Germany

A view of a VIVA cruise ship: very long and narrow and just 3 stories high.

Moselle River cruise with VIVA Cruises: A review

A thorough description and review of a Moselle river cruise with Viva Cruises: the ship, the cabin, the food and drink, the itinerary, etc.

Two painted white horses - just their heads - on a merry-go-round with the colorful painting of the center part of the carousel visible behind them.

The 8 best Hamburg Christmas Markets (+13 more!) for 2024

Tips for visiting the best Christmas markets in Hamburg, Germany, plus a listing of all the rest: 20 in all!

Looking from the foot of the bed, a double bed with red headboard and, above that, the words DOCK 6.

Mercure Hotel Hamburg City: a review

Despite being part of a chain, Mercure Hotel Hamburg City is far from standard, at least in its décor. Read my review here.

A float moving through a crowd full of large figures of court jesters with the typical jester hats.

Mardi Gras around the world – and Mardi Gras food!

Mardi Gras around the world has morphed into a range of different pre-Lenten celebrations. Read here about how different countries celebrate!

Rhine Valley castles near Bacharach, Germany

Charming Bacharach Germany is the perfect home base to visit the Rhine Valley castles of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO site.

A 3-storey building of stone that looks quite dirty with black soot. Two arches on the ground floor straight through the building. The 2nd and 3rd storeys are lined with arched windows with simple half-plllars between them. On the left side of the building there is an additional 4th storey, making that end a short square tower.

Trier Roman ruins: Germany’s Roman capital

The Trier Roman ruins in Germany make up a single UNESCO World Heritage site. Check out the Porta Nigra, which is remarkably well-preserved.

Things to do in Baden-Baden, Germany

Plenty of pleasant things to do in Baden-Baden, Germany. Stroll the historic thermal town, soak in a spa, visit a museum, or see breathtaking views over the Black Forest.

A large hall with a checkerboard floor of marble, pillars along the walls, a large glass dome in the center of the ceiling.

23 fun facts about Wiesbaden, Germany

Here are some fun facts about Wiesbaden, Germany, a historic thermal town. Not as as famous as Baden-Baden, but it’s got plenty to offer.

Thermal spa town Bad Ems, Germany

The core of Bad Ems, Germany is essentially unchanged since its days as a thermal spa destination for the elite of Europe.

Things to do in Freiburg in one day

Freiburg, Germany, is a lovely little city with narrow cobbled streets, charming architecture, and a gorgeous cathedral. Read here about all the things to see and do in Freiburg in 1 day.

What to see in Frankfurt in 1-2 days

You’ll only have a short time in Frankfurt? This article will help you decide what to see in Frankfurt in 1-2 days: must-sees and lots more options and ideas so you can make the best of a short city trip!

Taking the waters at European hot springs

In the 19th century, European hot springs became gathering places for the rich and titled, and the historic thermal towns that grew around them still exist today. Read about them here!

A view across a beach to the water, but what is in focus is in the foreground: a twist of barbed wire

The Liberation Route Europe: WWII battlefields and more

The Liberation Route Europe, its WWII battlefields and museums: it’s important to stop and acknowledge the world-changing events of WWII.

Nuremberg Documentation Center

Click to read about Nuremberg Documentation Center, one of the best museums on World War II in Germany, home of Hitler’s Nazi party rally grounds.

A small building in the middle of a street, with a uniformed man in front of it, holding a US flag.

WWII and Cold War sites in Berlin

Berlin is a wonderfully diverse and dynamic city and, for a tourist with an interest in history, there are plenty of WWII and Cold War sites to visit. Here’s a complete list!

A maritime-themed weekend in Hamburg

A weekend in Hamburg delving into its history as a maritime center. With lots of recommendations of things to see and do in Hamburg.

Burghausen Castle looms over the town of Burghausen. This photo only shows a part of it. I think the only way to photograph the whole castle would be from the air.

Lovely Burghausen Castle

I don’t see why Burghausen Castle isn’t on the German castle must-see list. It’s among the best medieval castles I’ve ever seen.

two glass mugs printed with a picture of Oldenburg.

What makes German Christmas markets special

It’s funny: most countries in Europe have Christmas markets of some sort. Yet Europeans travel to visit the ones in Germany.

The Reichstag dome as seen from the roof

Touring Reichstag Dome for a Wider View of Berlin

Made of steel and glass, the new dome of the Reichstag echoes the old one that was there originally, and offers a 360-degree view over Berlin.

The Stasi Museum Berlin looks like an ordinary office building from the early 1960s.

Stasi Museum Berlin: The Dark Heart of East Germany

At the Stasi Museum in Berlin, it becomes clear how the Stasi managed to keep everyone under control for so long. Read about it here.

Flat metal disks, piled haphazardly, covering the floor. Each has a simple face, most of them with a round O for a mouth as if screaming.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin

I was apprehensive about visiting the Jewish Museum in Berlin, but it turned out to be an excellent museum with the right mix of information and emotional effect.

street art at Haus Schwarzenberg, Berlin

Street Art in Berlin with Alternative Berlin Tour

The meeting place for the street art tour by Alternative Berlin Tour was easy for me to find. I looked for the guide at the base of the Berlin Television Tower in front of the Starbucks. I loved the irony of starting an alternative walking tour in front of a Starbucks. Ben from New Zealand, our tour guide…

Getting a visa was no easy task unless you had official business in West Germany or elsewhere in the world.

Berlin’s Palace of Tears

Walking into the Palace of Tears is stepping back in time. The floor tiles, the wall clock, the “modern” design of the building: all hearken back to a 1960s aesthetic in interior design. Standing on East German territory since 1962, the Palace of Tears was an addition to the older Friedrichstraße train station. This station…

souvenirs available to East German tourists when they visited East Bloc countries. The sign explaining them states "Wall units displayed Russian dolls or other products from the series Knicknackery and Dust-gathery until they were finally stowed away in the cellar." DDR Museum, Berlin

A Peek into East Germany at the DDR Museum

In my last post, I wrote about the Berlin Wall as a gash across the city. What brought me to the Berlin Wall Memorial was my visit just the day before to the DDR Museum in Berlin. That museum and its hands-on portrayal of life in the former DDR (called the German Democratic Republic or GDR in…

the view of the restored piece of the Berlin Wall in the Berlin Wall Memorial

The Berlin Wall Memorial Illuminates Berlin’s Divided Past

The consequences of the division of Berlin by the Berlin Wall (1961-1989) are visible all over the city. The Wall was a wide, empty gash through the city, and that gash has, ever since the Wall “fell” in 1989, been repurposed in a variety of ways. In some places, buildings encroach on the space: Potsdamerplatz is a…

a daytime shot of the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

The night I arrived in Berlin was full of color and light: the annual Festival of Lights was underway. A light show projected onto the Brandenburg Gate kept the crowds entertained in the cold autumn air. Walking the short distance from the Brandenburg Gate to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe meant, both…

The Town Musicians of Bremen

A Grimm Fairy Tale Once upon a time, a rooster, a dog, a donkey and a cat, realizing they’d outlived their usefulness and under threat of being eaten or killed, set out toward Bremen. Their plan was to make a living as musicians: the Town Musicians of Bremen. On the way, they passed a cottage…

A Weekend in Bremen, Germany

My husband and I recently spent a weekend in Bremen, which is about a two-hour trip from home. We didn’t choose Bremen because of anything in particular except that we wanted a weekend away, and we also felt we needed to be close enough to get home quickly if anything went wrong with the three…

St Petri Dom in Bremen, Germany

If you visit the center of the German city of Bremen, you can’t possibly miss seeing St Petri Dom, the huge church whose massive, chunky twin spires dominate the central squares. St Petri Dom doesn’t have the beauty or grace of, for example, Notre Dame in Paris. As a matter of fact, my first comment…