Göttingen

Distinguished by its famous university, where the Brothers Grimm served as professors and librarians between 1830 and 1837, the fetching town of Göttingen's streets buzz with student life. Young people on bikes zip past bookshops and secondhand boutiques while evenings see the town's cozy bars and cafés swell with students making the most of the drinks specials and free Wi-Fi on offer. Full of elegant, gable-roofed architecture, it's also a large and modern place and boasts the shiny stores, chain coffee shops, and other trappings you'd expect of a 21st-century German town. Though not strictly on the Fairy-Tale Road, despite its association with the Grimms, Göttingen is still well worth visiting.