Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Nature parks
Lübbenau/Spreewald
The Spreewald (Spree Forest) in Brandenburg is a magical wetland where the Spree River splits into more than 970 km (600 miles) of narrow channels winding through alder forests and meadows. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1991, it is famo…
Old towns & squares
Hamburg
The Altona Fish Market (Altonaer Fischmarkt) in Hamburg is a Sunday-morning ritual that has been running for more than 300 years. Before most of the city wakes up, the Elbe waterfront between St. Pauli and Altona fills with market criers,…
Landmarks
Hamburg
The Jungfernstieg is Hamburg's most famous waterfront promenade, running along the Binnenalster (Inner Alster Lake) in the heart of the city. From its wide steps you look across the water to the Alster Fountain, white excursion boats and t…
Museums
Stralsund
The Ozeaneum in Stralsund is one of northern Germany's most popular museums: a large aquarium and marine museum on the Baltic coast, with life-size whale models and Humboldt penguins on the roof. Its striking white, sail-like building stan…
Palaces
Dresden
Dresden Castle, known locally as the Residenzschloss, was the seat of Saxony's electors and kings for some four centuries and is now one of the richest museum complexes in Europe. Behind its Renaissance towers in the heart of Dresden's Old…
Viewpoints
Dresden
Brühl's Terrace (Brühlsche Terrasse) is Dresden's grand riverside promenade, raised high above the Elbe and nicknamed the "Balcony of Europe" since the early 19th century. Stretching for about half a kilometer between the palace square and…
Gardens & parks
Bad Muskau
Muskau Park (Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau) in eastern Saxony is one of Europe's great English-style landscape gardens, and one of the few that spans two countries. Its roughly 830 hectares (2,050 acres) stretch across both banks of the Ne…
Landmarks
Dresden
The Procession of Princes (Fürstenzug) in Dresden is a porcelain mural about 102 meters (335 feet) long, made of some 23,000 Meissen tiles and widely described as the largest porcelain artwork in the world. It shows the rulers of Saxony's…
Palaces
Dresden
Pillnitz Palace (Schloss Pillnitz) is the former summer residence of Saxony's electors and kings, set right on the Elbe River on the eastern edge of Dresden. Its three palaces, with curving Chinese-style roofs, are surrounded by about 25 h…
Industrial heritage
Dresden
The Blue Wonder (Blaues Wunder), officially the Loschwitz Bridge, is a steel bridge across the Elbe River in eastern Dresden, opened in 1893 and now one of the city's best-loved landmarks. It links the elegant villa districts of Blasewitz…
Gardens & parks
Dresden
The Großer Garten (Great Garden) is Dresden's largest park, a Baroque landscape stretching almost 2 km (1.2 miles) just east of the Old Town. At its heart stands the Palais im Großen Garten, one of the city's earliest Baroque buildings, su…
Landmarks
Dresden
The Kunsthofpassage (Art Courtyard Passage) is a chain of five whimsically designed courtyards in Dresden's Outer Neustadt district and one of the city's most photographed spots. Its star is a sky-blue facade covered in funnels and drainpi…
Museums
Dresden
The Old Masters Picture Gallery (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister) in Dresden is one of the great art museums of the world. Housed in the Semper Building at the Zwinger palace complex, it displays around 700 masterpieces from the 15th to the 18…
Churches & monasteries
Köln
Great St. Martin Church in Cologne (Groß St. Martin) is one of the city's twelve great Romanesque churches, and its massive crossing tower is the second landmark on Cologne's riverfront skyline after the cathedral. Rising above the colorfu…
Industrial heritage
Köln
The Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne is the steel arch railroad bridge that frames the city's most famous view: the twin spires of Cologne Cathedral rising above the Rhine. It is one of the busiest railroad bridges in Germany, and its walkwa…
Zoos
Köln
The Cologne Zoo (Kölner Zoo) in the city's Riehl district is one of Germany's oldest and most popular zoos, welcoming visitors since 1860 and well over a million people a year today. Across about 20 hectares (50 acres), you can see Asian e…
Museums
Köln
The Museum Ludwig in Cologne is one of Europe's leading museums of 20th- and 21st-century art, set right between Cologne Cathedral and the Rhine. It holds the largest Pop Art collection in Europe, the world's third-largest Picasso collecti…
Museums
Köln
The Chocolate Museum in Cologne (Schokoladenmuseum Köln) is the city's most visited museum and one of the most popular museums in Germany. Set in a ship-shaped glass building at the tip of the Rheinauhafen harbor peninsula, it follows coco…
Old towns & squares
Köln
The Alter Markt in Cologne (Old Market) is the heart of the city's Old Town: a car-free square between the historic City Hall and the Rhine, lined with colorful gabled houses, traditional brewpubs and outdoor terraces. It is where Cologne'…
Viewpoints
Köln
The KölnTriangle in Cologne's Deutz district is a glass office tower on the east bank of the Rhine whose observation deck offers arguably the best view of Cologne Cathedral. From more than 100 meters up, the river, the Hohenzollern Bridge…
Landmarks
Köln
The Rheinauhafen in Cologne is a former Rhine port just south of the Old Town that has been reinvented as one of Germany's most striking waterfront districts. Listed warehouses, preserved harbor cranes and the futuristic Crane Houses line…
Landmarks
Frankfurt am Main
The Eiserner Steg ("Iron Footbridge") in Frankfurt am Main is the city's best-known pedestrian bridge and one of its landmarks. The riveted steel span links the Old Town around Römerberg square with the Sachsenhausen district and the Museu…
Churches & monasteries
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt Cathedral – officially the Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus) – is the largest church in Frankfurt am Main and one of the most important sites of German history. For centuries the prince-electors c…
Viewpoints
Frankfurt am Main
The Main Tower in Frankfurt am Main is the only skyscraper in the city with an observation deck open to the public, which makes it the easiest way to see Germany's financial capital from above. From about 200 meters (656 feet) up, you look…