The Northern Region
The northern region of Germany includes seaside towns and villages with age-old maritime traditions such as Hamburg, the second-largest port in Europe. It also features such fascinating cities as Bremen, Hanover, Potsdam and Berlin. Berlin offers visitors a wide array of large-scale cultural events that will please fans of classical and contemporary literature, theatre and classical music. Berlin is an ideal place to discover on foot, as its streets, avenues and boulevards showcase architectural styles that reveal the splendours of yesterday and today. Potsdamer Platz, featuring a museum dedicated to film, is the heart of Berlin's urbanity with its high towers offering spectacular views.

The Central Region
The heart of Germany beats at a fast pace thanks to its industries and dense population, the highest in the country. Düsseldorf, Cologne, with its magnificent 13th-century cathedral, and Bonn, home to the federal government and parliament, form a string of municipalities along the northern section of the Rhine. Away from Westphalia and closer to the plains you'll find Frankfurt and Leipzig. While Dresden, capital of the Saxony province, further east, stands close to the Erzgebirge mountains, which also border the Czech Republic.

The Southern Region
Germany's southern region offers a geological and cultural diversity that is unique. It is where you will find the jovial and lively city of Munich, capital of splendid Bavaria, a province whose beer and sausage are more than conducive to singing and dancing. In addition, the area features the towns of Heidelberg (and the oldest university in the country), as well as Stuttgart, home of the luxurious Mercedes and Porsche companies and a library displaying the second-largest bible collection in the world. The mountain massif of the Black Forest offers a marvellous setting for outdoor activities. South of the massif is majestic Lake Constance, 259 km long (161 m), which is also shared by Switzerland and Austria. The town of Nuremberg, known for its famous trial, is an unusual medieval city whose fortress dates from the 15th century. The city walls enclose the Gothic St. Lawrence and St. Sebaldus churches.