Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [6]
SAMBA FESTIVAL mid-Jul
This orgy of song and dance Click here draws around 90 bands and up to 200,000 visitors to Coburg.
KINDERZECHE 3rd week of Jul
Ten-day festival Click here with children performing in historical re-enactments, a pageant and the usual merriment, held in Dinkelsbühl.
WAGNER FESTIVAL late Jul-Aug
This prestigious opera and music festival Click here is held in Bayreuth.
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SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER
ERNTEDANKFEST late Sep/early Oct
Rural towns celebrate the harvest festivals with decorated church altars, processions (Erntedankzug) and villagers dressed in folkloric garments.
OKTOBERFEST mid-Sep–early Oct
Munich’s legendary beer-swilling party Click here. Enough said.
FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR mid-Oct
The world’s largest book fair Click here, with 7300 exhibitors from over 100 countries, comes to Frankfurt.
ST MARTINSTAG 10-11 Nov
This festival honours the 4th-century St Martin, known for his humility and generosity, with a lantern procession and a re-enactment of the famous scene where he cuts his coat in half to share with a beggar. This is followed by a big feast of stuffed, roasted goose.
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DECEMBER
NIKOLAUSTAG 5-6 Dec
On the eve of 5 December, German children put their boots outside the door hoping that St Nick will fill them with sweets and small toys overnight. Ill-behaved children, though, may find only a prickly rod left behind by St Nick’s helper, Knecht Ruprecht.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS late Nov-24 Dec
Mulled wine, spicy gingerbread cookies, shimmering ornaments – these and lots more are typical features of German Christmas markets, held from late November until 24 December. Nuremberg’s Christkindlmarkt is especially famous.
SILVESTER 31 Dec
In Germany, New Year’s Eve is called Silvester in honour of the 4th-century pope under whom the Romans adopted Christianity as their official religion. The new year is greeted with fireworks launched by thousands of amateur pyromaniacs.
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Itineraries
CLASSIC ROUTES
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CITY DELIGHTS
BIGGEST HITS OF THE SOUTH
ROADS LESS TRAVELLED
MID-GERMAN MEANDERINGS
BEST OF THE BALTIC
TAILORED TRIPS
CASTLES & PALACES
CATHEDRALS & CHURCHES
GERMANY IN THE SLOW LANE
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
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City Delights Two Weeks / Berlin to Hamburg
Bookended by great cities, this route offers some of the best culture, character and architecture the country has to offer. Kick off in Berlin with its top-notch museums, old and bold architecture and nice-to-naughty nightlife. From here head south to Dresden, sitting proud and pretty in its baroque splendour right on the Elbe River. Next stop is Munich, where an evening in a beer garden is the perfect finish to a day of palace and museum hopping. Next up is the Romantic Road, where medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a veritable symphony of half-timbered houses. Cut west to historic Heidelberg, idyllically serenaded by an ancient fortress, then north to Worms and Mainz, with their fantastic Romanesque cathedrals. Follow the Rhine River through the fairy-tale scenery of the Middle Rhine to cosmopolitan Cologne for a spin around Germany’s grandest Gothic cathedral. Wrap up your trip in lovable Bremen and open-minded Hamburg, which welcome you with maritime charm.
Prepare for a roller coaster of urban treasures on this 1700km journey that takes in progressive big-city beauties, medieval metropolises mired in history and elegant residential towns shaped by royal visions.
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Biggest Hits Of The South Two Weeks / Frankfurt to Frankfurt
Start your exploration in Frankfurt, where you can soak up culture in world-class museums, potent cider in traditional taverns and views of the spectacular city skyline from the river promenade. Next up is Koblenz, dramatically located at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. It’s the gateway to the Romantic Rhine, a scene-stealing combo of steeply terraced vineyards, lordly medieval castles and cute higgledy-piggledy