The Black Forest
The Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum spirals around the Vogtsbauernhof, a self-contained early-17th-century farmstead. Farmhouses shifted from their original…
Must-see attractions in Stuttgart & the Black Forest
Freiburg
With its lacy spires, cheeky gargoyles and intricate entrance portal, Freiburg’s 11th-century minster cuts an impressive figure above the central market…
Stuttgart
The neoclassical-meets-contemporary Staatsgalerie bears British architect James Stirling’s curvy, colourful imprint. Alongside big-name exhibitions, the…
The Black Forest
From the baroque-meets-neoclassical Schloss, Karlsruhe’s 32 streets radiate like the spokes of a wheel. Karl Wilhelm, margrave of Baden-Durlach, named his…
Baden-Baden
A Joan Miró sculpture guards the front of this architecturally innovative gallery, designed by Richard Meier. The star-studded collection of modern and…
The Black Forest
Embracing the global craft gin craze, Monkey 47 has scooped awards for its batch-distilled, handcrafted dry gin, with piney, peppery notes. Distillery…
The Black Forest
Sticking out above Rottweil like a sore thumb, the futuristic, environmentally progressive Testturm is the brainchild of steel-engineering giant…
The Black Forest
Niagara they ain’t but Germany’s highest waterfalls do exude their own wild romanticism. The Gutach River feeds the seven-tiered falls, which drop a total…
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Ulm
'Ooh, it’s so big'… First-time visitors gush as they strain their neck muscles gazing up to the Münster. It is. And rather beautiful. Celebrated for its…
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Lake Constance
Near the eastern end of Friedrichshafen’s lake-front promenade is the Zeppelin Museum, housed in the Bauhaus-style former Hafenbahnhof (harbour station),…
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Swabian Alps Region
On its perch above Tübingen, this turreted 16th-century castle has a terrace overlooking the Neckar River, the Altstadt’s triangular rooftops and the vine…
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Swabian Alps Region
Housed in Tübingen's hilltop castle, this fascinating archaeology museum houses the 40,000-year-old Vogelherd figurines – the world’s oldest figurative…
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Konstanz
Crowned by a filigreed spire and looking proudly back on 1000 years of history, the sandstone Münster was the church of the Diocese of Konstanz until 1821…
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Lake Constance
Awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 2011, the Pfahlbauten represent one of 11 prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Based on the findings of…
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Stuttgart & the Black Forest
Nicknamed the 'Swabian Versailles', the Residenzschloss is an extravagant 452-room baroque, rococo and Empire affair. The 90-minute chateau tours (in…
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Swabian Alps Region
The brainchild of industrialist Reinhold Würth, this contemporary gallery is housed in a striking limestone building that preserves part of a century-old…
Lake Constance
Jutting out over the lake and bursting with flowers, the lusciously green islet of Mainau is a 45-hectare Mediterranean garden dreamed up by the…
Stuttgart
A terrific park for a wander right in the heart of the city, Stuttgart's sprawling Schlossgarten threads together the Mittlerer Schlossgarten, with its…
Lake Constance
Lions and voluptuous dames dance across the trompe l’oeil facade of the flamboyantly baroque Haus zum Cavazzen, which contains this museum, showcasing a…
Stuttgart
Stuttgart's pride and joy is this central square, dominated by the exuberant three-winged Neues Schloss, an impressive, Versailles-inspired baroque palace…
Ulm
Lording it over the Marktplatz, the 14th-century Rathaus sports a step-gabled, lavishly frescoed Renaissance facade. Out front is the Fischkastenbrunnen,…
Ulm
South of the Fischerviertel, along the Danube’s north bank, runs the red-brick Stadtmauer (city wall), the height of which was reduced in the 19th century…
Ulm
The charming Fischerviertel, Ulm’s old fishers’ and tanners’ quarter, is slightly southwest of the centre. Beautifully restored half-timbered houses…
Lake Constance
This exuberant, powder-pink Cistercian abbey church is one of Lake Constance's architectural highlights and a popular pilgrimage destination. It was built…
The Black Forest
Looming above Freiburg, the Schauinsland peak (1284m) is topped by a lookout tower commanding fabulous views to the Rhine Valley and Alps, plus walking,…
Stuttgart
Like a pearly white spaceship preparing for lift-off, the barrier-free Porsche Museum is a car-lover's dream. Audioguides race you through the history of…
Stuttgart
A futuristic swirl on the cityscape, the Mercedes-Benz Museum takes a chronological spin through the Mercedes empire. Look out for legends such as the…
The Black Forest
A rival to the hotly contested giant-cuckoo-clock crown, the so-called 'world's oldest-largest cuckoo clock' kicked into gear in 1980 and took local…
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Upper Danube Valley Nature Reserve
The Black Forest
Theatrically set against cave-riddled limestone cliffs, dappled with pine and beech woods that are burnished gold in autumn, and hugging the Danube's…
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Konstanz
In AD 724 a missionary named Pirmin founded a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau, a 4.5km-by-1.5km island (Lake Constance’s largest) about 11km west of…
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Stuttgart
Domed Schloss Solitude, perched above Stuttgart, was built in 1763 for Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg as a hunting palace and summer residence. Blending…
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Swabian Alps Region
Rising dramatically from an exposed crag, with its medieval battlements and riot of towers and silver turrets often veiled in mist, Burg Hohenzollern is…
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Stuttgart
To really slip under Stuttgart’s skin, mosey through one of the city’s lesser-known neighbourhoods. Walk south to Hans-im-Glück Platz, centred on a…
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Stuttgart
When King Wilhelm I of Württemberg’s beloved wife Katharina Pavlovna, daughter of a Russian tsar, died at the age of 30 in 1819, the king tore down the…
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Swabian Alps Region
Founded in 1183 by Rudolph I, Count Palatine of Tübingen, Kloster Bebenhausen is one of southern Germany's finest medieval Cistercian monasteries…
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The Black Forest
Billed as the best-preserved medieval monastery north of the Alps, this one-time Cistercian monastery was founded by Alsatian monks in 1147. It was born…
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Freiburg
Dip into the past as represented by artists working from the Middle Ages to the 19th century at this superb museum in a sensitively modernised monastery…
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Freiburg
The forested Schlossberg dominates Freiburg. Take the footpath opposite the Schwabentor, leading up through sun-dappled woods, or hitch a ride on the…
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The Black Forest
Sharp angles contrast with graceful swirls on Frank Gehry’s strikingly postmodern Vitra Design Museum. The blindingly white edifice hosts thought…
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Naturpark Schönbuch Nature Reserve
Swabian Alps Region
For back-to-nature hiking and cycling, make for this 156-sq-km, lushly forested nature reserve. It's interwoven with 560km of marked trails. With a bit of…
