Visit the land of the breweries!
Franconia in 3 Days: Between Beers and Fotresses
This is a detailed guide full of our personal recommendation, perfect for a 3-days trip.
On the day when I (Emanuele) am writing this, I find myself in Bayreuth, in the middle of Upper Franconia. I am abroad for my 6-months Erasmus, which was the perfect opportunity to collect memories and visit every corner of Germany.
P.S. every trip in Germany that we promote will always take into account the purchase of the Deutscheland ticket. It is much more convenient than any other option, the price is unbeatable and the flexibility of not having to reserve any transport comes in handy.
REMEMBER: if you purchase the ticket after the 10th of a certain month, you will automatically pay also the month after. This means that if you want to travel in a particular time window be sure you buy the ticket and you immediately cancel the subscription, and be sure you do it not after the 10th of the same month!
But let’s get started!
Table Of Contents
Day 1: Nuremberg
After you purchased your Deutschalnd ticket (at least few working days prior departure), you are ready to catch your flight and go!
If you are lucky enough, there will be a flight that you can catch which lands directly at the airport of Nuremberg, otherwise you will have to compromise, opting for the airport of Frankfurt or Munich (roughly 3h of train far).
P.S. your Deutscheland ticket includes every regional train, metro, tram, and local bus, which means also the shuttle between airport and city.
Your first stop of the trip will be Nuremberg. This city doesn’t need an introduction, thanks to all the ancient and modern history sorrounding it. It has plenty of traditions, from food to beer, together with a beautiful architecture.
Once you arrive at the station, the first thing you want to do is to walk toward the old town.
P.S. after the heavy bombardment during World War II, the city was half destroyed, and what you see nowadays is a fine and accurate reconstruction.
Cross the Frauentor and enter the Handwerkerhof Nuremberg. It’s always nice to walk by this little mediaval market, busy and colorful.
After it, continue on your way toward the center, walking along Königstraße. Before entering the square, don’t miss the chance to get a pretzel. Stop at Casa Pane, just in front of the metro station, and get a take away Fuego bretze (trust me, you won’t be disappointed).
With the pretzel in your hand, continue your walk and you will soon bump into one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Nuremberg: Loreznkirche.
After this, keep walking Northward, but don’t stay necessarily on the same street!. Nuremberg is full of hidden gems, like old houses and secret view points.
Take one of the many bridges ahead of you and cross the river Pegnitz. You will finally end up at Hauptmarkt square! Here you will see plenty of stands and little markets selling everything you can think about.
Take a look at Frauenkirche, and don’t leave the square before you stopped at Schöner Brunnen! This Gothic fountain, built back in XIV century and recently renovated, is said to bring you good luck! Everything you have to do is to find one of the 2 hidden “golden” rings which make part of the chain, and make it rotate 3 times around itself.
After you grabbed a snack at the market and you took a break, it’s time to continue with the itinerary.
Continue walking Northward. You will notice the road slowly getting steeper, pointing to the main attraction of the city: the Imperial Castle
Walk up the citadel, and start to visit this beautiful piece of history. I recommend to buy the full ticket for 9€ (8€ reduced) whic allows you to see the Museum, the Tower, and the Well.
Take many pictures and enjoy the view all over the city from the top of the tower.
Depending upon how much time you still have after the castle, consider the idea of doing other activities. Some that we highly recommend are:
– Visiting the House of Albrecht Dürer
– Walking along the old wall at the Burggarten
– Visiting the most famous gingerbread house Wicklein – Die Lebküchnerei (perfect for souvenirs and gifts)
For dinner, it won’t be difficult to find a nice place. There are plenty of traditional restaurants you can choose from (but keep in mind that they are not really vegan friendly).
Day 2: Bayreuth and Coburg
After visiting the big city of Nuremberg, it’s time to move onto something smaller, trying to catch some less touristic beauties. For this purpose, go the to the main train station and catch the first train to Bayreuth.
Once you arrive, be sure you start the day with a nice Pfefferbretze mit Camembert creme (my favourite) taken at the cafè of the station. Start to walk Southward, and in 5 minutes you will already enter the old town.
Bayreuth is really small, so you really want to walk it entirely. Get into every street, walk under every gate. The important landmarks that you don’t want to miss are the Neues Schloss and the Stadtkirche Heilig Dreifaltigkeit. Get inside the cathedral for a quick visit, and then go back to the main street, Maximilianstraße, enter the Ehrenhof, and take a picture at Alte Schloss.
From here, walk under the gate on your right, and then turn left. Go down the steps and you will be again where you started. As last, you want to walk few meters to reach the real gem of this city: the UNESCO world heritage Weltkulturerbe Markgräfliches Opernhaus. Bayreuth is famous for being the home of Wagner, the compositor, and this Opera House really gives him justice.
The next stop is Coburg, which is a bit more than 1h away, so if the clock is getting close to lunch time you probably want to eat something here. A nice place I want to recommend is Oskar – Das Wirtshaus am Markt. They make traditional food for reasonable prices, but again, choose something different if you you are not a meat lover.
P.S. if you instead get to Coburg before lunch, our suggestion is the restaurant Bratwurstglöckle
Come back to the train station and take the first train to Coburg. Enjoy the ride on these local green and white trains, and make sure to get a window seat to enjoy the landscape.
Once in Coburg, there will be 2 main things you must do.
At first, we suggest to walk to the Fortress of Coburg. This must-visit attraction dominates the territory from the top of the hill. The walk to reach the castle is nice and relaxing, taking you through beautiful garden.
The entrance to the castle is for free, but you can visit the museum inside only with a ticket. I personally suggest to skip the museum and only see the outside of the castle. It has plenty of rooms, and you can access different view points and watchtowers.
After you have taken some nice pictures, it’s time to walk back to the old town. Use a different path this time, making a sort of ring to see even more of the garden. Walk past the Castle of Ehrenburg, in front of the Schlossplatz, and take a break to enjoy this beautiful building, once house of the Dukes of Coburg.
Coburg, in the same way as Bayreuth, doesn’t have a huge old town, so we recommend to see every corner of the city. The gates at the borders of the wall are beutiful, so make sure you don’t skip any. Walk past the Marktplatz and enjoy the view of of the prettiest houses of Franconia, built in typical half-timbered style.
P.S. try to get inside the Hof-Apotheke. It is one of the oldest building of the town, and it is still in activity! Once there, you must buy the famous Hof-likör. It is made from a traditional reciepe, originally intended for medical purposes
For dinner, I want to recommend the restaurant Bratwurstglöckle. The interiors are very pretty, the prices reasonable, and the food really good. They don’t speak english, but they will be very kind trying their best.
Day 3: Bamberg
The trip is coming to an end, but so many beautiful things are still yet to be visited!
On this last day we will continue on the shade of little, old towns, and we will see the beauties of Bamberg!
Once you arrive at the station, start to walk straight respect to the entrance, and in few minutes you will already be in the old town. Turn to the right at u. Königstraße, and then left, crossing the river along the Klettenbrücke.
Get lost in every street, exploring the town and playing at finding the oldest or the most colorful half-timbered house. Walk past the Neptunsbrunnen, and continue until you bump into the Obere Brücke.
What you will find in front of yourself is the Altes Rathaus, the beautiful town hall of Bamberg.
P.S. to get the best pictures walk also along the 2 near-by bridges. In this way you can catch different angles with the best backgrounds.
After this, continue walking along Karolinenstraße until you reach the main sqaure of the old town. Here you must visit the beautiful Dome of Bamberg, dated back to XIII century, together with the Old Court located next to it.
Visit also the Neues Residenz just on the other side of the road and its Rose garden, from which you can enjoy a pretty view over the town.
Probably by this time you will be hungry. Bamberg is full of traditional restaurants, but one that we want to suggest is Scheiners am Dom. The food is delicious, and they also make meals of the day, which I always appreciate in restaurants.
