Hanover
This is how you get to Hannover by train: Plan arrival.
Maschsee, Herrenhausen Gardens, Adventure Zoo - Hannover has a lot to offer. The city on the Leine is also a real insider tip for city explorers: by bus and train, by bike or even by canoe, the state capital can be wonderfully explored on a weekend.
Many travel offers already include a weekend ticket for public transport, and Hannover also has a well-developed streetcar network. But at least in the summer months, the bicycle is the mode of transport of choice. In Hannover, you can reach your destination quickly by pedaling and conquer the city according to your own wishes. You can rent a bike at one of the many bike stations (Call a Bike, Nextbike, Step) - and off you go. For a first orientation, we recommend a short trip to the Maschsee and then across the Leine for a "Radler" in one of the beer gardens in the colorful district of Linden.
A special tip is also the Nature Pure Package, including overnight stay and a great excursion program to actively discover Hannover.
Continue over the Dornröschenbrücke and into the Nordstadt - at the latest now the first hunger should announce itself. Either you stay in the Nordstadt and try out great restaurants like Locorito in Nelkenstraße. Or you can continue on to List, where you'll find plenty of culinary options, for example at Glücksbringer or Vietal Kitchen, for those who like Asian food.
The adventure zoo in Hanover lives up to its name. More than 20,000 animals in seven themed worlds can be admired here. You can look lions and tigers right in the eye or experience how polar bears and seals swim along behind glass right under your nose. And if you still want to be amazed afterwards, you only have to go once around the corner to the "Panorama am Zoo": At the world's largest 360-degree nature panorama, you can immerse yourself in the fascinating world of Amazonia.
To make the discovery day perfect, we change the means of transport: From the bicycle we now go into the canoe. Paddling down the Leine in the heart of Hanover, you quickly forget that you are actually in a big city. The river meanders idyllically through the Calenberger Neustadt, and from the boat, completely new perspectives open up. It goes past romantic corners and lush jungle greenery and under historic bridges to the Leineschloss and the Fährmannsinsel in Linden. There, in the beach bar "Strandleben", you can relax in a deck chair with a coffee or cold drink and review the impressions of the zoo, the primeval forest panorama and the river tour.
An eventful day deserves a fitting conclusion. Your energy stores are best recharged with a typical North German rustic dinner. Lower Saxony's cuisine offers true specialties such as kale with Bregenwurst, Calenberger Pfannenschlag or Steinhuder Aal, but also the asparagus from Burgdorf, Nienburg or the Lüneburg Heath makes the hearts of all gourmets beat faster.
The meal is best crowned with a Welfenspeise for dessert and a Lüttjen Lage for the finale. This cult drink from Hanover is drunk from two glasses at the same time, with the Kornbrand flowing from the top of the schnapps glass into the local draught beer and then enjoyed together - a tricky but always fun affair.
After a day full of nature impressions, it becomes cultural on Sunday. On a walk through the city, the guide will take you to the "Red thread" to the most beautiful sights in Hannover's city center. The information brochure contains interesting and amusing facts about the 36 sculptures, sights and installations that lie along the way: You'll pass the Aegidientor and the Spartan Stone, Wappenportal, Waterloosäule and, of course, the Kröpcke with the Kröpcke Clock, one of the landmarks of the state capital.
If you want to delve deeper into art and culture, you can also visit one of the museums along the Red Thread along the way: Museum August Kestner, the city's oldest museum, showcases art dating back 6,000 years, the Historisches Museum highlights Hannover's history, and Galerie Kubus features eight exhibitions of contemporary art.
More information about Hanover's street art can be found here: Streetart - Hanover's colorful boulevards
An absolute must is a visit to the Herrenhäuser Gardensone of the most important baroque gardens in Europe. Here you can stroll stately through the geometrically laid out landscape garden and feel like the Guelphs while your gaze wanders over the artfully designed flower beds, unique trees, fountains and ponds. Take your time: The garden is nearly a kilometer long, more than half a kilometer wide - and seems almost endless in its splendor. Don't miss the tropical and orchid house in the north of the gardens!
The adjacent Georgiengarten to the east is also part of the complex. In summer, you can sit down on one of the large meadows for a picnic. Or you can pay a visit to the German Museum of Caricature and Drawing - in short, the Wilhelm Busch Museum - just around the corner.
Did you know that you can also go on a cruise in Hannover? And that's with the ÜSTRA passenger ships between the shores of the 2.4-kilometer-long Maschsee. The pier on the eastern shore is one of the most beautiful places to enjoy the sunset in Hannover. The cozy beer garden of the restaurant-bar "Pier 51" right next door is also perfect for this. The evening play of colors between sky and water is the ideal impression to keep Hannover in best memory.
Cover photo: Perfect end: In the Beach Club above the rooftops of Hanover HMTG / Martin Kirchner
By the way, you can find tips on how to travel comfortably and inexpensively on long-distance and local trains with Deutsche Bahn here.
