For those of you looking for something different in Germany, you might want to do some travel around the Ruhr area this year. Myriad events are taking place in towns and cities spread throughout the Ruhr, to showcase a good portion of the industry that helped make Germany what it is today. The website looks really interesting and is in English. I watched one of the videos about the exhibition on the Solar System, which was quite good. The Light Exhibitions in all the towns look interesting too. These are great for all you photographers out there.
Who knows, maybe you can find some "new Back doors".
http://www.essen-fuer-das-ruhrgebiet.ruhr2010.de/en/home.html