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.

Dresden

The splendour of the Saxon capital Dresden made it one of the great courts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The city staggered travellers then and now. Its Baroque opulence equalled anything in Europe before devastating bombing in 1945. But its most lavish buildings have been brought back to their old brilliance and the treasures of the Saxon court have been reassembled for visitors to marvel at.

The palace complex with its Baroque court church has a unique mosaic mural that depicts the princes of the Wettin dynasty. The Saxon jewels have been assembled in two extraordinary museums. A Rococo pleasure pavilion near the palace complex, complete with fountains, houses more museums.

Baroque precincts have been rebuilt after the bombing, along with the precious round Frauenkirche. A terraced area along the Elbe is the site for more cultural attractions and a landscaped garden. Further palaces are near the city and will be linked forever with the mighty Elbe castle Festung Königstein.