Germany: Hamburg to Schwetzingen

After almost 3 weeks taking in the sights in this part of Germany, I can honestly say we needed a whole lot more time because there’s a whole lot more to see beyond what’s in this blog.

Our starting point, HAMBURG is Germany’s second largest city after Berlin and it’s extremely walkable and easy to navigate. A port city, with an active river area with dozens and dozens of canals that are crisscrossed by bridges (2500 of them) and interesting architecture, we thoroughly enjoyed our time here.

Apparently, Hamburg has the highest concentration of millionaires in Germany, so the shopping is excellent and indeed many people visit Hamburg for this very reason. Here’s some of what we saw:

BREMEN has so much to offer. Easy walking to places that filled the tourist platter with history, food, drinks and a little shopping.

MUNSTER rated as my favourite town. I loved that everyone here cycles – the old, the young and everyone in between. Designated cycle lanes move people rapidly. I also loved the Alstadt which is picture perfect, made for: strolling, looking in the very welcoming shops, watching the passing parade over a strong coffee and lapping up a good museum.

DUSSELDORF was our next stop. Modern and larger than the previous towns, it fairly hummed along with good walking and interesting sights. Invictus Games will be held here in September.

KOBLENZ, located on the junction of the Rheine and Moselle Rivers is an easy town to like. There’s loads of good walks along the rivers, interesting architecture, a laidback atmosphere and it serves as the jumping off point for Rheine River boat tours.

We spent a day on the Rheine taking in the sights of this UNESCO listed area for the 6 hour journey to Rudesheim. Many castles, many vineyards and many cute towns dot both sides of the river. It was pretty magical. Hourly trains whisk you back to Koblenz.

Another way to see this area in a slower way would be to cycle along the river and stay in the little villages along the way. Maybe next time.

TRIER, close to the Luxembourg border is hailed as Germany’s oldest city. In Moselle wine country, Trier was an excellent town to spend a few days. We arrived on the day of their annual festival and true to German form, the wine was fairly flowing.

Romans put Trier on the map back in the 4th century and today, the fabulous Nigra Gate, a bridge and remains of an amphitheatre are testament to those times.

SCHWETZINGEN, a short 10 kms from Heidelberg was our final stop in Germany. We’re here to catch up with our good friend Manfred who we met in 2019 on a train during our Germany Christmas Market trip. His suggestion to stay at Schwetzingen was an excellent one. Away from the tourists, this small town and its amazing palace with 4 sq kms of manicured gardens, open air cafes and a most comfortable stay at the Hotel Zum Erbprinzen was sheer joy.

Our good-hearted guide took us to some fabulous places. First up was HEIDELBERG.

Later, a small vehicular ferry across the Rheine and a lovely drive through the green countryside brought us to SPEYER where the church and biergarten were big winners.

Not far away and tucked neatly in a forest is this restaurant which lies on a walking track. Schnitzel and the most tasty German potato salad followed by a slice of Black Forest cake made for for a wonderful German lunch.

Further on, we stopped at ST MARTIN an extremely cute, pretty as a picture village surrounded by vineyards which produce excellent wine. Needless to say, we tested the wine, especially liking the rose.

We bid auf wiedersen to Germany today. Our 90 day Schengen visa has almost expired; just 4 days left, so we’re winging our way to Corfu to soak up some Greek island sun, gyros and ouzo (happy hubby guaranteed).