Getting around Nuremberg

Nuremberg’s old town is made for walking, but the rally grounds and Courtroom 600 are out in the suburbs, each on its own line. The U2 brings you in from the airport, your feet cover the centre, and the tram, the S-Bahn and the U1 take care of the rest. Plan the days by line, because a map that looks compact will mislead you about the twentieth century.

From the airport and the station

The U2 is a driverless metro that runs from the airport to the main station. Trains leave every 10 to 14 minutes, and the ride takes 12 minutes. A single ticket costs €3.90, and because the airport lies in the same fare level as the city centre, that one ticket covers the whole way in.

The main station, the Hauptbahnhof, stands on the edge of the old town. Leave it and Königstraße runs straight through the pedestrian zone to the Hauptmarkt, with the U1 starting from the same station if you would rather ride. Trains from Munich arrive in about 1 h 10 min, which makes Nuremberg an easy stop on a Bavarian route.

Tickets and prices

For a short stay five kinds of ticket are enough. The Kurzstrecke is one short ride, four trips suit several rides in the same fare level, and the TagesTicket comes in a version for one person and one for a group. A day ticket is valid for one day or a weekend until the last bus or train, and one bought from a machine or from the driver is already validated.

Prices are for price level A: Nuremberg, Fürth and Stein, including the airport.

The NürnbergCard lasts 48 hours from activation, is bought at tourismus.nuernberg.de/nuernbergcard and arrives as a PDF. It covers public transport in zone A and free entry to the castle, the Albrecht-Dürer-Haus, the Documentation Centre, the Memorium, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum and the Tiergarten, with half price at the underground passages and the planetarium. It makes sense only for visitors who spend both days on the castle, the Documentation Centre and the Memorium and ride public transport throughout; for a lighter plan a day ticket and single entrances do better. Families and groups should look at the TagesTicket Plus, which covers up to six people with at most two adults, takes one dog along free, and lets bicycles count instead of passengers.

In the old town: on foot

Inside the four-kilometre wall almost everything is a walk. The castle sits on a sandstone ridge, so the way to it climbs, and your calves will remember it by evening. When your feet give up, the U1 stops at Lorenzkirche and Opernhaus, and all 49 stations on the network have a lift, which helps with prams and heavy cases alike.

To the rally grounds and the courtroom

The Documentation Centre stands at Bayernstraße 110, on the edge of the old rally grounds. Take tram 6 or 8, or bus 36, 45, 55 or 65, to the stop called Doku-Zentrum, which is about 500 metres from the entrance, or ride the S2 to Dutzendteich Bahnhof. Entry costs €7.50.

Courtroom 600 is inside the Memorium at Bärenschanzstraße 72, and the U1 runs there directly from the main station to Bärenschanze. Entry is €7.50, and the building is closed on Tuesdays, so the grounds and the courtroom split easily into two days or two mornings. Drivers should know that parking by the Kongresshalle is charged only at weekends, and you may not drive around the hall itself. On festival days such as Rock im Park the grounds close to cars, so public transport is the sane choice. Leave the car at the hotel.

FoodOnce the logistics are sorted, the sausages are next, and the food page explains what to order.What to eat in Nuremberg →

When to goThe seasons change opening hours and crowds, and the page on when to go lays out month by month what that means.The best time to visit Nuremberg →

Where to stayWhere to sleep relative to the U1, U2 and the zone A ticket is on the where-to-stay page.Where to stay in Nuremberg →