Page 18 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

16  INTRODUCING GERM AN Y DISC OVERING GERM AN Y  17

A Cultural Tour of To extend your trip… Day 7: Dresden
Eastern Germany The Thüringerwaldbahn Stroll around the Baroque
tram pootles through pretty buildings that earned Dresden
• Duration 7 days – but can countryside before arriving (pp172–81) the moniker of
be extended to a 12­day at Friedrichroda, in the “Florence on the Elbe”: the
tour with extra suggestions. Thuringian Forest (pp194–5). Frauenkirche, Brühlsche Terrasse
• Airports Arrive at Berlin, and Hofkirche. Finest of all is the
Leipzig­Halle or Dresden Zwinger (pp178–9). Saxony
international airports and Day 3: Erfurt Elector Augustus the Strong
depart from Dresden Erfurt (pp196–7) is a historic held alfresco balls here; today
International Airport. town with a lively university. there is an excellent gallery. For
Admire the Romanesque and more of Augustus’s glittering
• Transport Trains connect
all destinations in the tour medieval artworks in the Dom court, visit his Grünes Gewölbe The statue of Emperor Wilhelm von Rumann on Karlsplatz, Stuttgart
in 2 hours or less. This tour St Marien and St Severi­Kirche, treasury in the Residenzschloß.
can also be done by car, then browse the craft shops on Day 2: Maria Laach and Day 4: Maulbronn,
but public transport will the Krämerbrücke. Next, visit a To extend your trip… the Rheintal Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart
be easier. If you choose monastic cell in the Augustiner­ The tower of Weimar’s Stadtschloß The bizarre landscapes of Stop by the Maria Laach abbey Tour the UNESCO-listed
to start in Berlin, note kloster, where Martin Luther Sächsische Schweiz (pp362–3) before taking a trip monastery in Maulbronn
that it’s a train journey of studied. The Angermuseum Day 5: Leipzig (pp182–3) and Schloß down the Rhine Valley (pp358–9), (pp306–7) or Ludwigsburg
approximately 3 hours and holds a collection of decorative The fast­paced city of Leipzig Moritzburg (p171) are easily famous for its castles and white (pp310–11), then enjoy the local
30 minutes to Eisenach. arts and paintings. (pp166–7) has a mercantile zeal accessible on day trips. wines. Relax in a Weinstube (bar/ specialities Spätzle noodles with
that overshadows its cultural tavern); those in Bacharach cheese and Maul taschen (large
To extend your trip… weight as a former home of (p359) tend to be housed in old ravioli). Stuttgart (pp312–17) is
An unknown young Bach, who is buried in the timbered buildings, whereas in as synonymous with Weinstüben
This route follows in the organist named Johann Thomaskirche (where he was A Gourmet Tour of Mainz (pp352–5) they’re often in as Munich is with beer halls –
footsteps of giants of German Sebastian Bach first shocked chorister), and of Goethe, who Southwest Germany smarter venues. Try the regional Stetter (Rosen straße 32)
culture through the sights congregations with his immortalized the Auerbachs delicacy of Pfälzer Saumagen serves 200 local wines.
and museums of Thuringia fugal compositions in Keller restaurant in Faust. The • Duration 7 days – but can (sow’s stomach stuffed with
and Saxony. For background pretty Arnstadt (p194). Grassimuseum holds a world­ be extended to a 10-day sausage, potatoes and herbs). Day 5: Baden-Baden
on Germany’s cultural heroes, class collection of decorative tour with extra suggestions. You can be sure of good-
see pp30–35. If you want to arts; alternatively, there’s • Airports Arrive in and To extend your trip… quality food in Baden-Baden
extend your trip, spend a Day 4: Weimar painting and sculpture in the depart from either Frankfurt Frankfurt (pp378–83) is (p305), the “summer capital of
day or two in Berlin (p12) Weimar (pp198–9) is the Museum der Bildenden Künste. or Stuttgart airports. renowned for its Ebbelwoi Europe”. This is also the queen
before heading to Eisenach. birthplace of the Enlightenment • Transport This tour is most (cider). Enjoy it in a tavern in of German spa resorts. Spend
and the spiritual capital of Day 6: Meissen easily done by car. If you the Sachsenhausen district. an afternoon in the health-
Day 1: Eisenach German culture. Discover its In Meissen (p171), the tangled choose to arrive in Frankurt giving waters of the Friedrichs-
Meet three of this tour’s figure­ sophistication in the ducal lanes in the old town are fun to Airport, you might want to bad, then treat yourself to a
heads in Eisenach (pp190–91). Stadtschloß and the Herzogin­ get lost in; then, head up to the spend two days in the city Day 3: Heidelberg sumptuous meal.
Excommunicated Martin Luther Anna­Amalia Bibliothek, then see Albrechtsburg complex before before hiring a car and The must-see of the university
translated the New Testament its private face in the home of visiting the porcelain factory for driving to Trier. town of Heidelberg (pp300–3) To extend your trip…
in the Wartburg in 1521; Lucas Goethe, who worked as a court which the town is synonymous. is its castle. Tour its romantic Tübingen (p320) is a lovely
Cranach the Elder painted his adviser to Duke Carl August. The first china outside Asia was shell by day, then return at night university town and a
portrait, hung in its small Tour the houses of Schiller and produced here in 1710. Learn for seasonal German fare at gateway to Schwäbische
museum; and Johann Sebastian Liszt, then see the last artwork how on factory tours, and see This tour explores Rheinland- Schloßweinstube. In between, Alb (pp318–19).
Bach was born in a townhouse by Cranach in the St Peter und the extravagant 3.5­m (11.4­ft) Palatinate and Baden- enjoy a Studenten kuss (students’
in the old town in 1685. The St Paul church. Finally, relax high decoration that graced the Württemberg, including the kiss), a chocolate praline made
story of his life as a tetchy court with a stroll in Park an der Ilm. dining table of Saxony Electors. Schwarzwald, to uncover the in Cafe Knösel on Haspelgasse Day 6: Schwarzwald
composer is told in a museum. food and wine of southwest since 1830. Schwarzwälder Schinken (local
Germany. If you are travelling ham), trout and Schwarzwälder
Day 2: Gotha in late summer/early autumn, Kirschtorte (Black Forest gâteau
Marvel at the power of look out for wine and harvest laced with cherry liqueur) are
Thuringia’s ducal dynasties as festivals in the region. the delicacies of the Schwarz-
you stroll around old­town wald (pp330–31). Stop off at
Gotha (p193), laid at the feet of Day 1: Trier and Moseltal Hangloch-Wasserfall for
the majestic Schloß Friedenstein. The Romans left behind fine truly spectacular views (p331).
The dukes expressed their monuments in Trier (pp344–7)
court’s magnificence through and a tradition of viticulture on Day 7: Freiburg im Breisgau
culture, gathering superb the south-facing slopes of the Kick back in the pretty town of
Old Masters, antiquities and Moseltal (p349). Follow the river Freiburg im Breisgau (pp328–9).
treasures in a palace museum beneath vineyards that produce See the Münster and either
and building one of Europe’s elegant Rieslings, pausing at buy a cheese sandwich from
first Baroque court theatres. the world’s steepest vineyard, a stall on Münsterplatz, or join
Leave time to discover the Bremmer Calmont (www. students in the cafés of its
palace gardens. The imposing Schloß Friedenstein, in Gotha, located above the old town bremmer-calmont.de). Dresden’s magnificent Frauenkirche cobbled lanes.
For practical information on travelling around Germany, see pp552–9

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Country itinerary template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1)
Date 15th January 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm