Bamberg is a town of about 77,000 in Upper Franconia whose entire old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the reason it is one is simple: it was barely bombed. What stands here is the actual medieval and baroque fabric rather than a reconstruction, spread across seven hills with a river running through the middle of it.
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What Is Here
THE ALTES RATHAUS IS BUILT ON AN ISLAND IN THE RIVER AND THAT IS NOT A METAphor. The old town hall straddles the Regnitz on an artificial island reached by bridges at both ends, because the bishops owned one bank and the burghers the other and neither would give ground. The second image is it. One corner is painted in trompe-l'oeil frescoes with a genuine carved cherub's leg sticking out of the plaster, which is the detail people remember.
KLEIN-VENEDIG IS THE ROW OF FORMER FISHERMEN'S HOUSES ALONG THE WATER, half-timbered, leaning, with small gardens down to the river, and the third image is that frontage. Best seen from the Untere Brucke or from a boat.
THE CATHEDRAL HAS FOUR TOWERS AND TWO CHOIRS AND A HORSEMAN NOBODY CAN IDENTIFY. The Bamberger Reiter, carved around 1235, is the first monumental equestrian statue in European sculpture since antiquity and no one knows who he is meant to be. The cathedral also holds the only papal grave north of the Alps, Clement II, and it is free to enter.
THE NEUE RESIDENZ AND THE ROSE GARDEN BEHIND IT give the best view over the roofs, and the garden is free. MICHAELSBERG ABBEY on the hill opposite has a ceiling painted with 578 medicinal plants and a terrace looking back the other way.
RAUCHBIER IS THE LOCAL BEER AND IT TASTES OF SMOKED HAM. The malt is dried over beechwood fires, and at Schlenkerla it is poured from a wooden cask. Some people love it immediately; many do not, which is worth knowing before you order a half-litre. Bamberg has around ten breweries in the town and roughly fifty more in the surrounding countryside, which is among the densest concentration anywhere in the world, so there is plenty that is not smoked.
THE HILLS ARE STEEP AND THE COBBLES ARE SERIOUS. Seven hills means genuine climbing between the cathedral quarter, the Michaelsberg and the river, on uneven historic paving throughout. This is a walking town with no flat part.
When to Go
May to September for long evenings in the riverside beer gardens and open brewery courtyards.
Late November and December for the Christmas market and the nativity trail, which runs through the whole old town with more than forty crib scenes in churches, doorways and squares.
Spring and autumn are quiet and the light on the sandstone is best. The ROSE GARDEN peaks in June.
SANDKERWA, the big town festival, falls in late August and is extremely busy. Book months ahead or avoid it deliberately, depending on what you want.
Getting There
By train, Bamberg is on the Berlin to Munich high-speed line. About two hours from Berlin, an hour and a quarter from Munich, forty minutes from Nuremberg, two hours from Frankfurt. The station is fifteen minutes on foot from the old town.
By air, Nuremberg is nearest at about an hour door to door, with Munich and Frankfurt both easy by direct train.
By car, off the A70 and A73. THE OLD TOWN IS LARGELY PEDESTRIAN and Germany's environmental zone rules can apply, so park in a Parkhaus at the edge and walk.
You do not want a car in Bamberg. Everything is within a twenty minute walk and the streets were not built for vehicles.
Is Bamberg Safe for Women?
Bamberg is a small, prosperous university town and is very safe. The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Germany, and its terrorism wording is the strongest it uses: terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Germany, with restaurants, MARKETS, shopping centres, places of worship, sporting events and crowded public spaces named as possible targets. That is worth knowing in a country where a Christmas market is often the reason for the trip, and the response is awareness rather than avoidance. On crime the FCDO puts German levels on a par with the UK and names theft and pickpocketing at airports, railway stations and in crowded places, with the specific advice not to leave bags unattended. It also gives one unusually concrete warning: exchange currency only at banks and legitimate bureaux, because counterfeit notes are passed to visitors at street kiosks.
THE PAVING IS THE MAIN RISK AND IT IS NOT TRIVIAL. Original cobbles, worn sandstone steps, steep lanes and riverside walls without railings in places. Wet cobbles on a hill are genuinely slippery. The commonest injury to a visitor here is a turned ankle or a fall on a slope.
The riverbank has unfenced edges in the Klein-Venedig stretch and along the mill arm.
The beer is stronger than it tastes. Franconian beers often run above five per cent and the traditional measure is a half-litre Seidla. Brewery tours and the Bierkeller circuit add up quickly, and the walk home is uphill on cobbles.
Ordinary urban care at night around the student bar streets near the Sandstrasse, which is lively rather than troubling.
Cycling is heavy here and bike lanes run through pedestrian areas. Look before stepping sideways.
The Bamberg Packing List
Steep cobbles, cool river air, cold churches and long evenings outdoors.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women suits Bamberg's particular rhythm: you climb to the cathedral and arrive warm, sit in a stone interior and cool down fast, then sit outside in the evening as the river air drops. Wool manages all three without a change of clothes. From November to March add a heavyweight merino base layer, and for the Christmas market a merino beanie.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket. Franconia is wetter than Munich.
Walking shoes with grip and Darn Tough merino socks. THIS IS THE ITEM THAT MATTERS MOST HERE. Heels and smooth soles are the wrong choice on seven hills of original cobble.
Not linked and worth packing: SOMETHING TO COVER YOUR SHOULDERS for the cathedral and the abbey; A WATER BOTTLE, since the climbs are short but repeated; A SMALL TORCH for the nativity trail in December, which runs past unlit doorways; and CASH, because Franconian breweries and Bierkeller are among the most cash-only places in Germany and several of the best do not take cards at all.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Bamberg
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
The whole old town is UNESCO-listed because it survived the war largely intact, which means the paving is original and the risk here is underfoot. SEVEN HILLS, ORIGINAL COBBLES, WORN SANDSTONE STEPS AND STEEP LANES, with riverside walls unfenced in places along Klein-Venedig and the mill arm. Wet cobbles on a slope are genuinely slippery and a turned ankle is the commonest injury a visitor collects here. THE OLD TOWN IS LARGELY PEDESTRIAN and cycling is heavy, with bike lanes running through pedestrian areas. FRANCONIAN BEER IS STRONGER THAN IT TASTES, often above five per cent, served in half-litre measures, and the walk back is uphill. MANY BREWERIES AND BIERKELLER ARE CASH ONLY, which catches card-only visitors out more often than anything else here. Rauchbier is smoked and tastes of it, so order a small one first. The cathedral is free, the Rose Garden is free, and the Michaelsberg terrace is free. SANDKERWA in late August fills the town completely.
US State Department travel advisory: the Germany advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: the Klinikum Bamberg on the Bugerstrasse is the city hospital with a 24 hour emergency department, about two kilometres from the old town. Dial 112 for police, ambulance or fire. The overnight pharmacy rota is posted on every Apotheke door and published by the Bavarian pharmacists' chamber. Germany is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free: German healthcare involves patient contributions and the card does not cover repatriation or private treatment, so travel insurance sits on top of it. German hospitals are excellent and English is widely spoken in them, particularly in university cities. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems without an appointment and the duty rota for out-of-hours is posted in the window. Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Dial 112 for an ambulance and 116117 for the non-emergency medical service.
Official health authority: the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health body. covers the Bavarian regional health reporting
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Berlin.
Official tourism authority: the German National Tourist Board. covers the Bamberg UNESCO old town, the brewery trail and the December nativity route
Takeaways
Seven hills of original cobble. Grippy flat shoes, not heels.
Rauchbier tastes of smoked ham. Try a small one first.
Bring cash. The best breweries do not take cards.
The cathedral, the Rose Garden and the Michaelsberg terrace are all free.
Solo women safety assessment: Bamberg is an easy and friendly place to travel alone. It is a small university town of about 77,000, prosperous and low-crime, with an old town compact enough to cross in twenty minutes and busy with students and visitors into the evening. There is no district a visitor needs to avoid; the liveliest streets are around the Sandstrasse and they are loud rather than threatening. Sitting alone in a Bierkeller or a brewery courtyard is completely normal here and nobody will think anything of it. 112 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone; the Klinikum Bamberg on the Bugerstrasse has a 24 hour emergency department about two kilometres out; and the overnight pharmacy rota is posted on every Apotheke door. THE REAL RISK IN BAMBERG IS THE GROUND. Because the town was barely bombed, the paving is the original article: cobbles that are rounded and uneven, sandstone steps worn hollow in the middle, and seven hills meaning there is no flat route between the cathedral quarter, the Michaelsberg and the river. In rain those slopes are slippery and the commonest thing that happens to a visitor here is a fall or a turned ankle, so flat grippy shoes matter more than they would in a modern city. Parts of the riverbank along Klein-Venedig and the mill arm have no railing. The other honest hazard is the beer: Franconian beers frequently run over five per cent, the standard measure is half a litre, the brewery density is among the highest in the world, and the walk home is uphill on that same cobble. Pace it, eat with it, and note that many of the best places are cash only.
Reading On
Bamberg is the lead post for Franconia in this library and the first of that group to be written, so the rest of the region's cities are coming rather than live. For now, the Munich packing list covers Bavaria's capital an hour and a quarter south, the Frankfurt packing list the nearest major air gateway two hours west, and the Dresden packing list and Berlin packing list the east on the same high-speed line. For a contrast within Germany, the Heidelberg packing list covers the other great undamaged university town and the Black Forest packing list the south west. For the country, the Germany travel guide for women and the Germany packing list carry the rail network, the regions and the cash-versus-card question in full. For why wool handles a warm climb, a cold church and a cool riverside evening in one outfit, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at On the Danube, the Regensburg packing list leads on the Steinerne Brucke and the Roman wall and the Passau packing list on the confluence of three rivers, which completes this group of Franconian and Bavarian river cities. the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
