Dolmen

From Bavaria to the Baltic, the best-kept secrets

Britons flock to France but only a few visit Germany. What are they missing? We asked leading insiders to reveal why more of us should make the trip

Interviews by Ruth Elkins

Published: 05 June 2005 by Independent.co.uk

I can only recommend that British visitors to Germany do what most visitors do: come to Bavaria, my homeland. Bavaria is not only Germany's leading economic area and a world-class hi-tech region, it is also number one on every German's holiday list. This is for good reason: it's located between the River Main in the north and the Alps in the south, the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in the west and the Bayerischer Wald mountain range in the east, and it offers beautiful countryside and cities bustling with life.

Edmund Stoiber
Prime Minister of Bavaria

I can only recommend that British visitors to Germany do what most visitors do: come to Bavaria, my homeland. Bavaria is not only Germany's leading economic area and a world-class hi-tech region, it is also number one on every German's holiday list. This is for good reason: it's located between the River Main in the north and the Alps in the south, the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in the west and the Bayerischer Wald mountain range in the east, and it offers beautiful countryside and cities bustling with life.

Bavaria is also well-known for its wonderful cultural treasures and a long and varied history, which stretches back more than 1,000 years. Outstanding attractions in Bavaria are its wonderful royal castles such as King Ludwig's romantic castle, Neuschwanstein, and the Linderhof Palace. I also recommend a visit to our beautiful state capital, Munich - the site of the legendary Oktoberfest - or to the Northern Bavarian city of Nürnberg (Nuremberg). Both cities will host several matches during the football World Cup in Germany 2006 and will be ideal places for football fans from all over the world.

Bavaria is great for sport-lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. It offers the perfect countryside for everything from parachuting to cycling, mountain hiking to skiing in the winter and summer dips in mountain streams and lakes. I think anyone who visits Bavaria will quickly realise the wide range of culture and traditions in the regions of Altbayern, Franken and Schwaben. One thing is certain: British tourists will get a warm welcome here. Bavarians, after all, are renowned for their hospitality.

Andreas Hallaschka
Editor-in-chief of Merian, Germany's leading travel magazine.

There's no doubt that Germany has a problem attracting British holidaymakers, so it's strange to think that, in the 19th century, it was British tour groups on their Grand Tours that made the Rhine and the wine-making Mosel region so famous. Our image problem has much to do with our recent history, of course. As a young man, I was embarrassed to say I was from Germany and pretended I was from America. Now, though, I'm proud to be from such a varied and beautiful country. For my money, the best place to go is Brandenburg, in eastern Germany where the countryside is wild, wonderful, completely empty and full of pretty country cottages and restored farm houses. You could also try a family working holiday on one of the country's farms.

A lot of what Germany has to offer is available online, not in brochures and perhaps that takes a bit of getting used to. For great working-farm holidays, for example, www.landtourismus.de has a brilliant, English-language section.

I think part of the nervousness which Britons feel about travelling to Germany has to do with the language barrier, but it's completely unfounded: these days you'll be hard pressed to find any German under 30 who can't speak English. And sure, if you find yourself in some small village with an elderly cottage owner, it won't be long before the granddaughter is hauled out to speak to you. I think it's fair to say, the Germans won't eat you alive!

Klaus Wowereit
Mayor of Berlin

Where else could Berlin's mayor recommend as the best place to visit in Germany than Berlin? The German capital is a wonderful, energetic constantly changing city. Go for a look around Potsdamer Platz, now the modern, pulsing heart of the New Berlin, which was little more than a patch of no-man's land behind the Berlin Wall only 16 years ago.

In Berlin, the scars of history can still be seen but the growing together of eastern and western Germany can also be experienced. As well as innovative bars, clubs and restaurants, Berlin has some of the best culture Europe has to offer: classical music, cabaret, jazz, opera, art galleries and museums. They don't call Berlin Europe's New York for nothing.

If the buzz of the city gets too much, then you're just minutes away from the peace and quiet of rural Brandenburg. There, as in Berlin, you'll find many new, good value hotels which make a holiday to Berlin and the surrounding state both an affordable and, I believe, a great experience.

Sabine Christiansen
Talk Show Host

The perfect holiday to Germany for any British tourist would have to start in Hamburg. It's a wonderful Hanseatic city with a certain British flair and will certainly make you feel at home. You should take in a harbour boat trip and visit the ancient Speicherstadt. The city also has some of Germany's best shopping and most chic restaurants.

Do it all. Then head North. Between the North and Baltic seas you'll find the state of Schleswig Holstein. It's just gorgeous there. Waving golden rape seed fields as far as the eye can see, deep blue lakes, wonderful old towns and villages. If you're driving, don't take the motorway to Denmark. Drive along the country roads, visiting Busum, the ancient Dutch-founded town of Friedrichstadt and Husum. Then head for Sylt, Germany's most beautiful island. You'll find wonderful dunes, surf, golf, style and fashion. You can spot the celebrities in Kampen, enjoy long walks on the island's sandy beaches and stay in the beautiful old thatched reetdachhuse cottages. In the evenings, no visit to Sylt is complete without a meal in Sansibar, its most famous beach-side restaurant and wine cellar. It's always full, so reservations are a must. Sansibar, Hornumer Strasse 80 - 25980 Rantum / Sylt. Table reservations: 00 49 651 964 646

Hans Schregelmann
Journalist and Broadcaster

The best place in Germany for a holiday has to be Ahrenshoop. It's a peninsula on the Baltic coast, north-east of Rostock and was once known as the Sylt of the GDR (East Germany). It has wonderful, well-cared-for, sandy beaches, wild forests and a great lagoon called Der Bodden. The area's amazing fish and seafood make a holiday there all the better and being just a two-and-a-half hour drive from Berlin, it's even do-able for a weekend break.

You're better off going for a hotel if you're only going to stay for a few days, though holiday cottages are also plentiful on Ahrenshoop. Ok, so the weather can be cooler than inland - when Berlin is enjoying 30C in the shade, it's only going to hit 20C on the Baltic coast. But it's so beautiful up there: a great place to bike, walk, sail, and take boat trips or just laze around and enjoy the peace. I wouldn't go anywhere else.

Udo Walz
Celebrity hairdresser

Germany is simply beautiful, especially its lakes. I love Lake Constance, near the Swiss border and Lake Fleesen in Mecklenburg, northeastern Germany. But above all I'd recommend the place where I live, Berlin. I am from Schwabia, in southwest Germany, but I've been living on the banks of the River Spree for the past 45 years. Here, you're right at the pulse of things: this is the city where fashions, trends and opinions are made. The German capital offers everything that an urbanite could wish for. Berlin has wonderful romantic parks - the Schlosspark Glinecke or the Pfauerninsel in the west of the city are good places to visit. By the gorgeous canals you can sit in a café and watch the world go past or take a long, leisurely boat trip. And then there are the museums, concert halls, exhibitions, bars and discos. Berlin never sleeps. It's the kind of city where you can discover something new every day, whether on the chic Ku'damm shopping boulevard, or in the trendy districts of Mitte, Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg.

If Berlin ever becomes too small, then you can always go further afield and check out Potsdam, a place where the old royal palaces and majestic gardens are sure to make an impression.

Udo Grebe
Director of German National Tourist Office, UK and Ireland

I find it hard to pin down one place in Germany which I'd recommend. The problem for Germany's tourist industry is also its strength: it is hard to define what Germany is when faced with such varied landscapes and cultures. I'm just as happy exploring its romantic castles as I am enjoying the culture in the central German state of Hessen or having a "pamper-me" break in one of Thuringia's many spa towns. I love this all as much as Germany's wild Baltic coastline and its vibrant capital, Berlin - where UK tourists are now the number one group of visitors. We're certainly working to improve the marketing of German tourism in the UK and perhaps a lot of the problem have to do with the perception about Germany's weather. But, then again, the Germans also have a tendency to believe that it always rains in England.

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