day trips near Nurnberg
 

Can any one suggest fun day trips around Nurnberg for a family with 2 teens?
We will be traveling in late May 2008.
We love outdoor type day trips, castles, quaint towns etc
Thanks!

Bamberg and Wurzburg comes to mind.

It's a little far from Nürnberg, but Burghausen is a great castle to visit. You need to go there via Regensburg and Mühldorf.

Bamberg, Wurzberg, and Regensburg or nearby Kehlheim. There's a monument near Kehlheim that overlooks the Danube, Befreiungshalle, I believe its called.

MvK

Assuming you'll have a car:

Fränkische Schweiz is a hilly landscape North of Nürnberg with pretty rock formatioons (ok not the Grand Canyon, but still nice), quaint romantic villages/little towns (Pottenstein, Gößweinstein come to my mind), stalactite caves (Binghöhle,Teufelshöhle, Sophienhöhle), hiking, good beers.

Weltenburg monastery, a splendid baroque building, then a boat ride along the Donau gorge to Kelheim

Altmühl valley, old towns like Weißenburg and Eichstätt, the latter with the bishop's castle, the valley anywhere upstream of Beilngries (between Beilngries and Kelheim the river Altmühl has been turned into part of the Main-Donau-Canal and thus been ruined). If anyone is interested in prehistoric animals, the area is known for its fossiles; museums in Solnhofen and Eichstätt.

Bamberg, Würzburg and Regensburg can easily be visited by train, all three are absolutely worth seeing. And let me add Bayreuth to the list.

Another vote for Franconian Switzerland. Next to Teufelshöhle (a very interesting cave) there is (or was, I will have to check) an alpine slide. The cave and alpine slide might make for a fun break from the more "serious" sightseeing.
A recent episode of Deutsch Welle's Discover Germany had a segment on Teufelshöhle. I'll try to find the link and paste it here...you can watch the program online.

quokka mentioned most of the suggestions that came to mind when I saw your question:

The Altmühl valley is in a large German "Naturpark" and has good hiking and biking as well as the tourist sites described by quokka. There are lots of different things to see/do that might interest your teens, including some castles. To the east of Eichstätt, toward Kelheim, Schloss Prunn, in Riedenberg, is another interesting castle to visit. Rosenberg has falconry demonstrations
http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/engl...s/riedenbu.htm
This link will also get you to descriptions of other castles in Bavaria, including Willibaldsburg in Eichstätt.

Kloster Weltenburg visited via the boat trip from Kelheim is a fun outing. The Abbey is famous for its beer and has a nice beer garden. The church has a spectacular altarpiece of St. George by Egid Quirin Asam.
The Befreiungshalle (Liberation monument) in Kelheim is also interesting as is Walhalla, near Regensburg

You will also be near the Roman Limes so there are Roman ruins to see if those interest your family
http://www.limes-in-deutschland.de/limes_english.html
Weißenburg has interesting Roman remains as does Regensburg