Bremen
 

THIS is a new flight destination from Scotland being marketed as a short-break possibility. Does anyone recommend it? I'm afraid to say I know nothing about the place, except that it's the home of Becks bier.

Bremen is a beautiful city.

It has a wonderful old town (the "Schnoor"), a beautiful city hall (with a cellar that houses the very restaurant in Germany with the most extensive wine list), a lot of museums (the finest is the Übersee-Museum - overseas museum) and everything that makes a short-break attractive. Take your chance!

http://www.derschnoor.de/
http://www.ratskeller-bremen.de/
http://www.uebersee-museum.de/

Hmm. Thanks for that, guys. However, can't say that I'm entirely convinced. Still, if the flights are cheap enough, you never know.

Well, in addition to the city itself, there are a couple of interesting places in the surroundings that should be mentioned.

Worpswede, for example, an artists' colony in the moors, surrounded by a very special landscape. Paintings by the early 20th century Worpswede group around Otto Modersohn and Paula Modersohn-Becker can be seen at the museum in Bremen's Böttcherstraße.

Or the seaside resort of Cuxhaven, one of the very few places on the mainland where the mudflats are sandy and safe, so walking opportunities are almost endless at low tide. And you can watch the big ships entering and leaving the mouth of the Elbe. A "must" is the ride on a horse-drawn carriage to the island of Neuwerk at low tide - 13 kms across the then dry bottom of the sea (tour should be booked at least a day in advance).

Hamburg is easy to reach from Bremen, too.