Discover the Hidden Gems of Wegberg Unwind in North RhineWestphalias Best Tourist Attractions

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If you’re an avid reader, you’ve likely noticed by now that many of the places we visit are low-key destinations. Small towns and cities or hidden natural gems not always found between the pages of a travel guide. You might ask, well then how did you discover these hidden gems in Germany? I certainly like to think I have a special talent in sniffing out the diamond in the rough, the whimsical town that is better than any major city. It’s taken years of observation and note taking, but I’m here to share with you some of my favorite hidden sights to see in Germany!

You might ask, how are you so good at sniffing out such unique places to visit in Germany? Well I can tell you I find my travel inspiration in the oddest places. Yes, a majority of the secret places to visit in Germany that I find, I find on obvious places like social media. I have a keen eye and when I even remotely see a picture I’ve never seen before, I investigate. Sniff sniff sniff.

Hidden Gems Of Germany

Other times, my inspiration comes from something as simple as a screen saver on my computer which changes daily before I sign in. Sometimes, I can, but rarely find Germany’s hidden gems between the pages of a travel guide, but it’s usually such a small blip you might not even take the time to look it up and see what it is. If it doesn’t take up a whole page in a travel guide, does that mean it’s not worth visiting!? NO! Definitely not! It just means, it was definitely noteworthy, but because it’s so special, perhaps you can imagine they don’t want to overwhelm such small villages and places of interest with mass tourism.

Sometimes my inspiration can come from even reading a book. A magazine. A commercial. Anything can be a source of inspiration for me. I will go anywhere. The more obscure the town, the likelier I will visit. I hate crowds and crowds = expensive sights to see. And yes, sometimes, one small half-timbered own can start to look like another but I can personally find beauty in everything I see, so I am never bored.

In a small town not far away from Ulm and Schloss Lichtenstein , is a beautiful half-timbered town called Blaubeuren. Just on the edge of this picturesque town sits a little lake, which is the source of the river Blau (Blue). As in, the blue-ist water you’ve ever seen. And this little lake is tucked up all quaint and fairytale-like next to the edge of the woods. And it’s not just the water that is so stunning that makes Blaubeuren’s Blautopf worth the visit, but the dream-like half-timbered house with flowers perched just on the edge of the lake with a little water wheel churning away. You can walk around the little lake and catch the different shades of turquoise when the sun hits the water just right.

Hidden Germany: Where To Stay And What To Do Off The Beaten Track

It’s not one of Germany’s main tourist attractions, but it certainly gets a fair share of German tourists, especially motorcycle tourists who once the weather is nice, hit the road also looking for obscure places to ride to and chill.

I’m assuming I found Walchensee on Instagram, as I had a screen shot of it on my phone for the longest time, and that usually means I found something of interest, snapped a screen shot to save it to Pinterest for later or mark it in my Germany travel book for later.

You can find Walchensee in probably any travel guide for Germany, yet it will be just a tiny blip. No pictures to show you the stunning beauty of this vibrant turquoise water (I’m sensing a theme here…). Any blip in a book about a lake without a picture just makes it another lake somewhere in Germany. But for me, this was no ordinary lake.

The 10 Best Hidden Gems In North Rhine Westphalia (updated 2023)

I’ve only seen such beautiful turquoise water a few times in my life, and up until this moment, never before had I seen a lake of such beauty in Germany. Yes, Königssee and Chiemsee are both stunning lakes in their own right, but IMO, nothing beats a turquoise lake. And when you have the chance to see the lake from the peaks of a surrounding mountain, all the better.

Walchensee and Kochelsee are normally always paired together as sights of interest in the area. Here, it’s popular to waste away the warm summer days by windsurfing and sailing, laying out at the small beach or even biking around the lake.

When I first fell in love with half-timbered towns, I discovered that there was such a thing as the Deutsches Fachwerkstrasse (German Timber-framed Road). Upon discovery, it led to me a haven of half-timbered clusters of Germany’s best half-timbered towns . *Blinking light flashes in brain* “Road trip. Road Trip. Road Trip”. (Husband: “Oh no…..”). 

Outdoor Handbook 2012 By Messe Friedrichshafen

So, I studied the map, and I looked up every single town to see which ones would be the most interesting to visit. Naturally, Wernigerode made the list because it’s ochre, twin spired, half-timbered city hall was the most unique city hall in Germany I had ever seen. Not to mention, that Wernigerode is LOADED with streets and streets and streets of half-timbered houses. It was like a half-timbered dream come true.

Located in northern Germany, in a region called the Harz Mountains , you’ll find a plethora of half-timbered towns to pop around to, which have survived WWII and the Soviet era under the Iron Curtain that have been restored to their former glory. Not only is it one of the best towns to visit in Saxony-Anhalt, but it’s also home to the smallest half-timbered house in Germany! Other nearby towns of interest will be Goslar and Quedlinburg , and while there, hop aboard the historic Harz Mountain Steam train .

As one of my favorite buildings in Germany, I would later buy a miniature ceramic version of the city hall at one of Germany’s many Christmas Markets.

Attractions And Places To See Around Erkelenz

Sellin Pier, which can not be found in any of my Germany tour guide books, is a beautifully rebuilt for (at least) the 6th time since it’s first construction in 1906. With a record of bad luck, of constantly being destroyed by fire, ice, ill-maintenance, it’s no wonder it’s practically never been heard of. But the pier you see today re-opened in 1998 and is going strong. But it’s wait drew me first to think of visiting one of Germany’s islands, which once peaked during the

As the vacation destination for the Kaisers of Germany and later saw the decline of visitors after Hitler advertised the area as the perfect German family holiday destination, building a massive holiday complex which would later be abandoned and never completed, thus preserving this area’s untouched natural beauty.

Today, the island of Rügen itself is one of Germany’s best kept secrets along the Baltic Sea. When people think of Germany, they definitely don’t think of beaches, considering that the country is practically 90% landlocked by 9 countries. However, the northern portion of Germany has a coastline and while the weather is fickle up north, sunny days can appear, making a beach day well worth the trip.

Attractions And Places To See Around Heinsberg

Loaded with soft sandy beaches lined with Strandkorb (Beach Baskets) for rent to lounge on in the sun, it’s one of the best beaches in Germany, often in competition with Sylt.

My husband often has the history channel on and if they’re not talking about WWII, they’re talking about places to visit in Germany. Schloss Lichtenstein was a blip on the TV, but enough to pique my interest. I knew it was worth visiting when it was compared to Schloss Neuschwanstein as the “Little Brother”. Way less popular and thus way less crowded and way less expensive, the Lichtenstein Castle, perched upon a cliff overlooking a small village down in the valley is one of the best secret castles to visit in Germany .

It’s so far off the main tourists destinations in Germany that tours here are only given in German and is only well-known to the Germans, but is definitely an easy day trip from Ulm or Tübingen. But just because it’s not on the radar of non-German tourists doesn’t mean it’s not worth a visit because it is every bit of a fairy tale castle as the next.

Town. Country. River.

We had planned to visit Liege, Belgium because we were on the hunt of waffles but once there, we really weren’t thrilled about the part of the town we saw, so we instantly left. We booked a hotel in Aachen and made a plan to go see Monschau , just on the border between Germany and Belgium.

It was one of my first half-timbered