Welcome to Lindenberg im Allgäu, the sunniest of all Bavarian towns. Yes, really. Lindenberg receives more sunshine than anywhere else in Bavaria.

Maybe that’s why the place got into the hat business. Straw hats to be more exact. Production of the head covering began all the way back in 1656. Consequently, you won’t find a local history museum in Lindenberg, you’ll find a Hat Museum instead.

It’s also why Lindenberg has an annual Hat Day (called Huttag) every April; although the Hat Queen’s reign is for two years and is consulted on fashion and acts like a tourist ambassador.

Even though Lindenberg’s hat production is nowhere like it used to be, you might like to buy one before hanging out at the Waldsee or Forest Lake for the day. The town’s on the German Alpine Road, so keep a look out for the majestic Alps in the background.

One of the coolest festivals in Lindenberg is the Cheese and Gourmet Fest (held at the end of August). Try samples of delicious food, not only from Bavaria and other parts of Germany; but, France, Switzerland, Holland, Slovenia, Italy, and Austria. What’s the German word for yum? :-)

The Lindenberg Weekly Market is held every Saturday, which is another way to try some yummy Swabian street food.

Eat up, you’ll need the energy to visit Lindenberg’s church of Saints Peter & Paul, and the town’s oldest house, a wooden house built in 1590.

You’ll also need the sustenance to enjoy all the Nordic Walking, bicycling, and swimming one person can handle. Join in on a guided walking or mountain tour; just don’t forget your walking stick.

But, keep in mind this is Bavaria so winter sports are also a big deal here. You got ice skating, cross country skiing, snowboarding, and normal skiing.

The way it seems, Lindenberg im Allgäu has more going on than just sunshine.

In the course of only a few kilometers in Neuhof (Fulda) you can transport yourself through time and through the universe.

No, there isn’t some crazy time machine Porsche (this is Germany, so I’m not using a DeLorean from Back To The Future as an example). Nor, is there a rocket ship to take you through the solar system.

How can you do this, you ask? Well, Neuhof is a more than thousand year old town and by walking along the old Via Regia you’re following in the footsteps of an old king’s soldiers. Many pilgrims came this way, too, along what’s known as Jakobsweg or Way of St. James going to Santiago de Compostela in Spain but, stopping at the town’s St. Michael’s Church.

Along the Planetenwanderweg is where you go to the far reaches of space. This is a fun way to exercise not only your mind by learning about the planets (including Pluto), but your body as well. You’ll be having so much fun that you won’t even notice how much distance you’ve actually walked.

So, you’ve enlightened your mind, exercised your body, now you deserve to party a bit. There is a Kirchweihfest (church festival) on or around every November 5th, a Christmas Market on the 2nd weekend in Advent (about 2 weeks before Christmas), and a “carnival” type festival on Rose Monday right before lent starts.

But, it’s the Heidelbeerfest on the 2nd weekend in August that’s the real winner. Any time you’ve got the chance to sit and drink a good beer is a good time. It always goes good with a hearty Hessian meal like Kassler Rippchen (smoked pork ribs).

Then again, since Hesse is also known for wine; why not try a good Riesling?

Well, in Neuhof (Fulda) you might be able to travel the Milky Way or walk a road hundreds of years old. But, from the sounds of it, Neuhof is just fine right here, right now.

Neuhausen auf den Fildern (that’s such a mouthful) could be considered a suburb of Stuttgart since it’s only about a half hour away from its city center and just east of the Stuttgart Airport (STR). Other than that, the small town couldn’t be further away from life in a big city.

It’s also lucky enough to say that it’s Church of Saints Petrus and Paulus is the largest Village Church in all of Europe. The church might not be particularly old (only built back in the 1850’s) but, it’s one of Neuhausen’s area attractions (as well as functioning as a place of worship).

Built about three centuries before the grand church are the town’s two manor houses; Altes (Old) Schloss built in 1518 and the “Neues” (New) Schloss built in 1561. Funny how they’re considered old and new by a difference of less than fifty years; and they’re both pushing 500 years old!

Right on the town’s square, you’ll find some pretty framework buildings that frame the cobblestone center and its fountain. There’s not a better location in town to sit at an outside café and enjoy a good German beer; or, a good wine since you’re in Baden-Württemberg.

Neuhausen’s town square is also where everyone comes to shop at the town’s annual Christmas Market, its Autumn Market, and party for its Fasnet (a Carnival held right before Lent starts).

The largest of Neuhausen’s festivals is the Bierwecketse. Held every two years on odd numbered years, more than 20,000 partygoers come to celebrate with good (I mean GREAT) food, fantastic wine, music, and all other sorts of activities.

Any other time of the year, you can be more than happy just swimming with the residents in the municipal pool or enjoying any number of organ concerts.

Once you’re here, you’ll find from the look and feel of Neuhausen auf den Fildern that you’ll definitely have a good time; even if you’re not in some big city chic.

Uplengen lies in the coastal moorland region known as East Frisia. Life in this part of Germany is a tad different from what you’ll find in the rest of the country but, diversity is what makes our life remarkable.

Since tea is the drink of choice around here, start your day off with a cup before heading out about town. But, anytime is a good time since the “good for you drink” is drunken throughout the day. It’s sweetened with a rock candy known as Kluntje and usually served with cake or cookies on weekends and holidays.

There are nineteen villages in Uplengen and you’ll find the gorgeous 12th century military church of St. Martin in Remel. That’s also where you’ll find an early 19th century Dutchman Windmill. A hundred years later Uplengen built another Dutchman Windmill in Südgeorgsfehn; and another dots the landscape in Großoldendorf.

When passing through Südgeorgsfehn at the entrance to the village cemetery there’s a war memorial dedicated to the dead and missing from both World Wars. There’s not much left to the castle that used to be here, but its embankments are still visible.

When you’ve had your fill of traditional sightseeing, rent a bicycle and trek about on any number of bicycle route, swim at the town’s bathing lake (with waterslide), or try canoeing. Uplengen is a great place to sit back and fish.

A trip on the Ella is a good idea for anyone visiting Uplengen. The old peat transport boat was restored to her former glory and now offers open boat rides from May to September.

Uplengen likes a good festival, too. The Osterfeuer is a large bonfire held on Easter Sunday, the Potato Celebration is held in August, the Herbstmarkt (Autumn Market) a month later, and the Christmas Market a few weeks before the December holiday.

That’s the time of year when a hot cup of East Frisian tea works as an antidote against the cold crisp North Sea air. :-)

I’m gonna go out on a limb to say the Romans that once stomped through Welzheim didn’t care (or notice) the area’s air quality. We Germans did and several centuries later the town of Welzheim is now considered an air health resort town and sits partly in the Hohenloher Ebene.

This just makes it easier to breathe about town when you’re out sightseeing all over the place.

Actually, the Romans didn’t just stomp through the town. They came to stay and built castellets that still stand more than 1500 years later. The area of the castellets is now an outdoor archaeological museum. Every few years Welzheim has Roman Days, where thousands come to see those days brought back to life.

Not much of Welzheim’s history is documented from the fall of the Roman Empire until around the 1200’s. A fire just about leveled the town in the early 1700’s and its St. Gallus Church built in 1499 had to be rebuilt. So did the Town Hall in 1731.

Most of Welzheim’s history is documented at the Urban History Museum (open Sundays only from 2pm-5pm at Pfarrstraße 8).

One piece of Welzheim’s history is a bit on the darker side as it was the site of a World War II concentration camp.

You’ll find a bit more in Welzheim that a museum or two, though. There’s a City Park shaded by large trees and something called the Senses Experience which is designed to work all six of your senses. There’s even a Trim Path that works the muscles, just as the Mühlenwanderweg (Mill Hiking Trail) or swimming in Ebnisee Stausee will (a Reservoir).

On a clear night visit the Observatory for a look at the stars and think about how far Welzheim’s come from the days of the Romans.

Westerkappeln in the Tecklenburger Land might be but a small blip on the map, but it’s where you can learn more about the world we live in and where we came from.

There is more than 300 million years of natural history that can be learned in this small town that’s only a stone’s throw northwest of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony at the Nature Park Terra Vita. You’ll find plenty of lakes throughout the area and the town, not only because it borders the Teutoburg Forest.

Whether you choose to walk, hike, Nordic Walk, jog, or bicycle through the region, you’ll marvel at all of the forest’s wonders. Stop when you find the Große Sloopsteine, a massive prehistoric stone tomb.

A few thousand years later the residents of Westerkappeln built the Protestant Church, where the oldest part dates back to the 12th century.

Oh, wait… the Reformation didn’t come to Germany until the 16th century, so it wasn’t always a Protestant church. Though, it does have a massively big tower that was used as a military tower protecting residents from invaders.

Around the same time both the Manor House Cappeln and House Velpe were built. The Counts von Ravensburg and his peers lived in quite a bit of finery at these two 12th/13th century castles.

Also in Velpe (one of Westerkappeln’s three municipalities) is a still working Wassermühle that was built in the 1560’s. Besides still milling, there’s an art museum inside the mill. For sculpture art, there are a few wells in town decorated with rabbits, flowers, and owls.

Jump ahead another few centuries by checking out the town’s Tractor Museum. A good place to learn about the region’s farming.

Today, the town is pretty active. Enjoy a game of golf, tennis, swim in the municipal pool, or let the kids run around the playground.

It appears that Westerkappeln not only embraces the past, but looks towards the future as well.

I like Wald-Michelbach. Not because it’s in the Odenwald (OK, that helps); and not because it has a bunch of fun markets and festivals (doesn’t hurt either).

It’s because it’s a town that loves books. Any place that builds a bronze and stone Bücherbrunnen (or, a book fountain) to show how important literacy is; is A-OK in my book (oh, that was a really bad pun).

The Bücherbrunnen is right outside the Überwald Museum and Culture Club, created solely from donations and the elbow grease of volunteers. It’s amazing what can happen when a few creative minds get together.

Don’t confuse the Überwald Museum with Wald-Michelbach’s Local History Museum. It’s located at the Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) which is a piece of history in itself; a building from 1594.

A real gorgeous place to see are the old Gothic chapel ruins in the forest. While you’re out there, look for the Irish Tower on the Tromm, too.

Over in the town’s old savings bank building is the Stoewer Museum, a company that produced just about everything including sewing machines and typewriters. (Oh yeah, remember them?)

Don’t let sightseeing interfere with partying like a Hessian at the Town Festival on the 1st weekend in July (it’s actually a 4-day festival) or the Kerwe (a church festival) on the next to last Sunday in August.

Shop ’til you drop (or, run out of Euros) at the 2-day Gassenmarkt or Christmarkt. You never know what kind of trinket you’ll find to bring home as a souvenir.

If you’ve dropped, then a visit to a local therapeutic Kneipp spa is in order to recharge your batteries.

If you can keep going, there’s always mountainbiking, Nordic Walking, fishing, and swimming in the Odenwald. Snow might fall here in the winter, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying anything. Grab a pair of snow shoes and get on out there!

Or, stay in and read a book. You know how important they are to Wald-Michelbach. ;-)

Wentorf bei Hamburg isn’t a particularly large town and has barely twelve thousand residents. Nor, is it a place with countless medieval sites to visit. No, this tiny town in Schleswig-Holstein is a quiet, rustic village.

This is a town in Germany that has a Bridge Club (the cards game) and “senior” breakfasts. It’s also a bedroom community for the city of Hamburg (who would’ve thought) with many residents commuting daily to work. It only takes about 25 minutes by bus and S-Bahn, so if you’re in Hamburg hop on over.

It does have one hotel and it is a piece of the town’s history. Hotel Jungclaus is a charming villa built an Art Nouveau style back 1875. It took the owners several years to restore it back to its original glory. Enjoy a delicious buffet breakfast before hitting the “city” streets.

For an additional few Euros, guests of the hotel can enjoy a day at the INJOY Sport & Wellness Club; a place with fitness, tanning, and other activities. There ain’t nothing wrong with living like a local.

If you prefer to hit the links instead of a treadmill, come over to the Wentorf Golf Club. Since parts of Wentorf are in a “nature protected area,” try taking a walk or bicycle ride for other outdoor pursuits.

You won’t find a historic old building doubling as a local history museum. But, you will find an exhibit at the local City Hall that details what life was like here from the 1870’s to around the start of the Great War in 1914.

What Schleswig-Holstein is most famous for is its annual music festival. Every summer in barns, churches, castles, and every venue in between across the state you’ll enjoy classical music concerts. Wentorf is no exception, so making a summertime visit is your best bet.

With all that music playing, you might not think that Wentorf bei Hamburg is all that quiet.

There are two truths about Lower Saxony; one: the best way to see it is on bicycle and the second: the food is some of the most delicious you will ever eat. So, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in rocket science to figure you’ll need a bicycle to get around Vienenburg; and you’ll eat pretty gosh darn well while you’re here. ;-)

I’m serious about the bicycle riding, even though Vienenburg has the oldest preserved train station in Germany (circa 1840’s) that also houses a railway museum.

Many of the town’s bicycle trails lead off towards the rustic Harz Mountains, through the Harly Forest, and nearby Bad Harzburg. I said the best way to see the place was by bike — I never said it would be a cake walk. ;-)

Within the Harly Forest are the remnants of the town’s original castle, well its moat anyway. Not too far from there is an observation tower (called Harlyturm) for anyone wanting a birds-eye view of the forested countryside.

Ride over to the Wöltingerode Abbey, which was a Benedictine Monastery in the late 12th century, before becoming a Cistercian Convent. Its church was built around the same period in the Romanesque style that was popular of the time. The Abbey complex has quite a few framework buildings that have survived the passage of time.

Vienenburg’s local history museum is a good idea if you want to see more of what life in a small German village was really like.

Today, Vienenburg is a modern town with art galleries, sailing, fishing, and an outdoor swimming pool for some fun. If you’ve done all this, it’s time to eat.

The area is known for Harzer Cheese, flavored with caraway. While the white colored cheese is a bit milder, expect the red colored cheese to be pretty pungent. Either way, the stuff is good so be adventurous and try some of them both.

Eat the Harzer Cheese with some Braunschweiger Wurst spread on some locally made pumpernickel bread. Lower Saxony is quite famous for them both and go great with a side of tomatoes.

Come to Vienenburg and you’ll see for yourself that I’m right about the two truths of Lower Saxony. ;-)

Velten is one of those towns that is close enough to Berlin (about a half hour from its city center), yet far enough away to seem like you’ve actually gone out of town.

Nowhere is this more felt in Velten than over at Bernsteinsee (Amber Lake). This is no ordinary recreational swimming lake. Oh, sure, you can splash around all you want and it’ll be a good time for the kids. But, at Bernsteinsee you can fish, sail, or water ski (that’s the coolest part), too.

Velten does have traditional sightseeing; like at the Ceramics Museum. It’s a two floor museum where you’ll see how the process has changed over four centuries. At one point during World War II, Velten was one of the largest production towns in all of Germany for the kind of stuff they needed that time.

Since a few of the factories used forced labor during the war, it’s proper that the town has a memorial to forced labor works at the local cemetery and another one for the town’s resistance fighters.

For more sightseeing information, the Velten Tourist Office (located at Breite Straße 16) is your best bet. FYI, it’s only open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

But, just about any time there’s something on at the Ofenstadthalle (Kastersteig 3), Velten’s Culture Center; the town’s best spot to enjoy a cultural meeting, a show, or musical concert. This is where you’ll find all the locals coming to have a good time.

Velten is real tourist friendly, too. You’ll find a few hotels and guesthouses if you want to stay overnight and get to know the region better. And, you’ll find a few traditional style restaurants serving rustic German cuisine, including many seafood dishes since there a plenty of lakes within the Brandenburg region. Sounds like a good place to come if you love food.

Wash all that good cooking down with a glass of beer or wine and you’ve got yourself a dandy good time in Velten.