Europe

Germany

Germany is a country in Central Europe. Its capital is Berlin and its official language is German.

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Europe

Explore Germany

Start with the places that shape the country.

Discover cities, regions and experiences worth building a trip around, then go deeper with practical guides and local context.

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A place to begin in Germany

Town

Bamberg

Bamberg is a town in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, which its tourism board calls a UNESCO World Heritage Site and presents through its hill town, its island town and its market gardeners' district. XTOUR maps Bamberg Cathedral, the New Residence and the Old Town Hall in the town.

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More destinations in Germany

11 destinations

City01

Berlin

Berlin is one of Germany's 16 federal states and, at the same time, the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, as the Berlin Senate Chancellery puts it; its Governing Mayor heads the government of both the federal state and the city.

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City02

Cologne

Cologne (Köln) is a city on the Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia; its Romano-Germanic Museum presents the city's Roman past as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. XTOUR maps places in the city itself, among them the cathedral, Museum Ludwig, the Hohenzollern Bridge and the Chocolate Museum.

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City03

Dresden

Dresden is the state capital of Saxony, on the River Elbe; the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden show their collections in the city in buildings that include the Zwinger with its Semperbau and the Residenzschloss.

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Town04

Füssen

Füssen is a town in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria; its tourism office says it lies in the Allgäu in the far south of Bavaria, directly on the border with Tyrol in Austria, with the Hohes Schloss and the former Benedictine monastery of St. Mang on the ridge above the old town. Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau Castle and the Alpsee lie in the separate municipality of Schwangau, not in Füssen.

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City05

Hamburg

Hamburg is both a city and a German state: the city's official portal says the Senate that meets in its City Hall is the state government of the city. XTOUR maps places in the city itself, among them St. Michael's Church, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the City Hall and the St. Nikolai memorial.

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City06

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city on the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg. The city's own site says it was first documented in 1196, was laid out to a plan and had its castle built in the 13th century, and entered its heyday as capital of the Electoral Palatinate, not least with the founding of its university in 1386; XTOUR maps Heidelberg Castle, the Old Bridge and the Church of the Holy Spirit in the city.

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City07

Lübeck

Lübeck is a Hanseatic city in Schleswig-Holstein whose medieval old town core was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987; the city's tourism site says the decision rested on the planned street layout preserved to this day, the original historic buildings and the skyline of five Gothic brick churches with seven towers. XTOUR maps the Holsten Gate, St. Mary's Church, Lübeck Cathedral and the European Hansemuseum in the city.

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City08

Munich

Munich (München) is the state capital of Bavaria. The Bavarian Palace Administration says the Munich Residenz was the residence and seat of government of Bavaria's dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918.

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City09

Nuremberg

Nuremberg is a city in Bavaria's Middle Franconia region; the Bavarian Palace Department's history of the Imperial Castle says it was first documented as a royal estate in 1050 and that its development into an independent imperial city was consolidated with the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in 1254.

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City10

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital of the German state of Brandenburg. The city describes itself as the former residence and garrison town of the Prussian electors and kings and as a UNESCO World Heritage city of palaces and gardens.

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City11

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city on the Danube in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria. Its tourism board says the Old Town with Stadtamhof has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006 and that in 2021 the Roman Danube Limes was added to the 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire' World Heritage Site; XTOUR maps the cathedral, the Stone Bridge, St. Emmeram's Palace and the Porta Praetoria in the city.

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Guides to Germany

Berlin01

Berlin's Museum Island: the five museums, the Pergamon closure and the tickets

Museum Island is five historic buildings of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin plus a visitor centre, and according to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin one of the five, the Pergamonmuseum, was closed for renovation on 9 October 2026. This guide sets out what each building holds, what the state museums' own pages say about the Pergamon reopening (they give two dates) and how the day tickets and the Museumsinsel-Ticket work.

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Berlin02

Berlin Wall sites of the Berlin Wall Foundation: Bernauer Strasse, East Side Gallery and four more

The Berlin Wall Foundation runs five historical sites on the Wall and the division of Germany and is developing a sixth at Checkpoint Charlie. This guide sets out what is at each one in the foundation's own words, what its pages say about visiting, and what XTOUR does not know.

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Cologne03

Cathedral workshops (Bauhütten): what UNESCO registered, and what Cologne's does

In 2020 UNESCO selected the cathedral workshops of five European countries, the Bauhütten, for its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices: a register for ways of keeping heritage alive, not a list of buildings. This explainer sets out what was registered, which 18 workshops applied, and what the workshop at Cologne Cathedral says it does.

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Cologne04

Cologne Cathedral tickets: what the visit ticket covers, the tower and the treasury

According to Hohe Domkirche Köln, Cologne Cathedral has charged for sightseeing visits to its interior since 1 July 2026, while services, prayer and lighting a candle stay free through a separate entrance. This guide sets out what the cathedral's own pages say about each ticket, the tower and the Treasury, and where those pages disagree.

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Munich05

Visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, as the memorial sets it out

The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site stands on the grounds of the camp the Nazi regime opened in March 1933, in the town of Dachau. This guide sets out, in the memorial's own words and from its own pages, how a visit works: entry, guided tours, audio guides, the film and exhibitions, the rules of conduct, and what the memorial says about children.

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Dresden06

Visiting the Frauenkirche in Dresden: open church, services, tours and the dome

The Frauenkirche is a working church run by a foundation, so a visit depends on what the church calendar holds that day. This guide separates what the Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden says is free (the Open Church and the prayer-and-tour at noon) from what is ticketed (the dome ascent, gallery tours, the film and concerts), as its pages stood on 9 October 2026.

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Dresden07

Dresden's Royal Palace, Green Vault and Zwinger: which museum is where, and which ticket covers it

The Royal Palace and the Zwinger in Dresden are two buildings of one operator, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and each houses several museums. This guide maps which museum sits in which building, explains why the Historic Green Vault is sold apart from every other palace ticket, and records what the SKD's own pages said on 9 October 2026.

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Nuremberg08

Christmas markets in Nuremberg, Dresden and Cologne: how they differ and who announces the dates

Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt and Dresden's Striezelmarkt each centre on one square and publish their dates on one official site; Cologne has several markets run by different companies, which open on different days. This guide compares the three as their organisers' pages described them on 9 October 2026, including where those pages disagree about which market is oldest.

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Nuremberg09

German food guide: what PDO and PGI names protect, from Lebkuchen to Kölsch

The EU register lists 98 German food and drink names as protected designations of origin or protected geographical indications, from Nürnberger Lebkuchen and Dresdner Christstollen to Münchener Bier and Kölsch. This guide reads the register's own files to say what each label ties to a place, and where XTOUR could not read the file.

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Cologne10

Dom, Münster, Schloss, Burg, Residenz: German heritage words on signs and tickets

A Dom is not always a cathedral, a Münster sometimes is, and the same German building can be filed as both a Schloss and a Burg by the body that runs it. This explainer defines each word through the pages of the buildings that carry it, from Freiburg Minster and Cologne Cathedral to Heidelberg Castle and the Munich Residenz.

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Dresden11

German wine regions explained: the 13 Anbaugebiete and what their names protect

Germany has 13 wine-growing regions, from the Ahr and the Mosel to Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen, and each region's name is also an EU protected designation of origin. This explainer sets out how the German Wine Institute describes each region, what the EU register adds, and where region names and real boundaries do not line up.

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Cologne12

Germany's intangible heritage: the ten UNESCO entries and the national inventory

UNESCO's intangible heritage site lists ten entries for Germany, from organ craftsmanship and cooperatives to timber rafting and midwifery, and seven of them are shared with other countries. This explainer gives each entry in UNESCO's words, sets it beside Germany's own national inventory (168 entries in 2025, 173 by March 2026), and says where the two official accounts differ.

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