wordfreak

Husband is a WW II buff. Should we do a day trip-and can anyone recommend a service--or plan on spending a night to see Nurnburg? If the latter, can anyone recommend a moderate hotel?
Sigh...I should have started planning this trip a year ago.

PalenQ

I've done it as a day trip and that was enough - the Third Reich relics - teh most extensive in Europe - Hitler's box on the stadium balcony where he famously reviewed goose-stepping troops still there as is the vast parade grounds and some stadiums and a documentation center - just south of town center by S-Bahn train.

Central Nurnberg is compact enough to explore in a few hours - nice but IMO not awesome - some famous tiny hot dogs are a local specialty.

You can use the Bavarian Lander Ticket to get unlimited travel on regional trains thoughout Bavaria - takes a bit longer than fast trains however - check www.bahn.de/en - German Railways Official site for fares on faster trains and discounted fares if booked far in advance - if you want to get an earlier start than the Bavarian Ticket allows (I believe weekdays not before 9 am departure but not at all sure - check on it at the www.bahn.de site. Other sites with general info on German trains www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ

http://www.thirdreichruins.com/nuernberg.htm

http://www.museums.nuremberg.de/docu...y-grounds.html

Nice background on Third Reich relics in Nurnberg itself as well as the Parade Grounds area.

Aramis

"some famous tiny hot dogs"

Pal; Deutschland called and they want you to know this is the Wurst feedback you've ever given.

PalenQ

dya want mustard with that Wurst?

http://www.bavaria.us/german-sausage...-rostbratwurst

BTW - very very cute - you hot dog!

wordfreak

Hot dog eating and meat eating in general will be limited. I just had a tooth extraction on one side and a dental implant gone wrong and removed on the other. I may just be drinking my way through Germany and Austria. See me whining over in the Fodorite Lounge.

PalenQ

not even one little Nurnberg Weiner? Sacrilege to go there and not down one if not several - can swallow whole!

Dukey1

You can view that parade ground in about five minutes; that is, what is left of it and what IS left isn't all that impressive (without all those thousands of fanatically cheering people).

OTOH, what IS impressive is the Documentation Center which does an excellent job of explaining the whole "Nazi phenomenon" and what really became a cult. If I went back to that city and repeated one thing it would be that.

Fussgaenger

Agree with Dukey1.

Only thing (and something you might not know) is that Munich has its own newly-opened Documentation Center. Might not be worth the trip to Nuremberg if that's all that interests you there.

Munich's Doc Center: http://www.ns-dokumentationszentrum-muenchen.de/centre

" I may just be drinking my way through Germany..."

Not a bad choice. In case you visit Nuremberg:
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/nurnpubs.htm

That said, a bratwurst involves very little chewing - it's a very tender and delicious treat. Go for the big, fat white ones: http://www.olma-messen.ch/fileadmin/...01_706x272.jpg

tom_mn

How is the Munich Documentation Center? What like are the late hours (7 pm or so) and the admission (free thru July).

PalenQ

The Munich documentation center just opened a few months ago - probably few have been there yet but a NYTimes article I posted gave it glowing reviews even though locals were mixed on having such a center.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/wo...nazi-past.html

flpab

http://www.booking.com/hotel/de/eazvictoriahotel.html
Great breakfast and staff. Would return and stay here. The city is beautiful. You will see hotel as you pop out of the tunnel from the train station inside the city wall. I really enjoyed our two nights there.

St. Lorenz was my favorite cathedral, take note of the wall where you can light a candle. You can see where it was badly damaged and rebuilt.
Albrecht Durer house and the castle also are worth seeing.
I could eat some Nuremberg sausages, very yummy.

Seamus

We were in Nuremberg week before last and visited the Documentation Centre, found it very well done. Easy to reach on tram from hauptbanhof. Good audioguide.

We used points to stay at the Holiday Inn Express near the hauptbanhof. There are several hotels in that area. The HIX is less than a year old, not posh but quite comfortable and staff was terrific, complimentary breakfast good. If you just need a place to sleep overnight it would work well at a reasonable cost.

Could also easily do as day trip from Munich. Would allow two hours to get through the Documentation Centre. ICE train takes a little over an hour, regional train can take as little as hour and a half depending on when you depart.

tom_mn

Pal: interesting article. Will judge for myself soon. "Documentation Center" must be a direct translation from German, an interesting word combination in English.

Cowboy1968

Documentation Center is indeed a direct translation from German "Dokumentations-Zentrum".
Most places similar to the new one in Munich bear that designation as one does not want to call them museums to avoid the connotation of "past gone by".

PalenQ

And yes as the article I referenced about from the NYTimes says many locals were loath to have any kind of Documentation Center because it could be alure to neo-Nazis, etc.