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What are your top 5 German towns/cities?

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a 2 week trip to Germany and I'm finding it hard to prioritise as so many destinations look amazing.
My family and I love the arts, architecture and history. I'll also be using public transport and would love any tips on travelling between cities.

So I decided to turn to you guys and would love to know your top 5 (or more) towns to visit in December. A little explanation for your choices and perhaps some recommendations would be very much appreciated!

Thanks a lot!
-Linda

Posted by
26840 posts

On my only recent trip to Germany I stuck to Berlin and places that were formerly part of the DDR--an area I hadn't visited before. I am very interested in WW II and especially Cold War history, not so much earlier peiods. I like art and modern crafts. I'm a rather superficial traveler, generally heading to places that are supposed to be pretty (architecturally). That sums up my major biases, I think.

These towns met my expectations. All are drop-dead gorgeous, with many, many colorful half-timbered buildings. All are accessible by train.

  • Quedlinburg: Also has a castle, a very impressive church treasury with an American connection, an English audioguide and possible tours in English, and a modern-art gallery. Has about a thousand listed buildings. Yes, it has been discovered, but not so much by Americans.

  • Erfurt: Lively university town with some striking buildings, including some about 100 years old as well as many from the medieval period. Also has a Luther connection and is close to Weimar and Buchenwald. Rick included Erfurt in one of his 2016 programs. You can find the video on this website.

  • Goerlitz: Also has some striking Art Nouveau buildings. It's so architecturally rich that it is used for location filming. Rarely seen by Americans because it's obscurely located on the Polish border. It can be visited on a day-trip from Dresden, but there are over 1000 historic buildings, so it's worth an overnight stay.

There are wonderful towns and cities all over Germany. Don't make the mistake of falling in love with a lot of scattered places. Get yourself a map and mark spots that sound interesting. Look for clusters where you can cover a lot of your interests within a limited area.

Berlin is no great beauty (not including Potsdam in that statement), but it has wonderful--and large--museums as well as many 20th century historical sights. Six days wasn't enough for me, and I spent very little time wandering aound outdoors. For someone interested in history, I'd say you should try to have at least 4 days there or leave it for another trip. Lots of Berlin's museums will easily chew up 4 hours of your time. And the city sprawls, so it takes time to get from one sight to the next.

Posted by
7181 posts

Some highlights: Berlin, Cologne, Middle Rhine, Dresden, Leipzig, Quedlinburg, Erfurt, Weimar, Aachen, Monschau (... for which there are many substitutes). Berlin and Potsdam can be five days easily.

Posted by
19052 posts

I'll also be using public transport and would love any tips on
travelling between cities.

Germany has the largest (total miles of track) and the second most dense (miles or track per square miles, second to Switzerland by only 1%). With over 5000 train stations, it serves small towns as well as big cities; you don't have to confine your travel to cities. This rail network is augmented by extensive bus networks, like RVO in southern Bavaria.

Use the Bahn schedule webpage to find public transportation connections. It shows both train and bus connections.

As for places to go, Germany has so many worthwhile places. In two weeks you will hardly scratch the surface. I'n not a particular fan of big cities, but if you are interested in art, that is where you will find it. Munich is the only big city I really like. It has three art museums - the alte, neue, and moderne Pinakotheken (Museums of old, new, and modern art).. Plus the city is loaded with plenty of Nazi historical sites.

Nürnberg is also important for historical Nazi sites.

You can go to Berchtesgaden and visit Hitler's Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) as well as the Dokumentation Zentrum Museum in Obersalzberg, at the foot of the mountain.

Posted by
980 posts

Personally I like the former East Germany regions and Bavaria so my top 3 towns in each area would be:

  • Berlin, Dresden, Erfurt
  • Munich, Regensburg, Tegernsee

Nuremberg, Bamberg, Landshut or another medium sized town could replace Regensburg if that worked better for routing. Erfurt could be a night or two stop between Berlin and Munich.

In December, If you have your heart set on visiting one of the "famous" Christmas markets I would suggest Dresden over Nuremberg. But really you'll probably find the smaller markets in each of the cities you visit fun enough.

DJ

Posted by
1477 posts

The days are very short in December. If you go in Christmas Market season - up to about 23 December - then the long evenings can be spent in moderate to large cities shopping and milling with crowds at the markets. We do our sight seeing around midday.

We prefer moderate to small towns: Regensburg, Würzburg, Nürnberg, Rothenburg, Bamberg, Landshut, Passau, etc.

We have also enjoyed the many markets and sights of Munich. Stuttgart has the best large city markets to our taste, especially if you include a day trip to Esslingen an Neckar with its medieval market.

It is a great time of year to visit. After the 23rd of December is a quiet rest period.

Posted by
669 posts

I don't know what December would be like as we were there in late September, but my recommendations are:
Berlin -- great for architecture and history. Also do the Berlin Mitte food tour for a fun, cultural and food experience.
Dresden -- again architecture and history are great, and train travel between Dresden and Berlin is very convenient
Nuremberg -- only visited the Rally Grounds and Congress Hall, but would have liked time to visit other areas of the city

We also visited Munich and Rothenburg, but not sure how much time you want to spend traveling around rather than enjoying the sites of one or two places.

Posted by
3049 posts

I've traveled extensively for Christmas markets so I'm taking this into account:

1) Berlin. Over 50 different Christmas markets, so it's a must, but even without the Markets Berlin is my favorite city in Germany.

2) Stuttgart. Wouldn't put my adopted city 2nd in any other month, but we have the best large Christmas market in Germany, and the neighboring town of Esslingen has a medevial Christmas market which is my favorite, period. Ludwigsburg has one of Germany's finest Baroque palaces and has a very elegant Baroque Christmas market. Stuttgart also has a lot of great museums and is off the radar of American tourists.

3) Prague. Again, top city no matter what, but even more magical in Christmastime. Easily reachable from Germany and just an amazingly beautiful city.

4) Munich. Museums, markets, very different culture from other parts in Germany, great in the winter. Easy to day trip there to Nurnberg, Augsburg, and Regensburg which are all worth a visit.

Honestly for a 2 week trip, basing yourself in 4 cities and then using them to day trip would keep you more than busy. You could even drop a city.

Posted by
11294 posts

"There are wonderful towns and cities all over Germany. Don't make the mistake of falling in love with a lot of scattered places. Get yourself a map and mark spots that sound interesting. Look for clusters where you can cover a lot of your interests within a limited area. "

This is the most important bit of advice you've been given (several other posters said it too). Pick a few bases that interest you, rather than chewing up a lot of time in transit. You've been given a lot of perspectives, so now start researching these to see which ones appeal more to you. Just like saying "what are the highlights of the US for a two week visit?", everyone will have a different answer - and they're all correct.

Posted by
1419 posts

Here are my top 5 for a December trip:

Freiburg - unique, charming university town with a good Christmas market. You can also easily do a daytrip to Basel from here.

Nuremburg - Interesting WWII sites along with the "old town center" and other interesting sites - I highly recommend the Druer House, but the Christmas market is an experience in itself!

Erfurt - Really enjoyed this very walkable town with a very interesting Cathedral and good Christmas market.

Rothenburg - I know this town gets a lot of flack because it tends to be overrun with tourists, but we LOVE Rothenburg! The best town to get that medieval feel! They had an actual ginger bread house for their Santa to sit in.

Munich - So many great sites and a wonderful Christmas market!

As you can see I tend to enjoy small towns vs. Large cities.

If this were a summer trip I would have included - Lindau, Bacharach, Cochem, Constanz, Meersburg, Gorlitz, Dresden.

Posted by
14482 posts

Hi,

I have never been to Germany in December only in the early to late summer (Sept).

Regardless, for art, architecture, culture, and the history I suggest Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Leipzig, Hamburg.

For the towns my choices are Weimar, Lüneburg, Marburg, Naumburg an der Saale, Meissen.

Posted by
1542 posts

I don’t think there is a need to zig-zag across the country in search of five specific locations, you are spoilt for choice by the looks of it. I’ve been no further north than Cochem or Coburg but I’m still going back for more punishment this September. First of all, decide on where you will be flying in and out of and base your nights around that. Stick to one or two states and maybe three locations, as Lubitsch suggested, it will cut down on travel time. If flying into Munich, for example, the triangle of Munich, Heidelberg and Bamberg would work for me. Maybe substitute Wurzburg for Heidelberg. So much to see within the towns/cities themselves and areas close by. For instance, it’s swift and easy to reach Nuremberg and Regensberg by train from Munich, as well as alpine villages and towns. Fourteen nights based in Munich is a trip on it’s own.

As others have indicated, there are many more choices. Thuringia and Quedlinburg have long pulled on my heartstrings, maybe one day. I googled Goerlitz and it looks like my kind of place. And unless going close to Stuttgart, you will likely miss Tubingen, a splendid town.

Posted by
1878 posts

A lot of people seem to dislike Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but we enjoyed it a lot. That was in 2006, maybe it's been ruined by now. We have visited Nuremburg a couple of times and I find it to be much underrated, especially relative to Munich. (That said, the art museums in Munich are excellent). Bamberg is a nice stop. I have only visited Berlin on business, but have a future Poland/Germany itinerary in mind that could cover Goerlitz/Dresden/Berlin for the Germany part. So while I have never been to Goerlitz or Dresden, my research suggests they are very nice stops. Also, we stopped in Passau and Regensburg on a 2014 river cruise and both were nice, if not enough to fill days of sightseeing. We also stayed in Bacharrach for a couple of nights to start our 2006 trip, followed by a quick one night in Baden-Baden and enjoyed both a lot. Overall Germany is a much underrated country to visit, I'm sure you will have a great time.