Hannover does not seek attention, which is part of its character. The capital of Lower Saxony, with about half a million people, is a flat, green, practical city on the Leine river, famous for its trade fairs, and for speaking what Germans consider the purest standard German. Large parts of the centre were destroyed in the Second World War, and the rebuilding is mostly plain, but there are fine things inside it: the Herrenhausen Gardens, a baroque garden of clipped hedges and fountains, the Maschsee, a big lake laid out in the 1930s where locals sail and jog, and the new town hall, a copper-domed building from 1913 with a lift that rises inside the dome.
Hannover also has deep historical links. The philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz lived and worked here for decades as librarian and adviser to the dukes. And the dukes became kings of Great Britain in 1714, when the Elector of Hanover took the British throne as George I, so for more than a century, the same family ruled both places.
This stop, on the western edge near Seelze, is a return point more than a destination. The Leine and the Mittelland Canal run through the area, with industrial buildings, harbour cranes, allotments and low houses. It is the place where a day of countryside ends and the city begins, and where traffic starts to slow.
Practical matters are straightforward. Fuel is available at stations on the main roads, and the supermarkets and bakeries open early. Rush hour, between about seven and nine in the morning and four and six in the evening, is heavy, and the motorways around the city, especially the A2, can be jammed, so plan to arrive outside those times. Parking for a motorcycle in the city centre is easy to find, and the tram network is efficient if you want to leave the bike. For a quiet evening, the Maschsee shore is a good place to walk.