Germany,

Germany is the country everyone thinks they know — beer halls, Autobahn, efficiency — and then you actually travel it and find sixteen loosely connected regions held together by a much more complicated history than a single stereotype can carry. The forests really are dense. The cities really were rebuilt. The trains are mostly, but not always, on time.

We’ve been back many times, dividing trips between Berlin in the north — flat, raw, still catching its breath after reunification — and Bavaria in the south, where the Alps rise out of nowhere and the beer garden is a legitimate institution. Germany rewards doing less, slower, in one region at a time.

May through October is the easy answer: long evenings, warm lakes, open beer gardens, and the Alps at their greenest from June to early September. July and August are high season — Bavaria fills up, but Berlin empties as locals leave the city.

December is the sneaky alternative. Christmas markets across the country — Nuremberg, Dresden, Munich, Rothenburg — are the real thing, not a tourist set. Cold, but properly atmospheric, with mulled wine, wooden huts and actual snow in the south. Avoid November and January unless you’re specifically heading to the Alps to ski.

Walk the Spree and the Berlin Wall trail. The East Side Gallery on a quiet morning, then across to Museum Island — this is the city at its most layered.

A day in the English Garden. Munich’s Englischer Garten is bigger than Central Park — beer, surfers on the Eisbach, and Chinese Tower on a sunny afternoon.

Neuschwanstein and the Romantic Road. The fairy-tale castle really is that good up close; pair it with an overnight in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Christmas markets in December. Nuremberg is the classic, Dresden’s Striezelmarkt the oldest — mulled wine, bratwurst, and wooden huts under cold air.

Split it in two. Three or four nights in Berlin in the north for modern Germany — art, history, nightlife. Then three or four nights in Munich as a base for the Bavarian Alps, Neuschwanstein, and beer-garden afternoons. The ICE between them is 4 hours.

Berlin neighbourhoods: Mitte for museums and history, Kreuzberg for food and nightlife, Prenzlauer Berg for leafy cafés. Munich: Altstadt for the first visit, Schwabing for quieter stays near the English Garden.

Long-distance trains are run by Deutsche Bahn — the ICE network is fast and comfortable, though punctuality has become a running joke even among Germans. Book in advance on bahn.de for the cheapest fares.

The Deutschland-Ticket (€49/month) covers all regional trains, buses and trams across the country — unbeatable for a long trip. Driving is easy; the Autobahn has derestricted sections, but most have limits. Inside cities, U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks are excellent — you won’t need a car.

German food is regional — what you eat in Bavaria barely overlaps with a plate in Hamburg. Portions are generous, bread is taken seriously, and the coffee-and-cake ritual at 3 pm is its own quiet religion.

What we always eat: Weißwurst with sweet mustard and a pretzel in Munich (always before noon — locally it’s breakfast), Currywurst from a Berlin street stall, Schnitzel pounded thin with potato salad, Käsespätzle in the south — the German answer to mac and cheese — and a proper Hefeweizen wherever you find one. Don’t miss Christmas-market food in December: bratwurst in a bun, Glühwein in a mug you keep.

Germany is the country we keep returning to because it’s never quite finished surprising us. The north-south contrast is real — Hamburg and Munich feel like different countries — and the history sits on the streets in a way that’s impossible to tune out. We like it best in shoulder season: May in Berlin, September in the Alps, a Christmas-market weekend in Nuremberg when the cold is the point.

If you like cities with real depth, countryside that rewards slow travel, and trains that (mostly) take you everywhere, Germany holds up to repeat visits as well as anywhere in Europe.

Different countries, really. Berlin for history, art, nightlife and a rawer urban feel. Munich for beer gardens, Alpine day trips and polished south-German charm. If you only have time for one, pick the mood you want more — ICE trains make it possible to see both in a week.

Enough for two cities plus one region — Berlin + Dresden, or Munich + the Bavarian Alps and Neuschwanstein. Trying to sweep the whole country in a week means too much time on trains. Better to pick a region and come back for the others.