Find your favorites on the Top 100 Tourist Attractions, Germany

I see Schloss Heidelberg is #1. Don't tell Rick.

I know. I laughed when I saw that. Rothenburg is all the way down to #26.

" Don't tell Rick." Thankfully, I don't think Rick's recommendations are intended to match those of a tourist popularity contest.

Schloss Heidelberg and Schloss Schwetzingen as #1 and 9, respectively? Something tells me that US service members were heavily represented in that population of 18,000 foreigners. Don't get me wrong, those are worthwhile sites, but their high rankings would be otherwise rather puzzling. "Thankfully, I don't think Rick's recommendations are intended to match those of a tourist popularity contest". Considering some of the strange inclusions and exclusions in his book, I often wonder exactly what his intentions are?

Yeah, who were the foreigners? Allianz Arena and even the Hofbräuhaus ranked higher than Burg Eltz? What's the world coming to?

I agree with Tom, it seems that a lot of the picks are areas where US servicemembers live or are near to, or that their family are likely to see when visiting them. The Heidelberg Schloss is really cool, but I wouldn't call it the most impressive castle in Germany, yet alone the top tourist attraction. And the old town of Heidlelberg doesn't rank in my top 15. This isn't to say I don't think it's worth visiting - if you're in the area, it's certainly a great way to spend a day and far more interesting than Baden-Baden but man this is a strangely ranked list.

More evidence that the long-standing US military presence may have heavily skewed this survey- the fact that Mannheimer Schloss, which isn't even open to the general public, is on the list (and tied with Unter den Linden and one ahead of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche!), while the massive Schloss Karlsruhe and gardens are nowhere to be found.

I just find it interesting that both Heidelberg Schloss and Heidelberger Altstadt, and the Frankfurter Museumsofer are all ahead of R-o-d-T. Both Heidelberg and Frankfurt-a-M are roundly dismissed in RS Germany yet R-o-d-T is pushed to the high heavens. Maybe time for a re-balance?

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is mainly an American sight. The city was destroyed and then completely rebuilt by Americans for Americans. That's why it's not as popular among other tourists. Germany gets most of her tourists/visitors from the Netherlands - by far. Each year 10.5 million Dutch visit Germany and spend their vacation here. The number two source market for us is - congratulations to you - the US again (4.8 million). Then come the Swiss and the British (4.2 million each). The Dutch, Swiss and British have places like Rothenburg themselves, therefore they shift their priorities of what to visit in Germany accordingly. And just for the record: Two years ago, 65 years after its complete destruction in WW2 the Mannheim Schloss opened to the public again. It does look like Versailles (a little) and is only 1sq meter smaller than it. www.schloss-mannheim.de

I looked at the attractions in Berlin on the list. Not one of the world-class museums on Museum Island is included. In fact the only two museums on the list are the Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museums, both of which I visited and neither of which I would recommend. Diff'rent strokes . . .

The whole Museum Island is on the list at #10, the same way as they have the Museums Ufer in Frankfurt, at #20. There were lots of places on there though that I think seldom get mentioned on the Helpline or not at all. That is what I found interesting. Perhaps the list will inspire people to go visit some of these cities or sites. There are tons of tourists in Germany who are not coming from N. America and who aren't English speakers either. I am sure their influence and votes certainly had something to do with what is listed. Tourists from other countries in Europe are simply not going to find Rothenburg that charming, nor unique. So, did anyone find some spots on the list that have piqued your interest to visit?

"So, did anyone find some spots on the list that have piqued your interest to visit?" Rügen looks very interesting. I now have a good reason to venture into Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Something else I noticed- there's a lot of 17th-18th century palaces on the list but very few castles. The primarily North American audience on this website usually gives more attention to Germany's castles.

So, did anyone find some spots on the list that have piqued your interest to visit? The thing that surprised me most was as I went down the list with a green and red hi-lighter (green for been there - red, want to) was just how many green lines there were when I reviewed the list. I had several red ones too, but the biggest parts with no colours, i.e. neither gone nor intend to, was eastern Germany (couldn't go before, not much interest or its too much out of the way now) and the Baltic coast (was there as a youth and its too far and I'd rather Munich (non-winter) weather than Baltic. Thanks so much for putting the list up. My wife and I have had a hoot going through it.

nah, I just really like visiting Medieval churches. The vaulting, the sculptures, the grave stones, and sometimes I like to know who was crowned there, which ones are Imperial Cathedrals, and so on. If a church is Carolingen or Romanesque, all the better. I am not into the Bavarian, fancy Baroque churches that much, though I do enjoy seeing them and they are stunning, but I like the earlier periods better. Trier kind of competes with Mainz for being a Roman capital, so I want to see it. Charlemagne built Aachen and he is one of my favorite dudes, so of course I have to go see this church too. Since Dresden has done such a marvelous job of reconstructing their city, I would like to see it for myself.

I am glad to see the famous sights in Dresden and Berlin are well represented. But I can't understand why Herrenhäuser Gärten in Hannover (#30) made it on this list, let alone within the top 50. I saw it in 1987. Still, nobody but nobody goes to Hannover. They would choose Frankfurt or Hamburg instead. Obviously enough tourists did. As for which listings that piqued my interest, the Thomaskirche in Leipzig and the Schweriner Schloss would be the top two among others. Mecklenburg-Schwerin as a city had already been strongly recommended to me, at least to do as a day trip. Bottom line...lots of lovely and interesting places all over in Germany to visit... on this list or your own.

These are the places I picked out that I would like to go see in the near future: Holstentor Lübeck UNESCO-Welterbe Wartburg UNESCO-Welterbe Dom zu Speyer UNESCO-Welterbe Römische Baudenkmäler Trier Wilhelmshöhe Kassel UNESCO-Welterbe Altstadt von Quedlinburg UNESCO-Welterbe Aachener Dom Ulmer Münster Erfurter Dom Freiburger Münster Frauenkirche Dresden Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg
Hamburger Hafen / Fischmarkt UNESCO-Welterbe Klassisches Weimar

I've been to maybe a third of these, and skipped others because they didn't interest me. Probably half the list are things I'd like to see but haven't - just shows how much there is to see (and so little time).

I've also been to many of these. I enjoy palaces as much as castles and have considered visiting the palace/museum at Karlsruhe, as well as Ludwigsburg palace not far from Stuttgart. I didn't see either on the list but would love to hear from someone who has visited as to what they think, perhaps in comparison to the Residenz Würzburg or the one in Munich. On my for sure to do list is Burg Hohenzollern...I remember Lee mentioning something about it recently, but I'm not sure many here pay any attention to it. There are several others on the list I haven't yet visited but will...Dresden and Berlin sites. It surprises me that Bamberg isn't on the list (unless I missed it).

Bamberg is tied for 39 with the Ulm Münster. As for Burg Hohenzollern, it's very impressive, topping a conical hill with literally nothing around it. It's the only place I have ever looked down on an airplane in flight. But, like Neuschwanstein, it's not very old. There have been two previous castles on that hill, the first one in the 11th century. The last one was abandoned after the Thirty Years War. The current one was built in the mid 1800s by the Hohenzollern family to promote Wilhelm as Kaiser. Like Neuschwanstein, it's a residence for a king. Farther south, in Sigmaringen, the southern Hohenzollerns started a castle, on a bluff overlooking the young Danube, a thousand years ago. That first castle was built into the current one, which was never destroyed in war. The Sigmaringen castle is on the list, number 29.

I thought it was kind of cool as a piece of propaganda... basically, a reminder to the locals that the steadily encroaching Hohenzollerns of Prussia originally came from Swabia. You don't have to worry about us, we're home town boys! The view from the castle is pretty amazing, but the inside? I guess it helps if you're an afficianado of all things Prussian- Fred from San Fran? Jo, I'm somewhat of the same opinion as James. I'm getting to the point where old churches and cathedrals are starting to become a blur. But the Dom in Aachen really stands out. Even if I had no prior knowledge of Charlemagne, the place would still seem ancient and mysterious.

True, the Hohenzollerns were originally from Swabia and Catholic...obviously...prior to the Reformation, until the northern branch went over to Luther. When I was there last at the Schloss Hohenzollern in 2009 in Sigmaringen, the tour did not allow photography, flash or not. That one you walk to from the station.

And I live in B-W but haven't been to either one of these castles! I keep meaning to go, haven't gotten around to it. I'm like Jo, though, I love the churches here. I really enjoy early Christian art, which helps with enjoying the churches. (Which is funny since I'm Jewish...) Even the Baroque and Neo-Gothic churches interest me, but I especially like the early and high gothic ones. They're just so impressive... They do start to blend in, but I always enjoy them. I find traveling with family that they are very impressed by the first few old churches they see and quickly lose interest, though. I think that's fairly typical. Almost every small town has in impressive old church, cities have dozens, and unless you're really into the history vis a vis the religion it's not going to hold much appeal after a while.

If you leave Stuttgart on the 10:16 IRE to Hechingen, you will arrive at the station with 7 min to wait for the bus (#300) for a 22 min ride to the base of the hill below the castle. From there a shuttle bus will take you up the hill to the castle. At 16:05, the bus goes back to the Hechingen station to catch an IRE back to Stuttgart. Four hours should be enough time to see everything, but if you want to stay a few hours longer, another bus leaves the castle area at 18:35 and gets to the Hechingen station in time for the 19:01 train to Stuttgart with one change in Tübingen. You can find these schedules on the German Rail (Bahn) website. Use "Stuttgart" to "Burg Hohenzollern, Hechingen". In 2000 I went to Hechingen expecting to see flashing neon signs at the station for a bus to the castle. I didn't even see a bus stop then, so I walked a short distance into town and found a taxi stand. There was a German woman there, a teacher from a school in Paris with two of her students, French sister. She hailed a cap to the castle, which came back to meet us a few hours later. I think the transportation situation has improved since then.