We will be visiting the Regensburg area the beginning of December. We would love to know what we should "definitely see, do, experience" while there. The Christmas markets of course, but we are very interested in the history and culture. Would like to have a private guide for a few hours. Any thoughts??

Regensburg is very easy to visit as everything you want to see is within the compact Old Town, including the Palace, Cathedral, the old bridge, or the foundations and excavations of the early Roman settlement and the Jewish quarter on Neupfarrplatz. The Old Town itself is Unesco World Heritage, but everything is walkable - in fact, you can do only walking since it's car-free
If you have time for day trips, you could see the Walhalla (just a few minutes from Regensburg), which had been built by King Ludwig (#1 not nutty #2) in the style of a Greek pantheon looking over the Danube.
In bit more distance (1/2hr by car) you will find Weltenburg monastery on the Danube bend (maybe more a summer destination as most like to combine it with a short cruise from Kelheim to go through the bend). Also the villages in the Bavarian Forest with its long tradition of arts and crafts are a nice day trip - but that may depend on your overall time budget.
Sorry, can't help re. tour guides.

Cowboy, Great information! We will be traveling to Regensburg via train from Munich. Could you recommend interesting places to hop off/on along the way?

I'm sure we will find a fabulous guide there to walk us around for a few hours at least. That is always an important part to our travel plans.

Does the palace have it's own Christmas market? Is it "pedestrian" accessible as well? Are the boats not running at this time of year for short cruises? Thanks for your help.

One easy stop on your way to Regensburg is Landshut. Train connections from Munich to Regensburg which go direct (and not require a change in Ingolstadt) all call at Landshut.
The station is a bit away from the Old Town (appr 30 min walking), but if you travel with a Bayern Ticket you can also use any city bus (or take a cab for little money.. appr €5).
Smaller than Regensburg, it also has an attractive Old Town and castle towering above the city. Since the town's website itself is a bit weak in its English section, you should take a look at their multi-lingual brochure which also has a bunch of pictures:
http://www.landshut.de/uploads/media...erblick_02.pdf

Another option is Freising, close to Munich and also on the same mainline to Regensburg. Smaller than Landshut, but with a nice Old Town (again), and the Cathedral hill to visit. The station is in close walking distance to the Old Town.

If I had to choose only one, I'd probably stop at Landshut.

====

The Palace/Castle in Regensburg does have its own Christmas market - and it's probably one of the major attractions in Regensburg during that time. It's also within the Old Town, probably 5 or 10 minutes walking from the station.
You will find more information on this market here (in English): http://www.vs-regensburg.de/index.php?id=502

You are right, the boats from Kelheim (some 30km SW of Regensburg) to Weltenburg monastery do not run after Nov 1, and the monastery is not close to any railway station. I doubt that you can squeeze it in your itinerary by public transport. And it's really a fair/warm weather destination.

Happy travels

If you have seen the movie "Schindler's List" you may remembered at the end of the movie, when Germany fell, Oskar Schindler had to go into hiding. Regensburg, which remained relatively untouched by the air bombings, had a huge underground anti-Nazi movement. The Schindlers headed that way and lived there for a while. I remembered vividly walking down a steet in centric Regensburg (Nurgberstrasse) and coming across a memorial plaque inscription indicating the apartment building Oskar Schindler had lived in.

A fun tour we enjoyed at Regensburg were the dungeons at the Town Hall building. Medieval artifacts, many of them originals, are still intact and in working order The place is, well, a dungeon, so be forewarned. Quite interesting, but honestly, you can still smell the "anxiety"...Right outside the Town Hall there are pieces of iron still encrusted to the wall and used by medieval merchants as the measuring standards when selling goods by length. I thought Regensburg was a gem; agree with Landshut, another gem

This info is a wonderful help.
Now a friend has suggested that Rothenburg ob der Tauber instead of Regensburg....I do know that Rothenburg is further away from Munich, but would this be a better plan for a day trip from Munich?

viajero2, How fascinating about Schindler in Regensburg! That's the kind of "stuff" I love hearing on a tour. The trivia and minutiae of everyday life in history. thanks.

Rothenburg is a bit more complicated to reach by train. It's a bit hard to compare with Regensburg. Rothenburg's Old Town is like an open air museum, cute and quaint, picture-postcard little walled town, but Regensburg has more substantial sights to see. The major reason Rothenburg was "conserved" is its total lack of any importance.. too far from trading routes, no feudal seat, no nothing. But quaint as quaint can be. The only problem is that you get the ten times as many tourists as in Regensburg, but squeezed into 1/10th of the size.

Opposite the Hotel Orphee is the school of music. According to legend if you look through the window in the tower of the school you will fall in love with the first person you set eyes on. Try searching on the net for the novel " THE WINDOW OF ORPHEE" made into a manga comic and very popular in Japan.

I visited the school but did not look through the window.

crdtny, hilarious! I'll have to make sure my husband and I are together if we find that window...hmmm.

cowboy, that settles it. I do think I've read Rothenburg is more crowded...maybe another time. Regensburg it is!

My husband and I ate lunch here before a river cruise in May. After 500 years I guess it's historical.

http://europeforvisitors.com/germany...urstkueche.htm