Hannover is the capital of Lower Saxony, and one of the greenest cities in Germany. Home to a vast urban forest, the 640-hectare Eilenriede, the city also has 530km of cycling tracks, including many that weave through verdant scenery. The thriving arts and culture scene includes the Sprengel Museum, showcasing works from the likes of Picasso and Kandinsky. You can wander along the banks of the Leine River to see the three buxom, joyful and bizarre Nanas sculptures.
Hostels in Hannover have rooms ranging from dorms with flat-screen TVs, refrigerators and desks, to private rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Buffet breakfasts are sometimes available, and you can find a Hannover hostel with an on-site brewery pub that serves meals of traditional fare and regional favourites. Many Hannover hostels have shared kitchens where you can prepare your own snacks, and communal lounges with table football and computer games.
The narrow streets of the old town are filled with half-timbered houses that were lovingly restored after the Second World War. Kröpcke is the central square and home to the distinctive dark green clock, the city’s most popular meeting spot. Maschsee is an artificial lake surrounded by a park, where a three-week festival takes place each summer with sports on the water, open-air dance nights, food stalls and concerts. To the west of the centre, the neighbourhood of Linden is a creative hotspot that attracts students and arty types with cafés, bars and live music venues.
Get to know Hannover by following the Red Thread, a 4.2km track marked on the pavements around the city. In the more modern part of the city, you’ll find the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus), with a 38-metre-high main hall as its spectacular highlight. You can take the elevator to the top of the dome for views across the city and Maschsee Lake. The Herrenhäuser Gärten is considered one of the most important Baroque gardens in Europe, with water features, intricately manicured hedges and a fascinating grotto made up of mirrors and coloured glass.
Hannover has a good public transport system, with buses, trams and underground trains. Arriving by plane? There's an airport train link connecting Hannover Airport with the central railway station, Hannover Hauptbahnhof. The train station also has frequent services to Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin, as well as other European cities. The central bus station, Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof, has long-distance connections across Germany and its neighbouring countries.
