Come in if you've been to the following German cities

[wise_rita]

Hamburg
Cologne/Dusseldorf (and general Rhine river region)
Leipzig 
Dresden
Nuremberg
Wurzburg
Heidelberg
And to a lesser extend Hanover, but I won't have time to really do anything

Seeking any and all recommendations for eating/drinking, museums, sightseeing, tours, etc.

I dig getting drunk, learning about WWII and history in general, and seeing old things.

Danke!

[runblondie26]

We spent a couple days in Dusseldorf before heading to Belgium a couple years ago. It was a cute city and easy to fly into and navigate around. We visited the TV tower and strolled down the river in the afternoon, which was pretty.

The highlight was bar hopping around the Aldstadt. In particular, we enjoyed the Alt beer at the Uerige brewery before going across to street to drink schnapps at the Killepitsch distillery. (I was running a half marathon in Belgium later that trip, so obviously this was the optimal way to hydrate.)

[iammalcolmx]

summer

[alleinesein]

I've been to Köln, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden, and Nürnberg.

I was in Germany to go to a bunch of concerts so I only did a few touristy things and I was also there while all of the Christmas markets were going on.  

Köln- Check out the cathedral.  You can easily spend a few hours checking it out.

Düsseldorf- Stop by Uerige for a few beers.  They also have munchies to go with your beer.  www.uerige.de/en/

Leipzig- The zoo is nice.  www.zoo-leipzig.de/en/homepage/  I needed a break from churches and museums so I spent a few hours wandering around looking at animals.

Dresden- so much to do here!  If you dont have a hotel booked yet the Hotel Taschenbergpalais is wonderful and its located across the street from a few museums.  The Frauenkirche has a small museum in the basement and you can also trek up to the top of the dome.  They also offer concerts in the church.  The Old Green vault at the Royal Palace is worth a visit; you do have to pass through a clean room to enter the exhibit.  The Zwinger also has a ton of exhibits to check out.  There is also the Festung Dresden (Dresden Fortress) museum.  Its mostly underground and kinda creepy.  

Nürnberg- I just wandered around the old part of town.  Lots of little shops and restaurants to check out.  I didn't get the chance to visit the courthouse so its on my list of places to visit if I ever make it back. www.memorium-nuremberg.de/

[wise_rita]

Thanks for the tips!

[pbandj]

It's been probably 10 years, but we traveled around Germany and did wine tasting in Wurzburg. It was really cool. I think it was this place: www.buergerspital.de/weingut/index.html

I can't tell if they have wine tasting on their website.

This park is beautiful and is just outside of Dresden, if you are interested in a side trip www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/region/how-to-get-here.html

[osumelissa]

I went to Dresden this past March and loved it! We Old Green Vault at the Palace was fantastic - you have to reserve tickets online ahead of time to guarantee entry (the day we went there were tickets at the box office available still, but it was early March). We spent quite a bit of time walking around the Zwinger, and I loved the Frauenkirche. We walked around a lot along the river and at night you can get fantastic pictures of the old city lit up if you walk across the bridges.

I will look up where we ate and drank because we went to some good places. I loved the hotel we stayed at which was the Innside by Melia Dresden. Great hotel and fantastic location. If you are coming from or going to the train station, it is easy to use the trams.

[wise_rita]

Jul 1, 2015 9:37:16 GMT -5 pbandj said:

This park is beautiful and is just outside of Dresden, if you are interested in a side trip www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/region/how-to-get-here.html

Just yesterday I upgraded Saxony Switzerland from "if the weather cooperates" to "going rain or shine".

Can you tell me about what you did?  How you got there?  We'll just day trip from Dresden, and be back in town for dinner and then an onward train.

[pbandj]

Jul 4, 2015 1:59:56 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Jul 1, 2015 9:37:16 GMT -5 pbandj said:

This park is beautiful and is just outside of Dresden, if you are interested in a side trip www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/region/how-to-get-here.html

Just yesterday I upgraded Saxony Switzerland from "if the weather cooperates" to "going rain or shine".

Can you tell me about what you did?  How you got there?  We'll just day trip from Dresden, and be back in town for dinner and then an onward train.

This was 10 years ago, so I don't remember exactly what we did, but I think it was also a day trip.  We were with a bus group, but it looks accessible from Dresden by train.  I remember walking around and enjoying the beautiful views.  We may have had a tour too, but not sure.  

[alleinesein]

Jul 4, 2015 1:59:56 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Jul 1, 2015 9:37:16 GMT -5 pbandj said:

This park is beautiful and is just outside of Dresden, if you are interested in a side trip www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/region/how-to-get-here.html

Just yesterday I upgraded Saxony Switzerland from "if the weather cooperates" to "going rain or shine".

Can you tell me about what you did?  How you got there?  We'll just day trip from Dresden, and be back in town for dinner and then an onward train.

Add in an extra 15-30 minutes at the Dresden HBF.  They have a few displays scattered about the station that talk about the bombing, the fire and the rebuilding of Dresden.  If you like history you may want to check them out. 

[wise_rita]

Jul 4, 2015 13:33:54 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

Jul 4, 2015 1:59:56 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Just yesterday I upgraded Saxony Switzerland from "if the weather cooperates" to "going rain or shine".

Can you tell me about what you did?  How you got there?  We'll just day trip from Dresden, and be back in town for dinner and then an onward train.

Add in an extra 15-30 minutes at the Dresden HBF.  They have a few displays scattered about the station that talk about the bombing, the fire and the rebuilding of Dresden.  If you like history you may want to check them out. 

That's a great tip, thanks!

[klingklang77]

What time of year are you going? A lot of my answers might change, depending on what time of year you go. 

Hamburg
- eat lots of fish! I went there for a wedding, so we didn't get time to do a ton, but we ate lots of fish and did a cruise of the Harbour. It was nice. Since you are in Australia, fish might not be on top of your list.

Cologne/Dusseldorf- In Koeln see the Dom and eat some mussels and drink some Koelsch. I did go in February, so I think mussels are more popular at that time. I went to a concert in Duesseldorf and met up with friends, so we didn't get to do too much. We did walk along the river, so that was nice. 

Rhein region, Rheingau- I did a nice bike tour from Bingen up to Koblenz. You can see a lot of castles and Lorelei. On the other side of the river there is more wine tasting. I did a cruise with my mom from Ruedesheim to Koblenz as a day trip. That was very nice. There is a train route that goes from Frankfurt to Assmanshausen. I would rent a bike and then take the train to Ruedesheim and ride back down to Wiesbaden or earlier. On the way you can do a lot of wine tasting. In Bingen I like Geschwollenes Herz to eat. Get the Jaeger schnitzel or the wild mushroom schnitzel. It's not so easy to cross the river in this area because a main bridge was blown up in WW2. If you decide to do this, then keep ferry times in mind.

Dresden
- See the church. I went and it was sooooo cold, so I didn't see much. I did like the Gänsedieb for some nice goose. You won't want this if you go in the summer, I think. Definitely try the local cake- Eierschecke or Stollen if you are there at Christmas.

Nuremberg
- I liked the old Nazi party grounds and the museum on site was really interesting. We went to a restaurant called Barfüßer where they make their own beer. We had Nuernberger sausages and also the Pork shoulder (Franconia specialty).

Heidelberg
- I went to the castle and for food we had Maultaschen somewhere (local specialty in Baden-Wuerttemberg)

[wise_rita]

Jul 5, 2015 6:43:10 GMT -5 klingklang77 said:

What time of year are you going? A lot of my answers might change, depending on what time of year you go. 

August, about 4 weeks!

[klingklang77]

Jul 5, 2015 23:47:40 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Jul 5, 2015 6:43:10 GMT -5 klingklang77 said:

What time of year are you going? A lot of my answers might change, depending on what time of year you go. 

August, about 4 weeks!

Ah, OK. Keep in mind some stuff might be closed (restaurants) because it's holiday time, but I'm sure you knew that. If it were Xmas time, then I'd suggest markets.

August is a really nice time for Rhein wine tasting, so I'd definitely check that out. You might get to try some Oktoberfest beer in August as well. That's all I got, lol! Have fun!