My husband and I will be going to Germany for three weeks this fall and would like some ideas on what to see. We are not fans of big cities but love to explore small towns.

Beautiful, you have the chance to explore the whole country and not only the South like most of the Fodorites!

Let's start with Berlin. Although you do not like big city, the capital is a must. Full of history, architecture, an extreme diversity of neighborhoods, world-class museums (The Pergamon Museum!)... If you are in Berlin, you certainly include Potsdam (kind of suburb) with its castles and gardens.

North of Berlin there is Mecklenburg, countryside with hundreds of lakes. Lots of romantic castles, many of them have been turned into luxury hotels. The heart of Mecklenburg is Schwerin, a rather small town at a lake with one of the most beautiful castles of Germany. If you go further North, you reach the Baltic coast with white sandy beaches. Most spectacular is the island of Rügen with its chalk rocks.

If you stay in the North but go more to the west you will reach Schleswig-Holstein. There are small fishers' villages with grass-covered houses, like Husum and Büsum. The island of Sylt is Germany's Cape Cod - beautiful landscape, beautiful traditional houses, excellent opportunities to eat fresh oysters and lobster.

After so much countryside, you may like a bustling city like Hamburg. You may make a boat trip to Helgoland, an island composed of red sandstone. In the Northwest, Bremen is a charming city with a wonderful historical center.

One hour to the South, you will find the Münsterland with lots of molded castles and little villages. The city of Münster with its famous 16th-century-city hall (where the treaty of the Whestphalian Peace was negotiated) and a splendid cathedral.

You may do something unusual and visit the Ruhr Valley, a former industrial districts where many old industrial structures have been turned into museums and cultural places.

A must-see is the City of Cologne: The gothic cathedral, a dozen (!) romanesque churches, Roman ruins, medieval buildings...

You must also see Aachen with the cathedral where Charlemagne was crowned exactly in the year 800 A.D.

The former capital, Bonn, is also a nice city to visit, with excellent museums.

Now, you are at the Rhine. This is a fairytale landscape with tons of castles, romantic ruins and charming old villages. You may also visit some of the tributaries to the Rhine, especially the Ahr (the world's northernmost wine-growing region) and the Mosel.

At the southern end of the canyon section of the Rhine you find Frankfurt and Southern Germany begins. Heidelberg, the charming villages of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl are well-known to Americans. Do not miss Würzburg (castle) and Nürnberg! München is a big city, but resembles a small town. Explore the Bavarian castle region (Linderhof, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Wieskirche), see the Alps (Zugspitze) and don't miss to visit some of the lakes at the foots of the mountains (near Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall).

I'm not too sure when the fall is, but here's what I'll be doing in Germany this September-October. I have been to Germany about six times, and have seen much of the country. This time I intend to travel exclusively by train instead of driving a car as has been my past practice. I fly to Frankfurt , and go to Bad Hersfeld where I will unwind from the trip and partake of the local spa. Next, Wurzburg for two days where I will spend some time visiting the Residence, and the town centre. Then two days in Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, from which I will visit the famous pilgrimage church ar Vierzehnheiligen, a Baroque masterpiece by the great architect Balthazar Neumann, whose portrait was on the 50 deutschmark note. Down to Augsburg, reputedly a city worth visiting. On to Bad Durkheim for two days before spending a weekend with friends in Dillenburg, just north of Frankfurt. Dusseldorf is next, then Bremen (and Bremerhaven). I will visit Rostock and Lubeck, two old Hanseatic League towns, before going down to Potsdam to see Sans Souci. Then Weimar, Nurnburg and finally Worms before flying out of Frankfurt. This will take me about four weeks. Should be fun.

ttt

We were just in Germany at Christmas, but based on the descriptions by traveller and adeben I want to go back, especially to see the northern parts!

I highly recommend Bamberg, a lovely old large town (or small city depending on your perspective).

It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site--has both a Pope and Emperor buried there. It was an Imperial city so the public buildings, museums, and such are impressive for a relatively small city.

The Altstadt is lovely--never damaged in the war--and it is a functioning part of the city, not a tourist ghetto. The Regnitz River runs right through the Altstadt, adding to the interest and charm.

It gets enough tourists that there's a good tourism infrastructure, but it's not overrun by bussed-in daytrippers or tour groups like some places.

If either of you is a fan of good beer, Bamberg is one of the world's beer capitals. Has the highest concentration of independent breweries and the highest per capita consumption of beer in Europe (maybe the world, can't remember for certain). And what they consume is prime stuff.

Road and rail connections are very good.

I would highly recommend Schleswig. We stayed at the Ringhotel Strandhalle which was charming (in a "shabby chic" way) with very helpful staff and great location on the yacht harbor. There is so much to see and the town is very manageable. There is the "Wikinger-Haitabu" site which is the presentation of the Viking town of Hedeby - possibly the most important Viking site existing. The Schloss Gottorf has amazing art, both medieval and very modern, as well as 3 "bog" people and lots of history. The town has a cathedral with a spectacular wooden carved altarpiece and a "fishermen's village". From the hotel you could walk to everything except Hedeby. We stayed two nights and could have been happy with three. Also, just an hour away is the Danish town of Ribe which is worth a couple of days by itself!