We just returned from a post-Christmas, pre-New Year's getaway to Franconia, just two states over from Rhineland-Pfalz, where we live. Though Nuremberg is famous for their Christmas Markets, hotel prices drop dramatically after the markets close, and the weather is still lovely enough for long walks around the town. And really, you can drink gluhwein anywhere in Germany during the Advent days, right?
We hopped on an ICE from Mainz for the 2.5 hour ride to Nuremberg, and went straight to our hotel, the quaint Garni Probst. The very friendly staff and great breakfast the next morning made us feel right at home, though I had some trouble sleeping thanks to street noise and lights. Darker curtains would have helped... and a note for those with kids, there are some unsavory businesses across the street.
Using my Lonely Planet Germany as our guide, we headed out for a 2.5 km meander around town, starting with a giant bowl of soup at Souptopia (a bit bland, but hearty soups in a cozy restaurant), and then to the Market Square. Vendors were still selling gluhwein and kinderpunsch, and serving up hot crepes from kiosks in the spirit of the holidays. We resisted temptation, and went instead to the first church on our map and then the "beautiful fountain" (Schoenenbrunnen), where you can turn a golden ring three times, make a wish, and it will supposedly come true! We wandered through the Marktplatz and window-shopped, and then headed up a big hill to the Albrecht Duerer house. Though the house (and restaurant) were closed at the time (and unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for the holidays!), we kept trucking along for more church sightings and window shopping.
By then it was dark, so we retired to the hotel for pre-dinner naps. For dinner, we tried Hutt'n for typical German cuisine. We went all-out for Nuremberg sausages, sauerkraut, beer, and for the lone vegetarian: fries and a salad. We have quickly realized that typical German cuisine usually translates to vegetarian-unfriendly, unless you confirm with the restaurant beforehand. The food was good though, and the atmosphere cozy, so we returned back to the hotel with (mostly) full stomachs.
We headed to the Nuremberg trials courthouse the next morning, after a big breakfast and picking up a car rental from Sixt inside the busy central station. Tip: rent from the US or a US IP address, if you can - it cost about half the price! Parking (Saturday) was incredibly easy, about 300m from the courthouse. We arrived before several tour buses, which allowed us a head start at lingering at all of the incredibly informative sections. Entry cost 5 euros, and included an audio guide - all well worth it. We then headed north to Erlangen, a small college town and home of Siemens, for a delicious lunch and tempting pastries at Cafe Mengin. Make sure to sit in the garden room, there's a great view of the big park next door!
After a brief tour of Erlangen, we drove to historic Rothenberg, a "tourist trap" town of 11,000 residents and 2.5m visitors each year. If that's a tourist trap, I want more... it was fantastic - incredibly easy to get around the town, everyone was comfortable with (and happy to!) speak English, and very welcoming. Since we arrived at night, we checked into the Hotel Klosterstueble and headed out for the very interesting, hour-long Night Watchmans' tour (7 euros, pay at the end) at 8 pm in the town square. Though it was a windy, cold night, the atmosphere only added to the tour's charm. All that was missing was a mug of hot chocolate, which we grabbed at the very randomly modern hotel basement bar after the tour. The hotel was great - also included a huge breakfast the next day - and we did a quick walk-and-drive around the narrow, cobblestone-filled Rothenberg roads before returning to Nuremberg Sunday morning.
We returned the car, and headed off to the Deutsche Bahn museum in Nuremberg. Despite our guidebook's encouragement, this turned out to be a huge waste of time. After paying 5 euros entry + 1 euro each for an English audio-guide, we realized there was very little English on the audio guide, and our time would have been much better spent with a few more hours in Rothenberg. We left the museum pretty quickly and grabbed a flavorful soup & sandwich at the Cafe Literaturhaus before hopping on our train back home to Mainz.
We hopped on an ICE from Mainz for the 2.5 hour ride to Nuremberg, and went straight to our hotel, the quaint Garni Probst. The very friendly staff and great breakfast the next morning made us feel right at home, though I had some trouble sleeping thanks to street noise and lights. Darker curtains would have helped... and a note for those with kids, there are some unsavory businesses across the street.Using my Lonely Planet Germany as our guide, we headed out for a 2.5 km meander around town, starting with a giant bowl of soup at Souptopia (a bit bland, but hearty soups in a cozy restaurant), and then to the Market Square. Vendors were still selling gluhwein and kinderpunsch, and serving up hot crepes from kiosks in the spirit of the holidays. We resisted temptation, and went instead to the first church on our map and then the "beautiful fountain" (Schoenenbrunnen), where you can turn a golden ring three times, make a wish, and it will supposedly come true! We wandered through the Marktplatz and window-shopped, and then headed up a big hill to the Albrecht Duerer house. Though the house (and restaurant) were closed at the time (and unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for the holidays!), we kept trucking along for more church sightings and window shopping.
By then it was dark, so we retired to the hotel for pre-dinner naps. For dinner, we tried Hutt'n for typical German cuisine. We went all-out for Nuremberg sausages, sauerkraut, beer, and for the lone vegetarian: fries and a salad. We have quickly realized that typical German cuisine usually translates to vegetarian-unfriendly, unless you confirm with the restaurant beforehand. The food was good though, and the atmosphere cozy, so we returned back to the hotel with (mostly) full stomachs.We headed to the Nuremberg trials courthouse the next morning, after a big breakfast and picking up a car rental from Sixt inside the busy central station. Tip: rent from the US or a US IP address, if you can - it cost about half the price! Parking (Saturday) was incredibly easy, about 300m from the courthouse. We arrived before several tour buses, which allowed us a head start at lingering at all of the incredibly informative sections. Entry cost 5 euros, and included an audio guide - all well worth it. We then headed north to Erlangen, a small college town and home of Siemens, for a delicious lunch and tempting pastries at Cafe Mengin. Make sure to sit in the garden room, there's a great view of the big park next door!
After a brief tour of Erlangen, we drove to historic Rothenberg, a "tourist trap" town of 11,000 residents and 2.5m visitors each year. If that's a tourist trap, I want more... it was fantastic - incredibly easy to get around the town, everyone was comfortable with (and happy to!) speak English, and very welcoming. Since we arrived at night, we checked into the Hotel Klosterstueble and headed out for the very interesting, hour-long Night Watchmans' tour (7 euros, pay at the end) at 8 pm in the town square. Though it was a windy, cold night, the atmosphere only added to the tour's charm. All that was missing was a mug of hot chocolate, which we grabbed at the very randomly modern hotel basement bar after the tour. The hotel was great - also included a huge breakfast the next day - and we did a quick walk-and-drive around the narrow, cobblestone-filled Rothenberg roads before returning to Nuremberg Sunday morning.
We returned the car, and headed off to the Deutsche Bahn museum in Nuremberg. Despite our guidebook's encouragement, this turned out to be a huge waste of time. After paying 5 euros entry + 1 euro each for an English audio-guide, we realized there was very little English on the audio guide, and our time would have been much better spent with a few more hours in Rothenberg. We left the museum pretty quickly and grabbed a flavorful soup & sandwich at the Cafe Literaturhaus before hopping on our train back home to Mainz.
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