Leipzig

Hypezig! cry the papers, The New Berlin, says just about everybody. Yes, Leipzig is Saxony's coolest city, a playground for nomadic young creatives who have been displaced even by the fast-gentrifying German capital, but it's also a city of enormous history, a trade-fair mecca and solidly in the sights of music lovers due to its intrinsic connection to the lives and work of Bach, Mendelssohn and Wagner.

To this day, one of the world's top classical bands (the Gewandhausorchester) and oldest and finest boys' choirs (the 800-year-old Thomanerchor) continue to delight audiences. When it comes to art, the neo-realistic New Leipzig School has stirred up the international art world with such protagonists as Neo Rauch and Tilo Baumgärtel for well over 10 years.

Leipzig became known as the Stadt der Helden (City of Heroes) for its leading role in the 1989 ‘Peaceful Revolution’, when its residents organised protests against the communist regime in May of that year; by October, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets and a few years later, the Cold War was history.

Don't hurry your visit here: while you can easily do the sights in a day or two, to really experience the place stay for longer and acquaint yourself with Leipzig's less obvious areas: drink beer on the Karli, go antique shopping in Plagwitz or hang out with the punks in Connewitz.