Leipzig & Western Saxony

The more industrialised western part of Saxony centres on Leipzig, a green, hip and vibrant city with many stories to tell and places to enjoy. Hugely important in the history of music, it was home to Johann Sebastian Bach and Richard Wagner. To the south, Chemnitz is still full of vestiges of GDR-era Soviet influence, including a huge head of Karl Marx in the central square, but is now home to several exciting museums, including the newly opened state-of-the art SMAC museum of archaeology and prehistory. The lovely university town of Freiberg boasts a fantastic collection of minerals and a visitable ore mine, while Zwickau's former Audi factory has been turned into an outstanding museum presenting Germany's complicated 20th-century history as a succession of gleaming retro cars, including the inevitable Trabbies in all shapes and forms.