Würzburg / Munich / Bologna hidden gems

Your main interests or no-interests would help others to help you.

In Wurzburg, THE place to be on a warm Summer evening is on the Main Bridge, grab a glass of wine from one of the nearby shops, or bring your own, find a spot, and enjoy the view and people watching. There are also a couple beer gardens along the river, for a drink and a snack or meal.

Interests: history and architecture. I love walking tours with obscure facts. I’m interested in art museums but not deeply knowledgeable. Love just walking the streets and seeing the houses, palaces and churches. I’d especially love to find an event, artisan workshops (wood, textile, glass), or live music.

Food: German food and drink mostly, with some Asian maybe. If you know rural Italy, you know there’s not much variety in cuisines on offer. None, actually. So I will be avoiding Italian restaurants and Eis shops. Any recommendations for local delicacies appreciated. I’ll drink beer but prefer wine.

The 3 women in the group speak fluent German. The 2 men don’t but get by. So we’re not limited to tourist sites and can readily manage public transit connections.

Our mobility is good all around, walking and biking definitely on.

Würzburg had a 90% degree of destruction in the center after WWII (bomber attacks) - and 68% in the outskirts. Historical photos of this time show this. So not all that looks old is necessarily old.

The Residence, Marienberg Fortress, around 40 churches and the Falcon House are good places for your interests. A lot of great tips and maybe one or the other hidden gem you will find in Würzburg's tourism portal.

Kitchen tip: ask and look for wine restaurants with Franconian kitchen (German kitchen).

Not far away Bamberg has a World Heritage old town although this small town also had damages from WWII.

Thank you for the link. Very sobering. I've seen pictures of other cities post-bombing but never these. I will poke around more on this Würzburg Wiki and the town's tourism site, appreciate the pointers.

If you know rural Italy, you know there’s not much variety in cuisines on offer.

For small hamlets and villages, I can't argue with you. But I had excellent tuna poke in La Spezia and some doggone good phở in Bologna. But most of the time I was chowing down on pizza, cavallo, trofie with pesto and ragu di cinghiale over tagliatelle.

In Bologna, don't miss the Finestrella di Via Piella. It's super cool. And the city gates are all worth seeing, along with the amazing portici.

early train to Munich alone (not booked) for a 9-hour walkabout (special tips and secrets appreciated) before...

I have a lot of secrets to offer, but I don't know what interests you. So I think a private tour just for you would be best. You could ask the tour guide to show you some more hidden spots.

Unfortunately I have no tip, but I'm sure some in the forum know good tour guides in Munich.

Basically any larger city in Germany was completely destroyed in the bombings, so any „real“ old architecture will be in smaller cities not worth bombing. They did a surprisingly good job at rebuilding the ruins, though.

Vogelsburg and the Mainschleife bei Volkach. Schloss Hallburg too. Small ferryboats across the Main like at Nordheim am Main and Wipfeld. A little out of your way and public transport might be a problem, but we buy wine every year in Prichsenstadt. If you get that far you might consider the Baumwipfelpfad Steigerwald (Handthal in Spring-Summer too).
https://www.fraenkisches-weinland.de/weinfeste/

thanks, some great tips so far!

Really, really like the college town, Wurzburg. Get reservations for restaurants…we just left after a week in April,2025 and it was busy. Have lunch, Mexican food at Maíz Taqueria, very very good tacos Al pastor and Barbacoa. Great frozen margarita too…I’m from California and this was very good Mexican food. Asian food at Best Friends was pretty good too. Then, have some German food at Juliusspital Weinstuben (in the restaurant located in the corner behind the blue sheep)…we did a wonderful wine tour (in German which I don’t speak) there too and bought wine at the wine shop. This hospital and winery grounds are very big and so nice to visit and walk around. Stop for a glass or two of wine at their wine shop and enjoy it in the gardens there. Then go have dinner in the restaurant and have some more of their wine. The restaurant is located behind the wine shop. The food was delicious and the outside patio is relaxing. Go walk around the huge Fortress and then go have more wine on or under the Main bridge—there is a nice little outside wine bar, along the water directly below the bridge that was relaxing and cooler than sitting and drinking wine on the bridge. Also, walk in the beautiful gardens at the Residence and go on the tour inside if you want to pay the money. Then, go to the Biergarten right behind the Residence which is outside. We had delicious white sausages and a pretzel and beer and wine.

I have no secrets.

Schloss Veitshöchheim is just up the road from Würzburg.

The Deutscher Hof in Iphofen is a fabulous restaurant. Open on some evenings, quick train back to Würzburg. Iphofen itself is a very attractive place, as is tiny Sommerhausen.

Re Munich, Nymphenburg Palace and gardens was a very good visit for me (timewise, though, may not be the best of plans for your day?). Munich Residence, Alte Pinakothek, the general old town, Englischer Garten, Theatine Church (more impressive inside than out).

Try a schweinshaxe in one of the taverns. The Augustiner is a good spot. The Hofbräuhaus gets some flak but it's one of the places where I've had a very tasty schweinshaxe.

@sbwillmart: great tips for Würzburg, I'll follow as many of them as I can. Especially the non-Italian food tips. Glad to hear you enjoyed Würzburg, I can't wait for a hopping city week. Then I'm sure I'll be ready to return to rural Italy, but you gotta shake it up now and then.

For Munich, I've decided instead to do a tour down memory lane. I am going to arrive in Munich, park my luggage at the station, and hop a bus to Strasslach, where my family and I lived for a couple of years when I was little. Started 1st grade in a two-room schoolhouse there, grades 1-4 in one room and grades 5-8 in the other. Walk around a little, then have lunch at the really fabulous Biergarten where we used to go on Sundays. (I was there in 2010, it was still fabulous.) Then walk along the Isar river (5 km) back to Grünwald, which is having its annual Burgfest. Listen to some Blaskapellen, drink some beer, and head back to Munich for my night train at 8 pm. I’m really looking forward to it. Hope the weather is nice.

Thanks to everyone for some great tips.