Germany Activities

The Germans invented naturism and getting outdoors and active, with or without clothes, is a national obsession. Try cycling, hiking, mountaineering, skiing and horse riding - you'll find the trails and facilities impeccable. A cruise along some of Germany's great rivers is a more laid-back option. Another of Germany's cultural traditions - the spa - is an excellent way to recover from any kind of exertion.

Until unification in 1871, Germany was a mosaic of fiefdoms whose overseers ruled from the comfort of a Schloss (palace) or Burg (castle). A sentimental favourite among Germans is the Wartburg in Eisenach, most famous as the site where Martin Luther translated the Bible while in hiding. Less well known is Schloss Weesenstein near Dresden, which has its own brewery and 'upstairs-downstairs' exhibits about life at court. Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam is a perennial crowd pleaser, not least because of its charming gardens. You'll find a similar setup at the baroque Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin, home of the Prussian Hohenzollern clan. The family's ancestral seat - Burg Hohenzollern - is near Tübingen. From a distance, it looks medieval and mysterious, but it's actually a 19th-century neo-Gothic confection, the original long having been destroyed. A similar fate befell Schloss Heidelberg, although much of it survives as a romantic ruin. For more romance, visit the robber barons' hang-outs along the Romantic Rhine, especially the labyrinthian Burg Rheinfels and the pristine Marksburg which, like the Burg Eltz, has never been destroyed. Other outstanding castles include King Ludwig II's delightful Schloss Linderhof and Schloss Schwerin and the Versailles-inspired Residenzschloss in Ludwigsburg.