We are driving a rental car from Berlin to Cologne on Jan. 10 and would like to know of some interesting stopping points along the way. Scenic, historical and/or charming. Any ideas? Thanks!
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
You can drive via Hannover or Kassel. Some ideas:
Via Hannover
Magdeburg - completely leveled in WW2, but some people seem to like the city. Great Gothic cathedral.
Halberstadt - a small town, also completely leveled, but the best Gothic cathedral of Northern Germany (better than Magdeburg).
Wolfsburg - visit the VW factory or the car museum.
Wolfenbüttel - cute little town full of half-timbered houses (Leibniz and Lessing lived here)
Hildesheim - probably the most beautiful half-timbered house of Germany, impressive Romanesque churches which are World Heritage SItes, but the town was also destroyed in WW2.
Celle - another completely preserved town full of half-timbered houses.
Hamelin - and another preserved town, but not only half-timbered houses but also buildings of the Weser Renaissance. Home of the Pied Piper.
Via Kassel
Wittenberg - small preserved town, many sights related to the Protestant Reformation, like Luthers house or the castle church.
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden realm - huge English park, World Heritage Site.
Leipzig or Halle - both bigger cities and maybe not the best idea for a short stopover, but they offer nice, preserved old towns and places related to Händel (Halle) and Bach (Leipzig).
Bad Frankenhausen - offers a unique site, a huge panorama painting of the Peasant War created in Socialist times, but looks like a Renaissance painting. Really fascinating.
Stolberg - a cute little town deep in the mountains. Three streets, a square, a church, a castle, surrounded by mountains, and that's all.
Hann. Münden - perfectly preserved little town.
Kassel - the city was completely leveled in WW2, but the huge Baroque mountain park Wilhelmshöhe is a World Heritage Site.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2088 posts
Not the shortest route along freeway number 9 and 5 (E40), you can visit: Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Martin posted just a bit quicker), Dessau (Bauhaus), Weimar, Wartburg Castle and JS Bach museum in Eisenach. Other posters will also suggest a more northern route with cute places like Wernigerode and Quedlinburg.
Posted by
San Francisco
14980 posts
Hi,
I would suggest taking the Hannover route. See Minden an der Weser and its immediate area, esp. Porta Westfalica, Hamelin and Magdeburg en route. Historical sites: the Herrenhäuser Gardens in Hannover, the Prussian Museum and Porta Westfalica in Minden.
I found Minden more charming than Hamelin but then I was more pressed for time in Hamelin.