I travelled all over the country on a €63 monthly rail pass: readers favourite holidays in Germany | Germany holidays
Winning tip: History, buns and Italianate porticoes in Münster
In an often overlooked corner of Germany, near the Dutch border, Münster is an absolute gem. Covered porticos will convince you you’re in northern Italy, gothic churches will remind you you’re in Mitteleuropa and the buns from Zeit für Brot will insist you’re in heaven. Nature-lovers can take in the Botanical Gardens and relax by the Münstersche Aa river. Those of a historical bent can peek into the room where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648 and mull the report card of nation states in the nearly 400 years since. But really, it’s a great place just to drop-anchor and lose a few days.
Jeremy
Germany’s highest railway bridge, near Düsseldorf
In the verdant countryside near Düsseldorf, the 129-year-old Müngsten Bridge, the country’s highest railway bridge, rises 107 metres above the River Wupper. The impressive iron and steel structure is billed as Germany’s answer to the Eiffel Tower (yes, really!) and if you’ve got a head for heights, you can don a harness and make the exhilarating climb to the highest point. You’ll be rewarded with incredible views across the valley, especially if you steel yourself (!) for the nerve-racking walk across the narrow beam that spans the top of the bridge. Eat your heart out, Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Bex
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A wild North Sea island made for cycling
Sylt is more than a North Sea island to us. My German grandmother met my British army grandfather, and Sylt became my mother’s childhood island. It feels made for cycling, with peaceful paths winding between grassy dunes, sweeping beaches and little villages. Spend the day riding, watching the surfers and eating warm Nutella crepes by the sea, before settling into a traditional hooded Strandkorb (hooded beach chair) to listen to the waves. Bike hire costs €8-€10 per day. It is wild, windswept and magical, somewhere our family history becomes real every time we return.
Fay
Tour the country for a month for €63
Get the Deutschlandticket! An entire month of public transport for €63 – buses, trains, trams, ferries … The only thing that isn’t included is faster long-distance trains, but you can figure out how to get from A to B using the Deutsche Bahn website, which has a special “Deutschlandticket only” filter; the need to change trains means you’ll end up discovering places you wouldn’t otherwise visit. It’s worth it just for a week, or, if you do want to travel long distances quickly, just for inner-city transport. Use the German public transport app Mopla to buy one at any time.
Joseph
Cologne’s world-class cocktails bars
Cologne’s famous cathedral dominates the skyline and tops most travel itineraries. But having visited for a day on a previous trip, we returned for a city break with one thing in mind: cocktails. The mixology scene here is world-class. The jewel in the crown is Seiberts (pictured), which often and rightly features in lists of the world’s best bars, but Little Link, Woods and Ona Mor all contend and offer different vibes. While not sat at the bar, you’ll find excellent 20th-century art, street art and a lifesized Milka cow at the chocolate museum.
John
Kite flying in a vast former airfield in Berlin
On a warm autumn afternoon in Berlin, a friend and I rented classic Dutch bikes to explore the city. As the golden hour approached we discovered Tempelhofer Feld. Used as an airfield during a darker era, today it’s a vast recreational green space. Biking on the disused runway was enjoyably bizarre. Berliners and visitors alike were picnicking, kite flying, inline skating, lolling about on bales of hay, skateboarding, tightrope walking, birding … you name it. It is also an important site for rare flora and fauna and grazing animals.
Sarah
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An ebike adventure through the Black Forest
Ebikes are the perfect way to explore the beauty and vastness of the Black Forest. Powering up gravel tracks that would be impossible on a push bike was so fun and a real hit with the teenager. Setting off from the astonishingly well preserved town of Gengenbach, we headed to the viewpoint at Moosturm observation tower and the Lothar Monument (pictured), where we were rewarded with a glorious 360-degree view of hills patterned with colour and wisps of cloud. On the way down it seemed churlish not to stop at the Naturfreundehaus Kornebene mountain hut and restaurant for possibly the best sausages of my life. A thoroughly deserved reward: ebiking counts as exercise, right?
Alex
500 years of architecture in Görlitz
Görlitz, near the Polish border, merited more than just the day trip I had planned from Dresden so I returned later in my holiday to explore its delights. It’s chock-a-block with charming, colourful buildings, making it beloved of German and international film-makers. Strolling through the cobbled streets of the old town is like leafing through a lavish picture book of 500 years of German architecture, from gothic through the renaissance to art nouveau – don’t miss St Peter’s Church. Eat hearty Silesian sausages at beer houses and if you feel like a swim head out by bus to Lake Berzdorf, with views of the mountains from the sandy beach – or even the middle of the lake where I ventured to.
April
Take the family car around a racing circuit in Nürburg
When my son turned 16 we drove to Munich so he could buy his first beer legally. Breaking up the journey we stopped overnight near the Nürburgring racetrack, to take the family estate car around the Nordschleife circuit. You turn up, pay €30-€35, and get in the queue. We were overtaken by everything apart from a coach full of Italian tourists and an ice cream van.
Tim
A spectacle of water in Kassel
The unexpected highlight of our German road trip was Kassel’s extraordinary Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a Unesco world heritage site. On water feature days, park below Wilhelmshöhe Palace (€8.50 per car, including bus travel for up to seven), ride to the Hercules monument, then follow the water downhill on foot. The free spectacle sends 750,000 litres tumbling without pumps through baroque cascades, waterfalls and a Roman-style ruined aqueduct, culminating in a soaring 52 metre fountain. Following the rushing water from one dramatic stage to the next was an adventure, and after the 2.3km descent, your car is waiting at the bottom.
Mary