Travel Guide Germany

Though it remains far less well known or understood by outsiders than some of its neighbours, since reunification Germany has at last gained a higher profile as a place to visit, thanks partly to the remarkable resurgence of Berlin, one of the most fascinating and exciting cities in Europe. But the appeal of the reunified Germany is not limited to the capital. Use our travel guide to Germany to get inspired and plan your travel to Germany. If you prefer to be more hands-on, get a copy of the Rough Guide to Germany.

Travel facts about Germany

• Germany occupies 357,112 square kilometres territory in Central Europe. It has land borders with nine countries and a coastline of 2389km on the North and Baltic seas.
• Politically, Germany is a parliamentary democracy, with an upper house – the Bundesrat – and a lower chamber, the Bundestag, both in Berlin. The administrative structure is federal, with the sixteen Länder (states) having a high degree of autonomy.
• Germany is the largest economy in the European Union, and it is the world’s largest exporter. As the economic heart of the euro zone it is also home to the headquarters of the European Central Bank.
• With a population of around 82 million, Germany is the most populous nation in the European Union, and it is also among its most densely populated and highly urbanized. The four largest cities are Berlin (3.46 million inhabitants), Hamburg (1.8 million), Munich (1.35 million) and Cologne (1 million).
• Germans DO have a sense of humour and they DO love to sunbathe naked. DON’T feel you can’t mention the war though. Today Germans are avid consumers of their own history, and the Nazi era is picked over exhaustively in TV documentaries, in books, and at the cinema.

Where to go in Germany

Best cities and towns in Germany

Many other cities have proud histories as independent city-states or as capitals in their own right: thus, there’s nothing remotely “provincial” about ancient, liberal Cologne, Dresden’s restored Baroque splendour or the proud Bavarian metropolis of Munich. The financial capital, Frankfurt, impresses with its dynamism and international spirit, while Bonn, the former West German capital, charms with its scenic setting and excellent museums.

Elsewhere, chic Düsseldorf and laidback Stuttgart embody aspects of the German economic miracle, while the eastern city of Leipzig fizzes with fresh energy. Mercantile Hamburg looks askance at the rest of the country, maintaining the worldliness of a great port, while Nuremberg evokes the triumphs and tragedies of Germany’s past.

Cultural attractions of capital city-quality are not limited to the bigger cities, and many of the most rewarding places are quite small: the cathedral cities of Bamberg and Regensburg; the Hanseatic ports of Lübeck, Stralsund and Wismar; the “Prussian Versailles” of Potsdam; and micro-capitals like Weimar, Schwerin and Eichstätt.

Germany has university towns as evocative as any: Heidelberg is the most famous, but Freiburg, Marburg and Tübingen are just as charming. As for the spa towns, at their best – in Baden-Baden, Bad Homburg or Wiesbaden – they combine health benefits with turn-of-the-century elegance and lovely natural settings.

Landscape, nature and road-trips in Germany

Nor should Germany’s undeniable natural beauty be overlooked. The Bavarian Alps, the Black Forest and the valleys of the Rhine and Mosel have long been celebrated. Still, the talcum-powder softness of Rügen’s beaches, the smart resorts of Sylt and the lonely splendour of Mecklenburg’s lakes have yet to make it onto the international travel agenda. A shame, but great for travellers who like to explore great outdoor places away from the crowd.

One unsung pleasure of a visit to Germany is the opportunity to meet its people. The officious neighbour who complains if you don’t hang your socks out to dry in alphabetical order may not be entirely fictional, but you’re far more likely to be struck by the warmth and open-mindedness of Germany’s people – and particularly its young people. You can have fun testing how liberal a place is by observing how the locals react to the red Ampelmann when crossing the street: the bigger and more laidback the city, the more likely they are to ignore the no-jaywalking rule. In contrast, the sight of upright citizens waiting patiently for the green light despite an absence of traffic as far as the eye can see is still one of the more comic pleasures of small-town Germany.

UNESCO world heritage sites in Germany

Food and drink in Germany

Germany’s food culture is traditionally characterized by wholesome but hearty dishes, a vast array of sausages and excellent but calorific cakes. Yet the impact of immigration, travel and increasing culinary ambition has been powerful, and most towns nowadays offer a wide selection of international options, usually including Balkan, Greek, Italian and Turkish. Learn more about food and drink in Germany.

Outdoor activities and sports in Germany

In summer, the nation’s endless forests and mountains play host to hikers and cyclists while the Alps tempt international visitors with an excellent array of downhill ski runs in winter. Find out more about outdoor activities and sports in Germany.

German wines: A wine-making renaissance

All that is now changing. A new generation of wine makers is eschewing high technology, chemicals and the mass market in favour of organic production that reflects the terroir, or soil and climate conditions of the region. It helps that Riesling – Germany’s most popular grape – strongly reflects the conditions in which it has been grown. The result is a resurgence of light, drinkable, dry white wines that range from elegant crispness to the subtly mineral. German wines are increasingly common on wine lists in North America and in parts of Asia, where they match the cuisines well.

Germany’s major wine regions are mostly in an arc that follows the course of the Rhine from the Mosel in the west to Baden in the south. To the east, wine is grown in more challenging climatic conditions in Franconia, Saale-Unstrut and along the Elbe near Dresden.

History and heritage in Germany

It’s now three decades since the events of 1989 swept away the Berlin Wall and brought to an uplifting end a turbulent and agonizing century for Germany, ill-served at crucial points in its brief history as a united nation-state by erratic and adventurous rulers who twice led it into disaster. In 1918, as Kaiser Wilhelm II’s vainglorious dream of empire ended in defeat, starvation and revolution; and at the end of World War II, as Hitler’s vile race-war rebounded in terrible fashion on the German people who had chosen him as their leader. There followed a period of forty-five years in which not one Germany but two faced each other across a tense international divide – the so-called Iron Curtain – throughout the years of the Cold War.

Political fragmentation is nothing new in Germany. From the tenth century until the early nineteenth, the Holy Roman Empire provided only a loose semblance of sovereignty over a vast collection of states, and it’s this jumbled history, as much as the country’s varied geography, that explains Germany’s sheer diversity. According to an old German expression, city air makes you free, and for centuries many of Germany’s cities governed themselves without feudal overlords.

In stark contrast was the absolutist yoke of the feudal states, which ranged from substantial kingdoms like Prussia, Saxony or Bavaria to tiny landgraviates and prince-bishoprics. Yet each made its contribution to Germany’s heritage, in the architectural and cultural splendour of many a former Residenzstadt. The Lutheran Reformation and its aftermath left their mark too: northern Germany is predominantly Protestant, the south more Catholic, yet the division is not clear cut. Staunchly Protestant towns alternate with devoutly Catholic ones, while in some places the two traditions share a single church.

Art, architecture and culture in Germany

Germany’s reputation as the cradle of modernism is also well deserved, and a pilgrimage to the Bauhaus in Dessau or the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart is sure to please design fans. German modernism was preceded by the older traditions of the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, each of which left a rich legacy of artistic and architectural treasures.

Germany’s prowess in fine art is less well known, yet from the pioneering realism of Albrecht Dürer to the ethereal Romanticism of Caspar David Friedrich, it’s a powerful tradition that is well worth discovering. Most German cities of any size have excellent art galleries, with Berlin and Cologne hubs of the European contemporary art scene.

Modern architecture in Germany - Reinventing the urban scene

Berlin led the way, at times seeming like a perpetual building site. Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, the government quarter including the Reichstag, and David Chipperfield’s resurrection of the long-ruined Neues Museum all grabbed headlines, while Peter Eisenman’s monument for the murdered Jews of Europe ensures the Holocaust is remembered right at the heart of the capital.

But the action isn’t limited to Berlin. In Düsseldorf, star architects including Frank Gehry transformed a redundant dock into the Medienhafen, a funky setting for some of the city’s best restaurants and bars. In Munich, Herzog & de Meuron’s Allianz-Arena created a new symbol for the city, while a handsome new synagogue and museum reinstated a highly visible Jewish presence. In the Ruhr area, redundant industrial sites have been recycled to create some of Europe’s most original cultural spaces.

The stream of projects shows little sign of abating. Herzog & de Meuron’s extension of Duisburg’s Küppersmühle art gallery perches a translucent cube atop dockside silos, while their audacious design for the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg places a concert hall above a portside warehouse.

Top image: Neuschwanstein castle © VOJTa Herout/Shutterstock