I've recently made a tier list of what i consider the most beautiful states in germany!
If i could give a brief description of each, it would be:
Bayern – Objectively the most beautiful region in europe. It's so iconic that it's what foreigners think germany looks like for a reason. Frankonia has possibly the cutest and best preserved medieval cities like bamberg, Nuremberg and Würzburg, etc. And Bavaria and swabia are sooo damn pretty. Southern bavaria is simply incredible and it possibly has the most breathtaking nature in all of germany. It feels like the perfect mix between architecture, nature and magic, in other words it's as if you'd combine austria and switzerland.
It has so much HRE heritage that in my opinion I consider the whole place as the heart of europe. (Ps: My favorites cities are Regensburg, Nordlingen, Miltenberg and Mittenwald)
Rheinland Pfalz – My favorite place in germany. The mosel and Middle rhine are simply out of this world. it has the most magical architecture in all of germany, as well as the highest concentration of castles in europe and some of the oldest and best preserved cities in germany. What else can i say, it's simply something you gotta experience yourself.
Baden Wurttemberg – Baden is so pretty that it's whole aesthetic is what inspired a lot of ghibli's movies like howls moving Castle (I know alsace also played a major role, but the two of them are very much-alike). In top of that you got the black forrest, towns like heidelberg, Esslingen, Schwäbisch hall, Tübingen, Freiburg, Rottweil, ulm, Meersburg AND ON TOP OF THAT you also have some of the most beautiful castles in germany (hohenzollern and sigmaringen), you guys are winning at life!
Hessen – Super underrated. Yes, frankfurt is not the most beautiful german city, but the state has a lot more to offer. Its charming towns have inspired so many fairy tales for a reason. Personally I love marburg, limburg and lahn, fulda and braunfels.
Niedersachsen – I don't know why people say its so plain looking, when you got the beautiful sea and nature. Personally Goslar alone makes it worth visiting it, but lunenburg, leer, duderstadt, celle, gottingen, Hann. Münden, Einbeck, wolfenbüttel, stade, hamelin, osnabrück, marienburg castle, verden are nice as well (You will find the best half-timber frame houses here btw).
Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg Vorpommern – Quiet, serene and above all captivating. The sea and hanseatic towns near the sea are all so magical. My favorite ones are lübeck , flensburg, Lauenburg, Mölln, Sieseby, greifswald, Stralsund, Wismar and Waren.
NRW – I love munsterland and sauerland in general. Munster, aachen and Bonn are very beautiful. It has the best cathedral in all of europe, beautiful scenery and diverse landscape. From industrial to fairy tail like. My favorite town is located here: Monschau.
Sachsen Anhalt – Super underrated as well. It is one of the regions in germany that contains some of the most beautiful and well preserved medieval cities in germany. The hartz mountains are gorgeous and towns like Quedlinburg, Naumburg, Wernigerode, Halle (Saale), tangermünde, wittenberg are some of the best in germany.
Thüringen – It's like a grimm fairy tail. It's filled with forest and beautiful little towns. Erfurt it's an amazing city.
Saxony – Dresden is possibly the most beautiful city in all of germany, hope it gets completely restored in the future. Pirna, Meissen and many other places are just incredible. Sächsische Schweiz is out of lord of the rings and by far the most scenic place in germany. Tbh the only reason is ranked at last, its mainly because i feel it's sometimes so eastern that it doesn't feel quite like germany but rather as the czech republic.
Brandenburg – tbh I don't really know that much about this state. It has very beautiful nature and some cosy towns. Potsdam is amazing in general and i found it cool that the whole state the direct successor to prussia.
And lastly when it comes to cities i would say bremen has a very pretty historic center, but berlín by far is the most fun out all. I've hear people say that it's very ugly but tbh it has some INCREDIBLE architecture (I found it more beautiful than london) and is pretty nice. Hamburg on the other hand is very nice, but it just doesn't appeal that much to me.
—
DenseIntern4597