First Time Travelers

If your in Germany for a couple of days you may want to go to St Goar its a small town on the Rhine River its beautiful and the locals are very nice to travelers.

Thank you for your information, I will start looking. Any thoughts on the best way to travel once there? Thanks again!

Also check out Rothenberg ob der Tauber. There is another Rothenberg just don't mix them up.

Catherine, the area just south of Berlin, the state of Saxony Anhalt or Sachsen Anhalt is filled if not overflooded with beautiful castles, palaces and especially magnificent gardens. It's very popular amoung tourists from the UK at the moment so maybe you want to search the web on some of their sites. Here's what I could find so far: www.dome-schloesser.de (click thru just for the pics as appetizers), http://www.falconcrest.com/garten/index.html (this one is really good, just click on the link, e.g. #30 and you'll get an areal shot of what to expect. I wished #10 was my private home) and the official one, www.anhaltweb.de

A lot of the previous suggestions, while wonderful, are quite a distance from Berlin. I would go with Andreas' suggestions of the Saxon Anhalt area. I would also suggest visiting Görlitz (several hours from Berlin) which Rick has included in his latest Germany book. I personally find the recent history with the Wall going up and down quite interesting. In Görlitz you can walk over the river to Poland and see a big contrast in economic conditions. In Görlitz itself you can see beautifully restored buildings next to buildings with broken glass. Also on the Baltic Sea is the island of Rügen which is very close to the Hansa city of Stralsund...all very nice.....You have 2 weeks--you could also go west to the Rhine, Rothenburg, etc.--nothing is wrong with that. You just shouldn't feel that there's nothing of interest closer to Berlin.

Karen has hit a very good point: The German Baltic Sea cost is close by, as well, and most places there can be compared to the Martha's Vinyards of this world. G.W. Bush has visited Heiligendam twice in the past 12 months and - according to the TV pictures - has hat quite a good time there. Personally I think Waren on Muritz (and the entire lake) and the island of Rugen are the best sights north of Berlin. You could even do a day trip organised by DB German rail to Wolin, which used to be considered as the bath tub of Berlin up until 1945 when it became part of Polish terretory. But inspite of that it's still supposed to be quite a sight, quite an experience.

Being a tourist in the state Saxony could be enjoyable. And some American tourists said the people in Germany who they liked the most are in Berlin. But, if you will be in Germany for two weeks, you could go to any place in Germany. Ride in trains. I enjoyed Germany, but I am not an expert. I recommend read the book "Rick Steves' GERMANY & AUSTRIA", for his suggestions of places of highest priority for sightseeing in Germany. And read more about those places in the travel guide book "ROUGH GUIDE to GERMANY". I put a low priority on going to the Black Forest, Baden Baden, Heidelburg, KOLN, Trier. Rick Steves seems to think that Rothenburg is the most wonderful place in Germany. To me, Rothenburg is dull, not a high priority. But I think going to WURZBURG, north of Rothenburg, is a high priority. If you do not want to travel that far from Berlin, go to Sanssouci Palace and chapel at Potsdam. Try to reserve your tickets before the day you go there.

In response to the comment about Rick Steves' feelings about Rothenburg ob der Tauber....I can second it! We were there two weeks ago for two nights. The weather was wonderful and we were able to enjoy the city more staying there overnight. I saw an organ concert at a church there, we ate with the English Conversation Club in a small local restaurant with Germans of all ages who were wanting to improve their English, we hiked the wall around the city, we also hiked the valley outside the wall and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the sights. The city is not so touristy when evening comes around and in the early morning. I can see how people would be turned off if they just came in during the mad rush of the day when people are busy shopping for souvenirs. You will be surprised at how different it is when every tour bus has left. We also met Rick Steves while we were there at the restaurant...he came in to meet with the group also. He also was staying at our hotel!

i notice there is another wurzburg lover out there!we love it so much we bought a tiny condo there. the restaurants are excellent, there are great sights, and there is a river which is fun to watch from the banks. it is an easy town to do on foot, there are city buses and streetcars on what seems like a 24-hour schedule, and the train station is also close to most everything.

i've been to rothenburg several times, and i think i've seen enough of it--there are lots of we--preserved cities in germany to explore on foot.

my husband was in berlin last week, and he did a boat cruise and ate in some wonderful restaurants. someone told me there is also a big lake in the middle of the city. so you may not even need to leave town!!!