Half Day in Nuremberg or Würzburg worth it?
 

Okay, so I'm going to be in Prague for 3 days, and the orginal plan was just to take a train direct to Heidelberg. I've been thinking of spending a half day in Nuremberg or Würzburg instead of 3 full days in Heidelberg, is it worth it go? And which place has the best beer ? Thanks, I'm leaving in 15 days!!

The best beer in the region is actually Bamberg - that town has some of the best beer anywhere, my absolute favorite that I have tried in Germany thus far :) So if beer is your goal, and you can go to Bamberg instead, that would be my recommendation.

That said, the most direct route to Heidelberg is the Express Bus from Prague to Nuremburg and then train onto Heidelberg. So you will be IN Nuremburg anyway, which is a very nice city to visit. The train station is adjacent to the Altstadt, so very easy. You can tour the castle, wander through the Altstadt, see Albrecht Drurer house, etc. And there is plenty of beer in Nuremburg, although I can't think of any Nuremburg-based beers off the top of my head.

I am not overly familiar with Wurzburg, but if memory serves, wine is more prevalent there than beer. I am sure you can find plenty of good beer there too, but I don't think it is known for beer.

Nuremburg has some especially interesting WWII sites--the Palace of Justice, where the trials of Nazi war criminals were held, and the field/arena where Hitler staged the Nazi party rally that was immortalized by Leni Riefenstahl in her film, "Triumph of the Will."

Würzburg has my absolute all-time favorite Baroque palace, the Residenz of the Prince-Bishop. It's worth seeing.

I once heard heard that Germany has 6000 breweries, and I believe it. You'll find good beer wherever you go in Germany. I believe there is a well-known winefest in Würzburg, but I'm not sure when it's held.

I would absolutely go to Würzburg or Nuremberg rather than spend 3 full days in Heidelberg.

We really enjoyed Nuremburg. It has a compact oldtown which is very managable for an afternoon visit. It was completely rebuilt after WWII but it still has an old feel to it. We had a yummy lunch...Nürnberger Bratwurst with sauerkraut. We drank whatever local beer was on tap and never met a beer we didn't like...although some of them were of a monsterous size. Have a great trip!!

The "Beer Road" runs southwest to northeast between Würzburg and Nuremberg between Bad Windsheim, Neustadt-an-der-Aisch and Uehlfeld. Along the way you'll find a dense collection of small breweries.

Map of Beer road region (orange line: bike path. green line: hiking trail)

Trains run between Bad Windsheim and Neustadt-an-der-Aisch.

List of breweries: http://t3-kundenserver.de.dedi661.yo...dex.php?id=832

Lost map link for previous post:
http://www.bierstrasse.de/index.php?id=246

Ooooo - a Bierstrasse - I will file this away for a future trip to Franconia :) Beer and walking through the countryside - 2 of my favorite things.