Bamberg?

It has been 20 years but I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Bamberg and I'd go back. I also enjoyed Coburg which is nearby. Hopefully someone with more recent travel experience there can give you some real details.

Visited Bamberg from a river cruise last year. Interesting town, a lot of history. Good uphill walk to the cathedral and the bishop's palaces. Unique building ( think the Rathaus, over the river with archway. Worth a visit? I would have to say yes, and an early arrival or late departure would give you plenty time to see the sights.

We were in Bamberg on a saturday, river scenery is pleasant, the old town area looked fine, but so packed with people that it was difficult. So avoid the weekends

A great web site to see what different places look like: www.flickr.com

Thanks everyone. This will be on a Sunday in late September. We don't want to do the 6.5 hour trip between Berlin and Munichnall in one day as that is too much sitting for us. We have to get out and exercise. Also, if we went on to Munich we would arrive on the first Sunday of Oktoberfest and lodging is already scarce that night. Monday is better. So we do want to break up the trip. I originally looked at Wurzburg, and in exploring things to see and do there, I saw the Main bicycle path, which leads to Bamberg. Photos looked intriguing, and the train connections are good (one train, no changes, Berlin to Bamberg and Bamberg to Munich). Wherever we stop, we would arrive early afternoon and have time to get outside for some fresh air and exploration of the sights, before seeking out a nice dinner. An uphill walk to a castle sounds good. As for the Rauchbier, my husband says he drank way too much beer in college and now he sticks to wine ( an an occasional Campari in Italy). But I might give it a try. The photos I have seen show vineyards right up to town, so maybe we could rent bikes and go for a ride there. But if people have other suggestionsnI am all ears. ( Nürnburg I have dismissed as too large and too close to Munich for our purposes).

Thanks, James, that place looks great. It is interesting that the English and German menus are different---English lists "Lunch", "Brotzeit", and "Dinner", at different times of day, while the German lists the Tageskarte (the usual Warmgehende Kuche) and then the extra Brotzeit dishes thata are available after 14:30. I'll try to brush up on my German so they give us the German menu. I'm sure my husband will enjoy the Tatar garniert mit Kapern (assuming it's not horsemeat). And I'll go for the Geräuchtertes Forellen, which is not even on the English version.

Lola, I wonder if you would get what you order - Tater garnished with Kapellen (chapels)? Mit Kapern (capers) maybe? BTW, I was in Bamberg for a morning in 2007, mostly to see the Rathaus, but I also had lunch (Thüringerwurst) at some sort street festival in a square on the left bank, just over the bridge from the Rathaus. I walked from the ZOB, which was not far. The one thing I remember is the "you are here" maps every block. Easy to get around. One of the fastest one change connection from Munich to Berlin changes in Göttingen. I haven't been there, but have an aerial photo of the town. It's an old university town. You might check their website to see if there is anything of interest to you. If you book long enough in advance, you can get 29€ (49€ for two) Sparpreis fares for each day.

Thanks Lee; as usual I was typing to fast and didn't re-read. Actually the Tatar is garnished with "Kapern, Sardellen und Zwiebeln" and somehow the middle (...ern Sard...) got left out. You are right, chapels would not be all that tasty.

Bamberg is beautiful and a lovely, walkable city with great beer. As for chapels and capers, in 1972 I spent a week in Vienna wondering why I never got whipped cream on the strudel no matter how I tried in my best German. It wan't until a few weeks later when I asked for directions to Neuschwanstein, again in my best German, that the gentleman kindly explained in perfect English, "Sorry, but we do not have a big whipped cream here, just a castle." Schlag, Schloss, what's the difference!?

Just chiming in to say that while I haven't gotten to Bamberg yet, a lot of my friends have, and they all love it. But they're all serious beer drinkers which was the primary motivation for the trip!

What about all that good Franconian wine? There must be others besides us who would appreciate that. Lee, I considered Göttingen, but it is not far enough along toward Munich to be useful as a break point.

Lola, I am fond of Franconian wines. They are dry, which does not appeal to the everyone's tastes. I generally have liked Volkacher Riesling when I have ordered it. We enjoyed Bamberg as well. We had good meals at Scheiners am Dom (including a nice glass of wine) and the Klosterbräu Brewery. We shared a table at the Klosterbräu with a German couple that had an enormous but nice dog. It was a good but edgy meal.

James, I'm sad we didn't get to meet and drink too much cheap German wine when you lived here. Franconian wine isn't bad at all - I prefer it to the local wine in the Stuttgart region, sure. But Mosel is where it's at for dry whites (or for any whites really(

I guess James doesn't like those Bocksbeutel bottles. We only like dry wines so Franconian Weisswein should be interesting to try. Our favorite wine is Alsation Pinot Blanc.I have read that this grape is grown in the Franconia wine region, bottled as Weissburgunder. Any regional food specialties we should look for?

We've been to Bamberg a couple of times and really loved it. We stayed at the Altstadt Hotel Molitor which is across the street from the Klosterbrau Brewery (good food BTW) and near the Tourist Information Office, the Rathaus and many of the sites. Don't know if you will have time to see the Dom but it is really spectacular IMO. Lots of neat shops and restaurants.