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Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) is the largest German state after Bavaria. West to east, it stretches from the World Heritage–listed Wattenmeer tidal flats and the East Frisian Islands to Wolfsburg, global HQ of Volkswagen. Its green and liveable capital, Hanover, was named Unesco City of Music in 2014, but is better known for its annual CeBit and Messe technology trade shows. Between the state's patchwork of vibrant small towns and villages is a diverse landscape of forests, farmlands, river plains, heath and moors.
Bremen, the smallest of the German states, packs a punch for its size. Bremen City has a wealth of fine architecture and cobblestone streets; engaging, educational museums; a vibrant waterfront and a happening, modern, multicultural vibe that keeps things interesting. At the mouth of the Weser, its port city Bremerhaven upholds a rich seafaring tradition and is home to two of Germany's most original and entertaining museums.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Lower Saxony & Bremen.
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Proof that Hanover is not all buttoned-down business are the grandiose Baroque Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, about 5km north of the city centre, which are considered one of the most important historic garden landscapes in Europe. Inspired by the gardens at Versailles, they're a great place to slow down and smell the roses for a couple of hours, especially on a blue-sky day. Two of the four gardens are free admission; visit the other two with a combination ticket.
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The jewel in the crown of the Herrenhäuser Gärten is grand both in format and history, having been laid out as a Baroque garden in 1714 under the tutelage of the French landscape gardener Martin Charbonnier. The garden contains statues, fountains, a maze and the coloured tile walls of the Niki de Saint Phalle Grotto, creator of the city's much-loved Die Nanas sculptures. The Grosse Fontäne is Europe's tallest fountain, jetting water up to 80m.
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The Nazi-built camp at Bergen-Belsen began its existence in 1940 as a POW camp, but became a concentration camp after being taken over by the SS in 1943, initially to imprison Jews as hostages in exchange for German POWs held abroad. In all, 70,000 prisoners perished here, most famously young diarist Anne Frank. The modern Documentation Centre museum poignantly chronicles the fates of the people who passed through here.
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Perched grandly above the Leine River, the neo-Gothic Schloss Marienburg (built from 1858–67) was a present from Hanover's King George V to his wife Marie, who longed for a country refuge away from court life. She and her two daughters spent only a year in residence before going into exile after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Hanover. On a guided tour you can see the grand hall, the queen's apartments, the princesses' rooms, the huge kitchen and the chapel.
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In 1943, the Nazis started construction of a massive concrete bunker to build submarines in. At a planned production rate of 12 subs per month it was meant to be the German war machine's most important naval project. The largest free-standing bunker in Germany – around 426m long and 97m wide, up to 27m high and with 4.5m-thick walls – it was built by up to 12,000 slave-labourers from POW and concentration camps, under intensely cruel conditions; thousands died at the site.
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A hit with car buffs of all ages, Autostadt is a celebration of all things automobile, spread across 25 hectares. A visit to this theme park and museum kicks off with a broad view of automotive design and engineering in the Konzernforum, then breaks off into exhibits relating to a bunch of European car makers, from Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi to Bentley, Lamborghini and Škoda.
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This spectacular museum stands on the spot where more than 7.2 million emigrants set sail for the US, South America and Australia between 1830 and 1942, and does a superb job commemorating some of their stories. The visitor relives stages of their journey through high-quality re-creations, beginning at the wharf where passengers huddle together before boarding the ship, clutching the biographical details of one particular traveller and heading towards their new life. Everything is available in both German and English.
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One of Europe's oldest museums, the Anton Ulrich has a world-class art collection, with about 1400 paintings, several hundred bronze and stone sculptures, one of the world's largest collections of Limoges porcelain and over 100,000 prints – and more. It's particularly strong on Dutch Old Masters, with works by Holbein, Dürer, Van Dyck, Rubens and Rembrandt, as well as a single Vermeer. The building was renovated in 2016 and is barrier-free. Its medieval collection can be seen at the Burg Dankwarderode.
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More than 640 hectares (almost twice the size of NYC's Central Park), Europe's largest city forest, Eilenriede, is also known as Hanover's grüne Lunge (green lung). Beginning about 1km northeast of the Hauptbahnhof, it's well frequented and beloved by locals, who picnic, play and cycle through the enchanting woods, luminous green in the summertime. Here, it's easy to imagine you're not in the middle of a city of half a million people.