Blankenburg is a tourist town near the Harz mountains in eastern Germany. It is located 10 kilometers from Wernigerode, and if you compare these towns, you'll immediately notice the difference. Wernigerode was a perfect tourist town in the GDR. Blankenburg also has castle, mountains and old town, but it wasn't enough developed for tourism. It would have been interesting to walk around the town 20 years ago.
The Blankenburg Market Square is very small. Behind the Town Hall is the St. Bartholomew Church, and right behind it you can find a stairway to the castle.
The castle served as a temporary residence of the Duke of Braunshweig and preserved many ancient objects and magnificent halls, so it makes sense to come here later. At the moment (2013) the castle is under reconstruction, so you can visit it only on Saturdays from 2 to 4 pm. Blankenburg is a very popular word in Europe, I saw castles with such name in Austria and the Netherlands, probaly they exist in other places.
Around the castle you can find the remains of the 13th-century town wall. The Town Hall and St. Bartholomew Church were built around the same time.
You can climb up to the castle also from the Small Castle and Castle Hotel. A large park with several zones is located here. The park is gorgeous, especially the part near the Small Castle with lots of flowers and sculptures.
Behind the castle you can find pointers to the Luizenburg ruins that are supposed to be a viewpoint. It makes sense to go there only if you like walking in the forest, as there's no good viewpoint there.
But if you go in the direction of the Berghotel Vogelherd, then here N 51 47.078 E 10 57.476 there is a small cage with pets, in particular with rabbits. And a little further, here N 51 47.076 E 10 57.636, live deer.
If you like rocks and beautiful panoramas, then go to the Teufelsmauer (Devil's Wall) rock. The entrance is located near the Small Castle. You can find the stairs at the intersection of the Hasselfelderstrasse and Heidelbergstrasse. Go up along the houses to the tallest rock.
Getting there: By train through Halberstadt, use bahn.de. There are also buses from Wernigerode.