Nuremberg

Nuremberg (German: N&uuml;rnberg) is Franconia's largest city, and its undisputed economic, social and cultural centre. The city lies on the Pegnitz River and the Main-Danube Canal. Within the city limits Nuremberg has a population of about 520,000 (2018), making it the second-biggest city in the Bundesland Bavaria and the biggest city in the region of Franconia. Greater Nuremberg including its suburbs has a population of 1.3 million. The Metropolitan Region Nuremberg which extends to cities like Bamberg or Ansbach has a population of 3.5 million. Long a de facto independent "freie Reichstadt", the city was an early centre of manufacturing and proto-industry and had a golden era during the 16th century when people like Albrecht Dürer, Hans Sachs and Martin Behaim called the city home. Annexed into Bavaria in the early 19th century, the city later came to host Germany's first railway, linking it with neighbouring Fürth (this railway has since been replaced first by a tram and then by a subway line; the current rail line to Fürth follows a different alignment). It is probably most famous for being the site of numerous Nazi rallies and later the trials against the main war criminals. Extensively bombed as an industrial centre and a symbol of Nazism, Nuremberg was rebuilt after the war and thus managed to retain much of its medieval charm.

Understand
When people think of Nuremberg, they usually think of gingerbread, toys, Christmas, the Reich Party Rally Grounds or the Nuremberg Trials (see World War II in Europe and Holocaust remembrance). But the old town of Nuremberg in the shadow of the towering imperial castle is more than that. Gothic churches, splendid patricians' houses and romantic corners and spots. An atmosphere of lively co-existence between medieval and modern, between the past and the present, prevails in Nuremberg. In medieval and early modern times, Nuremberg was a rich centre for trade and early industry and it is no coincidence that the first railway in what is now Germany was built to link Nuremberg and Fürth. Despite World War II destroying much of it, the city's former wealth is still visible. And with its position on the crossroads of two major Autobahn and railway routes, the old saying "Nürnberger Tand geht in alle Land" (stuff from Nuremberg goes everywhere) still rings true.

History
First mentioned in a document dating to 1050 (like other German cities without a clearly established founding date, Nuremberg uses its first mention in an official document as the basis for anniversaries) Nuremberg grew mostly around the castle ("Burg") which was initially dominated by local nobles and came into the possession of the Hohenzollern, an originally Swabish noble family that would later go on to acquire Brandenburg/Prussia and from 1871 even the imperial crown of the entire German state. While Nuremberg for the most part remained loyal to the Emperor, the wealthy merchants ("Patrizier") did not like interference of noble houses into their politics and eventually managed to "buy out" the Hohenzollern, who however kept possession of the areas around Ansbach and Bayreuth in two separate lines until the 18th century.

Being granted the title of "Freie Reichsstadt" and thus nominally subject to the emperor but otherwise self-governing, Nuremberg became a centre of arts, manufacturing and trade with names such as Martin Behaim (inventor of the pocket watch) Albrecht Dürer (famous painter and polymath) or Hans Sachs (poet and singer) standing pars pro toto for the leading position Nuremberg had in the late 15th to early 16th century. However, the emergence of Transatlantic trade (for which Nuremberg was ill positioned being inland) and ruinous wars with other regional powers led to a decline of Nuremberg and it became a city living off its glorious past for a while.

When the Bavarian Kings offered to take over the considerable debt Nuremberg had amassed while also ending the existence of the Reichsstadt, the notables did not hesitate much to take up the offer. Still, Nuremberg's craftsmanship and potential for innovation served it well in the beginning industrial revolution and it was here that Germany's first railway (built and piloted by Englishmen though it was) started operation in 1835. The Nuremberg toy industry also got a boost from the ability to export across the entire world with the new transportation methods and the town re-acquired considerable wealth as evidenced by some 19th century construction.

Nuremberg also became one of the first bastions of the labor movement, electing some of the first social democrats to the Reichstag and despite being governed by a left leaning liberal during the Weimar Republic being known as reliably "red". However, the Nazis soon discovered Nuremberg and local antisemite Julius Streicher would publish Der Stürmer, a newspaper known for antisemititic propaganda. The Nazis also built their huge rallying grounds in the southeast of the city, heavily featured in Triumph of the Will, their landmark propaganda film. If you've seen images of a huge Nazi rally with Hitler speaking, chances are those are from this movie and thus shot in Nuremberg. Nuremberg was thus an obvious target for allied bombing raids and the burning Nuremberg could be seen at night as far away as Bayreuth.

After the war, rebuilding was the first order of the day and the Americans who had conquered the city blew up a huge swastika above the Rallying Grounds, which are now used for vehicle parking, especially buses and coaches. Nuremberg soon re-acquired its reputation as a "red" city and elected an uninterrupted string of social democratic mayors until 1996 and again from 2002 to 2020 when the centre-right to right wing party that dominates Bavarian politics controlled the mayoralty. One of the biggest changes in postwar Nuremberg was the construction of the subway. While Nuremberg had had a tram network since the 1880s, the contemporary decision in Munich to build a subway led longtime mayor Andreas Uhrschlechter to follow suit. He planned to shut down the trams once the subway had reached a sufficient extent. The subway construction also unearthed some parts of the city wall which can be seen near Frauentormauer.

The second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty first century was also economically turbulent. While the Wirtschaftswunder ("economic miracle") of the 1950s saw economic growth in Nuremberg, there was later a period of deindustrialization, leaving many once notable companies in the area like Quelle, Grundig or AEG bankrupt. Nuremberg's economy shifted to a more service-oriented outlook, but the Messe (trade fair) that moved to the southeast of town in 1974 is still notable for industrial fairs of world renown like the toy fair in February.

Orientation
Nuremberg's old town (Altstadt) is encircled by massive city walls (Stadtmauer), which will therefore be the first thing you encounter whichever way you approach. The town within is divided by the river Pegnitz. The northern half, Sebalder Altstadt, clusters around St Sebald Church and the Town Hall, and is dominated by the Imperial Castle. The southern half, Lorenzer Altstadt, clusters around the Lorenzkirche. Several charming little bridges criss-cross the river. The Transportation Museum lies just outside the walls and can easily be combined with an exploration of the old town. The two churches also serve to give the name to the parts of the Reichswald ("imperial forest") that surrounds Nuremberg to the north, east and west. Those parts on the right (northern) bank of the river are called "Sebalder Reichswald" whereas those on the left bank are called "Lorenzer Reichswald". Both have been heavily used since medieval times for all sorts of economic activity, so don't confuse them with wilderness, but - in part due to the airport at the Southern end of Sebalder Reichswald making construction unattractive - they are still mostly contiguous and surprisingly large pieces of forest in an otherwise densely populated metropolitan area.

The city walls were 5 km long, with five gates: Laufer, Spittler-, Frauen-, Neu- and Tiergärtner Tor. The towers on the city walls are all marked with a coloured letter, and this can help in determining one's whereabouts within the city: is the main train station,  is the Plärrer, and  is Luginsland tower, location of the youth hostel. From the 13th to the 16th century they were continually strengthened, and helped the city withstand all attacks during this era. Nearly 4 km are still standing, with the only major gaps being on the southeast side between the main station and Rathenauplatz. The city moat, which was never filled with water, still exists in good condition for about 2 km along the south side. You might want to swerve clear of the alley between Färbertor and Spittlertor (Plärrer) ( to ), as it's the red light district. A complete walking circuit of the walls will take about 90 min, but there's no particular need to, as you'll see it from multiple angles wherever you wander in town. The most attractive sections are where the walls bridge the river on the west side ("Westtorgraben"), and the south entrance from the railway and bus stations at Frauentor.

Between the two halves of the old town, take time to follow the course of the river Pegnitz, crossing and re-crossing its charming little bridges, surrounded by half-timbered buildings. From east to west these include Heubrücke crossing the larger river island, Fleischbrücke, the smaller island with the flea market and Henkersteg, then Kettelsteg and the bridging walls as the river flows out of the old town. A riverbank walk continues west, eventually to St John's, see "Further out".

Tourist information

 * Nuremberg Touristm website

Get in
Nuremberg has historically been at the crossroads of important trade routes and was the site of Germany's first railway. Even today it is easily reachable by air, canal, road, railway and even walking or cycling.

By plane
German-speaking cities with flights to Nuremberg include Düsseldorf, Frankfurt Airport, Hamburg, Munich Airport, Vienna Schwechat and Zurich Airport, virtually all those flights are operated by Lufthansa or its wholly owned subsidiaries. Traditional airlines serve Amsterdam Schiphol, Istanbul Airport, and Paris CDG. British Airways flies to London (usually Heathrow Airport but sometimes Gatwick Airport). Pegasus Airlines offers flights to Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Asian side of Istanbul with connecting service throughout the Middle East. The budget airline Wizz flies to here from Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Sibiu, Skopje and Tuzla. Ryanair offers a seemingly random and often changing grab-bag of destinations throughout Europe with a particular focus on Italy. Vueling (the low-cost subsidiary of the owners of Iberia) offers flights to Barcelona Airport which allow connections throughout Spain. Corendon offers a bunch of flights from Mediterranean "sunny" destinations throughout Turkey; these are mostly aimed at German holidaymakers and Germans of Turkish ancestry visiting the "old country". There are also seasonal holiday flights to/from resorts around the Med and in the Canaries. It is the ninth busiest in Germany behind Hanover.

The U2 underground line connects the airport with the central train station in about 13 minutes. When heading towards the airport, be careful to board a U2 with the destination "Flughafen/Airport" as many U2 trains terminate earlier, usually at Ziegelstein. U2s with destination "Airport" run once every ten minutes throughout the operating hours of the subway.

If you fly into Frankfurt airport, take the ICE express train direct from the airport to Nuremberg, with travel time of around 2 hr 25 min.

From Munich Airport you usually have to take the S-Bahn to Munich central station, 40 min, then the regional train from there takes another 2 hours. There are some direct buses from MUC to Nuremberg and some airlines allow rail&fly which includes the ICE (1 hr from Munich to Nuremberg). When using regional trains from MUC, you may also change in Neufahrn and Freising instead of doubling back all the way to Munich.

By car
Nuremberg is well-connected to the Autobahn network. Major routes include:
 * A3 west to Wurzburg and Frankfurt, and south-east to Linz and Vienna
 * A6 west towards Heidelberg, Metz and Luxembourg, and east towards Pilzen and Prague
 * A9 south to Munich, and north towards Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin

The biggest drawbacks of course are traffic congestion, parking, and risk of theft or damage whilst parked. Options include: Information is available online on locations, prices and real-time availability. There are also indicator signs on streets.
 * It's great if your destination has designated parking - and edge-of-town sports arenas certainly do.
 * For a day trip, use Park & Ride. These facilities are signposted from the main approach roads.
 * For full day or overnight stays, there are 19 parking garages, with 5500 spaces.
 * Street parking is very short supply (most spaces are resident-only, even out in the burbs) and costs €2 an hour.

By bus
Most inter-city buses are operated by Flixbus. Buses run round the clock, destinations from here include Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Essen, Hamburg, Innsbruck, Koblenz, Luxembourg, Milan, Munich, Ostend, Pilsen, Prague and Vienna. For most of these the bus is slower than the train, but it's faster for Pilsen and Prague (operated by Deutsche Bahn), as the existing rail line is circuitous and non-electrified.

, the main bus station, is on Willy Brandt Platz opposite the main railway station, at the south-east corner of the old city walls.

Local buses link Nuremberg to surrounding towns and suburbs, including Stein bei Nürnberg and Erlangen and may be a better option for some origin/destination pairs than the S-Bahn. Lines 20, 290 and 30 take you from Erlangen to where you can change onto Tram Lines 4&10 and which also serves as a bus hub. Line 30 is the most "express" of those and goes on to the airport and the Nordostbahnhof, while the other lines terminate at "am Wegfeld". Line 33 links Fürth with the airport and also serves am Wegfeld. Line 199 links Herzogenaurach via a single stop at Erlangen Paul Gossen Straße to am Wegfeld but its schedule is mostly oriented towards commuters. There is also a small Park and Ride lot near the am Wegfeld Tram/Bus hub which is rather popular with commuters and thus fills up during the week. It is also used (illegally) by some who wish to save on airport parking by parking there and taking bus line 30 to the airport, but at least in theory you can be towed if you park here more than 24 hours.

By bicycle
Several long-distance cycle routes pass through Nuremberg, making use of the Pegnitz river bank and the Main-Danube canal to avoid traffic. These reach Bamberg to the north and Regensburg to the south.

By ship
Nuremberg lies on the Main-Danube canal, so relatively large ships can navigate south from here into the Danube, hence to Vienna, Budapest and beyond; and north into the Rhine and all the way down to Cologne and Rotterdam. However these are not point-to-point ferries, but scenic cruises, typically on a 7- or 14-day itinerary. So it's a slow but luxurious way to get in, and you'll notice the tourist sights suddenly get busy whenever a cruise ship is calling. The is  southwest of the old town and railway station. Most arriving cruise ships are met by dedicated buses. The canal was primarily intended as a freight route but while that business has stagnated and shrunk, cruises show relatively consistent growth.

Get around
The old town is best explored on foot. To get from one part of the old town to another by car or public transport, you will often have to leave the old town and reenter it at a different gate.

By public transport


There are three U-bahn or underground lines, and ; seven Straßenbahn or tram lines , , , , , , ; and four S-Bahn or suburban train lines , ,  and , with the S-Bahn lines all reaching far beyond the city limits. They all radiate out from the main railway station. The tram lines have two main hubs at      and the main station which are linked by subway but only awkwardly and indirectly by tram. Public transit is particularly useful for reaching the airport (U2), the Museum of Industrial Culture (Tram 8), the Nazi party rally grounds (S2 or trams 6 or 8), and some of the outlying hotels, as well as nearby towns such as Bamberg (S1). They're all within the integrated VGN, as described in "Get in". A standard Zone A adult ticket is €3.10, a four-journey ticket (which can be split, so a couple could make a return journey) is €11. U1 links Nuremberg and Fürth, was the first line to be built and was actually built from the "outside" (Langwasser, a new housing complex built together with the U-Bahn) inwards, U2 links Röthenbach (almost but not quite Stein bei Nürnberg) and the airport and U3 shares its core route with U2 — between Rothenburger Straße and Rathenauplatz — but branches towards Nordwestring in the north and Großreuth in the south forming an overall U-Shape with both endpoints west of the city centre. U3 is being extended with two more stations on the southern branch scheduled to open in 2025, while lines U1 and U2 seem to have reached their endpoints for the time being. There was extensive talk of tram extensions in the 2010s but apart from a project to link the Tram (current Line 4) to Erlangen and Herzogenaurach they seem to be all on hold until federal or state funds are forthcoming. As lines U2 and U3 are by now fully automated, they naturally have the newest trains and the place that would have to be used for a driver in normal trains is mostly equipped with a panorama window which enables a full view into the tunnel ahead which is worth the ticket price if you care about technology at all and certainly a nice treat for the kids, even though the tunnel is rather dark and you thus don't see all that much. U1 uses some trains that date to the opening of the system and even sometimes some that had been built for the Munich U-Bahn (the first generation of rolling stock was designed to be swapped between Nuremberg and Munich and it often was in the 1970s and 1980s), but in 2020 the newest batch of trains built for U1 entered service. They have removable driver's cabins and can be used on automated lines as well. Unlike all previous generations of Nuremberg U-Bahn trains, they have a single passenger compartment and one can walk through their entire four-car length.

All tram lines operator on ten-minute headways which drop to twenty minutes during the later evening and early morning. U2 and U3 overlap for 100-second headways on their combined route during the busiest time of day and branch out with a little more than three-minute headways which increase during less busy times. U1 usually operates with five-minute headways.

All buses are equipped with Wi-Fi, and the newer trams are to be equipped with Wi-Fi as well. Some U-Bahn stations have Wi-Fi but the vehicles do not. Virtually all vehicles are heated in winter, but only the newer ones are equipped with air conditioning in summer.

By car
In short: don't! Firstly you don't need to, as public transport is almost always quicker. Secondly, the old town is not designed for driving, indeed it's positively designed against it. It's criss-crossed by pedestrian malls and ricketty medieval bridges, and the public roads are twisted into Schleifenlösung — loops. Whichever way you drive in the old town, the road will loop around and spit you back out, and you can't go across town within the walls. Even buses, emergency vehicles and drivers with accessibility permits can't get through.

Bikeshare
Nuremberg is part of the VAG Rad scheme. Bikes can be rented via the app for 10 Cents starting fee plus 10 Cents per minute. You can return the bike at any of the fixed stations throughout Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach or in the "Flex Zone" in central Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen.

Accessibility
The website wheelmap.org is very helpful for finding wheelchair accessible places in Nuremberg (and Germany in general). A list of wheelchair accessible public toilets is provided here.

The public transport network in Nuremberg is mostly accessible for people with disabilities. All U-Bahn/underground stations are equipped with elevators. Here you can find a list of elevators that are out of service. All U-Bahn trains are equipped with an automatic ramp on every door, so boarding is easy for wheelchair users. All tram and bus lines are served exclusively by wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Further information about the accessibility of the public transport network is provided here.

See
For all but the briefest visits, you'll do well to buy the Nürnberg + Fürth Card. This is valid for two days and gives free admission to over 50 museums and attractions, and free travel on all public transport in Zone A of Nuremberg and Fürth. You also get discounts in many theatres, shops, and the IMAX cinema. The card price for adults is €28. Children aged 5 to 11 pay €5, children under 5 are free. See city website and tourist board for more details.



If so many museums sounds daunting, a day-ticket just for the municipal museums is €9 - worth buying if you only see two, as the individual adult entry price is €6. Buy them at the first museum you visit. So two such days would cost €18, cheaper than the N+F card and your days needn't be consecutive, but it wouldn't include public transport. As of early 2018, these museums (all listed below) include Albrecht Dürer's House, Fembohaus City Museum, Toy Museum, Museum of Industrial Culture, Documentation Centre at the Reich Party Rally Grounds, and Memorium Nuremberg Trials. The day-ticket only includes the regular collection, not exhibitions, tours and events, and doesn't include the Kaiserburg.

The following listings are arranged geographically, north to south through the Old Town then beyond. But if you want to focus on buildings of a particular architectural style, visit this site.

Sebalder Altstadt
Top sights in Sebalder Altstadt, the northern half of town, include the Imperial Castle, the collection of old houses nearby, and St Sebald church. A suggested itinerary is to start with the castle, then admire the collection of old buildings around Tiergärtnerplatz and the Castle Quarter or Burgviertel. Some of these are original, having survived the war, others were rebuilt. Pilatushaus was home to a wealthy merchant. The street Fuell with its sandstone houses is a typical merchant's street. The craftsmen lived in timber-framed houses, many of which have been restored in Weissgerbergasse. More timber-framed houses can be seen in Obere and Untere Kraemersgasse. In Untere Kraemersgasse 16 you can often look into the tiny courtyard. Near here are the Kunstbunker, and Albrecht Dürer's house, listed below. Continue south down Bergstraße to St Sebald and the old town hall, which remains a working building. (Its dungeons re-open to visitors in summer 2018.)




 * East again are buildings erected by the city itself. The Luginsland (watchtower) was built to spy into the Burgrave’s Castle. Next door, the Imperial Stables were the city’s corn granary; they’re now a Youth Hostel, see "Sleep" listing. The gardens around the Castle complex, only open in summer, are free to enter.
 * East again are buildings erected by the city itself. The Luginsland (watchtower) was built to spy into the Burgrave’s Castle. Next door, the Imperial Stables were the city’s corn granary; they’re now a Youth Hostel, see "Sleep" listing. The gardens around the Castle complex, only open in summer, are free to enter.
 * East again are buildings erected by the city itself. The Luginsland (watchtower) was built to spy into the Burgrave’s Castle. Next door, the Imperial Stables were the city’s corn granary; they’re now a Youth Hostel, see "Sleep" listing. The gardens around the Castle complex, only open in summer, are free to enter.
 * East again are buildings erected by the city itself. The Luginsland (watchtower) was built to spy into the Burgrave’s Castle. Next door, the Imperial Stables were the city’s corn granary; they’re now a Youth Hostel, see "Sleep" listing. The gardens around the Castle complex, only open in summer, are free to enter.

Lorenzer Altstadt
Top sights in Lorenzer Altstadt, the southern half of town, include Lorenzkirche, the Way of Human Rights, the Germanische Nationalmuseum and the Neues Museum.



Just outside the walls and easily combined with a stroll around Altstadt is the Transportation Museum.

Annual events
The big annual event in Nuremberg is the Christmas Market (Christkindlesmarkt), listed below. But there’s a full calendar throughout the year – check what’s on even if you don’t plan to attend, as there may be street closures and crowd congestion.

September-December

 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.
 * Nürnberg Digital Festival, a good week with ample events at the intersection of digitisation and society.

Sport

 * Nürnberg Rams aka Noris Rams play American Football in the 2nd Division of the German Football League. Their home ground is Zeppelinfeld, next to the Arena and 1.FCN's stadium, same transport directions. The season runs May to Sept. Admission is below €10 for adults, free for children. There's a friendly family atmosphere to the games, with little hostility between fans. Catering is provided by an American restaurant, including burgers and pulled pork.
 * Nürnberg Rams aka Noris Rams play American Football in the 2nd Division of the German Football League. Their home ground is Zeppelinfeld, next to the Arena and 1.FCN's stadium, same transport directions. The season runs May to Sept. Admission is below €10 for adults, free for children. There's a friendly family atmosphere to the games, with little hostility between fans. Catering is provided by an American restaurant, including burgers and pulled pork.
 * Nürnberg Rams aka Noris Rams play American Football in the 2nd Division of the German Football League. Their home ground is Zeppelinfeld, next to the Arena and 1.FCN's stadium, same transport directions. The season runs May to Sept. Admission is below €10 for adults, free for children. There's a friendly family atmosphere to the games, with little hostility between fans. Catering is provided by an American restaurant, including burgers and pulled pork.
 * Nürnberg Rams aka Noris Rams play American Football in the 2nd Division of the German Football League. Their home ground is Zeppelinfeld, next to the Arena and 1.FCN's stadium, same transport directions. The season runs May to Sept. Admission is below €10 for adults, free for children. There's a friendly family atmosphere to the games, with little hostility between fans. Catering is provided by an American restaurant, including burgers and pulled pork.

Wellness
Germans have the reputation to work hard and efficiently, and means to unstress have become a strong part of the culture. In Nuremberg there are many facilities for bathing, wellness, and relaxation, which can also be a good refuge from rainy weather. As elsewhere in Germany, wellness facilities in Nuremberg are usually mixed gender (unlike for example an onsen in Japan) except for a few gay bathhouses near the city centre. They are visited by men and women of all ages, although many have age restrictions to keep children out, in an effort to preserve an atmosphere of serenity and relaxation. As such they are often places where generations connect with each other, and it's very normal for students to strike a conversation with pensioners and vice versa. Unlike swimming pools, wellness facilities are partially or entirely nude (German: textilfrei). Any attempt to enter the Wellnessbereich with beachwear will quickly evoke a remark from the Bademeister. Many venues include a relaxation area (German: Ruhebereich) where you can take a nap or read a book. Any electronic devices (phones, laptops, tablets) are associated with work and frowned upon, so leave them in your locker. When using a sauna, always lay out a clean towel before sitting down — dripping sweat on the pinewood benches is not accepted.

Buy
Nuremberg's main shopping district is the Lorenzer Altstadt, the part of the old town south of river Pegnitz. There are three shopping streets running from the white tower (Weißer Turm) to the vicinity of St Lawrence church (Lorenzkirche): The cheapest stores can be found in Breite Gasse, in Karolinenstraße you find mid-priced stores and Kaisserstraße, next to the river, offers luxury goods. At their eastern end the three streets are connected by the street Königsstraße, which runs from the main station via St Lawrence church to the main market place. The biggest department stores, Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof and Breuninger, are located here. On Trödelmarkt you find some small shops. At Sebalder Altstadt you find antiques, curiosities and designer shops.

As souvenirs you can buy gingerbread (Lebkuchen). Several large manufacturers and a number of small bakeries produce this local specialty. The best quality is called Elisenlebkuchen. Alternatively, sausages (Nürnberger Bratwürste) are available in tin cans or vacuum-wrapped. Don't take them to countries outside the EU unless you've checked customs regulations on importing meat.

Clothing
Gothic, Dark Wave, Fetisch:
 * Crazy Fashion (for Adults only), Schweiggerstr. 30 (South)
 * Mac's Mystic Store, Ludwig-Feuerbach-Str. 13 (South)
 * Underground, Königstr. 39 (City)
 * Vampiria, Kappengasse 10 (City)

Eat
Bratwurst: The city’s own pork sausage, the “Nürnberger Rostbratwürste”, is spicier than other sausages of the surrounding Franconia region, and half the size. So a serving in a restaurant is six Nürnberger (or three other Franconians), grilled or pan-fried, accompanied by sauerkraut or potato salad. A light bite on the street is three Nürnberger in a bread roll - ask for “Drei im Weggla”. “Nürnberger Rostbratwürste” is a protected name and they may only be manufactured here.

Another way of cooking these sausages is to stew them in a broth of vinegar, onions and spices. This is called "Saure Zipfel" – “sour corners” - because of the broth stains in the corners of your mouth.

There are many other styles of sausage and ways of preparing them. “Pressack” is like salami, sliced and eaten with mustard. The “Nürnberger Stadtwurst” go well with farmhouse bread and beer. “Stadtwurst mit Musik” means they're sliced, and heaped with vinegar and raw onion. . . so guess where the “Musik” will be coming from, 30 minutes later.

Looking for places that serve sausages in Nuremberg is like looking for water in Venice. Three outlets (among many) that specialise in them are Zum Gulden Stern and Bratwursthäusle (both listed below), and Bratwurstglöcklein as you enter Old Town from the railway station.

Lebkuchen: if you want to eat it here, buy a package labelled Bruch: broken. It's cheaper, and the quality is fine, but it's second-run stuff that they can't market as souvenirs. Other confections are:

Eierzucker – delicate white biscuits, often in shapes, eg like a horse

Kirschenmännla - cherry casserole with loose dough

Schneeballen – "snowballs", thin dough baked in lard, with powdered sugar. Often handed out to guests at ceremonies such as baptisms, confirmations or weddings.

Budget
Many food stalls and fast food restaurants can be found along Königstraße leading from the main station into the old town.

One stand is in the middle of the street perpendicular to the front of the Lorenzkirche. Several are also in Lorenzstraße (coming from the pedestrian zone, that is the street starting strait after the roundabout behind the Lorenz square.

All these are in the city centre:



Beer
Many great beers are made in Franconia (Upper Franconia has the largest concentration of breweries world wide) and even in Nuremberg itself.





Beer gardens

 * Beer garden at Hummelstein Park
 * Beer garden at Hummelstein Park

On the city walls:

Gostenhof:

Wine
The Franconian wine is said to be a "man's wine". Analogous to "man's chocolate" this points to a rather dry taste. Furthermore the rather harsh climate and the soil structure definitely contribute to this fact. An extravagance of the Franconian wines is their bottle. In Germany the Bocksbeutel bottle shape is generally reserved for higher-quality wines from Franconia.

Clubs




Sleep
For a fast room reservation service in the Nuremberg-Fuerth-Erlangen-Schwabach area, please go to the on-line room reservation request of the Nuremberg Convention and Tourist Office.

Near Plärrer
Just outside the southwest corner of the old city are several mid-range hotels within walking distance of many sights in the old city, and about a 20-minute walk from the Hauptbahnhof.



Stay safe
According to the state police, Nuremberg has the lowest crime rate of the cities with more than 400,000 inhabitants.

Connect
Most city buses and some U-Bahn stops have free WiFi. U-Bahn vehicles and most trams do not, in part because they were built before free WiFi became a major concern and upgrading them would be prohibitively expensive.

Go next
Several interesting small towns lie very close to Nuremberg. You'd probably do them as a day trip, as it wouldn't be worth re-locating (unless you were hiking, knapsack on your back):
 * Fürth - just 5 km west, this has charming medieval streets, a Jewish museum and a radio museum.
 * Faber Castle (as in Faber-Castell pencils; their factory is here) is in the small town of Stein (Mittelfranken).
 * Erlangen - University town with a remarkable collection of museums and early modern architecture (and, of course, bicycles cranked by earnest young men and women). It's also a company town, dominated by Siemens, and has a big Pentecost festival Bergkirchweih.
 * Schwabach - pleasant old town centre.

Well within a day-trip, but deserving longer:
 * Bamberg - once an ecclesiastical centre, the entire town is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its original Romanesque buildings, which survived the war. Its beer is also famous.
 * Bayreuth - even if you don't care for opera, admire its baroque centre and collection of palaces. Tickets for the annual Wagner Opera Festival get snapped up months in advance.
 * Ingolstadt - is packed with medieval, Renaissance and baroque architecture.
 * Regensburg - astride the Danube and still showing traces of its Roman founders, the city sights reflect its status as a former capital of Bavaria.
 * Dachau - was the site of the Third Reich's first concentration camp.

You'll need your own transport to get around Fränkische Schweiz - "Franconian Switzerland" and Fränkisches Seenland - the lake district south-west of Nuremberg.

The western edge of Franconia is traversed by the Romantic Road, a tourist route through a series of shamelessly picturesque old towns. Closest to Nuremberg is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The "Road" leads north to Würzburg, and south through Nördlingen and Augsburg to Füssen on the Austrian border, with its over-the-top Schloss Neuschwanstein.

And then there's the looming state capital, often disliked by Franconians that is Munich.