Book a ferry ticket to Germany

The German people enjoy a reputation for accuracy, precision and efficiency but this is also the land of fairy-tale castles, of thick dark forests, of the legends collected by the Brothers Grimm, of perfectly preserved timber-framed medieval towns, and of jovial locals swilling from huge foaming mugs of beer. As always, there is some truth in these stereotypes. Though most of them stem from the southern part of the country, particularly Bavaria , which, as a predominantly rural and Catholic area, stands apart from the urbanized Protestant north which engineered the unity of the nation last century and thereafter dominated its affairs.

The German landscape is similarly varied. In the south, the Alps attract skiers and snowboarders in the winter and hiking enthusiasts in summer, who come to explore the scenic lakes and atmospheric castles both here and in the Black Forest . Water sports are another summer pastime, and in the north, the island of Rugen with its majestic white cliffs and coastal towns like Wilhelmshaven offer terrific facilities for sailing adventures on the North Sea.

Regional characteristics, indeed, are a strong feature of German life, and there are many hangovers from the days when the country was a political patchwork, even though some historical provinces have vanished from the map and others have emerged. Hamburg and Bremen , for example, retain their age-old status as free cities and the imperial capital, Berlin still stands apart, sometimes decadent, always exciting. In polar opposition, and as a corrective to the normal view of the Germans as an essentially serious race, is the Rhineland, where the river's majestic sweep has spawned a particularly rich fund of legends and folklore, and where the locals are imbued with a Mediterranean sense of fun.