If you're planning on taking a trip to Germany any time soon, I know it's hard to narrow down all the beautiful places to visit. As a foreigner, every town from northern to southern Germany seems like it would be the perfect place for those Instagram photos to make all your friends jealous. Of course, some of the major areas are Munich, Berlin, and a visit to Neushwenstein Castle.

Although I was only able to visit a select few of Germany's beautiful towns over the course of a week and a half, we managed to visit a few unique locations that everyone might enjoy!

1. Burg Eltz Castle.

Burg Eltz Castle was built in the 12th century and is nestled within the trees in the rolling hills between Koblentz and Trier, Germany. It is currently still owned by the same Eltz family (33 generations later) that built the castle and some of the family members continue to live in parts of the castle to this very day! Burg Eltz is one of only two castles left standing on the left bank of the Rhine in the Rhineland-Palatinate area. The castle features a very unique plumbing system, especially for it's time period, and all rooms in the castle can be heated (most castles can only heat two rooms).

Burg Eltz offers tours, which I very much recommend. It is a slight hike from parking and visitors walk down a rather steep hill, though it is paved. There is a shuttle that runs from parking to the castle (and back) for those who are willing to wait for a seat.

2. Lindenfels.

The drive into town is through the hills and valleys of Germany's beautiful countryside. Located in southern Hesse, Lindenfels been around since the 1100s and has been named "The Dragon City." One of the town's best attractions is the Dragon Museum, which we didn't know was there until after we visited. Another attraction is the ruins of the Lindenfels Castle, which was built in 1080. It had been an important castle for a while, but during the 1800s it began to deteriorate. However, in 1880 the town began to restore pieces of the castle. There are currently a couple different watchtowers that tourists may visit that overlook the entire town.

This town is near and dear to myself. My great-great-great grandmother was born here and, for years, that's pretty much all we knew about her after her and her husband moved here in the late 1880s. However, due to some dumb luck (and cute scarves), we stumbled upon a distant relative's upholstery store while wandering down a little brick street! The store proudly displayed their last name -- my great-great-great grandmother's last name -- above the entrance: Riebel. With the help of that fellow relative, we learned a great deal about the Riebel name and were shown a house that an ancestor built in the early 1797 still standing in town!

3. Bad Kreuznach.

Famous for it's bridge houses built in 1480 and the city's hot springs, Bad Kreuznach is a hidden gem in southern Germany. The city was founded in 1227 and is popular for its abundance of spas (that my family didn't go to). Bad K, as we call it, is a descent size town and has many options for activities. My favorite was walking along a path that ran along the Nahe River.

Bad K is filled with various hotels to fit every budget, as well as many delicious restaurants! We stayed in the hotel Michel Mort.

My family came to this town because my grandfather, who was with us, was stationed there for the U.S. Army in the 1960s. Of course, the town has modernized quite a bit since then! However, we still managed to track down the location of where his old barracks used to stand. The location is now the German equivalent to a Home Depot, yet, just like when my grandfather was there, a Volkswagen dealership sits right across the street!

4. Rheinfels Castle (ruins).

Rheinfels Castle was built in 1245, and is one of the oldest standing ruins today. The castle was built during the Holy Roman Empire and was the strongest and most modern modern fortress at the time. It sits atop a hill overlooking the Rhine River in St. Goar, as well as its other watchtowers across the river.

Rheinfels Castle is fully explorable. My father and brother managed to go deep within the castle via an entrance they found to tunnels running in every which direction beneath Rheinfels. In other areas, we climbed stairs to a watchtower that overlooked the Rhine and St. Goar. This was one one of my favorite places to visit because of my love for abandoned buildings. However, the castle is not exactly abandoned due to having a hotel currently built into the structure.

5. Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Out of all places, I wish wish we could have stayed in Rothenburg for a longer span of time. Rothenburg is located in the region of Bavaria founded in 1274. It is one of the best preserved towns from the medieval era. Rothenburg is also known for the complete 13th century wall that surrounds the city. The wall has stairs leading up to it at different points and there is a walkway all the way around!

We stayed in a mansion-turned-hotel built in 1903 just outside the wall. The hotel was called Hotel Hornburg and was my favorite place to stay in due to its vintage, colorful interior design.

The town is lively and offers a tour of the town by The Watchman. It's a must-take tour to learn about the history of the city. There are also many unique shops to visit while there, although you have to get to them before they close around 5 PM!

6. Neushwanstein and Hohenshwangau Castles.

Neushwenstein Castle is one of the top places in Germany to visit. It is a much newer castle the the rest and was built from 1869 to 1886 by King Ludwig. Tours are available to see inside the castle, but we did not take one. Instead, we hiked the trail up to Mary's bridge, which is where my photo above was taken.

Hohenschwangau Castle was King Ludwig's boyhood home. It's much smaller than Neushwanstein, but just as beautiful and can be seen from the trail leading down from Neushwanstein.

As our base to visit King Judwig's castles, we stayed at Hotel Sonne in Fussen, an incredibly unique hotel where each of it's rooms are a different design. My brother, a musician (drums, guitar, bass, etc.), stayed in a room with my mother and I, and we all ended up in the music room, which was a major coincidence.

7. BMW Museum, Munich,

Pictured above is not the museum itself, but a view of the BMW headquarters from the museum. Although it may not seem too interesting to just walk through at look at cars, you're wrong. I was not too excited to visit at first, but my brother (a car enthusiast) wanted to visit.

The museum is multiple stories and features everything from BMW's oldest cars to it's latest models to motorcycles. We spent half the day here!

I will never forget the feeling of sickness washing over me while walking through the iron gate into the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. Dachau was the very first Nazi concentration camp and was originally for holding political prisoners. From 1933 to 1945 it imprisoned 200,000 prisoners and 41,500 were murdered there. The memorial incorporates a museum into the existing buildings, as well as has the original bunks, toilet facilities, and crematorium. Visitors may also stand inside what was believed to be the gassing chambers.

I highly recommend visiting Dachau if you visit Germany. It is truly a surreal experience.

All photos are courtesy of Allons-y Photography, my own photography. For more images from my Europe trip, click here.