Bremen

The city of the Town Musicians of Bremen fairy tale, with its UNESCO-listed Town Hall and Roland statue and the old Schnoor quarter, plus an easy side trip to Bremerhaven.

Bremen is the capital of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany's smallest federal state, which it forms together with its outer port of Bremerhaven, 65 km to the north. The city lies on the lower Weser in northern Germany, about 60 km from the North Sea. An important member of the medieval Hanseatic League, it has a Town Hall and Roland statue on the Market Square that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it is famous for the Brothers Grimm tale of the Town Musicians of Bremen.

The main sights are concentrated in the old town: around the Market Square are the Town Hall, St. Peter's Cathedral and the Town Musicians statue; to the south are the Expressionist Böttcherstraße and the Schnoor, the oldest quarter; on the Weser to the west, the Schlachte promenade has beer gardens and boat landings; and to the east, "Das Viertel" is the nightlife district. The old town is easily explored on foot in a day. On a second day, head to Bremerhaven (about 40 minutes by train) for the German Emigration Center, the Klimahaus and the German Maritime Museum; art lovers can visit the artists' village of Worpswede, 25 km northeast.

The climate is mild and maritime, most pleasant May–Sep, with long summer days; it rains year-round, so pack rain gear. October's Freimarkt is one of Germany's oldest fairs, and in December there are Christmas markets on the Market Square and the Schlachte. Transport: Bremen Airport is about 15 minutes from the city centre by tram; Hamburg is about 1 hour by train. Plan on 2–3 days.

Top sights

• Bremen Town Hall & Roland – A town hall with a Weser Renaissance façade and a stone statue of Roland, symbol of freedom, both listed as UNESCO World Heritage, making t…
• Town Musicians of Bremen statue – A bronze sculpture of the donkey, dog, cat and rooster from the Grimm fairy tale, stacked on top of one another. Touching the donkey's fron…
• Schnoor Quarter – Bremen's oldest quarter, where fishermen's and craftsmen's cottages from the 15th to 18th centuries are packed along narrow lanes, full of…
• Böttcherstraße – A brick-built Expressionist lane from the 1920s and 1930s, with a porcelain carillon and two museums. It is the most artistic 100 meters in…
• St. Peter's Cathedral – A Gothic cathedral with twin towers rising on the east side of Marktplatz. You can climb the tower for views over the old town, and the 'Bl…
• Bremer Ratskeller – One of Germany's oldest wine cellars, located in the vaulted cellar beneath the Town Hall, stocking a large selection of German wines for d…
• Schlachte Promenade – A historic harbor quay on the Weser River west of the old town, now a long stretch of beer gardens and restaurants and the departure point…
• Church of Our Lady – A Gothic hall church behind the Town Hall, one of Bremen's oldest parish churches, known for its modern stained-glass windows.
• Kunsthalle Bremen – An important private art museum in Germany with paintings from the Middle Ages to the present, known for its French Impressionists and the…
• Übersee-Museum – A large ethnology and natural history museum next to the train station, showcasing the cultures of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas…
• Universum Bremen – An interactive science center shaped like a silver shell, with hundreds of hands-on exhibits across three themes: technology, humanity, and…
• Bürgerpark – A large English-style landscape park north of the train station, with tree-lined lakes, boating, and cafés, serving as the city's backyard…
• Rhododendron Park – One of Europe's largest rhododendron gardens, with hundreds of varieties on display. The garden bursts with color when the flowers bloom in…
• Das Viertel – An alternative cultural district east of the old town, dense with independent shops, secondhand stores, theaters, and bars. It is the cente…
• Focke Museum – The Bremen state museum of history and art history, with several old farmhouses scattered through its park that tell the city's thousand-ye…
• Weserstadion – A stadium on the banks of the Weser River and home to Werder Bremen. Visitors can watch Bundesliga matches or join a stadium tour, and its…
• Beck's Brewery – The original brewery of the world-famous Beck's beer. Guided tours show the brewing process, and you can taste fresh beer at the end. It si…
• Mühle am Wall – A 19th-century Dutch-style windmill in the moat greenbelt of the old town. It is especially photogenic in spring alongside the flower beds…
• Weserburg Museum of Modern Art – A modern art museum housed in converted old warehouses on a sandbar in the Weser River, known for displaying privately owned contemporary a…
• Botanika – A greenhouse discovery centre in Rhododendron Park recreating the native habitats of rhododendrons in the Himalayas, Borneo and Japan, idea…
• German Emigration Center – Europe's largest museum of emigration at Bremerhaven, retelling the journeys of 7 million people who sailed from here to the Americas throu…
• Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost – A climate experience centre that takes you around the globe along the 8th meridian east, passing through nine climate zones from Swiss glac…
• German Maritime Museum – Germany's national maritime museum in Bremerhaven, whose highlight is a 1380 Hanseatic cog, with several historic ships moored in the outdo…
• Zoo am Meer – A small zoo on the Weser estuary embankment in Bremerhaven, focused on northern and marine animals, with polar bears, seals and penguins as…
• Worpswede Artists' Colony – An artists' village beside the Teufelsmoor (Devil's Moor) northeast of Bremen, where painters settled in the late 19th century, leaving beh…
• Valentin Submarine Pens – A massive submarine factory bunker built by the Nazis with forced labour at the end of World War II, now a memorial that tells the story of…

Where to eat

• Bremer Ratskeller – A century-old vaulted wine-cellar restaurant beneath Bremen's town hall, renowned for North German dishes and wine, rig…
• Kleiner Olymp – An old tavern tucked into a lane in the Schnoor district with a very small sign; its traditional North German cooking r…
• Café Knigge – A family pastry shop founded in 1889, now in its fourth generation, famous for Bremen fruit bread and Baumkuchen.
• Teestübchen im Schnoor – A three-story tearoom in a house from around 1650 in the Schnoor district, serving tea, cake and Bremen home cooking.
• Beck's Inn Schnoor – A rustic restaurant on Schnoor's main street with a full range of Bremen home cooking; in winter it serves kale with oa…
• Schüttinger Gasthausbrauerei – A brewpub beside the market square that brews beer on site, serving roast pork knuckle and homemade Labskaus.

Itineraries

• Hanseatic Cities & Baltic Railway: Hamburg to Berlin – Take the train from Hamburg along the Baltic Sea to Rügen Island, connecting historic Hanseatic cities before arriving…
• Fairy Tale Road Northern Section: 6-Day Self-Drive Itinerary – Drive south from Bremen along the Weser River to Kassel, connecting the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and the town of the…