Goslar has been a town of silver and emperors for a thousand years, and its old centre feels like the set of a very long play. The Rammelsberg mine, just south of the town, produced copper, lead, zinc and silver from the early Middle Ages until 1988, making it one of the longest-working mines in history, and the wealth from it paid for the town's splendid half-timbered houses, its guildhalls and its churches. UNESCO has listed both the mine and the old town as World Heritage.
In the eleventh century German emperors made Goslar a favoured residence, building a great imperial palace, the Kaiserpfalz, which was heavily restored in the nineteenth century and now stands in a green park at the foot of the town. In front of it sits a pair of equestrian statues of emperors in bronze and gilt. The market square is the heart of the old town, dominated by the town hall and the Glockenspiel, which plays a tune and shows figures of miners several times a day.
The road in from the north skirts the edge of the Harz mountains, the highest range in northern Germany. The Harz is a low but rugged upland of spruce forest, granite outcrops and deep valleys, and the roads that climb into it are a motorcyclist's dream, with long sweeping bends and tight hairpins, and good tarmac on the main routes. Weekends and holidays bring plenty of riders and tourists, and the best time is a weekday morning in spring or autumn. Weather in the hills changes fast, and fog and drizzle can arrive in minutes, so carry a waterproof layer.
Goslar is a town of nearly forty-four thousand and has fuel stations, supermarkets and many cafés, so you can top up before you go up. Langelsheim and Bad Harzburg, both within ten kilometres, have more. Park outside the pedestrian core, where the streets are cobbled and narrow, and walk in to the square. Try a plate of the regional speciality, Harzer cheese, a pungent small round cheese, if you are brave. Then leave time for the climb. The hills are waiting just beyond the last roofs.