Where to stay

Hotel Suitess An oasis of luxury with custom-decorated rooms and old-world elegance. Doubles from €149. An der Frauenkirche 13, Dresden, 00 49 35 14 17 27 0, suitess-hotel.com

Dormero Hotel Rotes Ross This regal, 300-year-old hotel is a blend of antique and modern. Doubles from €64, including breakfast. Leipziger Strasse 76, Halle/Saale, 00 49 34 52 33 43 0, dormero.de

Hotel Elephant The oldest hotel in Weimar – it opened its doors in 1696 – has spacious rooms and suites. Doubles from €109. Markt 19, Weimar, 00 49 36 43 80 20, hotelelephantweimar.com

Radisson Blu Erfurt Sleek, modern property with amenities such as free wireless and a spectacular top-floor spa. Doubles from €90. Juri-Gagarin-Ring 127, Erfurt, 00 49 36 15 51 00, radissonblu.com

Pension Weingut Zadel A restored country mansion and winery, Doubles from €80, including breakfast. Dorfanger 19, Diera-Zehren, 00 49 35 21 76 76 0, schloss-proschwitz.de

Travel Information

Currency is the euro. Germany is one hour ahead of GMT. The best time to visit Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia is during summer (May-September) when the weather is warm and there is low rainfall.

GETTING THERE - Lufthansa (lufthansa.com) flies daily from Heathrow to Dresden.

RESOURCES - Cultural Heart of Germany (culturalheart.info) for local information.

Where to eat

Link to a category

Anna Amalia Boasting one of Thuringia’s two Michelin stars, chef Marcello Fabri’s cuisine is a seamless fusion of local ingredients and Italian exuberance. Menus from €50. Markt 19, Weimar, 00 49 36 43 80 20, hotelelephantweimar.com/en/restaurants-and-bars

Auerbachs Keller Rated one of the world’s most famous restaurants thanks to its role in Goethe’s Faust, this cellar serves great platters of braised and stewed meats. Three courses from €20. Grimmaische Strasse 2-4, Leipzig, 00 49 34 12 16 10 0, auerbachs-keller-leipzig.de

Brauhaus Halle A great-value eatery in Halle’s historic centre with housebrewed beer and wood-oven specialties. Three courses from €10. Grosse Nikolaistrasse 2, Halle/Saale 00 49 34 52 12 57 0, brauhaushalle.de

Köstritzer Zum Güldenen Rade There’s a reason Thuringia is famous for sausages and dumplings, and this is the top address in town for succulent Rostbratwurst and Klösse. Three courses from €20. Marktstrasse 50, Erfurt, 00 49 36 15 61 35 06, zum-gueldenen-rade.de

Radeberger Spezialausschank This pub and café, with its terrace overlooking the Elbe river, offers Pilsner brewed in the traditional manner, and does an excellent version of the Eierschecke, Saxony’s signature cake. Terrassenufer 1, Dresden, 00 49 35 14 84 86 60,radebergerspezialausschank.de

Reinhardt’s im Schloss Enjoy the views from this centuries-old country house enjoying delicacies like local venison with chanterelles and blackberries. Three courses from €30. Schlosshof 3, Auerstedt, 00 49 36 46 18 77 62, toskanaworld.net/web/de/auerworld/reinhardts.asp

Restaurant zenSur Locals flock to this 450-year-old house in Meissen for dishes such as trout with fennel purée. Three courses from €40. Heinrichsplatz 6, Meissen, 00 49 35 21 41 11 0, das-zensur.de

Rotkappchen Sektkellerei Sparkling wine factory has daily tours with tasting sessions, Sektkellereistrasse 5, Freyburg/Unstrut, 00 49 34 46 43 40, rotkaeppchen.de

Schloss Wackerbarth Located between Dresden and Meissen, the area’s largest wine producer is the place to sample traditional Saxony fine dining. Three courses from €32. Sächisches Staatsweingut, Wackerbarthstrasse 1, Radebeul, 00 49 3 51 89 55 0, schloss-wackerbarth.de

Zum Arabischen Coffebaum Dating back to 1694, Europe’s secondoldest coffee house serves refreshments with old-world charm. Kleine Fleischergasse 4, Leipzig, 00 49 34 19 61 00 61, coffe-baum.de

Zum Edelacker A lovely restaurant and vineyard in the heart of the Salle-Unstrut wine region whose extensive wine list is complemented by a menu showcasing the best of the region and season. Three courses from €25. Schloss 25, Freyburg/Unstrut 00 49 34 46 43 50, edelacker.de

Food Glossary

Eierschecke

A light, moist cheesecake from Dresden.

Gose

A tangy, top-fermented beer usually mixed with fruit syrup.

Klösse

Fist-sized Thuringian potato dumplings, served with gravy.

Leipziger Allerlei

Leipzig’s most famous specialty, a spring vegetable ragout with asparagus and crayfish.

Leipziger Lerchen

Small tarts filled with marzipan and strawberry jam.

Pilsner

Light yet bitter German lager.

Quarkkäulchen

Saxon dumplings made from curd cheese and raisins, pan-fried and served with vanilla sauce or ice cream.

Schwarzbier

A dark, strong and tasty beer Thuringia is famous for, perfect with a Rostbratwurst.

Thüringer Rostbratwurst

Spiced pork sausage, served grilled with mustard. The oldest recipes dates back to 1404 and it has its own PDO status.

Born Feinkost

Home of Thuringia’s most famous mustard. Wenigemarkt 11, Erfurt, 00 49 36 17 40 34 0, born-feinkost.de

Goldhelm Schokoladenmanufaktur

The place to taste Alex Kühn’s wildly popular chocolate creations. Krämerbrücke 12-14, Erfurt, 00 49 36 16 60 98 51, goldhelm-schokolade.de

Naumburg Cathedral

Its 2011 exhibition focuses on the Naumburg Master, running June-November. Domplatz, Naumburg, 00 49 34 45 23 01 103, naumburgermeister.eu

Schloss Proschwitz

Owned by Dr Georg Prinz zur Lippe, this is the oldest and largest private wine estate in Saxony. Dorfanger 19, 01665 Zadel über Meissen, 00 49 35 21 76 76 0, schloss-proschwitz.de

Toskana Therme

Health spa featuring ‘liquid sound’. Wunderwaldstrasse 2a, Bad Sulza, 00 49 36 46 19 20 00, toskanaworld.net

Food and Travel Review

It seems hard to fathom that the centre of Europe’s most populous country could ever lay claim to the description ‘hidden gem’, but this region seems to prove the old adage that the best hiding place is in plain sight. Together, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia – the three former East German states that today form the country’s ‘cultural heart’ – share a mix of history, architecture, landscapes, dining and dynamism so alluring that to those who stumble into their tourist-free embrace it seems impossible there isn’t a catch. In fact there is: this obscurity certainly won’t last.

Saxony

After being almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing in the Second World War, Saxony’s capital Dresden is now a cosmopolitan city whose meticulous reconstruction pays homage to its history as an important cultural and trading centre. Straddling the river Elbe, the majestic skyline is once again dominated by the baroque cupola of the Frauenkirche church, re-opened in 2005 after lying in ruins for half a century. The equally well-restored tangle of pedestrian streets in the centre house designer boutiques, theatres and restaurants such as Maurice. Here 28-year-old Andre Mühlfriedel takes Saxon ingredients – like local wild hare and small-batch cheeses from nearby dairies – on a rarefied romp through the Mediterranean and South-east Asia. In late spring and summer the city really comes alive; nightly outdoor cinema, the world-renowned Dixieland jazz festival and afternoon pints of house-brewed Pilsner beer on the roof terrace of the Radeberger Spezialausschank are enjoyed by visitors and residents alike during the long, warm days.

To the west, the Elbe valley unfolds in a patchwork of lush, vinecovered slopes. Only 30km from Dresden and easily accessible by train, the breathtaking city of Meissen, with its storybook medieval skyline, is both an architectural wonder and nucleus of the local wine industry. Wine-growing has been practiced in this part of Saxony for 850 years, though not until reunification in 1990 did the emphasis shift to quality rather than quantity. The area’s largest producer is Schloss Wackerbarth with 90 hectares of riesling, traminer and pinot blanc; this experiential wine estate is still state-owned but a pioneer in both the quality of the wines and its facilities for visitors. It is unique in that it maintains the age-old méthod champenoise – in which the second fermentation takes place in bottle – for production of its sparkling wines. Schloss Proschwitz is a jewel among the privately owned vineyards, producing award-winning whites and reds under the direction of Prince Georg zur Lippe, a noble who bought back his family’s ancestral castle from the government in 1997 and turned it into one of the most highly regarded wine estates in the republic.

Saxony’s second metropolis is Leipzig, a grand, stately city famed for its long-established university, elegant shopping districts and long history of attracting Germany’s cultural elite. The city has a particularly rich musical history, and a signposted tour leads visitors to the dwellings of former Leipzig residents including Johann Sebastian Bach and Richard Wagner. Other artists were drawn to Leipzig too; among the most notable was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who studied at the university and featured his favourite restaurant – the Auerbachs Keller – in his masterwork Faust. The restaurant is still thriving; its specialties include house-cured Saxon ham, stuffed beef rolls called Rinderrouladen, and a buttery potato soup that has a fanatical local following. For dessert, head to the Zum Arabischen Coffebaum, the second-oldest coffee house in Europe. Although nobody remembers what the likes of Bach and Schumann used to order, there’s a good chance it was one of the region’s delicious pastries such as Quarkkäulchen, pan-fried curd-cheese fritters, or Räbchen, warm marzipan-stuffed plums.

Saxony-Anhalt

A thousand years of German and European history resides in today’s Saxony-Anhalt – in its proud castles, small country churches, defiant monasteries and ancient traditions. Just across its border is the bustling city of Halle, named more than 2,000 years ago by the Celts after their word for salt, vast reserves of which once surrounded the city. Salt is responsible for much more than Halle’s name, though; thanks to the ‘white gold’ the city became immensely wealthy and powerful in the middle ages, controlling both production and the lucrative trade route to the east. The five imposing towers that ring the broad market square are reminders of those past fortunes, as are the salt workers called Halloren. A common sight at local festivities, the members of this centuries-old fraternity wear velvet uniforms adorned with 18 round silver buttons, a clever way of passing wealth on to the next generation. In recent years, the city has also become known as destination for music lovers. George Frideric Handel was born here in 1685. To celebrate its connection with this famous musician the city has turned his family home into a museum, and stages an 11-day festival of his music each June.

Another of Germany’s up-and-coming wine areas lies along Saxony-Anhalt’s Saale and Unstrut rivers. The country’s northernmost wine region is larger than that of neighbouring Saxony and thanks to its transient history it has a wide variety of grapes and 40 winegrowing estates, including the largest sparkling-wine manufacturer in the country, Rotkäppchen, whose cheerful red-capped bottles have been gracing local tables since 1856. Most, however, are small and many are co-operatives, like the winegrowers’ association which cultivates 700 hectares of white and red varietals around the dreamy town of Freyburg. The perfect spot to sample this liquid treasure is the chestnut-shaded terrace of the Edelacker Restaurant. The delicate cooking of Gerd Krippendorf – whose specialties include soft local lamb and a goat cheese terrine with fig sauce – harmonises with the crisp, light Saale-Unstrut wines, which can be sampled while enjoying the view over the very vines that grew them.

Cultural and historical sites are thick on the ground in this part of Germany, but none is more awe-inspiring than the St Peter and St Paul Cathedral in the city of Naumburg. A stellar example of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, the cathedral was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and includes sculptures by the ‘Naumburg Master’, an anonymous 13th-century sculptor whose works grace houses of worship as far away as France.

Thuringia

With its rolling hills carpeted by vineyards and poplars, north-east Thuringia may remind one of Tuscany. This association is particularly evident around the bucolic village of Bad Sulza and its appropriately named Toskana Therme. Although hot springs have bubbled here for thousands of years, the health spa that now operates on this site is a trailblazer in the therapeutic use of music – specifically, underwater music, known here as ‘liquid sound’. Described as a ‘concert hall filled with water’, Toskana’s thermal baths attract everyone from music lovers to those seeking healing in the serene salt-water pools.

A city of ornate UNESCO World Heritage palaces and regal avenues, Weimar was a farming village until the mid-16th century when Duke Johann Friedrich decided to make it his home – and transformed it into a worldwide centre for the arts. Under the Duke’s patronage and that of rulers that followed, the city beckoned artists, musicians and writers to come and practise their craft. Bach lived and worked here for several years, as did Goethe, Nietzsche, Liszt and Schiller. In the early 20th century Weimar was home to architect Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus School, one of history’s most significant design movements. History buffs will be fascinated by Weimar’s state theatre – the first one in Germany and the location at which the country’s Weimar Republic was declared in 1918.

If gastronomy is your pursuit, you should stop for a meal at one of Thuringia’s Michelin-starred restaurants, Anna Amalia. Chef Marcello Fabbri’s inventive menus are as colourful as the man himself, pairing anglerfish with herb gazpacho and lardo di Colonnata ham, and silky foie gras with local mirabelle plums and pink peppercorns in a style he describes as ‘pan-European with an Italian heart’.

Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia, is also one of Europe’s oldest human settlements; archeological finds show that the spot was inhabited as long ago as the Paleolithic period. In the Middle Ages the city was an important trading hub and religious centre, home to more than 90 monasteries and friaries. The city’s vibrant university – one of Germany’s most prestigious – was founded here in 1392 and has seen many notable names pass through its halls, including an idealistic young theologian named Martin Luther.

Modern-day Erfurt is relaxed and welcoming, its winding cobbled lanes and colourful half-timbered facades far more like a friendly village than a city of a quarter-million. To get your bearings, climb the steps up to the twin cathedrals Mariendom and Severikirche, where you’ll enjoy breathtaking views of the old town. Each summer this spot plays host to the popular Domstufen-Festspiele, a series of plays performed on an open-air stage. The focal point of Erfurt’s medieval centre is one of Europe’s most unique bridges, the Krämerbrücke. Straddling the river Gera, this bridge houses a row of half-timbered buildings on either side whose ground-floor spaces are occupied by local artisans, galleries and speciality shops. One of the bridge’s most popular addresses is Goldhelm Schokoladenmanufaktur, a quirky café-cum-boutique that showcases the work of a young chocolatier, Alexander Kühn. Combining the highest quality chocolate with such innovative ingredients as cherry blossoms, pumpkin and baked apples, Goldhelm’s sweets have become a local sensation and helped turn the Krämerbrücke into a lively community hub. Seamlessly wrapping tradition and innovation into one mouthwatering package, it’s also the perfect microcosm of these three soon-to-be-discovered regions.