This francophile is dragging along a boyfriend who wants to spend a week in Germany. I know exactly where I want to go in France, but I don't know where to go in Germany. We love bicycling and touring old homes and literary sites. We will be there April and wish to travel by train. Any suggestions?

Tess as a Europhile let me get started. If I were dragging a friend around who was interested in historic Germany for a week my first itinerary would probably the Mosel and Rhine valley starting perhaps in Aachen (or to Americans Aix la Chapelle the Capital of Karl der Grosse or to Americans Charlemagne) then maybe to Trier with its Roman ruins, then down the Mosel to Koblenz stopping at the many delightful small towns along the river with particular attention to Berg Eltz, Cochem and Bernkastel. There are many bike trails along the Mosel and indeed a major portion of the highway along the Mosel is restricted to bikers and rollerbladers in late May. From Koblenz I would tour down the Rhine to Mainz perhaps stopping at Braubach to visit the Marksburg castle. In Mainz you could visit the Gutenberg Museum and its majestic Cathedral. From Mainz you are only 30 minutes to Frankfurt Airport and a flight home. Other considerations would be Bavaria for more modern history with stops in Munich, Neuschwantein, Linderhoff, Oberamergau and othe delightful small villages. If you take this option do visit the Wieskirche, though it looks like a simple rural church from the outside, the inside will take your breath away. Another option is Thuringia to Saxony with stops in Eisenach to visit the Wartburg where Luther translated the Bible and the house where J.S, Bach was born, from there to Leipzig to visit Auerbachs Keller where the student Faust met the devil, Thomas Kirche where Bach was Choirmaster. Just outside of Leipzig is the house where Schiller composed "Ode to Joy" later set to music by Beethoven and now the EU Anthem. From there to Dresden which I think is the most spectacular city in Europe for Baroque architecture. Keep posting as your plans mature and I will respond with my 2 cents worth, whatever that is worth. Have a pleasant trip - I am sure both you and boyfriend will enjoy!

If you want history, you must see Berlin! You can tour old homes in Potsdam and visit numerous museums. Two hours south is Dresden and Meissen, again with great options for bicycling and literary sites. You could go to Hamelin (they have a reinactment of the Pied Piper on Sunday afternoons) but it is a lovely little town and very nice. If you are in southwest Germany, then Berchtsgaden (with Hitler's Eagle's Nest, magnificent views and again good bicycling options), Munich has some nice homes and good "beer gardens". The "Romantic Road" has some nice villages.

<BR>Many German cities have close links with writers, Augsburg for Brecht, Luebeck for Mann, and so on. But the strongest hand is that held by Weimar, city of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Herder and Nietzsche, each of whom has a house-museum of his own, plus another for Charlotte von Stein, for 13 years friend of Goethe. Please see http://www.weimar.de/de/museen/n4/4_..._1_content.htm. Weimar sits in slightly hilly country, but with gears not bad for cycling: there's an Imtal cycling trail. Please see www.germany-extranet.net/pdf/bez_weimar_e.pdf<BR><BR>For hill-less cycling I think you might ride downstream along a river. For towns rather than cities you might try the Weser from Fulda or Eisenach through Rotenburg, Kassel, Holzminden, Hameln, Minden, Nienburg, Verden and Bremen to Bremerhafen. From Minden to Bremen you are on the German fairytale road: please see www.csmonitor.com/2002/1126/p17s01-altr.html<BR><BR>For a trip between cities you could choose the Elbe or the Rhine. The Elbe from Prague (for Kafka) through Saxon Switzerland, Dresden, Wittenberg (for Luther), Dessau (for the Bauhaus), Magdeburg, and Hamburg. Or the Rhine, as Charlie B says, from Basel through Strasbourg (for francophiles), Worms (for the Diet), Mainz, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Essen. <BR><BR>If your legs tire, Regional Express trains of German Rail run every hour or every two hours, and most of them take bikes. Please see (in German) <BR>http://www.bahn.de/pv/service/bahn_b...oquellen.shtml, then Bahn &amp; Bike in Niedersachsen und Bremen or indeed any region you choose.<BR><BR>Please write again if I can help further. Welcome to Europe.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London

Tess- you probably have too many suggestions already. As you can tell, almost any region in Germany is loaded with historic, literary and senic sights and travel by train is extremely easy and convenient. Get a good tour guide and pick a region, then repost and I am sure you get more specific info.