My sister and I are toying with the idea of visiting Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne.
Any recommendations - having been to Prague, Vienna and Budapest in the past, is the %26quot;atmosphere%26quot; similar?
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um, not very much information to go here from your post. When, how much time, interests, mode of travel, budget, etc.
How different are Quebec, Calgary and Toronto? Do they have similar atmospheres? Every city is different from other cities.
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What!!!!!! you%26#39;ve left out Germany%26#39;s second largest city, Hamburg, otherwise you would have the five largest ones. To me, many of Germany%26#39;s best sights are found in smaller towns and the countryside. All major cities in Germany were heavily damaged in WW II, so for the most part you are looking at things recreated in the 1950s in them, or in the case of Dresden at least one in the 2000s. There are pristine smaller places throughout Germany that have no war damage at all. I would rethink your plans, and include in the mix of places you want to visit a few large cities, charming smaller towns, medieval castles, more modern palaces, monasteries, churches, some modern sights, vineyards, and some mountain scenery.
In and around almost anywhere in Germany should be at least several weeks%26#39; worth of excellent sights. After all, Germany has over 30,000 castles and palaces alone, so you can see that there is no shortage of things to see.
As I live in, and love, Stuttgart and the surrounding state of Baden-Wuerttemberg of which it is the largest city and capital, I always recommend visiting it. It is a premiere tourist destination in Germany with lots to see and do.
A few useful websites:
www.baden-wuerttemberg.de Baden-Wuerttemberg
www.tourismus-bw.de Baden-Wuerttemberg tourism
www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de for the excellent castles, palaces, monasteries and gardens operated by this German state
www.stuttgart-tourist.de Stuttgart tourism, where the automobile was invented and the excellent Mercedes Benz and Porche Museums, the world%26#39;s first modern TV tower completed in 1956 (see the earliest fore-runner of the Toronto Tower and the Space Needle) which has an observatiuon deck, Europe%26#39;s largest combination zoo-botanical garden Wilhelma ( www.wilhelma.de ) set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace, Germany%26#39;s largest city with vineyards and extensive ones making it a rarity in Europe for a large city ( www.stuttgarter-weinwanderweg.de ), many other excellent museums, and world-reknown ballet and excellent opera. Perhaps two very large special events will be on during your visit, the Weindorf (Wine Village www.stuttgarter-weindorf.de ) from 26Aug to 6Sept, and the world%26#39;s second largest beer festival which is at the same time the world%26#39;s largest fun festival, the Cannstatter Volksfest ( www.cannstatter-volksfest.de ) from 25Sept to 11Oct.
www.esslingen.de Esslingen with its well preserved medieval center
www.ludwigsburg.de Ludwigsburg which has Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), the Swabian Versailles, with several days worth of excellent things to see such as the extensive gardens and the longest and best palace tour that I%26#39;ve been on in Europe
www.schwaebischealb.de Swabian Alb tourism, with its numerous castles and caves, and excellent cliffside scenery, my favorite area of Germany
Hohenneuffen (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), the largest castle (fortress) ruin of the Alb
www.burg-hohenzollern.com and www.schloss-lichtenstein.de (latter only in German, where they recently finished filming Sleeping Beauty), two fairytale like castles of the Alb, Hohenzollern Castle and Lichtenstein Castle
www.tuebingen.de the old college town of Tuebingen with its hilly cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, castle, interesting nontourist shops, and one of Europe%26#39;s oldest universities
Bebenhausen (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), a very pleasant well preserved medieval monastery just north of Tuebingen
www.metzingen.de Metzingen home to Hugo Boss with Germany%26#39;s most factory outlets for some inexpensive shopping
www.bodensee-tourismus.com Lake Constance with the Swiss Alps across the lake with Meersburg ( www.meersburg.de ) being the loveliest town which also has Germany%26#39;s oldest castle
www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info Black Forest
There%26#39;s much more to do and see in this area, I have only included some of my favorite places to repeatedly revisit. Note that with the exception of the Stuttgart places mentioned, all are in smaller towns or the countryside. I would rethink your plans of visiting only large cities. And in almost all the places I%26#39;ve mentioned although excellent to visit, there will be few German tourists and almost no foreign one, making for a %26quot;real%26quot; German experience.
All of the places mentioned can theoretucally be accessed using a Baden-Wuerttemberg group (2-5 people) day train ticket for 28€ for a day%26#39;s travel on any means of public transportation (regional trains, S-bahns, U-bahns, trams, buses) within this state excluding the fast long distance IC, EC, and ICE trains, and no travel before 9AM on weekdays. In and around Stuttgart the VVS local day ticket is even much cheaper. However, many more rural sights such as those castles are best accessed by car, and there are other interesting things to see nearby with a car.
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