A friend of mine is traveling to Germany, what are the best places to see there??

If you had to narrow it down to the top five??????

Here are my top 10. You can pick the five you like best.

If I had to narrow it I'd pick

1. Berlin
2. Rhine/Mosel
4. Wartburg/Eisenach
6. Dresden
8. A Medieval Town (probably Goslar)

This depends on your interests. Here are some of the things I find best about Germany: I answered a question a few months ago like this.

1. Berlin - This really tops the list. Berlin is fascinating because it has everything - great museums, great nightlife, great shopping, fantastic history, world-class attractions, everything! Favorite places include the former East neighborhoods of Mitte and Prenzenlauer Berg, the museums all over town, but mostly on Museumsinsel, the Jewish Museum, all of the sights associated with the Wall, the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche - and I could go On and On. I spent a month there in 2005 and didn't even touch the surface.

2. The Rhine (and to a lesser extent the Mosel) Valley - This is the birthplace of the Germanic spirit, the spiritual center of Germany. This is where the Niebelungenlied is set, the great national myth of Germany, and where the Lorley's siren song is heard. This is also home to some of the most beautiful scenery, and some of the best white wines in the world. Stay in a half-timbered village like Bacharach, or wine town like Boppard, and enjoy the River and the people. Here Germany is never strict, is never dour. Here she laughs and dances. And that, my friend, is her soul! Don't miss the 900 year old, undamaged Burg Eltz, my favortie castle in Germany! If you can, catch a K-D Steamship and travel the Rhine Gorge between Koblenz and Bingen.

3. Munich and Bavaria - impossible to resist, Munich and Bavaria practically are Germany in the US conciousness, as incorrect as that is. But the alps are beautiful, the fantastic castles of King Ludwig are heartstopping, and the museums are fantastic. Go to Englisher Garten and drink beer and listen to oom-pah bands (for just the price of the beer!) Watch the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz! Visit the Deutsches Museum. Go to the wonderful Baroque Weiskirche, or Ettaler Monastary. Drive on the Romantic Road!

4. The Wartburg/Eisenach - The Castle is a national treasure, and part of the history of the Reformation. The history here is ancient. This is also the town that birthed J.S. Bach, and the Bach Gebursthaus is worth a visit.

5. Buchenwald, Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Bergen-Belsen. Names that should chill the heart. The Holocaust is an inescapable fact of German history, and much as the country is beyond it, the memory of it is something that the world will always live with. It's important to go see it. This will not be a fun, you go to these not because you want to, but because you must.

6. Dresden - Florence on the Elbe. Baroque beauty soars and finds flower in this beautiful city, which was almost totally destroyed in one night during the end of WW II. The restored Frauenkirche is a marvel, the still blackened Zwinger recalls those fantastic days. There is far more to do and see in Dresden - other churches to visit, the Kreuzkirche with it's fantastic choir among them, the opera, and the like. In addition you can indulge a little Ost-algie in a Trabi-tour. And Dresden has one of Germany's best Weihnachtsmarkts

7. Medieval Towns - Quendlenburg, Rothenburg ob du Tauber, and especially Goslar are my favorites. Go walk around these ancient houses, still inhabited, and enjoy a day or two in this great history. Goslar also has the Rammelsberg mine to offer - 1000 years of continuous mining history, and the palace that housed many Holy Roman Emperors.

8. Cologne/Bonn - I put them together, since they are easy to do from each other, only about 40 minutes apart by train, and because one of their unique features - Roman history - is a common one. When Romans came and colonized Germany, they stopped at the west bank of the Rhine. The "savages" beyond were too much for them. But they built an incredible civilization in "Colonia" and Bonn. Visit the Romisches Museum in Cologne for that history. Not to mention the most magnificent Gothic Cathedral in Germany. It is amazing, taking 800 years to build. Just the stained glass there is amazing. Bonn has Roman sites, too, and a central church with a beautiful courtyard and an incredibly carved organ not to be missed. But Bonn also has Ludwig von Beethoven as it's native son - and an excellent museum dedicated to this native son. As a university town, it also has some great pubs and nightlife. And of course Cologne's Carnival, which starts to great fanfare on 11/11 at 11:11 AM, and runs up until the day before Ash Wednesday, is one of the most colorful.

9. The Schwartzwald - Cuckoo clock land, this place that murmers the fairy tales of yesteryear is a lovely place to come and relax, in the baths of Baden-Baden or the university town of Freiburg, or even on the shores of the Titisee - it matters not where you are, life is a little slower here, the scenery is a little richer.

10 - Leipzig - I'm a classical music fan, and Bach's career as the Thomaskirche choirmaster brought me to this city in the former east, but just as fascinating is the history of the Wende, and the story of the freedom movement that started in the Nicholaikirche (also see the Gethsemanekirche in Berlin). Add to this the Stasi museum, and some of the best shopping in Germany, and little Leipzig is a great place to visit.

As in any country, it depends on personal preferences. I'm sure not every visitor is interested in heavy castle-walking with elderly tourists. Of course, Berlin is a must-see (and depending on the time you have may even be the only place where you are, because of its mutliple attractions). The Rhineland and the Mosel valley are cute, and Bavaria's mountains are, well, not high, but worth seeing. I'd like to add Hamburg and the whole Norhtsea and Baltic coast; but, to be honest, as a man from the Bavarian mountains, that's not my world. If someone comes from a coastal region him/herself, however, it might be worth seeing.

You see, I don't narrow it down to something special, because you'll find places of interest and tourist sites in travel guides or on the internet. I always travelled in foreign countries with only a vague idea of where I'd go next, using something like the "Lonely Planet" guide and cheap train tickets, and ended up at places regular tourists seldom reach.

Now I live myself in a quiet touristy region in Bavaria, near the Czech border. If your friend comes near the Großer Arber mountain in Bavaria (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fer_Arber ), he can send me mail, and maybe we'll have a beer together.

1. Hamburg

2. Freiburg and the Black Forrest

3.Sylt Island and the Frisian Islands

4. Munich

5. Lake Constance

Avoid East Germany and Berlin: too many Nazis!

Berlin
the river Rhine valley from Koblenz to Bonn
Rothenburg o.d. Tauber
Dresden
Munich

there are no Nazis in eastern germany!! just some stupid kids as everywhere.
Nazis are verywhere all over the world even in your country.

Depends where You are and the interessts:

1.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber (midieval town)
2.
Schloß Neuschwanenstein und Hohenschwangau (castles of the "fairy tale king" Ludwig II)
3.
along the Rhein (Mittelrhein) between Frankfurt and Bingen: castles and the Loreley
4.
Sinsheim: technical museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinsheim_Auto_%26_Technik_Museum)
5.
Berlin: Reichstag und Brandenburgertor
or
Leipzig: Völkerschlachtdenkmal
or
Bodensee: island Minau (Flowers)
or
Worms/Losch/Speyer: Cathedral
or
near Frankfurt a. M. Glauberg celtic Museum
or....

Go to Bavaria and have fun!

Visit Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle, Berchtesgaden National Park in Bavaria, Berlin (even not in Bavaria)

Go to Garmisch-parkenirchen in Bavaria and go to the Zugspitze it is the highest mountain in Germany.

Everyone has a lot of great suggestions but I would recommend traveling to some small villages in Northern Germany. I've stayed in Moelln (near Luebeck) for about a month and it is wonderful there. It all depends on what you're friend wants to do while there. I would also recommend visiting Travemuende or Warnemuende while there. Those are small towns on the Baltic Sea...very cute!

1. Berlin - especially during the love fest
2. Munich
3. Black Forest
4. WiesBaden
5. Rhine River
6. Alps