Cheap flights to Bremen from MKD10,379*

Bremen, of Grimm’s fairy tale and home to Beck’s beer, is a medieval jewel with 15th- and 16th-century houses and a Renaissance Town Hall. It’s much more than that, however, boasting a whole street of red-brick Expressionist architecture, the sweet cottages of the Schnoor neighbourhood and a superb science museum. Plus, it’s your gateway to exploring vibrant port city Bremerhaven or biking or hiking the mud flats of the Frisian Islands beyond.

 

A fairy-tale holiday

Bremen’s old town is indeed right out of a fairy tale. Its main square, Marktplatz, is marked by the Dom Sankt Petri cathedral, whose towers date from the 13th century and the late Renaissance Town Hall, which houses a basement beer hall that’s been in business for hundreds of years. Start your tour here and then stroll other old neighbourhoods, which have adjusted to the 21st century, just like they did in earlier eras. Next stop, the sea, with busy harbours and havens for birds, seals, hikers and bikers.

 

Magical streets and heroes

Bremen’s Marktplatz of course has a statue of the Musicians of Bremen, a pyramid of the story’s bronze animal heroes – be sure to pet them for good luck – and is the perfect setting for the city’s Christmas market. Nearby is the Böttcherstrasse, a medieval coopers’ lane renovated into red-brick, at times whimsical Expressionist architecture in the 1920s. The north entrance is adorned with a golden bas-relief called the Lichtbringer, or the Bringer of Light, by Bernhard Hoetger. Continue your storybook adventure in Schnoor, among winding streets lined with tiny colourful cottages that once housed fishermen and families and are now packed with boutiques, restaurants, cafés and galleries. Home to Airbus’s space division, Bremen’s scientific bent is evident at the gleaming sloping dome of the Universum Science Centre, where you can (virtually) visit the stars, the ocean floor or the centre of the earth. Other museum options include the first in the world dedicated to a female painter, Expressionist Paula Modersohn-Becker, and the Kunsthalle, which showcases works by Rubens, Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rodin. Football fans can walk along the river from the centre to Werder Bremen’s Weser Stadion, where tours of the ground are also available.

 

Beer and hearty meals

Tour Beck’s brewery, then taste their beers with free pretzels – need we say more? Your first stop for food should be the Bremer Ratskeller, which has been serving filling classics and bier in the cellar of the Town Hall since 1405 (!). In Schnoor, the cuteness of the cottages is matched in interior decor at the Teestübchen, the Little Tea Room, where you can have tea and kuchen (cakes) and savoury dishes. In the same neighbourhood, classic Bremen restaurant Kleiner Olymp serves up hearty-but-not-heavy dishes such as onion soup dripping with cheese, corned beef and north German seafood specialities, plus its own black brew. Beer reigns in Beck’s hometown. Try Union for beers and burgers in a renovated brewery (with a smaller branch near the stadium). If you’d like a wider drinks selection, Blauer Fasan Bar is cosy and friendly with cocktails galore, as is Wohnzimmer, which means “living room”, so beer and cocktail lovers alike will certainly feel at home.

 

Flea markets and other treasures

Bremen is famed for hosting Germany’s largest flea market, the Flohmarkt Bürgerweide, held near the central train station, outdoors in nice weather and indoors in inclement. It boasts 600 vendors, both professional and locals cleaning out old homes and selling their treasures, every Sunday. Bremen has another smaller-but-not-small market, held on the banks of the river near the old town every Saturday, with lots of antiques and other gems. Explore the city’s historic centre for newer treasures such as gold jewellery handmade in the window at Michael Falk Goldschmiede, chocolates at Hachez, truffles at Bremer Bonbon Manufaktur, or home design goods at Böttcherstrasse 8. After beers at one of the many beer bars, choose Meisenfrei, a blues-rock venue hosting live gigs, or the vast Aladin Music Hall, which has an enormous dance floor lined with bars and a different DJed music theme every night. Moderne is a movie-theatre-turned-club with a roof that can be opened.

 

Tidal flats, islands and towns

Right outside Bremen is Denkort Bunker Valentin, a massive concrete bunker the Nazis began constructing in 1943 to build submarines in. Thousands of slave labourers from nearby camps worked to build it only to be damaged by Allied bombing just before it was completed, and just before the Nazi surrender. You can visit the ruins and walk its perimeter with an audio guide. Continue up the River Weser to Bremen’s port, Bremerhaven, for a harbourside seafood meal with a view. At the tip of the peninsula, climb the Kugelbake, a wooden navigational tower for lovely vistas of the Wadden Sea, or start your tour of the tidal flats among sands, birds and wildlife at the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea Visitor Centre Cuxhaven. From Bremen, you can also head west to Emden, on the Dutch border. See Volkswagens and Mercedes loaded on ships here and in Bremenhaven, respectively. It’s a short hop from here to one of the East Frisian Islands for walking the mudflats or biking buffeted by the wind from the North Sea. Or go for more storied town visits such as Worpswede or Oldenburg, with green fields and waterways along the way.

 

Bremen airport

Bremen Airport is just 3.5 kilometres south of the city, an 11-minute ride on tram line 6. Taxis and rental cars are also available. There are 11 restaurant options – fast food, Turkish, Asian, Italian, gourmet deli, beer bar and coffee. Duty-free and travel items are on offer in the shops. On the top of Terminal 3, you’ll find an exhibition space featuring the original plane from the first flight from Europe to North America in 1928.

 

Bremen weather

The climate in Bremen is temperate, with summer averages around 20°C and around freezing in winter. Summer is most pleasant, but July is the rainiest month, so perhaps choose spring or fall for your city break and be sure to wrap up warm for the Christmas market, as winds can make it feel colder.