Bamberg: Spend more time here and Skip Nurnberg?

What time of year? We love Nuremberg. There are 2 spectacular cathedrals. We have taken a great history and WW2 tour with "Nuremberg Tours in English."

We always stay at Hotel Victoria - within the Old Town Wall, right next the the HandiWorks area where all the German Vendors are and it's right across the street from the train station, you can walk underground - so easy. And an easy walk to the cathedrals and all of the Old Town. We go almost every December for the Nuremberg Xmas Market. The hotel has a wonderful included breakfast. It's an easy train ride to Munich as we usually fly back home from Munich.

You can check out Nuremberg Tours in English and Hotel Victoria on TripAdvisor - but we always book straight on the individual websites.

I wouldn't - Nuremberg has so much to see and it would be a shame be miss it. And Nuremberg does not have the feel of a city - it's city center is very contained and very charming. The cathedrals are gorgeous, the toy museum is wonderful, there are wonderful restaurants and shops, and so much history there.

Bamberg was lovely but it's more of a "walk around, see a few sights and enjoy the atmosphere" type of town. I really liked it but I would be hard put to find things to do there after the first day.

Nuremberg is a big city compared to Bamberg, with all the good bits and bad bits that implies. But, it also has a bunch of great museums. Check out the website:

https://museums.nuernberg.de/nuremberg-municipal-museums/

The Nuremberg Trials Courtroom is only open on weekends since it is still an active courtroom.

https://museums.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuremberg-trials/

I certainly don't think you will grow bored with Bamberg. It is wonderful. To me, your itinerary sounds a bit too busy (too much on the road travel time for how long you will be in Nuremberg) and I would vote to stay in Bamberg. But these things are highly subjective and you really can't go wrong! Have fun.

If you are interested in WWII/Nazi history, then Nürnberg would be an important stop. I read a lot about WWII when I was a kid and a young man, as my Father had served in WWII. By the time that I was stationed twice to Germany (6 years) I was a lot more interested in the rest of German history.

Nürnberg has been important to German History for centuries but was bombed pretty badly damaged in WWII, though much rebuilt.

Bamberg was also important to German history and was more intact at the end of WWII. It felt to me more like walking through history. It does have more of a small town atmosphere.

The Nuremberg Trials Courtroom is only open on weekends since it is still an active courtroom.

@NickB, that's incorrect - the courtroom is no longer being used for trials and as such, is open every day for visits. I was there on a Monday and had no problem seeing it. From https://museums.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuremberg-trials/permanent-exhibition/courtroom-600/use-after-1945:

As of 1 March 2020, Courtroom 600 is no longer being used for trials. For the first time in its over 100 yearlong history, it is no longer a place of jurisprudence and its changing process from courtroom to site of memory is being completed.

I would not skip Nurnberg. I enjoyed my day there and would like to go back. Charming and lots to see.

Thank you for the advice everyone. We will plan on staying in Nuremberg, hoping to get an additional night at Hotel Vistoria which we booked months ago but they were already booked for the additional night that we wanted. Fingers crossed that something will open up.

We liked Bamberg much more than Nurnberg. But if you are interested in WWII history or like museums, Nurnberg is important.