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Nuremberg, Germany

Nuremberg

Most people come for four weeks of the year. We have been in June as well, and the difference is the whole decision.

Before you go — the date decides everything else

Nuremberg has two entirely different characters and you do not get to mix them. From the Friday before Advent until Christmas Eve the Hauptmarkt is the Christkindlesmarkt, and the city is as full as it ever gets. The rest of the year it is a walled Franconian town with a castle on a rock and a river running under it, and you can cross the main square without touching anybody.

Both are worth a day. They are not the same day. Almost every guide to this city describes the market, because almost nobody photographs a market town in June. We have, and the rest of this page is the comparison.

  • The old town is walkable end to end — the Hauptmarkt, the castle, the river and the walls are all inside a ring you can cross on foot in twenty minutes.
  • Most of what is worth seeing outdoors costs nothing. The square, the fountain, the walls, the covered bridge and the climb to the castle courtyard are all free. The castle interior is not.
  • It is largely a rebuild and does not pretend otherwise. The old town was almost entirely destroyed in January 1945. What you walk through was put back deliberately, which is worth knowing before you judge how old anything looks.
The walls and towers from the road below
The walls and towers from the road below

The Christkindlesmarkt — what it is actually like

It is the market most of the others are imitating, and it is smaller than the photographs suggest. The stalls are red and white striped, they fill the Hauptmarkt and spill into the lanes, and the Frauenkirche stands over the whole thing with the market lit below it.

  • Go at dusk and again after dark. The two are different markets. Our December frames are almost all from the hour the lamps come on, which is when the roofs and the church read as one picture rather than two.
  • It is crowded, and that is not a complaint. Look at the frames on this page taken at its busiest: that is what the middle of the afternoon looks like. If you want the square with air in it, come first thing.
  • Lebkuchen is the thing to buy. The city has made gingerbread for six centuries and the shops on the square are the reason the whole place smells of it.
  • Get out of the main square. The lanes off it have the same stalls with a tenth of the people, and the timbered houses behind them are the prettiest part of the old town in any season.
The Frauenkirche above the crowded market
The Frauenkirche above the crowded market

The castle, the walls, and the town underneath

The Kaiserburg sits on a sandstone outcrop at the top of the old town, and the walk up to it is the walk that makes sense of the place. From the courtyard you look back over red roofs to the churches, and the whole medieval plan of the city lies out below you.

  • The climb is the point, and it is free. Walking up through the timbered streets to the castle courtyard and the terrace costs nothing. Pay to go inside only if you want the rooms and the museum.
  • The walls survive nearly the whole way round. Towers, gates and a dry moat, and you can follow them for most of the circuit. This is the single most underused free thing in the city.
  • The Handwerkerhof by the station is a walled yard of craft workshops just inside the gate. It is touristy and it is also the first thing you meet arriving by train, which makes it a reasonable ten minutes rather than a destination.
Half-timbered houses under the castle tower
Half-timbered houses under the castle tower

The river, and the best free thing in Nuremberg

The Pegnitz runs straight through the middle, and the buildings do interesting things where it does. The Heilig-Geist-Spital — a former hospital — is built out over the water on arches, and the covered wooden footbridge nearby is the photograph people take without knowing what it is.

  • Walk the river rather than the shopping street. Ten minutes along the Pegnitz gets you the water tower, the timbered gables and the covered bridge, and it is where the town looks least like a rebuild.
  • The Männleinlaufen runs at noon. The mechanical clock on the Frauenkirche performs once a day, and it is short. Be on the square before it, not walking towards it.
The covered wooden footbridge
The covered wooden footbridge

June or December — the honest comparison

We have both, which is unusual, so here is the part nobody else can tell you.

  • December gets you the market and costs you the town. The Hauptmarkt is stalls from edge to edge. You cannot see the fountain properly, you cannot photograph the church without a roof in the way, and the walls and the castle are cold and dark by four in the afternoon.
  • June gets you the town and there is no market. The square is a square. The castle climb is pleasant rather than an ordeal, the river walk is green, and you will have the walls almost to yourself.
  • If the market is the reason you are going, go in December and accept the trade. Do not try to do both in one visit by coming in late November and hoping — the stalls go up over days and an early arrival gets you scaffolding.
  • If Nuremberg is a stop on a larger German route, June is the better version of the city and a far easier day to plan around.
Street lamps and the market roofs at dusk
Street lamps and the market roofs at dusk

How long?

One full day covers it in either season. Ours were 19 and 24 June 2015, and 12 and 13 December 2024 — four days across two visits, and no single one of them felt rushed.

A second day is worth having only if you want the museums, or if you are coming in December and want the market twice, once empty and once full. Those are genuinely different experiences and it is the one argument for two nights.

Would we send you here?

In December, yes, and near the top of the list — it is the best of the German Christmas markets and the only one most people would cross a border for. The rest of the year it is a good day rather than a destination: a walled town with a castle, worth a stop between Munich and Dresden, not worth three nights on its own.

Which of those it is for you depends entirely on when you go, and that is a decision made months before anybody books anything.

Nuremberg in photographs

44 images from two visits — 29 in June 2015 and 15 at the Christkindlesmarkt in December 2024.

Through the gate into the Handwerkerhof — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Through the gate into the Handwerkerhof A shop window full of figures — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 A shop window full of figures The hospital building spanning the Pegnitz — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The hospital building spanning the Pegnitz The street rising toward the castle — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The street rising toward the castle Half-timbered houses under the castle tower — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Half-timbered houses under the castle tower The party under the roof timbers — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The party under the roof timbers The nave and the empty pews — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The nave and the empty pews The castle wall with the flag up — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The castle wall with the flag up Coming through the castle gate — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Coming through the castle gate The round tower above the timbered yard — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The round tower above the timbered yard Looking up into the tower roof — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Looking up into the tower roof The walls and towers from the road below — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The walls and towers from the road below
Show the other 31 photographs
The river wall from the bridge — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The river wall from the bridge The covered wooden footbridge — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The covered wooden footbridge The gabled house beside the water tower — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The gabled house beside the water tower Red roofs and a courtyard from the wall — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Red roofs and a courtyard from the wall The Pegnitz opening out below the old town — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The Pegnitz opening out below the old town The Frauenkirche on the market square — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The Frauenkirche on the market square The circular beds in the castle garden — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The circular beds in the castle garden The covered bridge and the tower over the Pegnitz — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The covered bridge and the tower over the Pegnitz The old hospital reaching across the river — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The old hospital reaching across the river The hospital arches from the bridge — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The hospital arches from the bridge St Sebald and the houses around its square — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 St Sebald and the houses around its square The nave of St Sebald — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The nave of St Sebald The castle above its terraced garden — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The castle above its terraced garden The gate and tower in the castle courtyard — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The gate and tower in the castle courtyard Red roofs and spires from the castle — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 Red roofs and spires from the castle The long roof of the imperial stables — Nuremberg, Germany · June 2015 The long roof of the imperial stables Outside Lebkuchen Schmidt, the gingerbread shop — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 Outside Lebkuchen Schmidt, the gingerbread shop The Schöner Brunnen fountain and the Frauenkirche behind — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The Schöner Brunnen fountain and the Frauenkirche behind The children's carousel on the square — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The children's carousel on the square Glühwein in hand by the Ferris wheel — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 Glühwein in hand by the Ferris wheel Street lamps and the market roofs at dusk — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 Street lamps and the market roofs at dusk The red-and-white stall roofs from above — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The red-and-white stall roofs from above A lamp above the stalls, the castle beyond — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 A lamp above the stalls, the castle beyond The gilded clock on the tower — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The gilded clock on the tower The Frauenkirche above the crowded market — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The Frauenkirche above the crowded market Old houses in the lanes off the square — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 Old houses in the lanes off the square St Sebaldus church behind the stalls — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 St Sebaldus church behind the stalls The market at its busiest, the church lit behind — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The market at its busiest, the church lit behind Looking down the length of the stalls — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 Looking down the length of the stalls A timbered house on a quiet lane — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 A timbered house on a quiet lane The Frauenkirche and the fountain spire together — Nuremberg, Germany · December 2024 The Frauenkirche and the fountain spire together

One day, twice over. The trip is the harder part.

Notice what this guide never tells you. It does not name a hotel, or say whether to sleep inside the walls or by the station. It gives you no way in from wherever you were before, no view on whether Nuremberg goes before Munich or after Prague, and nothing about what a December day becomes when the market is shut for the afternoon and it is raining.

Those answers change with your dates, your budget and who is traveling with you. Working them out, and booking them, is the job.

Tell us about your trip

The day above is free and yours to use. What it cannot do is decide where this fits in a two-week trip, which hotel works with your arrival time and your walking pace, what needs reserving months ahead, or what happens on the day it rains. That is the part you would be hiring me for, and planning starts at $750.

Or read the questions we are asked most — what a trip includes, how far ahead to book, deposits and cancellation.