Berlin - Dresden 121 miles train 2:09 h Dresden - Prague 92 miles train 2:50 Prague - Salzburg 236 miles train 4:00 h Salzburg - Vienna 183 miles SZG-VIE 0:45 h Vienna - Budapest 151 miles VIE-BUD 0:55 h Budapest - Berlin 540 miles BUD-TXL 1:25 h

Berlin

Since 1999, Berlin's Museum Island is listed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The museum complex was built on half of a square mile on a small island in the Spree river during a period of 100 years. Five museums, built from 1830 to 1930, represent 6000 years of human history. Besides archaeological collections like the Pergamon Altar and the Gate of Ischtar, 19th century art is also exhibited. The Prussian castles and gardens belong to the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1990. The Berlin-Potsdam cultural landscape is the largest among the German World Heritage sites and unique in its assembly of parks, gardens and buildings. Great architects, artists and landscape architects created these complete works of art, which had been commissioned by the rulers of Prussia throughout the past centuries. Beside the outstanding castle and park of Sanssouci, the Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) and Castle Glienicke are also UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Dresden

2004 the UNESCO World Heritage Commission placed the Dresden Elbe Valley on the list of World Heritage Sites. The World Heritage Site extends along the river valley from the village of Söbringen near Pillnitz Palace in the east to Übigau Palace in the west. Over the past 400 years, numerous artists and scientists have left their traces in the Elbe Valley in Dresden and the results of their work have been carried across the world. In the Elbe Valley in Dresden, landscape and architecture have developed in harmony and in unusually close combination. This has resulted in a cultural landscape of great aesthetic and artistic value. This cultural landscape includes unparalleled examples of Baroque architechture that bear witness, among other things, to the courtly festivities of that period, as well as important examples of 19th-century bourgeois building styles. The ancient cultural tradition of vine-growing is also practised in the Elbe Valley close to Dresden. The Dresden Elbe Valley is the first independent World Heritage Site in Saxony. So far, there are 27 recognised World Heritage Sites in Germany.

Prague

The historical center of Prague has been on the UNESCO list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage since 1992. The city's complex of ancient monuments, dominated by Prague Castle, represents the 1100-year evolution of the city. Prague was also awarded the prestigious title "European City of Culture" in 2000.

Salzburg

UNESCO declared the Old City on the left and right banks of the Salzach as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1997. Salzburg's prince archbishops were appreciative of the arts and created a city whose medieval and baroque structures blend into a unique ensemble. Colorful townhouses line the narrow streets and spacious squares are dotted with baroque fountains all beneath the silhouette of Hohensalzburg Fortress and the towers and domes of the city's churches. Palaces, from every historical epoch, set in magnificent parks complete the impressive scene.

Vienna

Stroll through the narrow streets where Mozart, Beethoven and Sigmund Freud once walked. Vienna boasts two UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. The first is the historic city center dating back to Roman times, with the gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral at its heart and encircled by Ringstrasse, the imperial and royal boulevard. The other is the baroque Schönbrunn Palace, former summer residence of the Hapsburgs, with its beautiful gardens, zoo, carriage collection and greenhouse. The city's fabulous heritage also includes numerous museums and collections, art nouveau treasures and architectural jewels.

Budapest

Buda & Pest – The different stages of the capital's past can be perfectly studied through the historic buildings along the banks of the Danube. The 2-mile long riverbanks are among the most outstanding in the world. From the Buda side, the Lanchid (Chain bridge) leads directly to Andrássy Avenue on the Pest side. They were built on the basis of a unified architectural concept. A semicircular colonnade of statues at Heroes Square perpetuates the memory of eminent rulers and leaders from Hungarian history. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee lists all of these sites.

Additionals

Munich

"Earthly perfection in Heavenly service" describes the essence of the "Wallfahrtskirche auf der Wies" (the church in the meadow) – an UNESCO World Heritage treasure. Its curved roofs are in harmony with the gentle hills of the lower Alps. Inside the church, architecture, paintings, stucco art and gold filigree blend to form an exuberant rococo masterpiece. Munich's charming surroundings have so much more to offer: lakes, mountains, baroque churches and cloisters, magnificent farmhouses and the fairy-tale castles of Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee.