Learn about the lives of Bavaria's famous sons and daughters

Munich artist Franz Marc called the landscape around Kochel am See "the blue country". It therefore makes perfect sense that the town is home to an exhibition space dedicated to an artist who found so much inspiration in the region. The modern setting of the Franz Marc Museum showcases his legacy - paintings, personal items, letters and works produced by his friends in the Blauer Reiter art movement. Located in the heart of Nuremberg's old quarter, the Tucher townhouse is like a miniature castle. It was built by the city's patrician Tucher family in the 16th century, and today, it brings the world of these merchants back to life. The museum's collection contains furniture, tapestries, paintings, portraits and silverware, some of which are part of the building's original fittings - making it even easier to imagine how the Tucher's lived all those centuries ago. If murder and mystery interest you more than Alpine idyll, we recommend taking part in a detective tour of Kempten in the Allgäu region. Over two hours, you get to following in the footsteps of Kluftinger, head of criminal investigations in the town and the protagonist of the series of books that bears his name. Criss-crossing the old town, the tour incorporates passages from the books. Plassenburg castle dominates the town of Kulmbach at the opposite end of the state. Held by the Hohenzollern family, who became rules of Prussia, the fortress serves as the symbol of the town. Today, its impressive living quarters (which date back to the 16th century) house four museums that explore how the aristocrats lived from the Baroque era to the modern era.