Day trip to Wurzburg
Wurzburg is about 1.5 hrs from Nuremberg with multiple direct trains on a combination of high speed and slow services. I have read about travelers deciding against Wurzburg and choosing other more flamboyant German towns. And I wasn’t sure myself of the choice to make. However since I was staying an extended weekend in Nuremberg, Wurzburg suited my itinerary better due to the frequent and good connections from here. So I decided to spend a few hours in the imperial town of Wurzburg and I definitely do not regret this tour. In my opinion if you have even justhave about 2 hours to spend, do make a stop over at Wurzburg and if nothing else just visit the Wurzburg Residenz.
And as it was our top thing to do in Wurzburg as well, we headed to the Wurzburg Residenz straight from the Hbf (train station). It was a 15 min walk through the city centre which was enough to make me fall in love with the city. The Residenz is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site built in the 18th cent and famed to be one of the finest and most important baroque palaces of Germany. The extravagant frescoes in the Weisser Saal (White Hall), the Kaisersaal (Imperial hall) and the Treppenhaus (Grand Staircase) will keep you riveted. There are guided tours available in English and audio guides too, but most of the rooms and the artefacts within have information written in English. And when you think you have finally seen all the grandeur that the palace has to offer, you will reach the Green Room with its ornate green and gold decorations. You will need about 1 – 2 hrs to visit this palace depending on your pace and also how much time you spend at the Hofgarten (the court garden) and the Hofkirche (court church). I don’t have any pictures from the inside as photography is prohibited. You will also need to deposit your bags (mostly backpacks and large hand bags) at the locker at the entrance (keep EUR 1 coin handy for the locker boxes – these are only for deposit purposes).
If you have more time to spend in Wurzburg, then you may want to head straight to the Festung Marienberg (Marienberg Fortress). Many people hike up 30 – 45 min walk up through the vineyards from the Alte Mainbrucke via the Tellsteige trail but I not being an epitome of a fit body, decided to take Bus 9 from the Residenz straight to the door of the Fortress. It leaves from right in front of the Residenz and runs every 30 mins to the hour. At the time of writing this post, a one way ticket costed EUR 2.70 while a Day Ticket (valid for all modes of public transport) costed EUR 5.40 – so without getting into complicated mathematics lets just say buy the Day Ticket from the driver. And whichever way you decide to reach the fortress, don’t forget to revere at the beautiful Wurzburgian landscape from the Princes garden. An interesting fact about the Fortress is that while it was built in the 1200s, it was only once penetrated, only in 1561 by Swedish troops during the Thirty Year’s war.
[wpvideo ECqyB3dv]
You can take the same bus 9 back to the town centre and then continue touring the rest of Wurzburg on foot. I started with the Dom St Kilian, the Neumunster, the Rathaus and the Grafeneckart all nestled together near the central platz.
The railway station is a short 15 min (leisurely pace) walk from here, but if you are short of time or are too tired of walking or just want to make use of the Day Ticket that you have now in your possession, then you can get trams from right in front of Dom St Kilian. As for us, we have a fetish for using all possible modes of transport in the city we visit – for no better reason but to feel the local vibe and hence we did take the tram back to the station for our onward journey.
Hope you enjoyed this travelogue and will get inspired to visit Wurzberg soon. If you have comments or suggestions do drop in your comments.
And as always Happy Travels!
