Nuremberg
At the foot of the fortified Weisser Turm (White Tower; now the gateway to the U-Bahn station of the same name) stands this large and startlingly…
Must-see attractions in Bavaria
Bamberg
Above Domplatz, at the top of Michaelsberg, is the Benedictine Kloster St Michael, a former monastery and now an aged people’s home. The monastery church…
Nuremberg & Franconia
Around 6km east of the centre lies the Eremitage, a lush park girding the Altes Schloss, the summer residence that belonged to 18th-century margrave…
Nuremberg
Dark and atmospheric, the Lorenzkirche has dramatically downlit pillars, taupe stone columns, sooty ceilings and many artistic highlights. Check out the…
Munich
The Residenzmuseum entrance also leads to the Schatzkammer der Residenz, a veritable banker's bonus worth of jewel-encrusted bling of yesteryear, from…
Regensburg
Excavations in the mid-1990s revealed remains of Regensburg's once-thriving 16th-century Jewish quarter, along with Roman buildings, gold coins and a Nazi…
Chiemsee
A third of this tiny island is occupied by Frauenwörth Abbey, founded in the late 8th century, making it one of the oldest abbeys in Bavaria. The 10th…
Bavarian Alps
Ettal would be just another bend in the road were it not for this famous monastery. The highlight here is the sugary rococo basilica housing the monks'…
Nuremberg
Dürer, Germany’s most famous Renaissance draughtsperson, lived and worked at this site from 1509 until his death in 1528. Enjoy the slightly OTT…
Nuremberg & Franconia
Opening into the vast Hofgarten, the Neues Schloss lies a short distance south of the main shopping street, Maxmilianstrasse. A riot of rococo style, the…
Regensburg & the Danube
The simple but pretty Bavarian home where Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) was born in 1927 and lived for the first two years of his life…
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
One of the few places of worship in Bavaria to charge admission, Rothenburg's Lutheran parish church was begun in the 14th century and finished in the…
Würzburg
Würzburg's highly unusual cathedral has a Romanesque core that has been altered many times over the centuries. The elaborate stucco work of the chancel…
Nuremberg
The Historischer Kunstbunker is a climate-controlled bomb shelter deep under the Burgberg that was used to protect art treasures during WWII. Priceless…
Nuremberg & Franconia
Eichstätt’s centre is dominated by the richly adorned Dom. Standout features include an enormous 16th-century stained-glass window by Hans Holbein the…
Munich
Fresh fruit and vegetables, piles of artisanal cheeses, tubs of exotic olives, hams and jams, chanterelles and truffles – Viktualienmarkt is a feast of…
Nuremberg & Franconia
Filling a huge townhouse, this delightfully old-fashioned museum boasts a huge nostalgia-inducing collection. The downstairs section is like a museum of…
Munich
This old-school museum is an engaging showcase of exquisite Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities. The collection of Greek vases, each artistically…
Bamberg
Bamberg's main museum fills the Alte Hofhaltung (old court hall), a former prince-bishops' palace near the cathedral, with a mixed bag of exhibits. These…
Nuremberg & Franconia
The walk or drive up to the hilltop castle of Willibaldsburg (1355) is worth it for the views across the valley from the formally laid-out Bastiongarten;…
Passau
A 13th-century defensive fortress, built by the prince-bishops, Veste Oberhaus towers over Passau with patriarchal pomp. Not surprisingly, views of the…
Nuremberg & Franconia
Coburg’s epicentre is the magnificent Markt, a beautifully renovated square radiating a colourful, aristocratic charm. The fabulous Renaissance facades…
Würzburg
Adjoining the Rathaus, the 1659-built Grafeneckart houses a scale model of the WWII bombing. It starkly depicts the extent of the damage to the city…
Munich
If you're a fan of classical art or simply enjoy the sight of naked guys without noses (or other pertinent body parts), make a beeline for the Glyptothek…
Munich
The mission of the NS Dokuzentrum, located right at the heart of what was once Nazi central in Munich, is to educate locals and visitors alike about the…
Regensburg & the Danube
Roosting high above the Altstadt is Burg Trausnitz, Landshut’s star attraction. The 50-minute guided tour (in German with English text) takes you through…
Würzburg
In the Altstadt, this satisfyingly symmetrical church stands on the site where three ill-fated Irish missionaries who tried to convert Duke Gosbert to…
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
With time and fresh legs, a 2.5km circular walk around the unbroken ring of town walls gives a sense of the importance medieval people placed on defending…
Regensburg
The sooty 12th-century main portal of the Schottenkirche St Jakob is considered one of the supreme examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. Its…
Bavaria
The Flugwerft Schleissheim, the aviation branch of the Deutsches Museum, makes for a nice change of pace and aesthetics from Schleissheim's regal palaces…
Bamberg
Like a ship in dry dock, Bamberg's 1462 Old Town Hall was built on an artifical island in the Regnitz River, allegedly because the local bishop had…
Munich
Built illegally after WWII by a Russian hermit called Father Timofey, the delightfully rural Russian Orthodox East-West Peace Church was to have been…
Augsburg
Augsburg’s cathedral has its origins in the 10th century but was Gothicised and enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries. The star treasures here are the…
Nuremberg
Next to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 30 austere, 8m-tall concrete columns, each bearing one article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a…
Nuremberg
Deep beneath the Albrecht Dürer Monument on Albrecht-Dürer-Platz lurks the chilly Felsengänge. Departing from the brewery shop at Bergstrasse 19, tours…
Regensburg
From 1663 to 1806, the Reichstag (imperial assembly) held its gatherings at Regensburg's old town, an important role commemorated by an exhibit in today's…
Bamberg
This splendid episcopal palace gives you an eyeful of the lavish lifestyle of Bamberg’s prince-bishops who, between 1703 and 1802, occupied its 40-odd…
Nuremberg
Offering an entertaining overview of the city’s history, highlights of the Stadtmuseum Fembohaus include the restored historic rooms of this 16th-century…
Berchtesgaden
Once a major producer of ‘white gold’, Berchtesgaden has thrown open its salt mines for fun-filled 1½-hour tours. Kids especially love donning miners’…
Munich
Head to this popular museum to learn all about Bavarian suds and the world's most famous booze-up. The four floors heave with old brewing vats, historic…
