Hello. We will be taking a Viking cruise and adding two additional days in Nurnberg after the cruise. What is the best way to get from the ship to downtown Nurnberg? Any major recommendations for things that are "must" sees? We will do a city tour with Viking the day before we get off the ship.
Thank you.
If you know the address of your ship's docking point, use the Bahn query webpage to determine you best transportation option to the Nürnberg Hbf. Put the address in the first field and "Nürnberg Hbf" in the second field.
For perhaps a little more local detail, use the website of the Greater Nürnberg VV, www.vgn.de.
The address of the dock is
Europakai 10
90455 Nürnberg
There is no good public transport from that spot into the city center (the next S-Bahn stop is 1500m away, a bus stop is 400m away but there would be 2 transfers to reach the center). Just take a taxi (if your carrier doesn't prebook it for you: the central taxi service # is +49 911 19410). Assuming your hotel is in the historical center, it's approx €20.
We highly recommended visiting the Nazi Documentation Center and rally grounds. It is not "just another WWII museum." Rather it focuses on how the Nazi party used propaganda to come to power and stay in power. We found it to be very well presented. And the rally grounds, though somewhat crumbling, were interesting -- to stand there and envision the rallies with thousands of people cheering for Hitler -- one hopes history never repeats itself.
You should be able to arrange transportation to your hotel through the Viking staff concierge. That’s part of their job. Check out sites like TripAdvisor for things to do in Nurnberg. The historic center is small. The castle is nice as is the hauptmarkt. There are also a number of WWII sites. Viking took us on one tour and there was also an optional tour one could take. My brother took the optional one and enjoyed it. Check to ensure you don’t duplicate something that’s included in your cruise. Our Viking cruise ended in Nurnberg, but we did 3 days in Prague afterwards. On a separate trip to Nurnberg we enjoyed a meal at Nassauerkeller restaurant. Just watch your step going into it as the steps go down just inside the door.
to stand there and envision the rallies with thousands of people cheering for Hitler
That rally grounds never were finished with the exception of the so called Zeppelin Field which was a place for rallies of the army. The rallies of the nazi party were in the nearby Luitpoldhain, the nazi buildings of which were demolished after the war.
Took a day trip from Munich last May to Nuremberg.
I went to the Nazi Documentation Center and Rally Grounds. Took a local bus to the city center. Ate some awesome Nuremberg-style bratwursts. Explored the old town area. Took the metro to the Palace of Justice. Luckily court was not in session. I was able to visit the courtroom of the Nuremberg Trial. There is a museum on the next floor up. The TI in the city center was MOST helpful! Had some gelato.
It was a good day.
