Churches, gardens, places of power and cozy alleys: Places to pause do you good in between, especially on cultural trips. Here are a few recommended places where you can take a break and be by yourself.
Table of contents
1. Augsburg: Moritzkirche - lighting concept and modern sacral architecture
2. Regensburg: The other side of the Danube
3. Munich: A village in the middle of the city
4. Bürgerpark Günzburg: A walk through a landscape painting
5. Nördlingen: Schneidt's garden with 400-year-old oak tree
6. Bad Staffelstein: Spa park with graduation house
7. Coburg: Rosenau Castle, the noble seat of knights
8. Nuremberg: Pleasure stroll at the Zeltnerschloss
9. Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Breathing trail with mountain scenery
10. Freising: Cathedral Hill with St. Mary's Cathedral
11. Weiden: "Birnbeiml" does body and soul good
12. Landshut: Courtyard garden with view and art
Romantic old town with canals and more bridges than Venice, Renaissance town hall with Golden Hall and not to forget the Fuggerei - the oldest social settlement in the world! In Augsburg is home to what are probably the oldest water towers in Central Europe. It is therefore not surprising that the city was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage title in 2019 for its "water management system". The Water World Heritage City Augsburg surprises with many sights, diverse themes - Fugger, Luther, Brecht, Mozart - and an almost southern atmosphere.
The Church of St. Moritz attracts attention with its gleaming white facade. It is 1000 years old, but London designer and architect John Pawson turned it into a sacred building of the future. The lighting concept skilfully sets off the simple new design. The church is a place of clarity, inner contemplation, meditation and tranquility.
This is how you get to Augsburg by train: Plan arrival.
For the English star architect Norman Foster, it is "one of the most beautiful cities in the world": Regensburg lies on the three rivers Danube, Regen and Naab and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its important Gothic buildings.
Across the world wonder of the Middle Ages, the Stone Bridge, from the old town to the other side of the Danube. Here lies the Stadtamhof district with its extensive parks and houses in the typical Upper Palatinate architectural style. This area is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is overlooked by most visitors. For centuries, this was an independent ducal Bavarian town. It was not until 1924 that it became a district of Regensburg.
This is how you get to Regensburg by train: Plan arrival.
As a cosmopolitan city with a heart Munich The city offers castles, museums, churches, parks and places where there is usually a lot going on: Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), Marienplatz, City Hall with Glockenspiel, Alter Peter (Old Peter), the Residenz, the largest city center castle in Germany, the three Pinakothek museums or the Allianz Arena of FC Bayern. Not to forget the English Garden with its famous beer gardens.
But it is also much quieter: On the right side of the Isar River, day laborers once lived in the working-class suburbs of Haidhausen and the Au. Low houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, narrow alleys, backyards with small stores and old trees still bear witness to this past. The residents of the Haidhausen and Au neighborhoods know each other, chat on the street, sit in green backyards in improvised cafés and enjoy the peace and quiet, just like in a village.
How to get to Munich by train: Plan arrival.
Stylish like 200 years ago: The Günzburg park was created in 1814 on the model of English landscape gardens - created by citizens for citizens. The horticultural art of the Biedermeier period has been preserved to this day and is a listed building: hornbeam avenues, a wooden pavilion, a fairy-tale meadow and wooden benches and loungers everywhere for relaxation.
The Bürgerpark is also called "Städtische Anlagen" and connects the inner city of Günzburg with the landscape band along the Danube to the east.
This is how you get to Günzburg by train: Plan arrival.
Noerdlingen is a special medieval town: Its city wall is the only one in Germany that has a fully preserved, walkable and covered 2.7-kilometer-long battlements. From there, views of the winding alleys of the 600-year-old city open up.
At the Deininger Wall, a part of the city wall, the Schneidt'sche Garten is hidden behind a high wooden fence. The former private garden of the haulage contractor Karl Schneidt is an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the old town with its tree population, a small circular path and resting benches. In the center of the garden stands a 400-year-old oak tree.
This is how you get to Nördlingen by train: Plan arrival.
Half-timbered houses, birthplace of the arithmetician Adam Riese, spa with the warmest and strongest thermal brine in Bavaria: Bad Staffelstein shines with its historical heritage, its Staffelberg mountain and modern health tourism.
The spa park with its graduation towers is a place to breathe in and out - an "open-air inhalatorium". In the graduation towers made of native larch wood, healing brine is so finely atomized by blackthorn twigs that it can have a healing effect on dermatological and asthmatic complaints.
This is how you get to Bad Staffelstein by train: Plan arrival.
Coburg is a city of castles, towers, gates, oriels and fountains. The main attraction is the Veste, built on a rock, which is one of the largest castles in Germany in terms of area. Only little known is Rosenau Castle, a knight's seat with pointed arch architecture, located away from the hustle and bustle.
Rosenau Castle sits lonely a few kilometers northeast of Coburg on a hill above the Itz River, surrounded by a large landscape garden. It was created out of the romantic sentimentalism of Duke Ernst I, who wanted to realize his knight's seat here at the beginning of the 19th century. The museum in the castle shows his originally furnished rooms, in which he wanted to combine princely splendor with rural simplicity.
This is how you get to Coburg by train: Plan arrival.
Idyllic location in the middle of the city: The Zeltner Castle rises on an island of the Zeltner Pond, which is surrounded by gardens. The pleasure palace from the 14th century is considered one of the most beautiful manor houses in Nuremberg. While the main building is privately rented, the municipal "Kulturladen", a venue for events, concerts and exhibitions, is housed in an outbuilding.
The imposing manor house is located on Gleißhammerstraße and on the route of several city walks, such as the popular "Von Gärtla zu Gärtla". Just a few steps away, Nuremberg's only man-made waterfall surprises with a drop height of five meters - another haven of peace in the big city.
This is how you get to Nuremberg by train: Plan arrival.
The climatic health resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen lies at the foot of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. As the center of all mountain sports, the market town is popular with many active vacationers and those seeking relaxation.
The respiratory trail, which starts at the Brunnhäuslweg, was created as part of the "Heilklimatische Bewegungstherapie". Two lung specialists developed 13 exercise boards with exercises for chest and abdominal breathing. Those who set out on the nature trail experience 30 minutes of silence while listening to their own inhaling and exhaling during the exercises to strengthen lung function - all with a view of the mountains.
How to get to Garmisch-Partenkirchen by train: Plan arrival.
The cathedral is the landmark of Freising, it stands with its two massive towers lofty on the summit of the Domberg. Colloquially it is also called "Mariendom". Filigree stucco work by the Asam brothers, the high altar painted with the motif of Mary by Peter Paul Rubens and the carving of the Gothic choir stalls are among the impressive art treasures of Freising Cathedral.
A very special place of silence is the Beast Column. Decorated with fighting human figures and dragons, the column depicts the struggle of good against evil and can be found in the crypt under the high altar.
This is how you get to Freising by train: Plan arrival.
Weiden is considered the city of beautiful things: World-famous porcelain companies and the composer Max Reger, who was born here, have given the Upper Palatinate city a good reputation. Gabled houses in Renaissance style, buildings in Art Nouveau style and the 3600 pipes of the organ in St. Michael's Church make it even more interesting for visitors.
On the 631 meter high Dreifaltigkeitsberg near Muglhof - a place of power. The view of the Naab Valley and the Upper Palatinate Forest from the hill is breathtaking. Up here, a chapel and the "Birnbeiml" stand side by side in quiet solitude. The latter is a single sycamore maple that has stood next to the Trinity Chapel for decades, defying wind and weather. Silent and strong.
This is how you get to Weiden by train: Plan arrival.
Highest brick church tower in the world, medieval Trausnitz Castle, Landshut wedding every four years and the Isar River running through the middle of the city: Landshut attracts visitors with its large pedestrian zone, colorful gabled houses from the 15th and 16th centuries and the Hofberg with its castle.
The courtyard garden high above the city around Trausnitz Castle has a long history as a recreational area. Until the 18th century, the Bavarian dukes used the wooded area as a zoo. There is still an animal enclosure here today. The view of Landshut from the castle walls is spectacular, and the art museum built into the mountain is a delight.
This is how you get to Landshut by train: Plan arrival.
Cover photo: Breathe more freely, come to rest, find energy - this works well in the graduation works in the spa gardens of Bad Staffelstein in Upper Franconia © Bad Staffelstein