Speyer

Speyer—“spire” in English—is well named, since the four red towers of the Romanesque cathedral dominate the Old Town. Besides the cathedral, Jewish ritual bath and synagogue ruins, and the Technik museum, you don't want to miss many of the smaller churches, the baroque town hall (Rathous), the Historic Museum of the Palatinate (Historisches Museum der Pfalz), the aquarium, the archaeological showcase, and the memorial for Sophie la Roche, the publisher of the first ladies' magazine. The Main city gate (13th century) can be climbed for a view of old town Speyer and the cathedral; it's one of the tallest in Germany.