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Itinerary summary, Schloss Faber-Castell in Stein near Nuremburg

Posted by (Detroit, MI) on

My trip starts in the 3rd week of August. My trip is already planned and I already bought 3 long-distance train tickets and made hotel reservations. But...

Has anybody visited Schloss Faber-Castle and/or the neighboring factory where they make (Graf von) Faber-Castle writing instruments? Do you think the castle and/or factory would be too far out of the way? Google maps shows that I could get there by public transportation from the apartment I reserved, in Nuremberg, in 28-34 minutes. This is a solo trip. The summary of my itinerary is 5 nights Munich, 3 nights in Nuremberg, 1 night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 2 nights in Wurzburg, 1 night in Erfurt, 2 nights in Frankfurt am Main. I do actually appreciate writing instruments, although at this time I am good on colored pencils, markers, and pens, and I am trying to avoid buying souvenirs and stuff I don't need. On my last major trip I didn't buy anything, on my previous trip I bought just one tee shirt.

Separate but related: do you think I am planning a stupid trip by not going to Berlin? Will I be under or over-occupied? (I am 41. I could go to Berlin in the future. I could take more trips in the future. Or I could have a heart attack and drop dead soon. My great-grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and died when he was 49. Sorry for posting morbidly stupid comments).

I didn't think to go to Heidelberg. If I get persuaded that it is that worthwhile I could go in case I ever return to Germany. Lamy pen company is based in Heidelberg. I am unsure whether there is a factory tour. I write in a journal using a Lamy Safari fountain pen. While I may appreciate the products, I am not fanatical like some people who actually collect pens and I won't allow myself to spend money on pens or souvenirs I don't need.

Posted by
1488 posts

The Faber-Castell factory is right off Rt 14 in Nuremberg. I've driven past it many times. You can get there by public transport, many workers do. I haven't been there in 30 years.

Berlin is worth a week on its own. Put it on your list.

Posted by
1040 posts

I probably will keep my hotels and train tickets as I have them now, with some minor or random switching of exactly what I do when. Maybe as long as I am well enough occupied for most of each day, my trip could be fine and any time I travel again it will always be a shame I am not seeing something I don't see. I could have gone to Munich, Nuremberg, and Berlin, and skipped the other 3 towns. I only have 10 paid days off work, combined with labor day and the weekends to get 16 nights. Yeah Berlin looks like a good city, it has plenty of museums and monuments. I have an aunt who went to Berlin for just 3 nights, Munich, and Leipzig but she mentioned not making time for homes of certain composers; she thinks the evening walking tour in Rothenberg ob der Tauber is for kids and probably unnecessary; Many "drive by tourists" are satisfied to just walk through a few streets in the oldest neighborhood of certain towns, without knowing even what they are looking at or for, skipping museums and major monuments, and feeling satisfied that they "saw" the town.

Posted by
1040 posts

Unfortunately it looks like nobody who saw this thread has visited or knows anything about how to visit Schloss Faber-Castell. So far I looked at their website in German and figured out that they sell tickets to a 1-1/2 hour English tour for 9 euros. There are no available tours on the dates I will be in Nuremberg. I have not figured out whether they let you see the inside of the castle without a tour. If they let you in without a tour, I have not figured out whether I would miss too much to make it worth bothering to go inside without a tour. If I travel to the Schloss without knowing whether I can get in, I would probably be wasting over an hour that would be better spent somewhere else. You don't waste time on a trip when you paid over $1,500 just on the plane tickets.

Edit: They have a lot of spaces available for a "Private Führung: Graf von Faber-Castell'sches Schloss (Einzelpersonen, Gruppen, Schulklassen etc.)." when I will be in Nuremberg but I am not a German speaker although I tried to teach myself some German. I am sure the average American tourist doesn't go here.

Posted by
59 posts

I went to the Faber-Castell Schloss and I posted a topic on thread in the Trip Reports forum:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/re-posting-faber-castell-experience-in-stein-germany-near-nuremberg

I am glad I did it and I will remember it forever.
But @Mike L, I would say it is NOT a "must do" for a first time visitor to Germany. (It was not my first time to Germany). I think I answered some of the questions you had about how to get there but I am aware this is after you did your trip so it's too late to help.

For Lamy (yes there's a flagship in Heidelberg): you don't have to go to the flagship. It is pretty easy in Germany to just go to a big department store (kaufhof). Unless you are looking for some very special special Lamy limited edition product (and you said you were not a pen collector) but if you are looking for the major product lines, they are sold at a lot of bookstores and stationery stores and department stores. For example, Galleria Kaufhof in Munich, had a pretty good counter (I'd say it was about 95% of the full product line) even had all the blue-package line LAMY art supplies (marketed towards children) that I don't see in the US. All the Safari special editions are available in the US now (it is end of 2024), and they still work the same as a regular Safari, just with limited-time color combinations.

Posted by
626 posts

I can't speak to Schloss Faber-Castell (though the family is very nice), but the itinerary you have looks good. If you try to cram in Berlin, which is worth a fair amount of time on its own, you will feel rushed. Save Berlin for the next trip, maybe combining it with Dresden or Mecklenburg. And don't forget to put Hamburg on your list!

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