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Detours
 Insider Tips off the Tourist Trail

Detours © Goethe-Institut/ Tobias Schrank

A selfie at the Brandenburg Gate, a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle – all great. But which cities, landscapes and special places in Germany are also worth seeing? Once a month, we take you to a place in Germany that you absolutely must discover!

Detours | Bavarian Forest National Park

Hiking at the Heart of the Wilderness

In the Bavarian Forest National Park, hiking enthusiasts will experience a kind of nature that can be found virtually nowhere else in Germany these days: over 350 kilometres of trails take you through forests, peat bogs and up to mountain peaks.

Panorama view of Lake Rachel. Photo (detail): © Rainer Simonis/Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald Photo (detail): © Rainer Simonis/Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

  • Detours | Pile dwellings in Unteruhldingen

    A Journey Back in Time at Lake Constance

    Lake Constance isn’t only the perfect place for an idyllic holiday – it also gives you the chance to immerse yourself in a bygone era: the pile dwellings of Unteruhldingen take us back in time to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

    How did people in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages live? The historic pile dwellings of Unteruhldingen give us some insights. Photo (detail): © Pfahlbauten/M. Schellinger Photo (detail): © Pfahlbauten/M. Schellinger

  • Detours | Germany’s Iron Curtain Trail

    Experiencing History Along the Green Belt

    Experience the history of divided Germany by bike: the “four-state-border route” – part of the Iron Curtain Trail – follows for the most part the former border between West and East Germany. Today, the country’s first joint nature conservation area following reunification can be found along a line that in the past was marked by barbed wire fencing.

    Scenic nature and history on a cycle tour along the Green Belt: an information sign about the division of Germany, on the former border between East and West Germany, can be seen on State Road 5 near Schrampe in the western Altmark region. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild/Peter Gercke Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild/Peter Gercke

  • Detours | Karlsruhe Palace Light Festival

    The City As a Backdrop for Digital Art

    Though light shows abound, hardly any other is as spectacular as the Schlosslichtspiele light festival at Karlsruhe Palace. If you’re looking for a travel destination with the wow factor this summer, Karlsruhe is the perfect choice!

    A real crowd-puller every year: the Karlsruhe Palace Schlosslichtspiele festival. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/Uli Deck Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/Uli Deck

  • Detours | The Wendland Region

    Traditional Villages and the Spirit of Resistance

    The Wendland region in the German state of Lower Saxony is a great place for fans of the Middle Ages, as many of the villages here are still arranged in just the same way they were in the twelfth century. But what does that mean? Above all, that they are round.

    An aerial view of a Rundling village: Meuchefitz in the Wendland. Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

  • Detours | Wadden Sea

    A Safari Through the Mud

    Germany’s northern coast has been shaped by the wind, the currents and the tides, creating the Wadden Sea. It provides a habitat for some unique wildlife and offers an opportunity to head out in pursuit of the “small five”.
     

    Off on a mudflat safari! Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

  • Detours | Passion plays

    An Ancient Local Tradition in the Bavarian Alps

    It was long considered unthinkable for women or Muslims to take part in a Christian passion play – but it’s certainly possible in Oberammergau nowadays. This local spectacle attracts visitors from all over the world.

    The Last Supper at Passover being enacted during the 2010 Passion Play in Oberammergau. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/imageBROKER/Foto Beck Photo (detail): © picture alliance/imageBROKER/Foto Beck

  • Detours | Walchensee

    Sunshine Reggae in the Alps

    A Caribbean panorama in the Alps, how is that possible? It can hardly be thanks to the weather, and is definitely not because of the easy ocean access. And yet it is not without good reason that Lake Walchensee is dubbed the “Bavarian Caribbean”. So why not pop on your flip flops and your shades – and let’s take a look at what our local Caribbean has to offer.
     

    A slice of the Caribbean in the Alps: Lake Walchensee in Bavaria with its brilliantly green and blue coloured water. Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

  • Detours | The Hauberg System

    A Forest for Everyone

    Sustainable and communal forest management – in an era of forest dieback and climate change this sounds like just the innovation we need for the future. Yet this was already common practice in Germany’s Siegerland region in the sixteenth century.

    Autumnal vibes in the Siegerland region. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Rene Traut Fotografie Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Rene Traut Fotografie

  • Detours | Magdeburg

    Brightly coloured beats drab and grey

    Bauhaus meets East German prefabs and Hundertwasser meets Gothic: Magdeburg is a truly “colourful city”. With two superstars who grew up nearby.
     

    Lustrous facades, colourful embellishments and windows adorned with decorations: expressionist facades of buildings in Magdeburg’s Otto-Richter-Strasse. Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

  • Detours | U8

    Beneath the Streets of Berlin

    There’s nowhere better than Berlin to take a tour by underground train – the U-Bahn – through German history. The capital’s subterranean network of tunnels is a repository of memories of the German Empire, the Second World War and Germany’s division.

    The U-Bahn line U8 crosses Berlin from north to south, stopping at central places such as Alexanderplatz. Photo (detail): © Wikipedia/Phaeton 1 Photo (detail): © Wikipedia/Phaeton 1

  • Detours | Cave houses in the Harz region

    Carved out of rock

    What’s the solution when housing is in short supply? Once upon a time in the village of Langenstein in Germany’s Harz region, people decided simply to carve themselves caves in the sandstone rock. Some of these homes can still be visited to this day – and actually look pretty cosy.

    They look like they have jumped right out of the pages of a fairy tale, idyllic and mystical at once: the historic cave houses in the Harz region. Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

  • Detours | Slinky Springs to Fame

    A Bridge of Many Colours

    There’s no need to travel to London or Venice to cross one of Europe’s most impressive bridge constructions. Simply go to Oberhausen instead, where the “Slinky Springs to Fame” is suspended across the Rhine-HerneCanal.
     

    Let there be light! The Slinky bridge illuminated at night. Photo (detail): © Adobe Photo (detail): © Adobe

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