D. Pullen, Launceston

I would put Berlin at the top of my list. It's an intense, exciting city and an incubator of new ideas in music, arts, architecture and fashion. Stay at least four days. Hamburg, Dresden and Munich are other cities that you might work into your itinerary. You'll probably want to experience something of Germany outside the cities and The Romantic Road romanticroadgermany.com, which starts on the Austrian border and winds through Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg to the city of Wurzburg, is a fine touring route, stitching together medieval walled towns, mountain scenery, old market towns and some of the extravagant architectural works of Mad King Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein Castle high among them. There are plenty of guided coach tours along this route but even better is a self-drive trip, especially if you plan to take in some of the walking trails through the vineyards in the Tauber valley or linger in the historic villages, churches and monasteries of the lovely Pfaffenwinkel region. Sensational in late September. The road is about 350 kilometres long but anything less than three days would be criminal.

If you were to do this drive from north to south you could end it with a hike through the wonderful alpine walking country of Berchtesgaden National Park, just to the north of Austria's Salzburg region.

When to go depends on what you plan to do, but starting from mid September, when the summer holidays are over but you can still expect weather warm enough to enjoy a stein of excellent German beer in a Munich beer garden, would be my pick.

The official German Travel website germany.travel has plenty more information to help you plan your trip.