Saxony-Anhalt, half-timbering, Romanesque and the Harz mountains.

Saxony-Anhalt is the state south-west of Berlin, between Brandenburg, Saxony and Lower Saxony. It is a land of early German history: the first Saxon kings reigned here in the tenth century, Luther's Reformation began here, in Wittenberg, and the Bauhaus taught here, in Dessau. To the south-west rise the Harz mountains, with forests, canyons and steam trains.

What to see

Quedlinburg is the prettiest getaway from Berlin in this part of the country: some 2,000 half-timbered houses spanning eight centuries, a World Heritage Site, with the Romanesque collegiate church where Henry I is buried and its medieval treasury at the top of the castle hill. Ten kilometres away, in Thale, the River Bode gorge cuts through the Harz between granite walls, with a cable car to the Hexentanzplatz viewpoint; and from Quedlinburg station a narrow-gauge steam train leaves for the Selke valley.

Wittenberg, Luther's city, is worth a visit, but its great museum, the Lutherhaus, is closed for building work until spring 2027: we will add it when it reopens.

Dessau-Wörlitz, an hour and three quarters from Berlin on the RE7, brings together two World Heritage Sites: in Dessau, Gropius's Bauhaus building and the masters' houses, with the option of sleeping in a student studio; 15 km away, Wörlitz Park, an eighteenth-century English garden with lakes, gondolas and a palace.

How do you get there from Spain?

By air to Berlin, with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) is closer to the Harz, but with far fewer flights from Spain. From Berlin to Quedlinburg you go by train with a change in Magdeburg, about two hours and three quarters, or by car, about 210 km.

When to go

From April to October, for walking in the Harz and sitting on terraces. Advent is the other great season, with the Christmas market in the courtyards of the half-timbered houses of Quedlinburg.

How to combine it

A night in Quedlinburg covers the old town and the collegiate church; with two, you add Thale and the steam train. With a car, you can return to Berlin via Magdeburg.