A country with regions defined by food, dialect, traditions and history

Germany and its visitors are reaping the rewards of unity. Huge investments in infrastructure and services are not only erasing the Cold War dividing lines – the scars caused by World War II are also finally disappearing. Travellers are now likely to move around the country faster, dine better and experience newer attractions, such as the Reichstag’s glass dome. A lot has changed, Once you stop looking at Germany strictly in terms of east and west, you’ll start to see it as the Germans do: as regions sharply defined by dialect, food, traditions and history. For the best perspective, sample as many regions as possible. Booming Berlin, now the No. 1 tourist magnet, is the clearest benefactor of reunification. Travellers to the cultural centres of Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar in eastern Germany will find improved amenities there as well.

The north has the delightful old seafaring cities of Hamburg and Bremen. Along the Rhine and Moselle rivers are picturesque castles and steep, terraced vineyards. The Grimm Brothers collected the tales they heard in a trail of villages from Hanau to Bremen. In the south are snowcapped Alps, the alluring Black Forest, Munich, and Bavaria’s boisterous beer halls and rococo palaces and churches.

UNSECO World Heritage sites in Germany

Aachen Cathedral
Speyer Cathedral
Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Squar
Pilgrimage Church of Wies
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl
St Mary’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church at Hildesheim
Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Hanseatic City of Lübeck
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch
Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System
Maulbronn Monastery Complex
Town of Bamberg
Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg
Völklingen Ironworks
Messel Pit Fossil Site
Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau
Cologne Cathedral
Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg
Classical Weimar
Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin
Wartburg Castle
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
Monastic Island of Reichenau
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen
Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar
Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Dresden Elbe Valley (Delisted 2009)
Muskauer Park / Park Muzakowsk
Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof
Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
The Wadden Sea
Fagus Factory in Alfeld
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps