“Isn’t Germany beautiful!” my pilot Bruno Boll exclaims when we spot the river Rhine and follow it as it snakes up towards Koblenz. Looking down at the water glinting in the sun, the vineyards and the castles dotted along the river bank, I couldn’t agree more. We’re sitting in a small blue and white two-seater plane, cruising at about 4000 feet. Bruno’s voice crackles over the headset again. “Do you want to take over?”

“Extra Gottingam non est vita” — outside of Göttingen, there's no life. This statement, which is inscribed in the town hall's Ratskeller, sounds odd coming from such a small city, but Göttingen’s 120,000 inhabitants have good reasons to be proud. At the top of the list: the university. An internationally acclaimed institution with a long history of academic success, it has been shaping Göttingen's daily life for almost 300 years. There's some truth to the notion that Göttingen isn't a city with a university but rather a university with a city.

Around the world, “Autobahn” ranks among the most recognized words of the German language. At its mention, foreigners from all corners of the globe become dreamy-eyed with visions of luxury limousin

About ten kilometers from our destination I was starting to dream about jumping in the cool waters of Lake Tegernsee and then finding a nice café to enjoy one of those famous beers by the same name. It was the last stretch of an 80-kilometer bike ride that started along the Isar river in Munich at 8:00 that morning, with every stretch of the way providing more and more beautiful scenery.

Germans love to travel. Period. And proof is in the numbers: In escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life, they spent more than 100 billion euros on vacations last year at home and abroad. We talked to two young Germans to find out why traveling is so important to them, and to also hear some of their more memorable vacation stories.