Regensburg vs Nuremberg

What do you want to visit in the area? Regensburg is nice, but doesn't take all that long to see. Nuremberg is a much larger city (although presumably you're not there to explore the more extensive modern districts), and if you don't have a car, offers better transportation connections.

I found Regensburg definitely more beautiful and agreeable than Nürnberg. The young one will like the boat trip to Walhalla.

There are plenty of tourists in both, and both used to be on my favourites list with the nod going to Regensburg because their little sausages were are better.

That was after plenty of visits to both over the years.

Regensburg has now dropped off that list because its compact and beautiful (and hilly) old town has now been overwhelmed by boatloads of river cruisers. Maybe there is a time of day when they are not flooding the place but the whole orientation of the town now seems to be towards the boat people following the furled up little umbrella.

Nuremberg gets many more tourists in total but has loads of different attractions for them, and the bigger city absorbs them better.

Both are very pretty, I am very happy to spend a week or two in area again soon.

I've never been to Prague.

It does come down to your interests.

We lived in Nürnberg in the 1980's and love going back. It is better situated for day trips in my opinion. (Bamberg, Würzburg, Iphofen, ...)

Regensburg is our favorite city in Germany. You can see the Dom, the Rathaus and the Roman portal in a few hours. We enjoy the city beyond these principal sights. We like the city museum and the East German Art Museum (Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie). The green walk around the city and the park containing the second museum are probably better for a toddler. The town itself is a maze of alleyways (some covered) and plazas. The city brags of a church for every day of the year. Many different styles and ages are represented and they seem quite welcoming to children.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

We had been intending for Nuremberg/Regensburg to be a base for seeing the area (probably one or two of Iphofen, Wurzburg, etc - haven't decided where yet). I had been leaning towards Regensburg because I thought our toddler might prefer a train to a bus (he gets restless). I've just checked after reading Gary Mc's note, and it appears that Nuremberg is much better for that in terms of train trip durations. Also, sad to hear about the crowds in Regensburg - Nuremberg seems to better, taking these two things into consideration.

However, I should check before I decide - are there other nice historical towns near Regensburg so we wouldn't have to travel 2 hours to places like Wurzburg?

Thanks everyone.

Smaller than Würzburg, but around Regensburg: Amberg, Landshut and Straubing. There is also Kelheim with the Befreiungshalle and the Danube gorge to the Kloster Weltenburg.

http://schiffahrt-kelheim.de/kloster-weltenburg-oder-kelheim-bis-riedenburg/

I also lived in Nuremberg in the early 80's, so I can't pretend to be objective. I'm sure you're doing lots of research on what to see and do there, but the charms of the architecture and the historical significance of any place will likely escape a toddler.

I'm not knowledgeable about Regensburg, but there are at least 2 places in Nuremberg that your toddler might enjoy.

The first is the Toy Museum. Be sure to explore the link thoroughly, especially under "topics" for interactive play options like "outdoor play and shadowland."

The other is the Tiergarten (zoo). The website linked isn't all in English, but be patient and explore it for things designed for kids.

You don't say when you plan to go, but the Nuremberger bratwurst will always be available, as will my favorite, the schäufele. When I lived there, the summer gelato shops turned into lebkuchen shops in the winter, but the café and kuchen places were there year round.