Saxony-Anhalt is a state of World Heritage Sites: the half-timbered old town of Quedlinburg, the Bauhaus in Dessau, the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, the Luther memorials in Wittenberg and Naumburg Cathedral are all on the UNESCO list. In the west, the Harz Mountains rise to the Brocken, at 1,141 meters the highest peak in northern Germany, and along their edge the Bode River has carved a deep gorge into the granite.
On this page you'll find our top 10 for Saxony-Anhalt, a day in the Harz, a two-day itinerary combining the Brocken with the Anhalt-Dessau-Wittenberg heritage region, tips on getting there, and below that every sight in the state from the tripto.de catalog. Hours and prices are listed on each place's page – check with the operator before you go.
Our picks for a first visit — each with a short reason why.
Old towns & squares
Quedlinburg
The old town of Quedlinburg is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. More than 2,100 half-timbered houses spanning eight centuries line its cobbled lanes, watched over by a castle…
1. More than 2,100 half-timbered houses from eight centuries, a World Heritage Site since 1994. King Henry I is buried on Castle Hill; the castle museum was due to reopen on October 3, 2026.
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…
2. At 1,141 meters, northern Germany's highest peak. Ride the Brocken railway or hike the Goethe Trail from Torfhaus; at the top, the Brockenhaus covers its Cold War years as a restricted zone.
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…
3. The Harz's most dramatic gorge: over about ten kilometers between Thale and Treseburg, the Bode has cut up to 280 meters into the granite.
Landmarks
Dessau-Roßlau
The Bauhaus Building in Dessau is the birthplace of modern design as the world knows it. Designed by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus school and opened in December 1926, its glass curtain wall and vertical "BAUHAUS" lettering became icons of…
4. Gropius' modernist icon with its glass curtain wall, just 700 meters from the main station. Admission is free for kids and teens under 18.
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…
5. One of the first English-style landscape gardens on the continent: 112 hectares of canals, temples and an artificial volcano. Open year-round, free admission.
Churches & monasteries
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
The Castle Church in Wittenberg (Schlosskirche) is where, according to tradition, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Luther Memorials,…
6. The church of the 95 Theses, with its bronze Theses Door and the tombs of Luther and Melanchthon. The 88-meter tower looks out over the Elbe meadows.
Churches & monasteries
Naumburg (Saale)
Naumburg Cathedral (Naumburger Dom) in the small town of Naumburg an der Saale is one of the great medieval churches of Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. It is famous for twelve life-size statues of its founders…
7. A World Heritage Site since 2018: twelve life-size donor figures in the west choir, including the famous Uta, and the west rood screen by the Naumburg Master, in the Saale-Unstrut wine region.
Churches & monasteries
Magdeburg
Magdeburg Cathedral (Magdeburger Dom), dedicated to Saints Maurice and Catherine, is the landmark of Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, and the first cathedral in Germany designed in the Gothic style from the start. It is also the bu…
8. Germany's first cathedral designed as Gothic from the start, with the tomb of Emperor Otto the Great. The tower tour climbs 433 steps to a platform at about 80 meters.
Palaces
Wernigerode
Wernigerode Castle (Schloss Wernigerode) rises above the half-timbered town of Wernigerode on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains, and it looks like it was lifted from a fairy tale. Its towers and steep roofs date largely from a lavish…
9. A fairy-tale castle of German historicism with about 250 rooms above a half-timbered town, with views from its terraces to the Brocken. Closed November 6 and 9, 2026.
Landmarks
Magdeburg
The Green Citadel of Magdeburg (Grüne Zitadelle) is the last building designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser: a pink apartment and shopping complex with golden domes, wavy window lines, and trees growing from its roofs…
10. Hundertwasser's last building: a pink facade, golden spheres, trees as “tenants” and a 33-meter tower you can climb on a guided tour.
From the market square and its Renaissance town hall up to Castle Hill and the collegiate church of St. Servatius. Three to four hours is enough for a first walk.
Places: Quedlinburg Old Town
The hourly RE 11 continues to Thale, about ten kilometers away. Start at the Bode Valley visitor information right by the station.
Take the short out-and-back trail from Thale to the Königsruhe. The path climbs over rocks and steep switchbacks, so wear sturdy shoes.
Places: Bode Gorge
Ride the gondola up in about five minutes to the plateau at 454 meters, with views into the gorge and across to the Rosstrappe.
Spend the morning in the castle museum on 19th-century aristocratic life. There's no parking at the castle itself; use the Altstadt/Schloss lot.
Places: Wernigerode Castle
Steam trains depart from Wernigerode. The Deutschland-Ticket is valid on the Harz narrow-gauge network, but not between Drei Annen Hohne and the Brocken.
Places: Brocken
Exhibits on nature and the summit's years as a restricted zone, open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring a windproof jacket even in summer – the summit is foggy more than 300 days a year.
Places: Brocken
The Bauhaus building in the morning, then the Masters' Houses on Ebertallee. The combined ticket is valid for three consecutive days.
Places: Bauhaus Building Dessau
Take bus 304 to Wörlitz, stroll the park and take a gondola ride. Wörlitz Palace is open by guided tour only, through November 1, 2026.
Places: Wörlitz Park
End at the Castle Church and its Theses Door. The entrance isn't at the door but through the castle courtyard and visitor center.
Places: Castle Church, Wittenberg
By train: Lutherstadt Wittenberg is on the Berlin–Leipzig ICE line, about 40 to 45 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Magdeburg is roughly 1.5 to 2 hours from Berlin. Dessau Hauptbahnhof has regional trains from Leipzig, Halle, Magdeburg and Berlin, and bus 304 runs from there to Wörlitz. Naumburg is served by regional trains from Leipzig, Halle, Erfurt and Jena.
To the Harz: The RE 11 runs hourly from Magdeburg via Halberstadt and Quedlinburg to Thale. The Harz narrow-gauge railways run to the Brocken from Wernigerode, Drei Annen Hohne and Schierke, and the Selke Valley line goes from Quedlinburg via Gernrode into the lower Harz.
Tickets: The Deutschland-Ticket (€63 a month) covers regional trains, buses and the Harz narrow-gauge network – except the Drei Annen Hohne–Brocken section. A round trip on the Brocken railway costs €65 (as of October 2026).
May through October is the best time for the Garden Realm, when the Wörlitz gondolas run and the palaces are open. In October the fall foliage glows in the Bode Gorge and around the Brocken. Your best chance of a long-distance view from the Brocken is on clear fall and winter days.
In winter, many sites keep shorter hours: from November 2, 2026, Wernigerode Castle opens Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed Mondays, and the Bauhaus building is open Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November to February. In 2026 the Teufelsmauer rock ridge near Blankenburg was also voted Germany's “Natural Wonder of the Year”.
The classics are Quedlinburg's half-timbered old town, the Brocken and its steam railway, the Bode Gorge with the Hexentanzplatz, the Bauhaus in Dessau, Wörlitz Park, the Castle Church in Wittenberg and Naumburg Cathedral.
One day covers Quedlinburg and the Bode Gorge. Add a second day for Wernigerode and the Brocken railway, and a third if you want to hike the whole gorge from Thale to Treseburg.
It's valid on the Harz narrow-gauge network, but not on the Drei Annen Hohne–Brocken section. To reach the summit you need a Brocken ticket, €65 round trip (as of October 2026).
No, the park is free and open year-round. You only pay for the palaces and garden buildings and for gondola rides. Kids under 16 get into the buildings free with an adult.
Kids love the steam train up the Brocken, the gondola to the Hexentanzplatz with its small zoo and witches' village, and the gondolas and grottoes in Wörlitz Park. Admission to the Bauhaus building is free for under-18s.
Take the ICE from Berlin Hauptbahnhof – the trip takes about 40 to 45 minutes. From the station, walk through the old town via the market square and Schlossstraße to the Castle Church.
Old towns & squares
Quedlinburg
The old town of Quedlinburg is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. More than 2,100 half-timbered houses spanning eight centuries line its cobbled lanes, watched over by a castle…
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…
Landmarks
Dessau-Roßlau
The Bauhaus Building in Dessau is the birthplace of modern design as the world knows it. Designed by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus school and opened in December 1926, its glass curtain wall and vertical "BAUHAUS" lettering became icons of…
Old towns & squares
Tangermünde
High above the point where the Tanger flows into the Elbe lies a small town that looks almost as it did 400 years ago. Tangermünde has kept its town wall, its Gothic brick gates and a town hall whose display facade is considered a showpiec…
Museums
Nebra (Unstrut)
The Nebra Sky Disc visitor center (Arche Nebra) in Saxony-Anhalt is the best place to understand one of the most important archaeological finds in the world, a Bronze Age bronze disc inlaid with gold astronomical symbols. A striking golden…
Caves
Rübeland
According to legend, a miner called Friedrich Baumann stumbled into this cave in the 16th century while looking for ore, lost his light and wandered in the dark for three days. He found his way out but died soon afterwards. The story is no…
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…
Castles
Falkenstein/Harz
Falkenstein Castle in the Harz Mountains is one of the most atmospheric medieval castles in Saxony-Anhalt. It stands on a rocky ridge high above the Selke Valley, surrounded by forest and a nature reserve. According to tradition, Eike von…
Castles
Querfurt
Burg Querfurt in Saxony-Anhalt is one of the largest medieval castles in Germany, a sprawling hilltop fortress said to cover enough ground to hold the famous Wartburg several times over. Romanesque towers, a cross-shaped castle church, art…
Churches & monasteries
Halberstadt
Few churches in Germany follow the model of the great French cathedrals as consistently as the Cathedral of St. Stephen and St. Sixtus in Halberstadt. It took almost 250 years to build, and because the chapter gave very little away, an eno…
Landmarks
Halle (Saale)
It all began with four thalers and 16 groschen found in a poor box. With that donation the pastor and theologian August Hermann Francke opened a school for poor children in 1695, and three years later he laid the foundation stone of an orp…
Landmarks
Magdeburg
The Green Citadel of Magdeburg (Grüne Zitadelle) is the last building designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser: a pink apartment and shopping complex with golden domes, wavy window lines, and trees growing from its roofs…
Viewpoints
Thale
The Hexentanzplatz ("Witches' Dance Floor") near Thale is a rocky plateau 454 meters (about 1,490 feet) above sea level, perched high over the Bode Gorge in Germany's Harz Mountains. It is one of the most popular things to do in the Harz:…
Museums
Halle (Saale)
A bronze disc with gold inlays, around 3,600 years old: the Nebra sky disc shows the oldest known concrete depiction of astronomical phenomena. The original is kept in Halle, at the State Museum of Prehistory. Around the disc, the museum t…
Churches & monasteries
Magdeburg
Magdeburg Cathedral (Magdeburger Dom), dedicated to Saints Maurice and Catherine, is the landmark of Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, and the first cathedral in Germany designed in the Gothic style from the start. It is also the bu…
Churches & monasteries
Merseburg
Merseburg Cathedral, dedicated to St. John and St. Lawrence, rises above the Saale River in Merseburg, between Halle and Leipzig. Joined directly to Merseburg Palace, it is a highlight of Germany's Romanesque Road and holds remarkable trea…
National parks
Wernigerode
Harz National Park in central Germany, between Wernigerode, Bad Harzburg and the Brocken summit, is one of the country's largest forest national parks and the best place to experience real mountain wilderness in the north. Steam trains puf…
Churches & monasteries
Naumburg (Saale)
Naumburg Cathedral (Naumburger Dom) in the small town of Naumburg an der Saale is one of the great medieval churches of Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. It is famous for twelve life-size statues of its founders…
Industrial heritage
Thale
The wall of the Rappbode Dam measures 106 metres from foundation to crest, higher than any other in Germany. Behind it lies the largest reservoir in the Harz and the country's largest drinking-water reservoir, whose water flows as far as H…
Palaces
Wernigerode
Wernigerode Castle (Schloss Wernigerode) rises above the half-timbered town of Wernigerode on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains, and it looks like it was lifted from a fairy tale. Its towers and steep roofs date largely from a lavish…
Churches & monasteries
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
The Castle Church in Wittenberg (Schlosskirche) is where, according to tradition, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Luther Memorials,…
Churches & monasteries
Quedlinburg
St. Servatius Collegiate Church in Quedlinburg sits on a castle hill above one of Germany's best-preserved medieval towns and is among the country's finest Romanesque churches. King Henry I and his wife Mathilde are buried in its crypt, an…
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…
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…