What are some nice places to visit in the west of Germany?

Question

I live in Holland near the German border, and would like some suggestions for day or weekend trips in Germany -- historic towns & villages, nice scenery, etc. Any suggestions welcome!

Answer 1

One of the greatest towns there to visit is called Rothenburg ob der Tauber -
it's a historic town, truly stuck in mideval times. They have the old fortress walls, cobble stones - everything you could ask for.
http://www.rothenburg.de/index.php?get=121
The city I lived close to is Bremen - they have a great little inner city called the Schnoor.. the old quarter where the sea captains used to live. Bremen also has the largest old wine cellar in Europe and they offer guided tours. Plus the Dom (Cathedral) is quite beautiful - and to boost they have a small collection of eight mummies that were found in the basement of the church.
This link will take you to a short description of the Schnoor, but the website itself can give you some more touristy things to do as well:
http://www.germany-tourism.de/ENG/culture_and_events/tradition_in_style_bremen_schnoor_quarter.htm?cc_lang=
There are two little towns close to where I used to live - they have art galleries, little pottery shops, farm stores.. might make for a fun 2-day trip.
The town names are Worpswede and Fischerhude - they're both about a half hour ride from Bremen (so you could take a hotel there and drive easily for a visit)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worpswede
http://www.washausen.de/fischerhude/deutsch/shc47.htm
(the second link is only in german - sorry! But I'm sure living in holland you'll be able to read enough of it to understand what it says ;)
For another trip, I'd recommend Bremerhaven - it's the harbor city to Bremen, about an hour north up the coast. They have a great Ship museum that gives you a fun insight into the old ways that trade was done along the northern sea.
For a longer trip, try the Harz - the little mountain range south of Hannover.
You can visit old mines, museums, ride a historic steam train, visit the ancient city of Goslar and - an added bonus - go skiing in the winter.
http://www.harzinfo.de/pages/allgemein-english.html
I've lived near Bremen a good part of my life and have done all the above mentioned several times. I'm sure there are more historic sites further south, but I'd rather just talk about the ones I know to be fun from personal experience.
Oh, and advise: Most of these ( except for the Harz) are much more fun to do in the spring/summer, since they involve walking around and enjoying the scenery.
The Harz makes for a great little winter vacation.
Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

I understand you're from the west, but at the same time you might want to expand the horizons to find something really nice and pleasant to the eye.
Of course, there are the typical tourist destinations (Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, et al.), but I don't think that tells the life of Germany, the country, and its people.
Rothenburg (already mentioned) despite the overwhelming waves of tourism is always a good bet. For something better, I would go to Wuerzburg. Again, this is all in Bavaria, but I think you will get a better picture of what Germany looks like without all the tourists.
A couple of really great little towns are Trier (which isn't too far from you in Rheinland Pfalz) and Kempten, which is in the deep south. Both of these places are very old, but still have that German small town charm that has never been compromised through international or domestic tourism.
Give these places a try, I think you will approve.

Answer 3

Koeln is always good. It is very famous for its cathedral and even more known for the Carneval in February.

Another nice city is Aachen. And an area that is very well-known for tourism is along the Rhine between Wiesbaden and Koblenz. The Loreley and Castles route runs through the area.

http://www.germany-tourism.de/

Since you live so close to Germany you proably know about the Schoene-Wochenende-Ticket. It allows a group of up to 5 people to travel for an unlimited distance by local trains within Germany on a Saturday or Sunday for 33 EUR. If you leave very early in the morning it is possible to travel quite far with it. I met a group of 5 Dutch people who were partying in Berlin, said that they had left on a Saturday and that they were going back the next Sunday. Each had paid less than 20 EUR return for transport from their hometown near Amsterdam to Berlin because they were using SWE-Ticket for both ways.

I can also recommend looking up the cities of the Ruhrgebiet on google, some have amazing sights like Zeche Zollverein in Essen.

It is also possible to do tours in Germany by bike, look here:
http://www.germany-tourism.de/cycling/interactive_germany_map.htm

Answer 4

Trier is a beautiful City along the Mosel River. It has a rich Roman history and many Roman structures remain. It is worth a day/weekend. It's not too far from Frankfurt and it's close to the Luxembourg border as well.

Answer 5

Stuttgart is a CATHOLIC region, which ability, on 1st and 2d of November, there will be definitely no place to pass different than the cemetary. desire you will arrive later. As to my opinion (and that i'm a close-by German), you should persist with museums and eating places in November, and continuously carry an umbrella or placed on a hat. there have been sturdy solutions given and strategies made to inspire you and cheer you up; yet matteroffactly, November is relating to the worst time to pass to a city like Stuttgart. the only ingredient you could desire for is powerful climate, as Stuttgart is a city worth seeing, and probability is fairly sturdy that there will be no heavy rain or snow.

Answer 6

Yeh, definitely Koln, it's only 130 miles from Amsterdam so that would be a short train ride...They Have a Hard Rock Cafe which is cool...

Answer 7

The cathedral in Cologne is very impressive.

http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=2&L=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral