5 Best Sights in The Fairy-Tale Road, Germany

Occupying both the house where the Brothers Grimm lived for much of their childhoods as well as the house's old barn, the Brüder Grimm Haus and Museum Steinau are fun and engaging museums. Featuring a reconstruction of the family's old kitchen, the brothers' former house also displays old personal possessions such as letters and reading glasses, and has an upper floor divided into nine rooms with interactive displays that celebrate the Grimms' stories and other fairy tales from around Europe. Across a small courtyard, the town's museum documents what life was like on the old trade route that ran through Steinau, incorporating into its exhibits a coach, inn signs, milestones, and the type of pistol travelers used to defend themselves from bandits.

The museum occupies a grandiose Art Nouveau and neo-renaissance-style building complete with tower, telling the story of the North Hesse region over three floors. The permanent collection ranges from exhibits left by the region's first human inhabitants, to the Middle Ages, to the times of the landgraves, to the present. There's a great view from the top of the tower.

The former 16th-century "Wedding House" stands just steps away from the market square, housing the regional history museum. Its collection recounts 1300 years of the city's history with displays and multimedia stations. The ground floor is dedicated to the period from pre-history to the Reformation, while the first floor illustrates the city's history to the present day.