Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Old towns & squares
München
Königsplatz in Munich is a neoclassical square in the Maxvorstadt district and a centerpiece of the "Athens on the Isar" that King Ludwig I wanted to build. The Propylaea to the west, the Glyptothek to the north and the State Collections o…
Historic sites & memorials
Flossenbürg
The Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial (KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg) in eastern Bavaria preserves the site of one of the major Nazi concentration camps, close to the Czech border roughly halfway between Nuremberg and Prague. Around 10…
Old towns & squares
Lindau (Bodensee)
Lindau harbor, with its stone lion and white lighthouse guarding the entrance, is one of the most photographed sights on Lake Constance. It sits on Lindau Island in Germany's far southwestern corner of Bavaria, where Germany, Austria and S…
Mountains & peaks
Neuschönau
Lusen is one of the most distinctive peaks in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany's oldest national park, on the border with the Czech Republic. Instead of trees, its 1,373-meter (4,505-foot) summit is capped by a vast field of gran…
Landmarks
Bayreuth
The Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth is one of very few Baroque theatres that survive almost exactly as they were built. Its auditorium of painted and gilded wood was designed by Giuseppe and Carlo Galli Bibiena, the most sought-after th…
Museums
München
The Museum Brandhorst in Munich's Maxvorstadt district is a contemporary art museum in one of the most eye-catching buildings in Germany. Its facade of thousands of colorful ceramic rods, designed by Sauerbruch Hutton, makes it easy to rec…
National parks
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden National Park in the far southeast corner of Bavaria is Germany's only Alpine national park. Stretching from the emerald Königssee lake to the 8,900-foot summit of the Watzmann, it packs fjord-like scenery, high pastures, lim…
Museums
Bamberg
Step into the Bird Hall and you are in a room that has barely changed in 200 years: white and blue cabinets on two levels, a gallery all round and more than a thousand colourful mounted birds. Bamberg's Natural History Museum in the island…
Mountains & peaks
Oberstdorf
The Nebelhorn is the signature mountain of Oberstdorf, the southernmost market town in Germany in the Allgäu Alps of Bavaria. A modern cable car lifts you from the edge of town to the 7,297-foot (2,224 m) summit, where on clear days you ca…
Museums
München
The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich's Maxvorstadt district is one of Germany's largest museums for modern art, architecture, graphic art and design. Opened in 2002 and designed by Stephan Braunfels, it houses four independent museums unde…
Castles
Kulmbach
Plassenburg is a massive hilltop castle above the town of Kulmbach in northern Bavaria, and one of the most impressive Renaissance fortresses in southern Germany. Once a stronghold of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the family that later ruled P…
Museums
Aschaffenburg
A Roman house on the river Main, painted yellow with a red base and a vineyard below: the Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg looks as if someone had moved a piece of Pompeii to Lower Franconia. That was exactly the idea. King Ludwig I of Bavaria…
Churches & monasteries
Regensburg
Regensburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter) is the finest Gothic church in Bavaria and the centerpiece of Regensburg's UNESCO-listed Old Town on the Danube. Its twin spires rise 105 m above the medieval rooftops, and inside you will find one of t…
Gardens & parks
Feldafing
Rose Island (Roseninsel) is the only island in Lake Starnberg, a short boat ride from the shore at Feldafing, about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of Munich. King Maximilian II of Bavaria turned it into a romantic retreat with a rose garden an…
Industrial heritage
Berchtesgaden
The Berchtesgaden Salt Mine (Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden) is Germany's oldest working salt mine and one of the top things to do in the Berchtesgaden Alps, close to the Austrian border near Salzburg. Miners have extracted salt here continuou…
Palaces
München
Blutenburg Castle in Munich's Obermenzing district is a late medieval moated castle on the Würm river and one of the few medieval castle complexes near the city center. A small lake, a manor house, defensive walkways and a late Gothic chap…
Palaces
Dachau
Dachau Palace sits on a ridge above the old town of Dachau, just northwest of Munich, and was once a summer residence of the Wittelsbach dukes of Bavaria. Only one of its four wings survives, but it holds a magnificent banquet hall with on…
Palaces
Coburg
Ehrenburg Palace (Schloss Ehrenburg) in Coburg was the town residence of the dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and is dressed in a rare English-style Gothic Revival facade designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Inside you will find Baroque stuc…
Castles
Schwangau
Hohenschwangau Castle in Schwangau, near Füssen in southern Bavaria, is the yellow castle facing Neuschwanstein across the valley and the place where King Ludwig II spent his childhood. Smaller and more lived-in than its famous neighbor, i…
Palaces
Aschaffenburg
Johannisburg Palace (Schloss Johannisburg) in Aschaffenburg is one of the most important Renaissance palaces in Germany and the defining landmark of this Bavarian town on the Main River. Built of red sandstone with four towering corner tur…
Castles
Mespelbrunn
Mespelbrunn Castle lies in a secluded side valley of the Elsava in the Spessart hills between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg, its round tower and stepped gables reflected in the pond. It has belonged to the same family since the early 15th cen…
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…
Palaces
Regensburg
St. Emmeram Palace, usually just called Thurn und Taxis Palace, is still home to the princely family whose ancestors built up the postal system of the Holy Roman Empire. The palace grew out of the buildings of the medieval Imperial Abbey 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…