Organized tours of Nuremberg

Susan you don't have to book another tour for Nuremberg for 1 day before your main tour. It will be a waste of money. You can plan the day trip on your own. The travel from Munich to Nuremberg by train is less then 2 hours and once there, you will be able to explore the Christmas market and catch an evening train back to Munich.

Thank u! That was my original intention.. to take train RT and do my own sightseeing. Would like to see Durer house as well old town and perhaps Nazi places. Christmas Market is my primary reason for day trip to Nuremberg. As Nazi sights are a bit further afield I thought perhaps an organized tour might save time.

Susan you don't have to book another tour for Nuremberg for 1 day
before your main tour. It will be a waste of money.

Hmmm. It's an easy matter to take the train to Nuremberg and find your way to the Christmas Market. But there is nothing wrong with taking a tour of Nuremberg if you wish to. You only need to check out the tour options (see link below) and contact the tourist office about availability. There seems to be something for just about everybody. As to whether it's a waste of money, the only way you will know that is after the tour:

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/nc/discover/walking-tours-round-trips/

And if you decide to tour on your own, the above link has tips for that as well.

There are direct fast trains to Nuremberg (for a price) but also the handy and inexpensive Bayern Ticket day pass, which uses the regional trains and takes a little longer.

One night before the tour starts? Basically you have the day you arrive to make a trip to Nuremberg? I'm not sure you're going to have the time.

That being said, here's my fast tour on Nuremberg, based on three years of living nearby and a dozen visits since,

Leave the train station and walk across the square to the north. Just inside the gate is the handwerk craft shops. Make a left and walk along the city walls down to the Spitaltor. If you walk inside the walls there's a garden the entire way. You also walk thru the red light district. This is a 5-10 minute walk unless you decide to shop...

At the Spitaltor make a right and walk to the Weisseturm. (If you're not sure what these places look like Google them.) Just outside the Weisseturm are St Elisabeth's and St Jacob's churches. On the other side is one of the strangest statue/fountains in Europe. It probably on't have water running in DEC, but it's pretty fascinating. You're also at the far end of one of the main shopping streets in town.

From here you want to go left. If you stay near the city wall you'll come to the water gate where they used to bar the river and collect taxes. There are a number of antique shops in this neighborhood. If you aim a little more inland you'll come to the Trodlemarkt; a number of better shops on their own little island in the middle of the river. It's only a couple blocks between these sights, and you can walk along the river if you want to see both.

If you decide to go to the Trodlemarkt you want to keep going across the river and then uphill to the Durer house. Look for St Sebald's church and then aim more to the left.

If you go along the walls it's the same, but you can actually climb up onto the wall and walk along the old guards path above the streets below. This gives a different view of the old city, and you can look out the other side and see the newer part of town. The contrast is (to me) impressive.

From the Durer Haus you can easily get into the castle gardens and approach the castle in that way. If you don't want to do that you can also walk along the streets under the castle until you come to the old city watch tavern and the main entry to the castle. Both of these are uphill climbs, the garden path is less steep, but not all that attractive in winter, the guards walk is a good climb to the main castle gate.

From here you head downhill towards St Sebald's. Follow the main road, you can't miss it. That path will lead you (once you pass the church) right to the market square and Frauen Church. The Schoner Brunnen is in the one corner across from the church. The Christmas market will be here.

From here you take the king's road (Konigstrasse) south (you can't miss it) across the bridge to St Lorenz church and then straight back to the Bahnhof.

That walk will show you about 1/3 of the old city, and the majority of the stuff tourists take pictures of, disregarding the WWII sites. And it won't cost you a dime. You can't get lost as long as you stay inside the walls, just navigate by churches if nothing else. If you're in good shape you could run the whole thing in an hour. But if you get distracted (which is pretty easy) it's going to take the better part of a day.

Save the Christmas market until last. It's best after dark!

If you must see museums, don't miss the the German National Museum. Others worth the time (if interested) are the New City Museum, the Toy Museum, and the Train Museum. All of those are 5-10 minutes from the Bahnhof.

Have fun!

Many thanks for all the very helpful suggestions for sightseeing in Nuremberg. Lots to plan out. In my original post I meant to say that I have a full day for Nuremberg sightseeing before the day the tour starts. And I definitely want to be there in the evening to see the Christmas lights.

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

The city guide to what is available. The Nazi Documentation center is about 10 minutes away from the train station to the SE on the S-bahn, but takes quite a while to visit/assimilate.

Have fun!