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Destination Germany

Every epoch has left its mark on Germany's landscape of fertile river valleys, rolling vineyards, and lofty peaks. Roman relics keep company with medieval castles, Baroque palaces with half-timbered farmhouses, and rococo urban mansions with communist-era housing. The country of oompah, cuckoo clocks, and Mercedes-Benz also gave the world Gutenberg, Luther, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Goethe, and Marx. From the days of the Romans and Charlemagne through the Reformation to the present, it has been a tumultuous ride, and the start of the new millennium, marking the end of Germany's first decade of reunification, is a meaningful milestone. Prost!

Munich

Hands and beer steins down, the easygoing and fun-loving capital of Bavaria is the favorite  city of both natives and visitors from abroad. Class and kitsch coexist amicably here -- the former embodied in the glorious, half-mile-long Schloss Nymphenburg and the royal Residenz, home to Bavaria's art-loving Wittelsbach dynasty, and the latter the stuff of Oktoberfest, a fortnight-long tribute to beer and its consequences. Year-round, the Gemütlichkeit is nowhere stronger than in the city's many beer halls, of which surely the best-known is the venerable  Hofbräuhaus, deafening and perennially packed. A much more tranquil refuge is Munich's 500-year-old late-Gothic Frauenkirche, whose twin domes are a city emblem. The gilded statue in nearby Marienplatz was erected in 1638 by the Catholic city in gratitude for its deliverance from the devastating Thirty Years' War. Munich is also known for its superb galleries and opera house, and the lively restaurant scene is Germany's most sophisticated. Fashionable burghers shop on broad, elegant Maximilianstrasse, designed by King Maximilian II himself, and in December artisans sell their wares at the open-air Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market). In the huge, rolling Englischer Garten you can cross-country ski or sunbathe nude, depending on the season. And it's easy to hop on the suburban railway to the lake resorts of Ammersee and Starnbergersee. The S-Bahn also reaches nearby Dachau, where a Holocaust memorial tells the story of those who perished at the concentration camp.

Bavarian Forest

Perfect for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing, this rural, wooded area of Germany next to the Austrian and Czech borders also stands out for its reasonable prices. From one of the low-key local country resorts you can make forays to small urban centers like arts-minded Deggendorff and river-crossed Passau, a Baroque gem. Stop in the city's magnificent Dom at noon for a performance on the world's largest church organ. Or take in the Glasmuseum, showcasing treasures produced by an important local industry. Its focal point is Zwiesel, but master glassblowers work in studios throughout the region. Also region-wide you can visit monasteries and churches adorned with the frescoes of 18th-century Bavarian artist Cosmas Damian Asam, one of a family of artists known for their stucco work and frescoes.

Romantic Road

Picturesque beyond words, the Romantic Road is 260 miles of castles and walled villages, half-timbered houses and imposing churches, set in idyllically pastoral countryside. The art and architecture span centuries, and the rivers Tauber, Lech, Main, and Danube are never distant. Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber is Europe's best-preserved medieval town, studded with turrets and towers. Wieskirche, in a meadow near Steingaden, is rococo. Schloss Neuschswanstein, Ludwig II's most famous castle, is pure 19th century -- as romantic as they come. Soaring and light outside, it is sepulchral and Wagnerian within. At the Residenz in Würzburg, the Baroque era is at its best: the powerful prince-bishops who built it spared little expense in creating astonishing opulence. The Venetian painter Tiepolo created frescoes, including The Four Continents, above a remarkable split staircase by Balthasar Neumann. Augsburg was home of both the wealthy Fugger family and Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Black Forest

The Black Forest is synonymous with cuckoo clocks and primeval woodland: certainly thousands of acres are cloaked in pines, and at least one entire town, little Triberg, goes all atwitter every hour. But the storied Black Forest is at least as noteworthy for the beautiful people who flock to still-stately spa and casino resorts like Baden-Baden and the ultraluxurious Schlosshotel Bülerhöhe, on a forested hilltop high above. And although pleasure is pricey here, not to worry: elsewhere in the area, spa cures and mineral baths are far less costly -- and the fresh, piney mountain air is free. There's boating and windsurfing on the Titisee, and hikers and cross-country skiers follow trails out of nearby Hinterzarten. Westward through the deep Hell Valley gorge is the beautifully restored university town of Freiburg, the region's largest city, with a cathedral, the Münster, that was 300 years in the making.


Frankfurt

Germany goes contemporary in Frankfurt. The city is now Europe's banking capital, a focal point of power. Germany's leading stock exchange, the Börse, is here. Skyscrapers spike the skyline, and prosperity has left the art museums flush with works by Dürer, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, and Renoir, among others. Jazz is popular, and the city has Germany's oldest jazz cellar as well as fall's annual German Jazz Festival. But not everything is modern. Römerberg Square is lined with historic buildings -- the gabled Gothic Römer (City Hall) and the row of half-timbered houses known as the Ostzeile. Frankfurters unwind in traditional ways, too: they head for the nearby Taunus Hills for a brisk hike and a bit of mountain air, or stop for a Apfelwein at Ebbelwei (cider taverns) such as  Zum Wagner, which punctuate the cobbled streets of quaint Sachsenhausen, on the south bank of the Main.

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Excerpted from Germany by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
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