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Lonely Planet Germany

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Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet Germany is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. See storybook castles arise from the Bavarian forest, raise a stein to an oompah band in a Munich beer garden, and take in the vibrant Berlin arts scene; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Germany and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet Germany Travel Guide:



Colour maps and images throughout

Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices

Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including history, art, literature, cinema, theatre, music, architecture, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, drink, and more

Free, convenient pull-out Berlin map (included in print version), plus over 98 local maps

Covers Hamburg, Saxony, Bremen, Cologne, Rhineland, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Black Forest, Bavaria, Munich, Central Germany, and more
The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Germany , our most comprehensive guide to Germany, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.


Looking for just the highlights of Germany? Check out Lonely Planet Discover Germany, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions.
Looking for a guide focused on Berlin or Munich? Check out our Lonely Planet Berlin guideor Lonely Planet Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest guide for a comprehensive look at all these cities have to offer, or Pocket Berlin, a handy-sized guide focused on the can't-miss sights for a quick trip.
Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

816 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

556 people are currently reading
279 people want to read

About the author

Lonely Planet

3,653 books882 followers
OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

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5 stars
154 (32%)
4 stars
201 (42%)
3 stars
92 (19%)
2 stars
16 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Melanie.
391 reviews2 followers
December 5, 2024
It's no Rick Steves but comprehensive and was a helpful digital asset.
Profile Image for Melanie.
89 reviews1 follower
October 24, 2015
Great book; helpful, interesting and informative. The only problem is that now I want to go on a vacation I can't afford. :)
Profile Image for Jimgosailing.
956 reviews2 followers
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March 16, 2021
We’ve loved Lonely Planet guide books - for foreign countries and national parks in the US.

Some recollections of our trip to Germany:

In planning, I said I wanted to go to Munich; my wife asked “why?” And I said “to have a beer”. And I enjoyed the beers, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, Hacker-Schorr (where we ate dinner and when finishing up, our waitress asked if we wanted anything else; we said no thank you; she clapped her hands together loudly and declared we were ready for an after-dinner drink and brought us two cordials with a clear liquor- we never did find out exactly what - but I recall it tasted like cake icing)
The LP book recommended against going to Hofbrau Haus, saying something along the lines of “if you want to see 600 Japanese tourists in white shirts with cameras around their necks, go here”. We poked our heads in the door, saw a sea of picnic tables fairly packed with tourists and walked across the street to Augustiner where we had a table for two and a great time.
At one point an elderly couple approached us on the street asking me for directions; I tried to explain to them that I was not German and didn’t speak the language well. After they moved on, I scratched my head and my wife said look around, you look like everyone here; you could be at a family reunion (the show would be in the other foot when we made our trip to Ireland.
War Memorial
Profile Image for Mark Latchford.
243 reviews2 followers
September 25, 2024
My 40th Lonely Planet so I do like them to help plan my travel, in this case two months this year from the Baltic to the Alps; from the Moselle to Dresden. Verdict: it’s pretty good. Covers most areas well and unlike other editions it covers modern history adequately it mapping out places to visit as well as other sights from centuries ago. Naturally, much time is spent on churches and the scores of castles that dot the country. Galleries and museums get a mention but no so much places that may appeal to some: mechanical orientated sites for example or cemeteries. The restaurant lists are really only token inclusions and very rarely mention international restaurants yet Germany multiculturalism has produced some excellent Asian, Middle Eastern and South American places to eat.
My biggest criticism is the editors laziness is editing or counselling the writers. It naturally reads like a a book by committee which it is but every second page seems to mention ‘one of the beautiful churches/villages or parks’ in the country. We readers need advice on what to prioritise and yet this gushing writing does not help. Editors. Please edit not just compile
161 reviews2 followers
February 16, 2019
Continuing in my slightly odd reading of Germany guidebooks, I found Lonely Planet's niche travelers: younger people who want to party and anyone who just wants to leisurely wander Germany. Lonely Planet includes many more small towns than did Michelin and many more lodgings, restaurants and clubs.

It made me want to take a year off and just wander the many byways in Germany. Lonely Planet tells you that much of what you're looking at is reconstructions since World War II. It makes clear just how devastating the destruction wrecked by the Allies was to both people and places.

The guide is good on transit alternatives and in listing places you probably just shouldn't travel without wheels.
Profile Image for Audrey Class.
247 reviews
September 11, 2018
This book was instrumental in organizing and planning my trip to Germany, which included Berlin, Cologne, several stops along the "Romantic Rhine", and Frankfurt. While not every attraction and restaurant is still open two years on, this was a great guide to maximizing our time in Germany.
Profile Image for María López Moreno.
78 reviews3 followers
November 25, 2023
Dado que Alemania es nuestro país vecino, vivimos en Luxemburgo, este libro nos está ayudando a organizar viajes cortos. Por ahora hemos visitado Trier, Saarbrucken y la región de Baden-Wurtemberg. Esperamos seguir disfrutando de Alemania por mucho tiempo.
Profile Image for Kei.
222 reviews7 followers
October 4, 2023
A must-read book that's highly informative and useful. Definitely a great resource to help plan my trip.
870 reviews51 followers
April 22, 2025
Helpful and informative.
57 reviews1 follower
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February 27, 2016
In September of this year I head for Europe. The first port of call will be Hamburg and so it is appropriate that I finally get my hands on this volume of the LP guides.

Unfortunately it does not cover the only small town I'm likely to visit, but nearby Schleswig (in Schleswig-Holstein on the border with Denmark) is listed and may be the better choice for accommodation. The German section of my trip is to find family haunts. As with all LP guides this is easy to read and informative.

My only reservation is not to rely on the guides acommodation listings 100%. Everyone who buys this guide will probably try and stay at these places so they're often booked out. I found this out the hard way in Spain. But that's another story.
Profile Image for Marilyn.
141 reviews
May 7, 2015
Quite good as usual with LP.
It's a big book though, if you only plan to visit some part of Germany, I think regional or city book would be more appropriate, and may give more details on smaller but still nice places.
The historic and cultural section at the end of the book is really great, and worth a read during a train trip :)
Prices rises quickly it seems, and there is a lot of construction going on in Hamburg and Berlin, so these cities are changing quite fast !
Even Cologne is actually building a new museum and a new waterfront, so I guess better look for the latest edition.
37 reviews
December 12, 2008
It's an ideal book if you plan to travel around Germany by yourself. The 1st chapter gives you an overview of GErmany. Subsequent chapters will go into the different states in Germany. There are many detailed walking tour plans for different states in Germany. Dining places mentioned in LP are definitely worth trying.
Profile Image for Shriya.
250 reviews54 followers
September 20, 2020
I will be travelling to Berlin for a short weekend trip to attend a wedding this year so I decided to pick up Lonely Planet Germany to see if we could do a day trip to near by places and good lord this book has opened my eyes to Germany. There are so many beautiful places. Brilliant guide yet again. I will be purchasing Lonely Guide Pocket Berlin to accompany me.
Profile Image for Missy.
10 reviews
March 30, 2009
Would recommend to anyone traveling to Germany - or get Lonely Planet books if you're traveling anywhere! They're awesome!
2,261 reviews25 followers
May 29, 2013
I had a different Lonely Planet edition of Germany, and only looked at a small part of it.
Profile Image for Dee.
367 reviews
July 30, 2019
Very helpful for Frankfurt. Didn't have any information on Mülheim, the thriving university town near the Dutch border with lots of interesting attractions where we stayed for four days.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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