Live: Hanover - Rest Stop for Germany

View of Hanover from the New Town Hall

By now you should have realized my pattern of travel for Germany and if you haven't, here was how it went.

Munich (Capital of Bavarian) -> Berlin (Capital of modern-day Germany) -> Dresden (Capital of Saxony)

Hauptbahnhof

I hope you see the pattern now. So after the third capital, my fourth was the capital of the Lower Saxony, Hanover. We left the barren Dresden train station at eight in the morning and four hours later, we saw a whole different train station in Hanover. A highlight on its own, the Hanover train station is one of the best in Europe. With an attached shopping arcade, easy access to the platforms and many peripheral facilities to aid travelers, you can't help but feel the Hanover Hauptbahnhof is the gold standard for all train station. Dawn was in awed by one another thing - the availability of good valued asia food. There weren't just one of them, there were at least ten of them for us to choose from. We hit the first one we could find, were satisfied (or rather Dawn was) with the food and decided that we will try it another stall (recommended by wikitravel for its portions) the next day.

When I planned for the German leg of the trip, I inserted Hanover in as a "rest stop". This meant that for this stop, sightseeing is kept to a minimum, try our best to recuperate and prepare for the rest of the journey. More information can be found below on how this "rest stop" works. So after the asian lunch at the Hauptbahnhof, we checked into the fantastic hotel-style Bed'n'Budget and took a short rest. After that, we did what we would usually to back home (check out the additional information to know why) - do some groceries shopping, watch a movie and stay in to watch TV. We only managed to do the first and third item. The watching movie part failed terribly as just before we bought the tickets, Dawn had the sense to ask the language of the movie and the stone-faced box officer told us "its in German". I was so disappointed. So no transformer 3 for me but at least shortly after, I found a huge stash of rittersports and bought the whole lot (25 bars of chocolates), not too bad of a day after all.

The rest day was really effective as we were revitalized and ready to go the next day. However, we still wary of not wanting to tire ourselves out too quickly, we decided to take it easy on the second day. We slept in late, then decided to skip the Hanover garden and go on the "Red Thread Tour" instead. This particular tour is unique because it does not have an actual tour guide. Instead, you buy a book for €3, follow the red thread on the floor from the TI and take a scenic walk around the historic city center of Hanover. So we managed to cover the Hauptbahnhof, State Opera House, New Town Hall, Fat Girls Sculptures, many other churches and the Marktet Hall. On the way we saw a few memorials and monuments, got a great view of the city above the New Town Hall and sat down for coffee and dessert. Overall, the tour gave me an all-encompassing view of the historic side of Hanover and and well-worth every penny of the book and time. I highly recommend buying the €3 Hanover book, it'll truly enhance the whole experience. At least you'll know what you are actually looking at.

Here are some of the highlights:

State Opera House

Arrow-shooting the New Town Hall

The New Town Hall

The City in Ruins after WWII

Fat Bottom Girls

Old Town Hall

Overall Hanover is a nice modern city to visit. Don't expect as much history as you will find in Berlin or Munich or the tall skyscraper in Frankfurt. Hanover itself isn't a place that is overflowing with tourist and most of the facilities are meant not just for tourists but for the masses. Their main stab at the tourism comes in the form of the Red Thread Tour and the Herranhauser, not too impressive if you compare it to some other German states. She is definitely not a city on my must-go list but if you happen to be passing by the Northern side of Germany and have the extra time and cash, its worth a day or two.

For more information about the city:
Blog entry to be up soon

For more information on "rest" days:
Blog entry to be up soon

For more photos:
Hanover Photos