Stopover in Erfurt

Just coming back an hour ago from Bamberg to Berlin by train which is also connecting Munich. Needed to travel in lockdown because my uncle in Bamberg died on morning of new year.
By the way: trains are currently nearly empty in first class.

Erfurt is a nice place but for such a short stopover I would prefer small town of Bamberg. The old town is UNESCO world heritage and very compact, also close to the train station. I would take bus 901 from main station to Schnarre and walk back to Bamberg station.

The train station has also lockers to store luggage.

If you want to stay over night (recommended to enjoy Franconian kitchen and smoked beer) I recommend City Hotel which was renovated in 2019. Excellent rooms.

I liked Erfurt a lot; I spent several nights there in 2015. But I think MarkK is correct that such a short stopover in a place the size of Erfurt would not be ideal. It has a sizable historic district that survived WWII pretty much intact.

In the fall of 2019, I stayed 4 days in Erfurt and took a day trip from Nuremberg to Bamberg. While I truly enjoyed my day in Bamberg, if I could only choose one - even if only for a few hours - I loved my time in Erfurt. It's not a terribly long walk from the train station, Rick Steves says 10-15 minutes. His self-guided Erfurt walk (p 622 in the 2018 Rick Steves Germany guidebook) is described as requiring about an hour, not including sightseeing breaks. With more time, you could actually see the sights and I did not lack for things to see and do for the duration of my stay, including their small Oktoberfest which my visit happily coincided with.

Rick Steves describes Erfurt here:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/erfurt-simple-unspoiled-germany

If you think you'd go back to Erfurt one day, then I'd recommend saving it for a visit when you have more time. If it's "now or never," I would definitely drop in to Erfurt for 2 or 3 hours.

You're not going to see all of Erfurt (or Bamberg) in a couple hours. But you'll probably see enough to entice you to come back. I love Frankonia, and every town is different. You owe it to yourself to get out and see them. Don't just hang around the station.

I was in Erfurt two years ago for two overnights and the opening of the Erfurter Weihnachtsmarkt that year. I stayed in an older part of town in a Fewo on the third floor. Great city that retains some Old East flair. Really good public transportation both tram and bus. As noted more time would be better as two to three hours you would probably not see much other than the Erfurter Altstadt. We really enjoyed the cafes and restaurants too.

My thanks to all of you for your responses. Mark's comment about Bamberg is interesting. Have any others been to both places? I'd be interested in hearing additional comparisons. Thanks.

I've actually spent more time in Bamberg than Erfurt, but it was a different situation. Bamberg is a university town, and when I lived south of there one of my friends had a father who owned a Gasthaus along the river. We'd go there and drink and pick up girls.

Erfurt has a history of firearms manufacturing, and I worked in that field in the US, but would go to Germany for trade shows, one of which was in Nuremberg (IWA) and so I visited Erfurt as professional networking.

I've been to both, each for just a couple of nights, and I liked Bamberg better. It's a smaller town and just had a warmer feeling to me.

We’ve been to both for 2 nights. I thought they were both easy to visit on foot from their respective train stations. We liked the history and ambience of both a lot and would gladly spend more time in them in the future. As for “Old Germany”, parts of Bamberg did seem to evoke an older core of significant buildings.

My thanks to all that responded

Tom