It's not the most beautifully designed brochure that's landed here, but DerTour's 2006 Germany and Beyond brochure has lots of inspiration for short breaks to an often overlooked destination, plus all the info you need on when to visit (or avoid) World Cup cities and hotel recommendations.

Word Cup aside, I'd recommend checking out the castle hotels. The ramparts, towers and battlements of Burghotel auf Schonburg have been overlooking the Rhine for 1,000 years. Reached by a small wooden bridge, it has 22 rooms with canopy or four-poster beds, a library and restaurant. Nightly rates are £85pp in a twin room with balcony and the castle is 45km from Frankfurt's Hahn airport (which means you can fly out on Ryanair). 0870 4035442, dertour.co.uk.