The most beautiful cities in Germany

Germany’s most beautiful cities and towns stand among the best places to visit in the European Union. They span almost the full range of European variety. Raven Travel Guides Germany include:

• Cities with Roman origins and remains such as Trier, Cologne, Regensburg and Mainz.
• Medieval cities such as Nuremberg, Erfurt, Bamberg and Worms and the half-timbered Harz region towns of Goslar, Quedlinburg and Wernigerode.
• Renaissance showpiece cities such as Lübeck, Augsburg or Bremen.
• Cities with Baroque survivals, including Dresden, Heidelberg or Passau.
• Plenty of German cities have beautiful palaces on their streets or nearby, like Potsdam, Munich, Stuttgart, Würzburg and Weimar.
• The great cathedrals such as Cologne, Regensburg, Bamberg, Mainz, Erfurt, Worms, with countless other churches, sometimes in Romanesque but more commonly in the Gothic style. The münster of Ulm has the tallest spire of them all.
• Museums of culture and art among world’s best, including Deutsches Museum, Deutsches Nationalmuseum, Alte Pinakothek and the Pergamonmuseum.

All these places can be reached by train and bus (Quedlinburg is on a branch line). All offer a range of hotels, hostels, guest houses and other types of accommodation. All are very walkable and, like most German towns and cities, are really best seen on foot. But trams and buses help get people to and from hotels or attractions and for the bigger centres, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Nuremberg, there are fast regular options in the form of S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains and light-rail transport.

Cologne

Cologne is one of Germany's biggest drawcards. It offers so much to the visitor: Germany's greatest cathedral, the country's biggest museum of Roman age finds, standing Roman and medieval walls and towers, a suite of priceless Romanesque churches and a historic town hall with tower and Renaissance portico.

The city is also a concert and opera centre and there more than 20 museums covering art - especially modern and church art - photography, history, ethnology, chocolate, dance, sport and, of course, perfume. It also becomes a carnival centre each February with costumed events and a grand parade. Its gardens help make it one of Germany's most attractive cities.

Cologne is also a base for exploring the middle Rhine, including river cruises. It's between two other great cities, Düsseldorf and Bonn, and only half an hour from both.