For those who can't do Germany without visiting somewhere closely associated with Hitler and the Third Reich then one of the eerily most impressive is Hitler's Eagle's lair, (the place he had built to take afternoon tea) the Kehlsteinhaus high above the town of Berchtesgarten, where many of the top Nazis once had their alpine retreats.

The Kehlsteinhaus offers an imposing view of the Untersberg Mountain and the Austro-German alpine frontier. The nearby picturesque town of Bad Toelz on the Isar river also has a sinister Nazi connection as the location of the elite training school of the SS and because a sub-camp of the Dachau concentration camp was located there. And the nearby outstanding natural beauty of the Koenigsee (King`s lake) and St Batholema`s church, in the shadow of the Watzmann mountain range, will be a welcome respite from the reminders of the horrors of the Third Reich.

Image credit: Wolfgang Manousek