Plan to spend two full days exploring Nuremburg, then take a couple of daytrips. Initial list is as follows (in order of priority): Bamberg, Würzburg, Rothenburg, Regensburg, Coburg, Amberg. Looking for feedback on these options, plus any good to know info.
Concerned a bit about all or some these places being too similar to what I will see or do in Nuremburg. Also, will that enough time in Nuemburg?
Will be using public transportation. thanks!
I don't really see those as day trips. Furth or Erlangen; those are day trips. Ansbach or Bad Windsheim could be day trips. Bamberg, Wurzburg, or Regensburg are all cities you can spend days seeing. I never thought much of Amberg, but could be persuaded. It kind of depends on what you want to see. If you do the train museum in Nurnberg then you won't find one in Bamberg. If you do castles or walks along the river then you can find similarities. You look at the old commercial fish shops along the river in Regensburg, or maybe the golf museum, or hunt for fossils in one of the mineral shops you will do something you can't in Coburg.
Time of year makes a difference too. You might want to look into when the local fests are, and make sure you attend one. I spent three days in Regensburg in 2011 just because the fest was going on. It wasn't huge, but it added to a couple days of walking around town.
I would suggest Ingolstadt and Coburg, ...very doable logistically, both interesting towns from a historical perspective.
Consider going down the Romantic Road. It is loaded with great cities and towns. Many of the smaller towns were not bombed at all or very little in WWII and maintain their Medieval structures and walls. Nurenburg is nice, but worth a day, perhaps two.
Regensburg is worth a day, you can probably do a day trip from Munich for both Nurenburg and Regensburg.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
The first visitors were friends and families of the American soldiers stationed in the large bases in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg but the idea of the trail from Würzburg to Füssen soon became wildly popular.
It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.
These days coach parties from all over the world can be seen at the most popular stops along the way, the route signs along the way are in German and Japanese, and in 2010 the Romantic Road celebrated its 60th birthday.
Thanks everyone for your feedback and info. I may need to spend more time in this area.
Just a side note, but have you looked around Sembach?
KGC - what do you mean by “looked around”
geovagriffith - the romantic road looks great, but I won’t have a car and after looking, it seemed very difficult / complex to do it by train or bus.
Fred - coburg looks like a nice day trip
KGC - agree that I could spend more then a day in Bamberg, Regensburg........ but I will be time constrained and might need to just see them via a daytrip.
My wife and I went to Bamberg on a day trip from Nuremberg in 2014. It was a worthy visit, the only downside was the center is some distance from the train station and we had to take the bus. Two full days is about right for Nuremberg. Getting to Rothenburg is not as simple as one might expect, think it requires two changes of train. We stayed at a hotel in Rick's book that is right by the train station, so Nuremberg was a very convenient base for day tripping.
yes, a bus to the cathedral in Bamberg from the station is a nice thing - that's how I get there - and then back down again or up into the vineyards.... lucky that there are fast and frequent buses easy to get.
Well, if you're based out of Sembach I could easy find some good day trips from there. But that begs the question, are you military, or employed by the DOD? If so you have a lot more options that most folks on this forum won't be able to take advantage of. I can point you towards some of those...
Idar-Oberstein, Trier, Finthen, Rudesheim, Nancy, Zweibrucken, Koblenz; all are worthy of a day or more. If you're stuck in Sembach and want to see more of Germany I highly recommend joining the local Volksmarch club.
Best way from Nurnberg to Rothenberg odT is taxi. It's about 35km. Or you can take a bus to Bad Windsheim (the northern route) or Ansbach (further south) and change in those towns. (At least that's how it used to be when I was living in Steinach. )
KGC
I live in Hawaii, but was stationed at Sembach AB in the 80’s. I did over 60 volksmarches in that part of Germany. Retired now and starting to focus on planning an extended trip to Germany in 2019 using mostly trains.
You are unlikely to find a more charming little place than Iphofen. It's on the rail line to Würzburg, 45 minutes by direct train from the main station in Nuremberg. It's a walled town with a wine/art emphasis and easy to negotiate on foot. It is nothing at all like bustling Nuremberg. A few hours there is about right - so maybe it combines well with a half day of sightseeing in Nuremberg.
Guide: http://tramino.s3.amazonaws.com/s/iphofen/685626/stadtplan-iphofen-english.pdf
Scroll for photos: https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/2985-iphofen-galerie/&s=8f9828547e7957ccdff23aefea31e54a8ea429e8
Most of your outings are within the VGN zone (Nuremberg area transit authority) and covered by the very inexpensive "Tagesticket Plus" day pass. Rothenburg and Bamberg for example are reachable at any hour of the day by train (no early am restriction like the Bayern Ticket has) with this pass for about €20/day for two. Note also that if bought for Saturday travel, it is valid on Sunday too!
https://www.vgn.de/en/tickets/all-day-ticket-plus/
VGN zone map: https://www.vgn.de/media/schienennetz-gesamtraum-vgn.pdf
Best way from Nurnberg to Rothenberg odT is taxi. It's about 35km.
Nürnberg - Rothenburg is 80+ km. A taxi would be expensive and not faster than the train (1:15, two easy tranfers at the small stations of Ansbach and Steinach).
^ Tells you what memory is like. I can remember using the train as stated, but to me the fastest way was taxi as i didn't have to wait and could leave anytime. Of course, most of the time I just drove myself.
OP - Congratulations on your retirement. Sembach is still active, and you can use MWR in and around Europe. That may help you with your travels. Don't forget buses, they often work in tandem with trains for local travel on the same ticket. Bavaria has a good network like this but I'd have to do some research to make specific recommendations.
I'll second Iphofen, a fabulous little place. A pleasant trail around the village, a wooded walk to the east and vineyards above the small lake. Attractive streets and buildings, a fair number of restaurants, a couple of churches. Iphofen hardly has any shops, if that's important to you. I believe a lack of touristy shops is one of the main reasons many appealing places get missed, or very little time spent in them.
For a bigger place, Würzburg, Coburg and Bamberg are all good days. I'm no expert on public transportation but I think cheaper rail tickets take effect after 9:00 am, so bear that in mind when planning your travel time.
