Heidelberg
Towering over the Altstadt, Heidelberg’s ruined Renaissance castle cuts a romantic figure, especially across the Neckar River when illuminated at night…
Must-see attractions in Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt’s red-sandstone cathedral is dominated by a 95m-high Gothic tower, which can be climbed via 328 steps. Construction began in the 13th century;…
Frankfurt am Main
Founded in 1815, this world-renowned art gallery has an outstanding collection of European art from masters including Dürer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir,…
Frankfurt am Main
Life-size dinosaur mock-ups guard the front of Frankfurt’s natural history museum. Inside the early 1900s neo-baroque building, exhibits cover…
Frankfurt am Main
The Römerberg is Frankfurt’s old central square. Ornately gabled half-timbered buildings, reconstructed after WWII, give an idea of how beautiful the city…
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Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
A Unesco World Heritage Site, this one-time coal and oil shale quarry 10km northeast of Darmstadt is renowned for its superbly preserved animal and plant…
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Moselle Valley
At the head of the beautiful Moselle side-valley the Eltz, Burg Eltz is one of Germany's most romantic medieval castles. Never destroyed, this fairy-tale…
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Mannheim
Mannheim’s most famous sight is the yellow and red sandstone Schloss, Germany’s largest baroque palace. Now occupied by the University of Mannheim, the…
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German Wine Route
Atop a forested Pfälzerwald hill 6km southwest of the centre, this 'cradle of German democracy' is where idealistic locals, Polish refugees and French…
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Trier
Looming above the Roman palace of Helena (Emperor Constantine's mother), this cathedral is Germany's oldest bishop's church and still retains Roman…
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Mainz
A heady experience for book lovers, the Gutenberg Museum commemorates native son Johannes Gutenberg, who in the 15th century ushered in the information…
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Moselle Valley
The Moselle might be better known for its wine, but a former Cistercian monastery, founded in the 13th century, now houses this extraordinary brewery,…
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Koblenz
On the right bank of the Rhine, 118m above the river, this fortress proved indestructible to all but Napoleonic troops, who levelled it in 1801. To prove…
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Heiligtum der Isis und Mater Magna
Mainz
In a darkened, dungeon-like space, a glass walkway leads you around this extraordinary Roman archaeological site, which was discovered in 1999 during the…
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Trier
Trier's most famous landmark, this brooding 2nd-century Roman city gate – blackened by time, hence the name, which is Latin for ‘black gate’ – is a marvel…
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Mainz
Highlights of this well laid-out state museum include an ensemble of exquisite Jugendstil pieces, outstanding collections of Renaissance and 20th-century…
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Mainz
Topped by an octagonal tower, Mainz’ immense cathedral, built from deep red sandstone in the 12th century, is quintessentially Romanesque. Its predecessor…
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Trier
A scale model of 4th-century Trier and rooms filled with tombstones, mosaics, rare gold coins (including the 1993-discovered Trier Gold Hoard, the largest…
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Trier
Constructed around AD 310 as Constantine’s throne room, the brick-built basilica is now an austere Protestant church. With built-to-impress dimensions …
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Trier
Germany’s oldest Gothic church was built in the 13th century. It has a cruciform structure supported by a dozen pillars symbolising the 12 Apostles (look…
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Trier
Get a sense of the layout of this vast Roman thermal bathing complex with its striped brick-and-stone arches from the corner lookout tower, then descend…
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Trier
Trier’s mighty Roman amphitheatre could accommodate 20,000 spectators for gladiator tournaments and animal fights. Beneath the arena are dungeons where…
Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
The hulking former ironworks of Völklinger Hütte, 14km northwest of Saarbrücken, are one of Europe’s great heavy-industrial relics. Opened in 1873, 17,000…
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Frankfurt am Main
The monumental seven-storey IG-Farbenhaus was erected in 1931 as the headquarters of IG-Farben (pronounced ‘ee geh far-behn’), the mammoth German…
Frankfurt am Main
The outstanding Museum of Modern Art focuses on European and American art from the 1960s to the present, with frequent temporary exhibits. The permanent…
Frankfurt am Main
Completely rebuilt after WWII (only the cellar survived Allied bombing), the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is furnished in the…
Frankfurt am Main
Inaugurated in 1880, the Italian Renaissance-style Alte Oper anchors the western end of the Zeil-Fressgass pedestrian zone. Burnt out in 1944, it narrowly…
Frankfurt am Main
The famous old Börse, built in 1843, is an impressively colonnaded neoclassical structure. The porch is decorated with allegorical statues of the five…
Frankfurt am Main
Beautiful parkland runs along both banks of the Main River – perfect for strolling, running, cycling or a picnic. The most popular section is between the…
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Frankfurt am Main
Most of Frankfurt’s medieval Jewish ghetto – Europe's first, dating from 1460 – on narrow Judengasse (Jews’ Street) was destroyed by a French bombardment…
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Rhine Valley
Dating from the 12th century, this one-time Cistercian monastery, in an idyllic little valley 15km northeast of Rüdesheim, went through periods as a…
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Moselle Valley
Like many others in the area, Cochem's original 11th-century castle fell victim to French troops in 1689, then stood ruined for centuries until wealthy…
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German Wine Route
Thought to be of Celtic origins, this enormous red-sandstone hilltop castle was first documented in 1081. Between 1125 and 1298 it was the repository of…
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Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
Built by Lord Konrad II Reiz von Breuberg around 1250, this hulking, partly ruined hilltop castle was visited by Mary Shelley on her German travels in…
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Rhine Valley
In the 1820s, privately owned Rheinstein, 6km downriver from Bingen, became the first Rhine castle to be converted – by Prussian royalty (a branch of the…
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Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
Established in 1899 at the behest of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, the former Künstlerkolonie (artists' colony) at Mathildenhöhe is famous for its Darmstädter…
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Moselle Valley
Built on Roman foundations from 1197, this mighty castle on the hilltop above Alken has an intriguing history. From 1246 to 1248 it was fought over by the…
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Frankfurt am Main
This memorial is housed in a little pavilion marked ‘107984’ – the prisoner number of Norbert Wollheim, a forced labourer at the IG Farben’s corporate…
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Rhine Valley
Every April, Oberwesel crowns not a Weinkönigin (wine queen), as in most Rhine towns, but a Weinhexe (wine witch) – a good witch who is said to protect…
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Heidelberg
Established in 1386 by Count Palatinate Ruprecht I, Germany’s oldest and most prestigious university comprises 12 faculties with 30,000 German and…
