature parks
Thale
The Bode Gorge (Bodetal) near Thale is the most dramatic canyon in Germany's Harz Mountains and one of the country's classic hikes. Over roughly 6 miles (10 km) between Thale and Treseburg, the Bode River has carved deep into granite, leav…
Churches & monasteries
Bonn
Bonn Minster is the main church of Bonn, the former West German capital on the Rhine, and one of the city's oldest landmarks. The Romanesque basilica with its 81-meter crossing tower has dominated Münsterplatz for nearly a thousand years.…
Landmarks
Bremen
Böttcherstraße in Bremen is a short lane of barely 100 yards that ranks among the most unusual streets in Germany. Rebuilt in the 1920s by a coffee magnate as a "city within the city," it is a rare piece of German Expressionist architectur…
Churches & monasteries
Brandenburg an der Havel
Brandenburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter und Paul) stands on its own island between the Havel River and Beetzsee lake in the city of Brandenburg an der Havel. It is one of the oldest brick cathedrals in northern Germany and the mother church o…
Monuments
Bremen
The Town Musicians of Bremen statue by Gerhard Marcks is the city's most photographed landmark: a bronze donkey, dog, cat and rooster stacked on top of each other beside Bremen's Town Hall, just off the Market Square. Inspired by the Broth…
Castles
Altena
Altena Castle (Burg Altena) towers on a rocky spur above the Lenne River in Germany's Sauerland region. It is famous as the birthplace of the world's first permanent youth hostel, opened here in 1914, and today combines free museums, prese…
Castles
Mechernich
Satzvey Castle (Burg Satzvey) in Mechernich, on the northern edge of the Eifel hills, is regarded as the best-preserved moated castle in the Rhineland in terms of original medieval fabric. With its pointed towers, twin-towered gatehouse, a…
Castles
Burghausen
Burghausen Castle in the Bavarian town of Burghausen, right on the Austrian border, is listed by Guinness World Records as the longest castle in the world, stretching 1,051 meters (about two-thirds of a mile) along a narrow ridge. Six cour…
Old towns & squares
Dinkelsbühl
Dinkelsbühl is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany, a postcard-perfect stop on Bavaria's Romantic Road between Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nördlingen. Behind an almost complete ring of walls and four gate towers, you'll fi…
Viewpoints
Königswinter
The Drachenfels ("Dragon's Rock") near Königswinter is the most famous hill in the Siebengebirge range and one of the classic viewpoints on the Rhine. Its summit, about 321 m (1,053 ft) high, is crowned by the ruins of a medieval castle, w…
Lakes
Edertal
Lake Edersee in northern Hesse is one of Germany's largest reservoirs, winding for almost 18 miles (28.5 km) through the wooded hills of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park. Its massive stone dam at Hemfurth became world famous in May 194…
Lakes
Grainau
Eibsee is an emerald-green mountain lake near Grainau in the Bavarian Alps, set directly beneath the north face of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. Its clear water, a scatter of small wooded islands and the wall of rock rising al…
Churches & monasteries
Marburg
St. Elisabeth's Church (Elisabethkirche) in Marburg is considered Germany's oldest purely Gothic hall church, and its two 80-meter towers rise above the old town on the Lahn River. Built from 1235 over the grave of Saint Elisabeth of Thuri…
Churches & monasteries
Erfurt
Erfurt Cathedral (Erfurter Dom, St. Mary's Cathedral) and the neighboring Church of St. Severus rise side by side above Erfurt's vast Domplatz square, forming one of Germany's most striking city skylines. A broad flight of 70 steps leads u…
Churches & monasteries
Beuron
Beuron Archabbey (Erzabtei St. Martin zu Beuron) is a working Benedictine monastery in the scenic Upper Danube Valley in southwestern Germany, set among pale limestone cliffs and forests. Its Baroque abbey church and the richly painted Cha…
Gardens & parks
Wonsees
The Sanspareil Rock Garden (Felsengarten Sanspareil) in Wonsees, near Bayreuth in northern Bavaria, is one of the most unusual 18th-century gardens in Europe. Instead of clipped hedges and fountains, Margravine Wilhelmine of Bayreuth turne…
Fortresses
Würzburg
Marienberg Fortress in Würzburg crowns a hill about 100 m above the Main River and is the city's most famous landmark. For nearly five centuries it was the seat of Würzburg's prince-bishops, before they moved into the grand Residence in to…
Old towns & squares
Flensburg
Flensburg Harbor and the old town around it are the maritime heart of Flensburg, Germany's border city on the Baltic Sea just south of Denmark. At the head of the Flensburg Fjord, historic sailing ships, the steamship Alexandra and old mer…
Gardens & parks
Köln
Flora and the Botanical Garden in Cologne's Riehl district make up one of the city's loveliest free green spaces: a historic park with a grand festival hall, flower parterres and greenhouses, right beside Cologne Zoo. If you want a calm wa…
Coast & islands
Wyk auf Föhr
Föhr is Germany's largest island that can only be reached by boat or plane, and its mild climate has earned it the nickname "Frisian Caribbean". This green North Sea island offers a long sandy beach at Wyk, thatched Frisian villages, medie…