Most Colourful Street in Germany
| | |

Most Colourful Street in Germany

You may have come across urban art before (for example, here and here), but I bet you have never seen anything like the Kiefernstrasse in Düsseldorf. Where to find the Most Colourful Street in Germany Today, the Kiefernstrasse – located a few hundred meters to the east of Düsseldorf’s central station and just around the…

Apple Trees, Windswept Dikes and the Charms of Palookaville
| | |

Apple Trees, Windswept Dikes and the Charms of Palookaville

The Altes Land, a few kilometres outside of Hamburg, is Europe’s largest fruit orchard. More than 10 million cherry and apple trees are growing here on the southern bank of the Elbe river, inviting you to stroll through a sea of colour and scenic beauty. That was what we had in mind when we boarded…

Hamburg St Pauli – Hardcore with a Heart of Gold
| | |

Hamburg St Pauli – Hardcore with a Heart of Gold

St Pauli is the oldest of Hamburg’s Szeneviertels, although you would not have called it a “trendy neighbourhood” when people began to settle here in the late Middle Ages. St Pauli started its life as Hamburg’s messy attic: everything that the municipal administration did not want inside the city walls but, for various reasons, did…

The Hoods of Hamburg: Wealthy and Stylish
| |

The Hoods of Hamburg: Wealthy and Stylish

In Germany, more even than in other European countries, the most interesting parts of major cities can be located in the “trendy neighbourhoods”, the Szeneviertel as the Germans call them – a term which, perhaps inadvertently, references the world of the theatre. Inadvertently or not, however, the analogy feels appropriate because these quarters appear to…

A Visit to the Lakes of Bad Waldsee
| |

A Visit to the Lakes of Bad Waldsee

Lake Constance – located on the Austro-German-Swiss triangle of borders – is one of central Europe’s great tourist attractions, but it is not perfectly suited for everybody’s taste. My personal problem with Lake Constance concerns its sheer size: should not a lake represent the idea of a confined space, with clearly discernible shorelines wherever you…

Stairways to More Stairways on the Stäffeles of Stuttgart
| | |

Stairways to More Stairways on the Stäffeles of Stuttgart

Some cities leave you a choice of where to go for an easy hike. You can pick between a walk alongside a lake or a river, a stroll through the gardens of an ancient castle and a journey to a beauty spot up a hill. But not all cities are quite so generous. Some cities,…

Two-and-a-Half Rivers Tübingen with a Thousand Scenic Views
| |

Two-and-a-Half Rivers Tübingen with a Thousand Scenic Views

Tübingen is Germany’s two-and-a-half river city but any resemblance to Pittsburgh stops right there. There are no steel furnaces in two-and-a-half rivers Tübingen, no ketchup factories (labeled H. J. Heinz or otherwise) and no world-famous sports clubs – Tübingen’s soccer team plays all the way down in Germany’s sixth tier. Instead, you will get plenty…

Panoramaweg of Baden-Baden – Germany’s Most Beautiful Hiking Trail
| |

Panoramaweg of Baden-Baden – Germany’s Most Beautiful Hiking Trail

The southern German spa town of Baden-Baden has been attracting visitors since the dawn of the tourism age in the 19th century. It is renowned for its beauty … … as well as for its historic sites that include the elegant casino where the Russian writer Dostoevsky conducted intensive research for his novella The Gambler…