Best Things To Do In Germany
In Germany, grand castles sit not far from gritty industrial architecture, and people let loose in half-timbered taverns and edgy techno nightclubs alike. Outdoor pursuits abound throughout the country, alongside world-class museums and genuinely fabulous dining across nearly every region from north to south.
Tempelhofer Feld Turns Berlin’s Runway Into A Park
Complete with runway markings, grounded planes and old hangars, Tempelhofer Feld in the south of Berlin ranks as a genuinely much-loved spot throughout the city. The airport ceased operations in 2008 and was converted into a park two years later, giving Berliners a considerable stretch of open space rarely found within a major European capital.
Today, roller skaters and cyclists accelerate down the former tarmac, while the grass once blasted by jet engines now hosts picnics and community gardens, or serves as a place to hang out. Information boards scattered throughout the park relate the site’s history, including its vital role during the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and 1949, when Allied forces used the airport to supply the city during a Soviet blockade.
Summer visitors should consider bringing a barbecue to the park, since Tempelhofer Feld ranks among the best spots in Berlin for exactly this purpose, provided guests stick to the designated grilling areas instead of setting up anywhere they please.
This transformation from an active military and civilian airport into genuine public parkland gives Tempelhofer Feld considerable symbolic weight within Berlin’s broader story of reinvention following reunification and the urban redevelopment that followed. The airport itself dates back to the 1920s, and its considerable Nazi-era terminal building, once among the largest buildings in the world by floor area, still stands today, now used for events, film productions and occasional exhibitions. Berliners fought a genuine referendum battle in 2014 specifically to keep developers from building housing on the site, and the resulting vote preserved Tempelhofer Feld as public parkland instead of allowing the considerable real estate pressure facing Berlin to consume the space entirely. Travelers $TRV +1.41% should rent a bicycle specifically to cover the park’s considerable size, since the former airfield spans nearly 400 hectares, making it one of the largest urban open spaces in Europe. Guided tours of the old terminal building require advance booking, since access to the historic Nazi-era structure remains restricted outside these scheduled visits.
The Ruhrgebiet Repurposes Its Industrial Past
The Ruhrgebiet in western Germany once functioned as a global hub for coal mining and metal production. Since these industries declined throughout the region, the area has undergone a considerable makeover, with repurposed industrial infrastructure now sitting at the forefront of its renewed identity.
Highlights include the Zeche Zollverein, a former coal-mining complex now home to museums, cultural spaces and an outdoor swimming pool built directly into the old industrial grounds. Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord offers another genuine highlight, a decommissioned ironworks featuring a diving center inside the former gasometer and climbing walls built into the old ore-storage bunkers.
Travelers $TRV +1.41% hoping to see the full scope of this transformation should consult the Route der Industriekultur, or Industrial Heritage Trail, which lists the complete range of locations worth visiting throughout the broader region. This considerable trail network gives visitors genuine structure for exploring a region that could otherwise feel overwhelming given the sheer scale of its industrial legacy.
This particular pairing of preserved industrial architecture and genuinely creative adaptive reuse gives the Ruhrgebiet real appeal for travelers interested in seeing how a region reinvents itself after its original economic foundation disappears. The Zeche Zollverein complex earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001, recognizing the site’s considerable architectural and historical significance as one of the finest surviving examples of European industrial heritage from the coal and steel era. The region’s population once exceeded five million people at the height of the coal and steel era. Though considerable deindustrialization since then has reshaped the local economy, the Ruhrgebiet remains one of Germany’s most densely populated metropolitan regions today. Travelers should budget at least two full days to see both Zeche Zollverein and Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord properly, since the considerable distance between the region’s various industrial heritage sites makes rushing between them genuinely impractical. Public transport connects most of the region’s major heritage sites reasonably well, though a rental car genuinely simplifies visiting the more scattered locations along the broader Route der Industriekultur.