Fairytale Castles,
Cold War History &
Bavarian Forests

Five world-class museums on a single island in the Spree — the Pergamon Altar (complete Greek temple transported from Turkey, 2nd century BC), the Egyptian Nefertiti bust in the Neues Museum, the Ishtar Gate from Babylon in the Pergamon, the Alte Nationalgalerie's Romantic paintings, and the Bode Museum's Byzantine art. Buy the day pass (€22) and plan a full day. The Pergamon is under reconstruction until 2027 — confirm which sections are open before visiting.

The world's most photographed castle — built by the eccentric Bavarian King Ludwig II from 1869 as a private retreat and never finished, it inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle and has no equal for the combination of alpine landscape and architectural fantasy. The interior tour (30min, €15) is guided and reveals the remarkable Wagnerian murals Ludwig had painted throughout. The Marienbrücke footbridge above the castle gives the photograph. Arrive at opening (8am) or book the first ticket slot online.

Walk the complete circuit of Rothenburg ob der Tauber's medieval town walls — 3.5km, almost entirely roofed, with timber-framed views over the old town's stepped gables and the wooded Tauber valley below. The town was so perfectly preserved because American General John "Iron Mike" O'Daniel spared it from artillery bombardment in April 1945 after the mayor personally surrendered the town to save it. The result is the most intact walled medieval town in Germany and one of the most extraordinary in Europe.

The world's largest festival — held on the Theresienwiese in Munich for 16–18 days from late September, attracting 6 million visitors annually from 160+ nations. The large beer tents (each holding 6,000–8,000 people) are run by Munich's six traditional breweries; entry is free but tents fill completely by 11am on weekends. The festival is simultaneously a massive global event and, in its traditional tents like the Augustinerkeller and Hackerzelt, a genuinely local Bavarian celebration of extraordinary atmosphere.

The 65km stretch of the Rhine between Rüdesheim and Koblenz is UNESCO-listed as the Middle Rhine Valley — a dramatic gorge flanked by 40 castles and ruined towers, terraced Riesling vineyards on improbably steep slopes, and medieval wine villages at the water's edge. The K-D Line cruise from Rüdesheim to Koblenz (4hrs one-way, ~€20) is the classic experience; the ICE train runs parallel so you can cruise one direction and train back. The Lorelei rock at St. Goarshausen is the gorge's most photographed point.

Dresden's Frauenkirche — the magnificent baroque domed church that collapsed in the Allied firebombing of February 1945 and was left as a ruin memorial throughout the Cold War — was rebuilt stone by stone after reunification and reconsecrated in 2005. The result is extraordinary: 45% of the original stones, blackened by the 1945 fire, were incorporated into the new structure, marking history visibly in the walls. Dresden's Zwinger palace complex, the Old Masters gallery (Raphael's Sistine Madonna is here), and the Semper Opera are among Germany's finest baroque monuments.

The Schwarzwald — a 200km north-to-south range of ancient fir-covered hills in Baden-Württemberg — gave the world cuckoo clocks, Black Forest gateau (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, made with Kirschwasser cherry schnapps), and one of Germany's finest long-distance hiking routes (the Westweg, 285km from Pforzheim to Basel). The spa town of Baden-Baden at the forest's northern edge has been Europe's most fashionable spa resort since Roman legions built the first baths here in the 1st century AD. The Triberg waterfalls are Germany's highest accessible falls.

Germany's highest mountain at 2,962 metres sits above Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps, one hour south of Munich by train. The Zugspitzbahn cog railway and cable car system ascends to the summit plateau, where on clear days the panorama extends across 400 alpine peaks into Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. The Zugspitze is accessible year-round — in winter as a ski area (Europe's highest and most reliably snowy), in summer for alpine walking. The peak platform's café sells beer at altitude with a view that justifies every euro.