Have a week in Erlangen before work training class begins in November. Where is best place to visit in winter, want to backpack on trains, how to find cheap room in whatever City I find myself in at the end of the day? What is within reach by train and still end up back in Erlangen by week's end? Plan to visit west of nurnberg the week before class and then east of nurnberg for a week after class. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Virtually anywhere in Germany is reachable by train in one day, plus Prague and some other locations.
Erlangen is on the Nuremberg/Nürnberg S-Bahn network, with trains every 20, 40 or 60 minutes into Nürnberg.
If you look at the Wikipedia article for Erlangen station you can see where the trains go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlangen_station#Rail_services
And with a change in Nürnberg you can go anywhere.
You can look up trains to anywhere in Europe on the DB (German Railways) website: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
For a whole week you could reach Paris, Rome, Vienna or just about anywhere. Where do you want to go?
You say "begins in November", does it extend into December? The German Christmas Markets are open from last wekend in November to Christmas Eve. The one in Nürnberg is one of the best and most famous.
See here: https://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/en/
Posted by
Maryland
869 posts
You don't give much detail on your interests, but:
My Top 10 Things to do In or From Erlangen, Germany
1) Frankishe Schweiz area by bus, bike or hike northeast of Erlangen.
2) Berlin is 3 hours by fast train north.
3) Munich is one hour by fast train south.
4) Innsbruck is 4 hours by train south (change trains in Munich).
5) Bamberg World Heritage City is 45 minutes north.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/624
6) Augsburg is an hour southwest.
https://www.bavaria.by/visit/augsburg/
7) Nuremberg is half an hour south and reachable both by DB and by local bus/trams.
https://museums.nuernberg.de/nuremberg-municipal-museums/
https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/aboutus/index.html
8) Salzburg is 5 hours southeast (change trains in Munich).
9) Bolzano and the South Tirol/Dolomite region of Italy is 6 hours south by train (change trains in Munich)
10) Frankfort/Romantic Rhine Valley is 3-4 hours west (change trains in Nuremberg).
11) Google Biergardens in Franconia, Bavaria for useful destinations.
And it is 4 hours by bus from Nuremberg Hbf to Prague Hbf.
Cheap rooms use Booking.com to locate likely places with prices and then contact them directly as recommended by RS. If you know where to look before you go picking one from your list when you get somewhere probably will work at that time of the year.
There are three Christmas markets in Erlangen, beginning November 25, 2019.
https://www.cities-of-franconia.com/christmasmarkets/erlangen/
for trains:
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
for buses:
https://www.vgn.de/en/
for Austria:
https://www.tirol.at