Top Germany hotels
Outside Berlin Berlin
32 Reviews I'ts a trip to dispair. You can see the quiet within the madness that a concentration camp used to be. The place around looks so peaceful it's hard to believe the horrors that went on in there. Take a...
See All 519 Off The Beaten Path in Berlin
Dachau and Dachau Concentration camp Munich
22 Reviews Being a history major, I had been interested in seeing things from the other side. I met up on the bus to the site with a tour guide who was in training and they were trying to gather people for a...
See All 386 Off The Beaten Path in Munich
Skyscrapers Frankfurt am Main
15 Reviews Here is part of the Frankfurt skyline as seen from another unusual vantage point, namely from the Camberger Bridge, which connects the Gutleut and Gallus discticts by crossing over the railroad tracks...
See All 170 Off The Beaten Path in Frankfurt am Main
Blankenese Hamburg
9 Reviews Blankenese is a small village in the outskirts of Hamburg and it is well known for lovely villas facing the river Elbe. Rich and wealthy people build their regular residence or summerhouses there. You...
See All 122 Off The Beaten Path in Hamburg
Kaiserswerth Düsseldorf
4 Reviews This old stretcher is quite different to those we know by watching 'Emergency Room' on TV. It was used in 1850 in Diakonissenanstalt Kaiserswerth on the Rhine. I wonder about the cover on top. Was it...
See All 57 Off The Beaten Path in Düsseldorf
Around Stuttgart Stuttgart
7 Reviews hallo, i live in Germany for a half year and i've been in most of the places in Baden Wurtemberg by now. And i take all my friends who come here just for a weekend to Esslingen. Esslingen is a small...
See All 58 Off The Beaten Path in Stuttgart
Saxonian Switzerland Dresden
16 Reviews This is a wonderful side trip to see something not usually found in Germany. The rock formations are about 600 feet above the Elbe river and formed over one million years ago resulting in jagged rocks...
See All 130 Off The Beaten Path in Dresden
Expo Memories Hannover
9 Reviews Mongolia represented itself with a Jurt village. These are big round tents. I entered one and found a photographer and a rack full of Mongolian clothes. There was nobody around save the photographer...
See All 49 Off The Beaten Path in Hannover
Leaving the highway Koblenz
2 Reviews Burg Lahneck is in a distance of just 6 km from Koblenz and you will see it already from the highway, when driving along the river Rhine. Lahnstein was built high above the place, where the river LAHN...
See All 27 Off The Beaten Path in Koblenz
Hidden Architectural Gems Leipzig
6 Reviews From my room I had a perfect view of the area north of old town that was developed in the late 19th century. In the centre of this area is the Nordplatz, a beautiful square which is dominated by St....
See All 45 Off The Beaten Path in Leipzig
Excavation Sites Mainz
3 Reviews As you can see, the excavation site begins right next to the platform of track 4, where an InterCity Express is going through (without stopping, of course). There is only a wire fence separating the...
See All 22 Off The Beaten Path in Mainz
Things to do Berlin
25 Reviews The Mauerpark Flea Market is located in Prenzlauer Berg. Vendors vary from artists selling paintings and prints to antique dealers to people selling random junk. This large outdoor Flea Market is...
See All 519 Off The Beaten Path in Berlin
Schloss Neuschwanstein Munich
16 Reviews Schloss Neuschwanstein is one of the most beautiful 2nd set of seven wonders of the world. King Ludwig spent the Bavarian empire into bankruptcy to build this and other castles in the proximity area....
See All 386 Off The Beaten Path in Munich
Zoos and Parks Frankfurt am Main
15 Reviews Most cities, especially those associated with big business, tend to emphasize just how green and liveable they really are. I suppose that Frankfurt doesn’t feel that necessary, as I have had a rather...
See All 170 Off The Beaten Path in Frankfurt am Main
Around St. Pauli and the port Hamburg
13 Reviews In the port of Hamburg you may see and visit one of the largest non-atomic-submarines in the world : the Soviet spy-submarine U-434 ! In times of the cold war it was impossible to even see such...
See All 122 Off The Beaten Path in Hamburg
Schloss Benrath Düsseldorf
3 Reviews We did it as kids in the afternoon, adult-visitors do the same. The Ballet-school is in the big main-building of the Orangerie. The other door leads you to the public librairy if you want to warm up...
See All 57 Off The Beaten Path in Düsseldorf
Outside Stuttgart Stuttgart
16 Reviews We could see this big thing on top of a hill that looked like a castle or fortress. So we decided to drive up there. It's a big fortress with a beer garden inside. There are events there all the time....
See All 58 Off The Beaten Path in Stuttgart
Meißen Dresden
9 Reviews This is a very nice place to come and visit, possibly during the off season to avoid all those pesky tourists gawking around and tour buses dropping off their flock. Many shops are around to buy...
See All 130 Off The Beaten Path in Dresden
Burg Eltz Koblenz
1 Review Muenster-Maifeld is just a tiny detour on your way to Burg Eltz. It is a lovely little town of maybe 8000 inhabitants that has a lot of interesting half-timbered houses and a church that looks a bit...
See All 27 Off The Beaten Path in Koblenz
Castles Around Leipzig Leipzig
4 Reviews Just 45km east of Leipzig is the town of Torgau. Torgau is well known for its Elbe-Bridge on which Soviet and Allied troops met the first time in World War Two on April 25th, 1945. But the landmark...
See All 45 Off The Beaten Path in Leipzig
Wiesbaden Mainz
1 Review when you're in Mainz, don't forget to visit Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hessen, as well which lies just on the other side of the Rhine. In my opinion Wiesbaden is even much nicer than...
See All 22 Off The Beaten Path in Mainz
River Spree, Wannsee and Havel Lakes Berlin
19 Reviews IMPORTANT: Berlin's Higher Administrative Court has ruled on April 3, 2009 that the FIRST PART of the walk (pic 1) IS PRIVATE. Residents will no longer grant the general public access to the lake! ...
See All 519 Off The Beaten Path in Berlin
Locations in the Alps Munich
25 Reviews About a 2 hour drive south of Munich, in the heart of the Bavarian Alps, is the village of Ettal. The primary attraction is the monastery. While this monastery also brews beer and its famous...
See All 386 Off The Beaten Path in Munich
Main River Frankfurt am Main
4 Reviews Every Saturday from 8-14 is along the Main Riverside at "Museumsufer" Frankfurt's biggest flea market, where you can everything. It's very international flair from Turkey to Russia you find dealers...
See All 170 Off The Beaten Path in Frankfurt am Main
Outside Hamburg Hamburg
11 Reviews I have been obsessed with the sport of team handball for years. Most Americans have no idea what it is. It is NOT handball as most people know it (bouncing a ball against a wall). It is a very...
See All 122 Off The Beaten Path in Hamburg
Sponsored Links
This beautiful pilgrimage church is located in the town of Mespelbrunn-Hessenthal (it also features a better-known moated castle - see my Germany Things to Do-tips for that). The church consists of a small chapel, a (modern) main church with a woodcarved pietà by medieval artist Tilman Riemenschneider, and another baroque side-chapel as an annex to the main church building. Worth a stop if you are on the way to Mespelburg Castle.
Braunfels Castle dates back to the early middle ages, but is built in a unique architectural style due to baroque additions in the 17th century and even later "neo-gothic" additions in 1880. In essence, the last owner rebuilt it in a way he thought a medieval castle should look like. The only way to view the whole castle panorama is when you drive into Braunfels (from direction Wetzlar) - it is much more difficult to get the whole view from inside the city! The Old Town - especially the market square - is really unique with lots of half-timbered houses dating back to the 17th and 18th century.
The Runkel Castle (in the village of Runkel near Limburg) is first mentioned in 1159 but probably even older. It is located on a Lahn riverbend, ideally suited to control all river traffic. A later addition of the 15th century is the historic Lahn bridge right beneath the castle. The view on bridge and castle from the opposite river bank is fantastic, as is the view on the Lahn river from the main castle tower. Though Runkel ist small and off the beaten path, you should not give it a miss. It can easily be combined in a Lahn daytrip with Limburg, Weilburg and Braunfels.
Weilburg Palace in the Lahn area is one of the most important baroque residences in Germany. It has a unique setting on a rock overlooking a Lahn riverbend and was built in the 16th century with baroque additions between 1701 - 1721 under the Nassau dynasty. Right next to the palace is a lovely terrace garden with fountains and sculptures. The Weilburg Old Town is absolutely worthwhile seeing too, especially the central market square.
This Open Air Museum in a nice rural location features old farmsteads and historic buildings (and crafts) from the Hunsrück, Nahe, and Eifel region. On the flower meadows within the museums grounds, butterflies are abundant in summer. Bad Sobernheim is a small town just one hour (west) of Frankfurt driving distance, near Bad Kreuznach.
We walked from the campsite to Unter Munstertal along the railway track ( refphrase that Margaret walked I went along with my electric scooter). After the station we went up into the village and just looked at the views of the houses det against the backdrop of the Black Forest ( Awesomeand breathtaking) after that we meandered to the Schwartzwald cafe had a snack and returned to the camp site.Not Exciting but truly worthwhile.
This marvelous baroque monastery in the little town of Roggenburg close to Ulm has an interesting history. Established in 1126, it became rich and influential and even established other monastery subisidiaries in Switzerland. It was relatively unaffected by the wars of the 16th/17th centuries in Germany. The monastery building ensemble was rebuild in the baroque style in the 18th century. Due to the Napoleonic Wars, the monastery was closed down in 1802, only to be reestablished for the use of a monastic order in 1986. The monastery also features a nice hotel with a beergarden which would be a good base for daytrips to Ulm.
Heusenstamm is a small, all in all unspectacular town close to Frankfurt. It is worth the visit nonetheless mainly because of the beautiful church St. Cäcilia, built in 1739 by famous architect Balthasar Neumann (who is also responsible for the Würzburger Residenz palace) for the Duchess of Schönborn. The church is decorated with remarkable ceiling frescoes. Other interesting sights include the Schönborn Palace (now a restaurant and - partly - town hall), the Torbau (city gate) and a few pretty half-timbered houses in the Old Town quarter.
Seligenstadt is a pleasant little town on the banks of the river Main, between Frankfurt und Aschaffenburg. For a town of its size, Seligenstadt has numerous attractions: - the Einhard-Cathedral - a Benedictine monastery - plenty of half-timbered houses (especially in the Rosengasse, "Klaa-Frankreich") in the historic Old Town- the Steinheimer Tor (historic city gate)- a beautiful central market square.
Quedlinburg is located north of Munich and south of Berlin. It's not easy to get to but worth the effort. Most of the town has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and it is obvious why as soon as you arrive in the old town.The entire area - block after block - is straight out of the past. Most buildings are from the 1400s to 1600s. The detailed work on the wooden beams of these colorful half-timbered houses and public buildings is amazing. A castle tops the tallest hill in town and a climb to the top gives you a nice view but the better view is taking in each individual building on the winding streets that encircle the hill.Check with DB, Germany's national rail system, for details on how to get to Quedlinburg from wherever you may be. As I mentioned, it won't be easy and may involve taking a combination of trains and buses. Once you arrive at the bahnhof, head straight...
Circus - The Hostel Berlin
7 Reviews and 710 Opinions Having previously stayed in the Central and Western Ku'Dam area I decided on my 3rd visit to stay in...
Kempinski Hotel Airport Munchen Munich
7 Reviews and 482 Opinions I stayed here one night when my flight was cancelled due to technical reasons. This hotel is a high...
Hotel Domstern Cologne
4 Reviews and 245 Opinions We stayed at the Hotel Domstern for two nights, based on online reviews. Always a bit hesitant when...
Reviews and photos of Germany attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Germany sightseeing.
More Cities in Germany
More Regions in Germany
Q: Is May a good time to travel down the rhine river? What is the best and most scenic stretch to travel along? How would you...
A: I would look at www.d-k.de. website. They have Great Boat Trips starting at Dusseldorf or Cologne all the Way to Mainz, passing Koblenz And Lorelei .... The strech...
Read 8 Replies
see all Germany member meetings
Sponsored Links
