Nanda & Nathan The Travellers: Nuremberg

October 4, 2014 ---- Nuremberg or Nürnberg is the second-largest city in the state of Bavaria, Germany. Our day trip to Nuremberg was very enjoyable and we felt like there was plenty to do in a day. The Bayern Ticket is a great and affordable way to travel from any city in Bavaria to Nuremberg, and the Bavarian Palace annual card gives free entrance to the Imperial Castle.

I have always wanted to go to Nuremberg since I saw a photograph of the German-style houses on a postcard. The ride to the city of empire was less than two hours on a local train, but you can get there in an hour if you take the ICE train.

After we got to Nuremberg Hbf, we got on tram #4 to Tiergärtner Tor stop, which is close to Kaiserberg or the Imperial Castle. (All local transportation is free with the Bayern Ticket.) Even though we had the annual card for all palaces and castles in Bavaria, we were required to get in line and get the printout tickets from the cashier before entering to the museum or any exhibit.

Kaiserberg or Nuremberg Castle was built in the 12th century during the Holy Roman Empire to house the emperor while he was visiting Nuremberg. I just learned that emperors had to travel around a lot, so there were many palaces for him to stay in around the empire. The Kaiserburg Museum included the Imperial Chapel, the medieval defense technique and the Imperial and Knights' Halls. We also climbed over a hundred stair steps in the Sinwellturm (Sinwell Tower) to get a panoramic view of Nuremberg. Then we went to Tiefer Brunnen (Deep Well) for a look at the well that supplied water for the entire palace. The tour of the well started every hour in both English and German.

After visiting the castle, we took a walking tour of the city found in Lonely Planet. We didn't start at the Hauptmarkt like it said in the book, but we did the whole loop and finished it in about an hour or so. I especially loved walking in the market and visiting some gorgeous, medieval churches on the route. At the end we spent some time in Stadtmuseum Fembohaus and learned about the city during WWII. I was amazed how much the city was destroyed during that war and was impressed how people rebuilt it back to beauty.

There are still places in Nuremberg I want to see or visit. It's really worth every second to be there and next time I want to visit Historischer Kunstbunker where precious art was stored during WWII and the famous Christmas Market. :-)