Things to see and do Germany

A brand-new museum opens in 2022! The Samurai Museum is the first museum in Europe devoted exclusively to samurai culture and history. It houses the largest collection of authentic samurai artifacts outside Japan, with over a thousand objects dating from the ^8th to the 19th^century , bearing witness to the extraordinary skills of the samurai. The tour promises interactive installations as well as temporary exhibitions examining the long-term influence of samurai on today's culture, even outside Japan.

As its name indicates, this garden is very popular. The Volksgarten garden is one of the most suitable places to spend a summer day and barbecue. Its heterogeneous and living style is unique in Cologne: students and children mix with musicians and frisbee players, and some train for football. A children's playground, a pedal rental, outdoor breweries and restaurants make the place attractive for family excursions. The Volksgarten covers about 14 hectares. The remains of the Lünette and former Fort Paul, belonging to a prussian fortress, are also worth a visit.

The first two, local, are slightly cheaper.

Shoe your shoes for a beautiful walk to discover the highest waterfalls in Germany. The Gutach River literally plunges 163 m and form 7 waterfalls that give the site its great beauty. As a guide, squirrels will accompany you along the trail to discover their habitat, don't forget to bring some acorns! Here falls are highlighted in all seasons: to melt snow when the flow is at its peak, at night with beautiful illuminations, at Christmas when they parent one million lights. Summer and winter, the place is beautiful and worth a visit. the only problem is that many people know it!

At the beginning of the 20th century, many alleys of the old town were transformed into fairground houses, like real Saxon caravanserais. To display the goods, depending on the sector, the city created real small commercial islands, with appropriate shops, offices and passageways. You can, in a fun way, as for the traboules in Lyon, cross the city in transit, as an alternative (and only pedestrian) way to the traditional streets. In all, the city centre has no less than 24 passages!

The Mädler-Passage is the most famous of them (Grimmaische Strasse / Neumarkt). Very Belle Epoque, with a luxurious interior decoration, it covers an old street. It is home to the famous Auerbachskeller tavern, the city's most prestigious restaurant, closely linked to Goethe and his hero Faust. The Mädler-Passage is a timeless place, magical for its decorations, and spectacular for the skylight that passes through it.

Barthels Hof (Markt 8 / Hainstrasse 1) is the oldest passage in the city (1750), and its appearance is typically Baroque, with its yellow colour and elegant facades. An exhibition space during the fairs in the 18th century, it was not transformed into a commercial passage as such afterwards (even if it includes some shops).

Specks Hof (Reichstrasse 4 / Nikolaistrasse 3/9) is the oldest strictly speaking commercial passage in Leipzig (1908). Typically Art Nouveau, it is very elegant and some consider it to be the most beautiful.

Städtisches Kaufhaus (Universitätstrasse 16 / Neumarkt 9/19) is a large through courtyard built between 1894 and 1901, formerly the town centre fairground. Today, it is no longer a commercial space, but a place that houses gastronomic establishments, small shops and offices. With its balustrades and paved floor, the passage is quite harmonious.

Hansahaus (Grimmaische Strasse 13/15) dates from 1906; this merchant courtyard, formerly a fairground house, is entirely tiled, in a Berlin style

The tradition of commercial passages has been preserved since then: the Theaterpassage was built in 1928 in a very Bauhaus style; the Königshof-Passage (Markt 17 - Petersstrasse 13) dates from 1932; the Messehofpassage dates from 1950... Then in the 1990s and 2000s, many other commercial passages were built in contemporary architectural styles. They are real shopping centres organised in passages, like a nod to the past: the Petersbogen, one of the most impressive in terms of space, dates back to 2001. It is located between Peterstrasse and Burgstrasse. The Marktgalerie, for its part, was inaugurated in 2005, between Markt 11 and Klostergasse 12.

The Martinstor and Schwabentor help to identify the boundaries of the old town. Still today, they retain this turn of the guardians of the treasure. On the Schwabentor (porte des Swabians), a large mural represents Saint Georges, patron of the city. The Martinstor is located south of Kaiser Joseph Strasse, and the Schwabentor is located at the end of the Salzstrasse, at the foot of Schlossberg.

All the tourist information about the city.

Opened in 1967 in a former open-cast lignite mine south of Brühl, Phantasialand is one of the oldest amusement parks in Europe. Today, it is considered the best amusement park in Germany and attracts almost two million visitors per year. There are several dozen diverse attractions and shows, including many roller coasters, for all ages, for young and old, for the shy and sensitive as well as for adrenaline fans. There is something for everyone.