Colorful foliage, golden days shrouded in autumn mist and cool crisp air make Germany a great destination to visit in fall. Though most parts of the country see the landscape change in a cornucopia of fall colors, certain regions truly transform into fairytale lands. Here’s our pick of the best.
Moselle Valley
The Moselle Valley, nestled between the mighty Moselle River and rolling vineyards, is great to visit when the seasons change and the quaint towns along the valley are ablaze with red, orange, yellow and brown leaves. Driving or hiking in this region during fall is truly a romantic experience. Autumn in Moselle also means grape harvest, wine festivals and colorful carnivals.
Lake Constance (Bodensee) is a delightful spot to visit any time of the year, but its beauty in autumn is almost tangible. In fall, the towns surrounding Lake Constance really glow in warm yellow, orange and red hues. This being one of the sunniest regions in Germany certainly accentuates its charm – as an added bonus, visitors who are lucky enough to travel to Lake Constance at this time of year can enjoy a host of events, and sample local specialties like Müller-Thurgau and pinot noir at the region’s wine festivals. This is also the season for the apple and pumpkin harvest, turned into local delicacies.
The Wine Route in the state of Rhineland Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) snakes through vine-wrapped hills and dense forests for 85 km (53 miles) amid the largest wine-growing region in the country. The views along this road in autumn are gorgeous, offset by the thick, intoxicating aroma of vines. The picturesque hamlets along this sun-drenched route gear up for grape harvesting in fall, and entice the taste buds of travelers with delicious Palatinate’s star riesling, pinot grigio and dornfelder wines.
Germany’s Black Forest, spread over approximately 9,713 square kilometres (3,750 square miles), is a unique mix of conifers and autumnal trees. The result is a sea of dense green speckled with fiery russet, gold and sunshine-yellow. Schwarzwaldhochstraße and Uhrenstraße (comprising the ‘The Cuckoo Clock Route’) reward drivers and hikers with lovely assortments of fall colors. Reflections of colorful fall foliage in the mirror lakes of the Black Forest are so gorgeous that it’s not hard to understand why it was the inspiration for Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
The Rakotzbrücke, also known as the Devil’s Bridge, is a lovely stone bridge in Gablenz’s Azalea and Rhododendron Park Kromlau in Saxony. When the water is still, the reflection of the bridge in the water makes a truly spectacular perfect circle. In fall, the misty autumn fog and the pops of fall color surrounding this stunning structure, making it a delight for photographers.
The Neuschwanstein Castle is impossibly beautiful any time of the year, but in autumn, silhouetted against orange sky and basked in golden light, its beauty achieves surreal levels. The dense trees surrounding the castle change into a myriad of colors so bright that they look almost artificially painted.
Jasmund National Park is a nature peninsula and national park in Rügen Island. Its sheer, majestic chalk cliffs, blue sea and dense greenery draw tourists and locals to it time and again. While this is an extremely busy tourist spot in summer, Jasmund is actually an ideal spot to visit when it puts on its fall garb. This is the time of year when the thick beech forest flanking the chalk cliffs turns russet and copper, offering jaw-dropping vistas at every turn.
