Bamberg
 

My husband and I enjoy history, scenery, art, music but aren't interested in places that are 'hokey'. I guess we like things that are real and not overtly touristy. Has anyone recently been to Bamberg and if so would you recommend it for an overnight stay.

I spent a night in Bamberg (February 14th, 2005) and we loved it. We will definitely go back on our next trip to Germany.
We stayed at Hotel Brudermuhle (on the excellent recommendation of fellow poster RufusTfly) in the old part of the town - fabulous location right on the river with a view of the famous town hall on the island. They were doing a bit of remodeling but I imagine they are done by now. We had a great dinner in their restaurant for Valentine's Day. Good food, reasonable prices.
The highlights of our visit were touring the Dom (cathedral) and the New Residence. The weather was quite cold and snowy being mid-February so we were not able to see some of the other attractions.
Bamberg has several first rate tourist attractions but it does not seem to have the tourists to go with them. It feels like just a normal town, albeit one with several beautiful and amazing monuments.
I think it would be a perfect one or two night stop.

Yes, Bamberg is worth a stay. Another, city, rarely mentioned on these boeards, is Fulda. Definitely off the beaten tourist track, and lots of history.

Suggest you look up both cities on a map and also in the Green Michelin Guide for Germany. Then you can decide which is more convenienbt to your route and interests.

I don't know if you will be driving and from which direction you will be coming (north or south), but the area north of Bamberg (Fraenkische Schweiz---Goessweinstein, Tuechersfeld. etc.) is very picturesque.

Bamberg is an exceptional city - very old and bisected by some rivers - sounds like you cup of tea. One of my favorite German towns. Not destroyed much in war.

I can also vouch for Bamberg... we visited in April of this year. It is not "hokey" or touristy and I don't get the feeling that everything was rebuilt and made new after the war the way other German cities had to be. I do think, though, you had better get there quickly because this may be about to change judging from some road construction, etc. The Old Town Hall, built on a bridge is unique in my experience.

We stayed at the Hotel Messerschmitt (no elevator or a/c) and it was quite nice and our meals in the restaurant were great, also.

As treplow mentioned, Fulda is very nice - we stayed at the Goldener Karpfen, which we enjoyed, and Weimar is worth a visit, too (Hotel Elephant). All were as the Fodor Guidebook stated and I'd go back for another visit in a hearbeat.

I lived in Bamberg for 3 years in the late '50s and early 60s, and Mrs. Fly and I stayed there for 3 days in June 2003.

As stated above, it has wonderful attractions, but is not overrun with tourists. It gets enough tourists that it has good amenities, but it's not like Rothenburg where everyone is either a tourist, a Christmas shop owner, or a hotel/gasthaus operator.

The Altstadt is lovely, but is a real part of Bamberg today, not a separate tourist enclave.

It was not damaged at all in WWII, so none of it had to be rebuilt as in other cities; e.g., Wurzburg and Rothenburg.

The Brudermuehle mentioned by TexasAggie is right on the Regnitz River, and some rooms have a direct view of the famous Rathaus which is sited right over the river--within a stone's throw.

We watched kayakers practicing on the river from one of our windows (we had a corner room, room #1). The hotel has a very good restaurant, too--dining inside and outside.

Note, if you are a very light sleeper, room #1 could be to noisy from the river if you want to sleep with the windows open. Also, because it is in an old building, some of the bathrooms are small, though completely modern.

We meet a German couple who were staying a bit upriver at the Sankt Nepomuk--it sounded comparable to the Brudermuehle.

I highly recommend Bamberg.