Germany

For a real pampering on a German city break head to the country's premier spa town, Stuttgart.A total of 19 springs pump 22 million litres of mineral water into the city every day, which is thought to possess curative properties when bathed in regularly.Leuze Mineralbad offers one of the best venues to take advantage of the medicinal quality or to simply splash around and have fun in the large swimming pool with massaging water chutes.The proper way to experience the public bath however, is to take a hot shower in the Kalts Bad Halle before jumping into the freezing waters - an exercise guaranteed to boost circulation.Meanwhile, an array of steam rooms, saunas and even sun loungers allow for somewhat warmer R&R experiences at the complex.Mineralbad Canstatt and Mineralbad Berg are both other excellent aquatic alternatives in the city.

While Oktoberfest may be Germany's biggest drinking festival, why not get some practice in Mainz this summer.From July 18th to 20th the historic town plays host to an annual beer fair with the riverbank area behind the town hall transformed into a huge drinking garden.Hoards of tourists flock to the event to sample more than 400 types of beer from around the world sold from some 60 stalls.Accompanying the amber liquid is live music and hearty local grub served throughout the day in a bid to reduce the "bierleichens" - literally translating to drunken "beer corpses"!Mainz is just 12 miles from Frankfurt making it easily accessible. It occupies a beautiful spot at the confluence of the Main and Rhine rivers and surrounded by Rhine-Palatine wine country.Hosting over 40 festivals a year, the beer fair is certainly not the only alcoholic event in town this summer. For another favourite, visit during the last weekend of August for the Mainz wine festival.

Frankfurt Book Festival is one of the most talked about events in the literary calendar. Although in an age of computing, telephone conferencing and remote messaging where is the need? The answer is in the networking.In addition to talking about new manuscripts, what's hot and what's not this year, publishers and authors get the chance to exchange ideas. As publisher Morgan Entrekin once told a journalist: "It's the chance to rub shoulders with these really intelligent writers and publishers and to talk about books that you care deeply about." "That's the reason you're in this field." And this year's topic of interest is Turkey. Every year the fair focuses on one country to highlight its work among international publishers.The book fair runs from October 10th to 14th and with thousands of industry figures expected to attend, it is likely to be difficult to find a room in one of the best hotels in Frankfurt without booking well in advance. It's well known that paperbacks are more readily available in Europe opposed to countries like the United States where books come out in more expensive hardback format first. It has been estimated more than 600 million euros worth of business is achieved at the fair, which dates back to 1949.

Politicians, community leaders and protestors turned out in a show of force for the closing of Berlin's Tempelhof Airport. An October referendum was not enough to save the structure, which had been losing the city more than 150 million of Euros over recent years, airport spokesperson Ralf Kunkel told the BBC. One of the protestors reportedly wanted the airport to be a Unesco heritage site. Although it has not quite achieved this accolade, it has listed building status because of its historical past. Many of the best hotels in Berlin are clustered around Tempelhof, which was built by the Nazis and served as the hub of the Berlin Airlift of 1948 to 1949. Several champagne corks blew at the end of October as officials and visitors staying in the hotels near Tempelhof toasted the airport goodbye and some businessmen and women took the last flights off the runway. The Remaining airports in Berlin are now Schoenefeld and Tegel, with replacement Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BBI) not scheduled for completion until 2011. Berlin Schoenefeld Airport This airport is close to the city centres and transport facilities. There are plenty of hotels by Schoenefeld Airport if you do not want to go straight into the city when you land. Taxis and buses are available by the terminals and there are also car hire facilities. Schoenefeld has business facilities in the Hugo Junkers Lounge and a free children's play area. Tegel Airport Berlin It is best to reserve a room around Tegel flying in on a long-haul as it is 8km from the city centre. However, taxis are available as well as a Jet Express Bus which runs to the underground and S-Bahn train station at Jungfernheide. It will also go to city centre destinations, ask and see. If you are stuck in Tegel for a few hours, there are shops, restaurants and bars to browse, eat or drink. Berlin Brandenburg Airport It is due to open in 2011 to replace Tempelhof, whose future is uncertain. If the fanfare for the opening of BBI is anything like that f ... Read More