The ITB in Berlin will be held at the city's exhibition centre from 10 to 14 March and there's no substitute for being there. The event is attended by people from all over the world, from representatives of the travel trade to members of the public wanting to find out about the best places to visit. Every year, the combination of trade fair, public exhibition and the world's largest industry conference attracts large numbers of visitors, exhibitors and media representatives.

Anyone with an interest in watches and chronometry should make a pilgrimage to the captivating German Watch Museum in Glashütte, Saxony. You can see exquisite ornamental timepieces spanning more than 160 years of Glashütte production as well as elegant watches from various periods. There is information on how the exhibits were made plus a philosophical look at the phenomenon of time.

Winter in the Allgäu Alps is a time for activities such as skibobbing, canyoning, paragliding and the new sport of snowtubing. The season is also ideal for magical winter walks, romantic horse-drawn sleigh rides, tobogganing, ski mountaineering or simply good old-fashioned skiing. More adventurous visitors can spend an outdoor day with huskies, join a team rally or go on a night-time igloo expedition.

The attention to detail at Miniature Wonderland, home to the world's largest model railway, is nothing short of breathtaking: from tiny working ski lifts in the Alps to a replica of Hamburg's famous football stadium packed with 12,000 miniscule fans. There are cars driving around, fire engines and even a simulation of day turning to night - with everything moving as if by magic. Virtually the whole world is represented in scaled-down size here.

The Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes in Thuringia are a fun-filled and lovingly refurbished legacy of medieval mining, but also a make-believe world where 'real' fairies enthral visitors of all ages. "The most colourful grottoes in the world", according to the Guinness Book of Records, they derive their name from the beautiful, glistening stalactites which look like strands of fairies' hair.