Koblenz

Built in 1787, this gracious neoclassic theater is still in regular use and has resident drama, ballet, and musical theater ensembles.

Portraits of Einstein line the walls of this busy restaurant, where locals gather to watch live soccer matches. The friendly Tayhus family serves tasty fare daily, from a hearty breakfast buffet (there's brunch on Sunday—reservations recommended) to late-night finger food. Fish specials are served year-round.

At this smart restaurant in the heart of the Old Town, da Vinci reproductions, including an original-size rendition of The Last Supper, adorn the walls. Leather upholstery, an elegant bar, and soft lighting round out the stylish interior. The chef presents a modernized Mediterranean menu with innovative dishes like crab with grapefuit, curry, shellfish jelly, and pink ginger. The wine list includes more than 200 bottles, with a focus on German, Italian, and French wines.

This reconstructed "wine village" of half-timber houses is grouped around a tree-shaded courtyard with an adjacent vineyard. The fresh renditions of traditional Rhine and Mosel specialties, a good selection of local wines, and a fabulous Sunday brunch (reservation recommended) where wine, beer, and nonalcoholic beverages are included in the price (€31.90) all make this a popular spot.

Hunting scenes and trophies line the wood-panel walls of this cozy wine restaurant, named after the patron saint of hunters, and the decorations also include 100-year-old murals. Hearty portions of fresh, traditional fare (à la Wildschwein Würstchen, or wild boar sausages) are what you'll find on offer.

Guests have found a warm welcome in this half-timber inn and mill since 1693, a tradition carried on by the Kunz family. This is a charming place to enjoy a dinner of well-prepared, contemporary German cuisine with regional specialties. Brasserie Brentano serves lighter dishes as well as lunch and Sunday brunch. It's next to the 13th-century town gateway of Braubach, just below the Marksburg. The hotel is an official Rheinsteig trail partner.

In the suburb of Güls, this place features cabaret, stand-up comedians, popular musicians and bands, and other shows.

You'll find dancing, live music, and theme parties practically every evening here. On a balmy night, visit Circus Maximus's Statt Strand beach bar, on Universitätsstrasse on the banks of the Mosel near the university.

This pointed bit of land, jutting into the river like the prow of an early ironclad warship, is at the sharp intersection of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. One of the more effusive manifestations of German nationalism—an 1897 equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, first emperor of the newly united Germany—was erected here. It was destroyed at the end of World War II and replaced in 1953 with a ponderous monument to Germany's unity. After German reunification a new statue of Wilhelm was placed atop this monument in 1993. Pieces of the Berlin Wall stand on the Mosel side—a memorial to those who died as a result of the partitioning of the country.

Europe's largest fortress, towering 400 feet above the left bank of the Rhine, offers a magnificent view over Koblenz and where the Mosel and the Rhine rivers meet. The earliest buildings date from about 1100, but the bulk of the fortress was constructed in the 16th century. In 1801 it was partially destroyed by Napoléon, and the French occupied Koblenz for the next 18 years. For an introduction to the fortress and its history, head for the Besucherdienst (visitor center). English-language tours are for groups only, but you can often join a group that is registered for a tour.

A Seilbahn (cable car) carries you a half mile from Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer over the river to Ehrenbreitstein, with spectacular views of the Deutsches Eck below. Lifts can accommodate 7,000 passengers in an hour, and operate continually throughout the day from a half-hour before the site opens until a half-hour after it closes.

Butterflies from South America, Asia, and Africa flit back and forth over your head between the branches of banana trees and palms in two pavilions at this park. The palace houses a small museum of decorative cast-iron objects, a restaurant, and a café and its park can be explored. It's 15 km (9 miles) north of Koblenz (Bendorf exit off B-42).

Strolling along the promenade toward town, you'll pass this gracious castle. It was built in the late 18th century by Prince-Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus as an elegant escape from the grim Ehrenbreitstein fortress. Though the palace is primarily used these days as a conference and event center, its Grand Café is open to the public.

This church stands on Roman foundations at the Old Town's highest point, where, on surrounding streets, war damage is evidenced by the blend of old buildings and modern store blocks. The bulk of the church is of Romanesque design, but its choir is one of the Rhineland's finest examples of 15th-century Gothic architecture, and the west front is graced with two 17th-century baroque towers.

This modern mall has some 130 shops and restaurants.

Just behind the Deutsches Eck, this museum is housed in the spic-and-span Deutschherrenhaus, a restored 13th-century building. Industrialist Peter Ludwig, one of Germany's leading contemporary-art collectors, has filled this museum with part of his huge collection.

Relocated in 2013 to the new Forum Confluentes, this museum houses the city's art collection, including extensive holdings of landscapes focusing on the Rhine. It also has a notable collection of secular medieval art and works by regional artists.

Part of a Rhine-wide system that keeps track of river levels, Koblenz's squat Pegelhaus is one of the city's landmarks, originally a Rheinkran (Rhine crane) when it was built in 1611. Marks on the side of the building indicate the heights reached by floodwaters of bygone years. In the mid-19th century a pontoon bridge consisting of a row of barges spanned the Rhine here; when ships approached, two or three barges were simply towed out of the way to let them through. Today a restaurant operates within the Pegelhaus.

It was in this sturdy Romanesque basilica, consecrated in 836, that plans were drawn for the Treaty of Verdun a few years later, formalizing the division of Charlemagne's great empire and leading to the creation of Germany and France as separate states. Inside, compare the squat Romanesque columns in the nave with the intricate fan vaulting of the Gothic sections. The St. Kastor Fountain outside the church is an intriguing piece of historical one-upmanship. It was built by the occupying French to mark the beginning of Napoléon's ultimately disastrous Russian campaign of 1812.

The Philharmonic plays regularly at various concert venues around town.