Felicity Long
One way some European destinations are combating overtourism is by encouraging visitors to fan out rather than cluster in the same few high-profile locations.
Ireland has had success doing just that with its Wild Atlantic Way and Ancient East touristic routes, as have Switzerland, with its Grand Tour, and Great Britain, whose 125-mile Great West Way route kicked off late last year.
This summer the German National Tourist Board and the Unesco Heritage Centre of Germany are promoting a similar strategy with eight themed routes that showcase the country's 44 Unesco World Heritage Sites.
All the routes begin and end near international airports, so visitors can begin from one location and leave from another. Beyond that, the routes -- accessible by car and in some cases by rail -- are diverse and comprise destinations that vary from bustling cities to rural villages.
To help visitors make sense of the itineraries, the routes fall into themed categories: palaces and castles; nature, gardens and landscapes; cultural and spiritual heritage; churches and abbeys; industrial heritage; architecture and design; and historical town centers.
The Earthly Treasure and Architecture Route, for example, covers just over 400 miles from Hannover to Frankfurt and takes at least four days to explore. Stops along the way include destinations your clients have probably never heard of, like Alfeld, Hildesheim and Quedlinburg, and showcase architectural styles that range from Romanesque to Bauhaus and even a few prehistoric excavations. Recommended overnight stays along the route include Goslar and Kassel.
The 466-mile Visionaries and Pioneering Thinkers Route, on the other hand, begins in Berlin and ends in Frankfurt and takes in such Unesco World Heritage sites as the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, Wartburg Castle and Martin Luther memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg.
The tourism office suggests spending at least five days on the route, with suggested overnights in Dessau, Leipzig and Erfurt.
An especially fascinating option is the 400-plus-mile Between Swabian Jura, Lake Constance and the Alps Route, which starts in Stuttgart and ends in Munich, with suggested overnights on Reichenau Island and Fussen.
The route takes visitors back some 35,000 to 40,000 years to prehistoric Germany, when early humans lived and created art in caves in the Swabian Jura mountain range.
The caves, which were added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 2017, feature some of the oldest musical instruments and works of art in the world. The route also takes in Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich and the Alpine foothills.