Nuremebrg and upper Franconia for the Wolrd Cup!
 

I will be travelling to Nuremberg this spring as I managed to score some Weltmeisterschaft tickets.

I have been to Bamberg, Coburg (very briefly), Wurzburg (briefly), Regensburg, Munich, and Rothenburg, but never Nuremberg itself, so I was looking for some suggestions as to what I should see, not only in Nuremberg, but in the surrounding area.

Kulmbach sounds great, if only for the beer, but I am not sure if Bayreuth will hold my interest. I am not an opera, nor Wagner fan (see above comments on beer!), and Bayreuth looks like it might be a little stiff, like Vienna.

Europe, itself, is the museum as far as I am concerned, - I just like to "be" somewhere, not to have a list of attractions I "must" visit, although I do visit such places, of course.

Anything out of the way; a great little town, restaurant, bierhalle, nature site would be our target.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen!

Which game are you going to? My husband and 18 year old son would love to get some tickets also, but that would take us away from the Rothenburg area of our trip in order to give us the time to attend a game. I'm sure they'd choose the game, ha! I suppose we could just "drive thru" on our way to the afternoon game but not sure it would give us enough time.

Regensburg and Passau are both reached easily by train or car and both are worth visiting.
For communing with nature, you would probably enjoy the "Frankische Schweiz" area with its forests and parks. Several interesting caves there, too, like the Teufelhohle, which are fun to tour. And if you want to take a break from serious culture, within walking distance of the Teufelhohle is one of those alpine slide attractions.
Heilig Geist is my favorite restaurant in Nuremberg. Great setting, good food too.

England are playing in Nurenburg on June 15th - that means it wil be packed. There will be at least 10,000 English fans - quite possibly double that, and we've only been allocated 4,000 tickets - the rest will be watching in special "fan zones".

There will also be a fair few British based Trinidad suppporters.

You should make accommodation arrangements ASAP.

Surprisingly, the hotel.de site still shows plenty of hotel availability in Nuremberg itself for the nights of June 14 through 16. But I agree with David, anyway, make your reservations ASAP.
Nuremberg sounds like it will be awfully crowded and there is the *possibility* that the football fans might not be as well-behaved as the Christmas market shoppers (the other time of year when Nberg is packed). You might want to consider staying in Bamberg, worth a repeat visit, and easily reached by train.
FWIW, in Nberg itself, the Ibis close to the train station wouldn't be my first choice of hotels. Even under normal circumstances, it's where the less than charming crowd of hard drinkers and other characters can be found late at night. During World Cup times, it might get just a tad too lively.

Schwaebisch Hall is a little over an hour west from Nurnberg in Baden Wurttemburg. Lovely old town right on the river Kocher.

The website is in German, but you can check out the photos:

http://www.schwaebischhall.de/Sehenswert.1319.0.html