We have many opinions here on the forum about sights and attractions.
May be one or the other wants to contribute to the tourist survey about top 100 sights in Germany (until July 30)?
Of yourse I am also curious what was your personal best sight(s) or attraction(s) and why.
Besides the highlights I am also interested in the lowlights / disappointments.
Maybe I start with own ones.
Schwerin is a clear highlight which I re-discovered after a visit last year. What a change to what it was shortly after reunification. I personally like the castle, the lakes and the old town. I was very positively surprised by the mindset of people which is somehow un-nordish in Germany. In other parts of the North people keep a distance and communicate only the necessary. Schwerin people seem to be more open. There are also some really good restaurants. It is worth a trip - maybe also a tip for cruise travellers stopping in Warnemünde / Rostock and searching for a day trip.
A clear lowlight for me is still Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. It hurts to me to see what it was and what it is now. It has really nothing to do with each other.
My 2 cents here.
Since we have only been to Germany 2x and have not even scratched the surface, I do love the beautiful artwork on the buildings. Garmish comes to mind first. For me, they tell a story of the town and its people.
i lived in Augsburg for four years from 1987 until 1991. Before that and after, I a have traveled extensively in Germany.
I recommend visiting three areas of the country.
1) The Rhine River valley and Black Forest in the west of the country. Also, take in Strasbourg, France, on the border with Germany.
2) Berlin and that area, including Dresden.
3) Bavaria, including Nuremberg, Munich, Augsburg, Regensburg, Garmish/Fussen, Berchtesgade/Salzburg, Austria and The Romantic Road from Fussen to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
I'm afraid you folk have missed the number one best most interesting scientifically advanced and at the same time primitive, most astonishing German creation - the Schwebebahn!!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn
Can anybody tell it is my favourite way of getting around?
We’ve visited to Germany many times since our first visit to Berlin and other areas in 1982. For making a list of must-see sights or attractions for visitors to Germany I’d want to know if it was for first time visitors or return visitors with a special interest. I took a look at last year’s list of 100 linked in the survey and we’ve been to 60 of the 100.
I’ll list some recommendation for first time visitors:
Berlin
Munich
Rhine/Mosel Rivers
For multi time visitors I’d add:
Harz cities
Dresden & Leipzig
Bavarian mountain and lake towns
For visitors who want to experience 3 countries from one base I always recommend beautiful Bodensee but not from Konstanz, my least favorite city on the lake, a lowlight. We are staying on the lake again this year and I would like to do a day trip to Konstanz to give it a second chance.
Thank you all for all your views and contributions so far. Great.
It is a little bit like seeing the own country through other one's eyes.
And Nigel, do you the Schwebodrom already?
I hope for more views and shared experiences.
The Rhine valley between Boppard and Rudesheim still has a hold on me 20 years later.
Munich in summer(ish) time was great. Englischer Garden, Viltulienmarkt (sic), and the beer gardens are filled with folks having a blast, with terrific beer and food. The Residenz was awesome.
Nuremberg was the real surprise. I ended up there a bit at random. Same great outdoor beer garden scene as Munich. Lovely rebuilt old town, interesting sights and museums. The Documentation Center was probably the best museum I have visited, incredibly engrossing and thought provoking. For the museum alone, Nuremberg makes the list.
I have a wonderful memory regarding Rhine valley when I worked and lived in Rheingau:
Two days before Christmas Eve - I planned to drive home to family in Berlin next day - I wanted to buy wine for the festive dinner. So I drove to the Staatsweingüter Assmannshausen - somehow around the corner of Rüdesheim and then uphill on a snowy and fresh icy road. The shop and vinery were surprisingly closed on a Saturday morning - no cars there. I got out of my car and met an older man who told me that due to first frost the harvest for the ice wine started over night and so nobody is there to sell some wine. I was asking him for a tip where I can buy some wine because I wanted to do my grandfather a pleasure. He looked at me for a moment and said that I shall follow him. I did and we went into something like a cellar. He grapped a box and disappeared. After a few moments he came back and said that I shall take these six bottles of red wine (in the box) and my grandfather will be happy. So I fully trusted him and took the box, paid a price he said and left the winery after thanking him so much. At Christmas Eve we tasted the prior decanted wine to an excellent goose and it was the best taste I ever had of a red wine - very deep and full, not bitter, not alcoholic, simply wonderful. My family and especially my grandfather was excited in his own way. "Großartig" was always his word when something could not be better for him. So, thanks to this old man and to the Staatsweingüter Assmannshausen for this wonderful moment.
Favorites: area around Lübeck and Wismar, including Schwerin also, which was a nice surprise. Beautiful landscape and coast, very different feel to the rest of Germany, also in the food. The Hanseatic history is also very interesting.
Another favorite is Nuremberg which I much prefer to Munich. Also Freiburg (and other old university cities) and Potsdam, plus some random smaller places like Lüneburg/Celle/Salzwedel.
I always enjoy visiting Berlin just for the sheer variety of things to do and the ever changing cityscape. But there are a lot of tourist traps there too and it has inevitably become more commercialized.
Disappointments: never really won over by Köln (besides the Dom and the Kölsch) or Munich (a nice enough city but feel it is somewhat overrated attraction-wise.) Also, Esslingen is often recommended as a day trip from Stuttgart, but I personally found it very underwhelming…quite small and even somewhat grim around the train station.
A clear lowlight for me is still Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
Does that apply to Haus am Checkpoint Charlie as well? I visited the museum many years ago on a school trip but have not been back to it.
No, my feedback to Checkpoint Charlie is not related to the museum. At least they tried to conserve some pieces and tried to build a bigger story - personally I see the role of politicians during Cold War and reunification differently, esp. role of Reagan. Finally I see his contribution as nearly zero.
Well, it is on every German travel poster and a constant source of questions on this Forum: Neuschwanstein.
Sam--
Highlight or lowlight?
Loved Rothenburg odT and surprisingly, the Porsche and Mercedes museums in Stuttgart (I’m not a car fan and still loved them). Loved Nuremberg too!
My only disappointment was not getting to see more, but we are headed back in 2026. Must get to Berlin!
Assuming this is a first time visitor to Germany having at least 3 full weeks to a month and a genuine interest pertaining to the history and culture of the country, I have these recommendations:
The rest are in no particular order..... Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Munich, Lüneburg, Nürnberg, Weimar, Hamburg, Leipzig, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne,
Obviously, because of the time constraint, the first time visitor will have to decide on his priorities given these choices.
With time, the Bavarian Oberland. Take some walks. Eat the food, German and others. Relax and take your time.
