SKPKCP11

Dear All,

Due to unavoidable circumstances our trip to Prague and Munich was called off last May.

This May we will be travelling to Prague and will be there for 5 nights.

Currently we are booked on EK for flying into Prague and flying out of Munich.

We have been to Munich earlier and have seen most of the attractions but would love to go again. This time we plan to do the Herrenchiemsee. Is it feasible to do Nuremburg and Bamberg from Munich as a day trip as I love beer and my husband loves WWII history. What are the must visit sights in Nuremburg? Which brewery we must visit in Bamberg? We will be with 12 year and 11 year old kids. Are they allowed in breweries?
We love the hearty German meals. Which place do you recommend in Nuremburg and Bamberg as must eats?
Any other info is welcome. Currently we have planned to for 6 nights in Munich. We are okay with reducing the number of nights in Prague and Munich as we want to stay in Salzburg and visit Halstatt and the Schafbergbahn. I am sure the kids will love the mountain excursion. Which is the easiest way to get from Prague to Salzburg in case we decide to stay in Salzburg for some nights. Any thoughts?

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

traveller1959

The fastest train from München to Bamberg takes 1:53.
The train from Bamberg to Nürnberg takes 0:44, and the train from Nürnberg to München 1:07, so riding time totals almost 4 hours. It is doable, but strenous.

Bamberg is a beautiful historical city and worth a visit anyway. You can enjoy the beer in any of the historic inns. There is also a brewery museum:

http://en.bamberg.info/en/poi/fraenk...eimuseum-4670/

Most breweries in Bamberg are microbreweries. This means, they are basically inns where beer is brewed. Here is the list of "brewery pubs":

http://en.bamberg.info/en/erlebnis/bierstadt/?check[is_33]=1

Of course, you can take children into the breweries. We are in Europe! They can even drink beer if they are accompanied by their parents.

Here are the attractions of Nürnberg, obviously more than you can see in half a day:

http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/sig...ie-top-11.html

Pegontheroad

I agree that Bamberg is a beautiful town and worth a visit. We spent a couple of very pleasant days there exploring the city.

Nuremberg is more of interest to those who are interested in WWII because it is the site of the Palace of Justice where the Nuremberg War Crimes trials were held in the late 40's.I saw only the outside, but my understanding is that the only way to see the interior is with a tour in German. However, there are leaflets in English.

It is also the site of the stadium where Hitler held his party rallies.

Gary_Mc

There are other options that are close enough for a day trip. Regensburg is one of our favorite cities in Germany and it is less than 1-1/2 hour north of Munich by regional trains. Kneitinger brewery sponsors several good restaurants. This is one that we enjoyed on Arnulf's Platz.

http://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Germany...nger%27s-M.jpg

There is also the Historische Wurstküche (wurst stand) at the foot of Steinerne Brücke (Bridge) which has been serving wursts since the 1100' s when it was opened to feed the men building the bridge and the towns gothic cathedral.

Near the bridge and the wurst stand is Porta Praetoria, a gate to the Roman Fort that once stood this location on the Danube.

The primary historical sights of Regensburg predate WWII. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its medieval structures. I love its many plazas connected by alley ways.

dfourh

My fave brewery in Bamberg last summer was Spezial. Schaenkerla is in the middle of the tourist center and is the biggest name, but suffers a bit from tourist flow and staff jadedness. Spezial is at the end of the commercial center (across from Faessla) but has a true old-school feel, and great beers. Here's pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...7634825632817/

And here's a great guide to Bamberg beers:
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/bambpubs.htm

sparkchaser

It would be a crime to go to Bamberg and not stop by Schaenkerla for a Rauchbier (the smoked Hefeweizen is my fav). After all, it is a UNESCO site and all the traffic it gets is well deserved.

There is a brewery/Bierstube not too far from Schaenkerla called Klosterbräu, Bamberg's oldest brewery. Their Schwarzbier is amazing and it is a fairly even mix of locals, expats, and tourists. And the food is your standard Franconian fare but it's good and reasonably priced.

One of the THE BEST Pils I have had was at some random hole in the wall pub in Bamberg called Einhornkeller. It is on Jakobsberg 8.

SKPKCP11

Thanks all for the quick and informative replies.

I now feel that Prague for 5 nights may be too much so we could reduce it to 4 nights. Currently we are booked at Hotel Salvator. Any info on the location of the hotel would help.

We will try to do the day trip to Bamberg from Munich if possible just for the beers.

In a new thread I will ask for advise for travelling from Prague to Salzburg.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

sparkchaser

Nürnberg has the Nazi Documentation Center which is well worth the visit. It is located on the south end of the city at the old Nazi parade grounds/zeppelin field. I would allow 3-4 hours to see just the museum. There is a street car that runs from that main train station to the Documentation Center.

While in Nürnberg, be sure to eat the Nürnberger sausages. Pretty much every place sells them.

There are some good breweries in Nürnberg but you have to seek them out.

Aramis

Okay - it's spelled SCHLENKERLA - at Dominkanerstrasse 6

Their specialty, the "Bamberger Zwiebel" is the perfect dish to go with the Rauchbier.

How are you getting to Munich from Prague? You can take a bus and be in Nuremberg in under 4 hours and Bamberg (connect to a train) in 5 hours. If you really want to experience each, you could leave Prague early and head for Bamberg, spend the afternoon and evening and then visit Nuremberg the next day on your way to Munich. It gives you a single 1 night stop but takes a long day trip when it will be very difficult to see both of them. Or, if you don't want any one nighters, you could try something like this;

Prague 4
Nuremberg 2
Salzburg 2
Munich 3

Nuremberg to Salzburg is 3 hours.

SKPKCP11

Thanks all for your reverts. For ease of travel and to see new places we are also looking at Dresden or Nuremburg instead of Salzburg. What are your thoughts? Please advise. We love the weekly farmers markets. Is there enough to keep ourselves occupied for 4 days if we base in Dresden or Nuremburg.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

SKPKCP11

Please also help with hotels or B&B in Dresden and Nuremburg which are close to the Main train station.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

sandralist

I just had to cancel a trip to Nuremburg but maybe you could benefit from some of the research I did.

I had booked myself into this B&B right near the train station

http://www.booking.com/hotel/de/b-b-...id%3D417745548

Do you think your kids are too young to watch Leni Reifenstahl's "Triumph of the Will"? You can watch the entire thing for free on YouTube and make a decision about how much your kids would get out of seeing it. But it might mean something to them when they later see today's Nuremburg for real.

Also, "Judgment at Nuremburg" is on YouTube and while I don't recommend it all for kids as young as yours, it might be interesting if they could see just the first 10 minutes of it. The movie opens showing the city in runs just after the end of the war. It is real news footage. So they would have a sense of what amazing thing it was that the city was so carefully rebuilt.

In addition to a climb up to the castle, there is a railway museum in Nuremburg (right near the hotel I mentioned) that looked to me to be impressive and fun. You might want to read up on the craft works center and the toy museum to see if your family might be interested.

My main interest in going to Nuremburg was to visit Albrecht Durer's house since I am interested in drawing. Your kids might not be but if they remotely interested in drawing than Durer is one of the easiest artists for kids to "get" with lots of amazing pictures of rabbits and people's bare feet!

Nuremburg also makes gingerbread cookies that I had hoped to try.

Hope your trip is fun.

sparkchaser

Nürnberg has a large "farmers market" on Saturdays. It's in the Altstadt on Königstraße near the river.

What is your hotel budget?

SKPKCP11

Thanks all for your replies. We have got some offers from Hotel Am Josephsplatz, HOtel Garni Probst and B&B Hotel Nuremberg City. Will book at one of them. Please share any ideas for day trips from Nuremberg. Keen on going to Bamberg and Regensberg. Kindly advise must sees and must eats in this area of Germany. Plan to stay for four nights if there is enough to keep us occupied.

What is the cheapest way to travel? I read somewhere that there are two types of tickets VGG (not sure if the name is right) and the Bayern ticket. Any thoughts? Can I get the train schedules of VGG from the dbahn site? Are they the same trains?

Any info on this region will help.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

sparkchaser

VGN is the transportation network that serves Nürnberg and the greater-Nürnberg area (all the way up to Bambgerg).

The Bayern ticket is offered via Deutsche Bahn and allows for unlimited travel on <i>regional</i> trains/buses/trams/etc. in Bavaria for one day. That means <b>no</b> ICE trains.

VGN schedules are available on the DB website as well as the VGN site. The DB site is much more user friendly.

As for which si cheapest, it really depends on hopw many of you there are. within the VGN network, a Tages Ticket Plus is good for two people for travel between Point A and Point B (within the VGN network) and it is 15-20 Euro. Cheaper than a Bayern ticket. If you want to travel outside the VGN network, a Bayern ticket might be your best bet but you won't really know until you check the fare from Point A to Point B and double it and compare it to a Bayern ticket price.

The Nazi Documentation Center in Nürnberg is worth a visit and is good for 3-4 hours, and that doesn't include walking around the old zeppelin field and parade grounds. There is also the Deutsche Bahn Museum, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum,
Naturhistorisches Museum, the Kaiserburg Nürngerg, Lorenz Church, and the zoo.

As far as "must eats" go, the Nürnberger bratwurst are recommended. Pretty much everywhere sells them. There is a restaurant in the Handwerkerhof called Bratwurstglöcklein im Handwerkerhof and they have some pretty good Nürbergers. Yeah, the prices are just a bit on the high side and it is a bit of a tourist trap but every time I have been, it has been a healthy mix of locals and tourists. The horseradish there is tasty.

There is also an excellent Turkish restaurant called Istanbul that is located in the Altstadt on Königstrasse about a block past Der Beck. It has a good mix of Germans and Turkish eating there.

Speaking of Der Beck, while it is a chain, it is a Franconian chain and in my opinion, it is the best chain bakery in the area so it's a good place to stop for a coffee and a snack.

If you want to truly eat like a German, stop at the Metzgerei Walk on Königstraße 34 and order something from the window. Their Nürnbergers are quite good, and their Leberkäse is one of the best I have had. It's a great place to get some Franconian food.

Aramis

I have stayed at the Hotel am Josephsplatz. It is a little more centrally located than your other two options, but the other two are a short walking distance from the train station. So, Josephsplatz is better for day to day walking in the Altstadt.

Here are the distances from the train station

Josephsplatz 1200m
Probst 400m
Nuremberg City 700m

SKPKCP11

Thanks for the wonderful info. We are 2 adults and 2 children of 13 years and 11 years. On the dbahn site do I need to select any option for getting the VGN schedules? What is the difference between Lander ticket and Bayern ticket which I have used earlier?

Info on Der Beck is fantastic as my daughter can live on pastries day and night and I love the marzipans and all of us enjoy the market days where some of the stall sell home made pastries which one rarely gets to see in shops.

I surely want to visit Bamberg because of the beer. Please let the info keep flowing. How far is Herzogenaurach from Nuremberg? Is it possible to do a day trip? Understand that Adidas and Puma have their HQ in this town and the factory outlets sell stuff at good discounts?

sparkchaser

Bayern ticket is the state-specific name for a Länderticket. They are essentially the same.

The DB site gives the schedule for VGN as well. The self-serve kiosks have English menus so when you purchase your tickets you will be given the option of whether you want to buy tickets from Deutsche Bahn or another transportation service/network. the latter option is VGN.

Herzo is near Nürnberg but to get there you will either need to rent a car, take the bus, or take a taxi. To be honest, the discounts at the outlets are not all that great but if you want to go just to say that you have been there, I understand.

To get to the Adidas Outlet by bus (or taxi), take the train (S1, RB, or RE) from Nürnberg to Erlangen. From the Erlangen hauptbahnhof, you will want to catch the 201 bus to Herzo and this bus leaves from the Busbahnhof located behind the train station. Take the 201 to Herzogenaurach An der Schütt or Herzogenaurach Atlantis and transfer to the 268 towards Herzogenaurach Ortsteile Nord and get off at Herzogenaurach Base Konrad-Wormser-Strasse and walk 10 min to Olympiaring for the Adidas Outlet.

To get to the Puma Outlet by bus (or taxi), take the train (S1, RB, or RE) from Nürnberg to Erlangen. From the Erlangen hauptbahnhof, you will want to catch the 201 bus to Herzo and this bus leaves from the Busbahnhof located behind the train station. Take the 201 to Herzogenaurach An der Schütt and then transfer to the 274 towards Herzo Base and get off at Herzogenaurach Zeppelinstrasse then walk 6 min to the Puma Outlet (PUMA Way 1).

In my opinion, it's just easier (and faster) to take a taxi from the Erlangen Hauptbahnhof to the outlets.

There is also a Puma outlet in Nürnberg: Klingenhofstraße 70, 90411 Nürnberg.

Now, regarding beer and Bamberg, I already mentioned three places in an earlier post but I forgot to mention Spezial-Keller (Sternwartstraße, 96049 Bamberg).

CarolJean

Bookmarking for Dec. trip. I love Bamberg (and Nurnberg.)

SKPKCP11

Hi Thanks for the very useful indicators. I am looking up the schedule to buy tickets in advance. At the Dbahn site for Nuremberg to Bamberg for fares I get the comment 'fares not available'. The products shown are RE and S. There is no option for seeing the VGN schedule on dbahn site. Please advise where I should click. Also, it does not give the option if I wish to buy tickets from dbahn site or other transportation network. Is this option only available when you buy tickets at the kiosk? Do I need to get this ticket in advance? Also, at the VGN site, not sure which zone needs to be selected for Nuremberg to Bamberg and what stop station name should I select as there are multiple options but none that has Nuremberg Hbf to Bamberg Hbf.

Likewise for Nuremberg Hbf to Regensberg Hbf is the VGN network valid or do I take the Bayern ticket? Do the trains connect these places or buses? Please advise.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP10