Bamberg

Two bridges meet at the town hall, built on an island out in the Regnitz. Legend says the bishop refused the citizens land, so they drove stakes into the river to make some. A cherub's leg in the mural is sculpted and juts from the wall; scan the facade.

The 13th-century stone knight known as the Bamberg Rider stands against a pillar, and Riemenschneider carved the tomb of Emperor Henry II and his wife. The west choir holds the tomb of Pope Clement II, the only papal grave north of the Alps.

Old fishermen's houses crowd the edge of the Regnitz with their feet nearly in the water, each with a tiny garden and a mooring. You only see the whole row from the towpath opposite, so cross over to walk that bank.

Thousands of roses fill the courtyard garden of the bishops' New Residence, and no ticket is needed. From the balustrade at its far end your eye runs over red rooftops below to the hill of Michaelsberg Abbey. Most of the roses bloom in June.

A district of market gardens still farmed inside the city, and part of the World Heritage site too. Long plots run back behind the houses, and the gardeners' museum shows old farmhouse life. Roadside stands sell vegetables picked that day.

A medieval castle on the summit of the highest of the seven hills. The forest path up from town is nearly an hour's climb, and from the tower Bamberg and the Main valley spread below. A restaurant occupies the courtyard.

The courtyard of the old bishops' court beside the cathedral, enclosed on every side by half-timbered buildings with wooden galleries. Ornate carving decorates the outer gateway, and a history museum fills the buildings inside.

A five-day church fair in the riverside Sand district in late August, with beer stalls in every lane. The highlight is the fishermen's jousting on the river, two men on boats trying to push each other off with long poles. Rooms book up early then.

A rococo pilgrimage church by Balthasar Neumann, set high over the Main valley north-east of Bamberg. The altar of grace for fourteen saints stands mid-nave, in an interior bright with white walls and gilding. Banz Abbey faces it across the valley.

Hill topped by a former Benedictine abbey, whose terrace frames the old town and the cathedral towers in one view. The abbey vineyard on the slope has been replanted, and part of the abbey buildings houses the Franconian Brewery Museum.

Gothic and towering on the Kaulberg, built big by townsfolk, it is said, almost in rivalry with the cathedral. Inside hangs Tintoretto's Assumption of the Virgin. Around Christmas it joins Bamberg's nativity scene trail with a large crib.

A long wooded park below the old town between two arms of the Regnitz, with a botanical garden and walking paths. In summer locals swim at the Hain river bathing spot, lounging on wooden decks and then dropping off the edge into the current.

Summer seat of the prince-bishops in Memmelsdorf to the northeast, a yellow palace with towers at its four corners. In the garden a great cascade spills down stone steps, switched on at set times in summer. Buses run from town.

A former Benedictine abbey on the hill facing Vierzehnheiligen across the Main valley; a Dientzenhofer designed its baroque church. Locals call this stretch, where the two churches regard each other, God's Garden. Pair them in one day.

Limestone valleys southeast of Bamberg, castles and villages perched on rock cliffs. Pottenstein's Devil's Cave is a dripstone cave seen on guided tours. Nearly every hamlet has its own brewery, so the region counts among Germany's densest for brewing.

A huge fortress on a hill above Coburg, roughly forty minutes away by rail, among the largest medieval castles in Germany. The rooms where Martin Luther stayed for nearly half a year in 1530 survive. The climb from town is long, so in summer take the bus.