Situated in Germany’s southwest corner is the Black Forest – or Schwarzwald – renowned for its dark conifer…
Times visited: Too many to count!
Cities visited: Hamburg, Berlin, Flensburg, Kiel, Stralsund, Lübeck, Wismar, Munich, Konstanz, Donaueschingen, Speyer, Heidelberg, Würzburg, Bamberg, Weimar, Naumburg, Halle, Goslar, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Potsdam, Aachen, Marburg and Rostock
Towns and villages visited: Friedrichstadt, Heide, Tönning, Husum, Waren, Malchow, Albersdorf, Putgarten, Vitt, Bergen auf Rügen, Binz, Sellin, Prora, Altefähr, Sassnitz, Kloster, Puttgarden, Gammendorf, Ammerland, Walchensee, Wies, Hohenschwangau, Eisenberg, Unteruhldingen, Büsingen am Hochrhein, Triberg, Schiltach, Maulbronn, Lorsch, Messel, Langenhain, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Baunach, Eisleben, Quedlinburg, Hahnenklee, Biesenthal, Dannewerk, Haddeby, town of Helgoland, Königstein, Kurort Rathen, Burg auf Fehmarn, Argenstein, Niederweimar, Waren (Müritz)) and Warnemünde
Islands visited: Rügen, Dänholm, Hiddensee, Fehmarn, Poel, Reichenau, Helgoland and Düne
UNESCO sites visited: 23/52
I grew up only 1,5 hours from the border to Germany, so going to Germany never really felt like going abroad. My family and I have been countless times, often just to stock up on cheap sodas or to drive through it to get to other countries, but we’ve also spent many December weekends at Christmas markets in Schleswig-Holstein, been on a trip to Berlin and had two wonderful holidays by Lake Fleesensee.
Despite this, I didn’t feel like I’d really seen Germany, so when Covid-19 unexpectedly became a pandemic and got my plans for Greenland in the summer of 2020 cancelled, I decided to do something about it. Germany, at the time, had low cases and a great healthcare system, so it felt like a safe choice. I spent five weeks in the country, exploring the north, south and central parts!
My first week was spent at a Stone Age gathering in Albersdorf, a town I came to adore. Afterwards, my family picked me up and together we drove to Stralsund where we based ourselves for eight days while exploring the beautiful islands of Rügen, Dänholm and Hiddensee. On their way back to Denmark, they dropped me off in Lübeck where I stayed for five days and took trips out to the islands of Fehmarn and Poel and the city of Wismar, before taking six trains to get to Munich, where my two-week roadtrip adventure started.
I drove 2,000 kilometers through the German and Austrian Alps, visiting castles, ruins and gorgeous alpine lakes, before making my way to Lake Constance, the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein and a few stops in Switzerland. Afterwards, I drove up through the Black Forest and went hiking above the quaint village of Schiltach before chasing UNESCO sites all the way up to Langenhain near Frankfurt where I visited the Bahá’í House of Worship. Then I drove back to Bavaria to explore the adorable towns of Rothenburg and Bamberg before going north to visit more UNESCO sites and to see the Nebra Sky Disk at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. I then drove to the Harz Mountains and spent two days exploring Quedlinburg and Goslar and going hiking in the mountains. I ended my roadtrip with a long detour to Biesenthal just north of Berlin to visit a friend before driving to Magdeburg where I dropped off the rental car.
My summer journey through Germany ended there, but I returned a month later for a one-day roadtrip through Schleswig-Holstein and a four-day visit to Helgoland, Germany’s only off-shore island! Helgoland is tiny but it’s full of natural beauty and interesting wildlife, so four days was perfect to have time to explore everything and relax in between!
In the summer of 2021, I returned to Albersdorf to attend another Stone Age gathering. In September the same year, I met my former partner in Georgia. He lives in Berlin, so I travelled there to see him several times. I spent many weeks exploring Berlin, and I came to love the city! We also explored Leipzig, Potsdam and Aachen together, and spent a long weekend hiking in beautiful Saxon Switzerland. I also went on a day trip back to Fehmarn to explore the medieval town of Burg.
In the summer of 2022, we discovered the beautiful city of Marburg, and the nearby villages of Argenstein and Niederweimar where the annual Stone Age gathering was held. We ended our summer travels in Germany with a hike along Lake Feisnecksee in the lake district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A few months later, we spent a weekend in the city of Rostock, which is raw and beautiful.
In August 2024, I finally returned to Berlin for two days with family members. It was great to be back, but definitely not enough days for my favourite city!
Germany is a country I will keep exploring and getting to know. It’s so close to home, and it has so incredibly much to offer.
