BAMBERG, GERMANY: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT DRINKING –
If you take the all-the-breweries-in-one-day tour we describe in our book, you can pretty much skip this post – or look at it when you get back to see what you missed. If you take our advice and stretch that one day ordeal into a three or four day vacation, you’ll have plenty of time to see these sights.
The nice thing about Bamberg, though, is that sights and pints don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You’ll see fabulous old neighborhoods, cathedrals and monuments just wandering from one drinking hole to another. Some of the best kellers in the city also come with views to match the superlative beer.
1. Bamberg’s Train Station isn’t a work of art like Leipzig’s or a city to itself like Berlin’s, but it’s welcoming and functional. Most of all, it’s a gateway to some of the best pub hopping in Europe.
2. Take time to smell the flowers — and savor the fruits and vegetables. The strawberries are as good as they look. This cart is a stone’s throw from the mid-river city hall. Traveling musical groups often perform in the nearby square.
3. Catch a tour of the old town in a horse cart — so much better than a bus.
4. Climb Michaelsberg (or take the bus) and walk past the Italian restaurant to find Zum Café Michaelsberg where you can get a great view of the city as you sip the local Keesman Beers.
5. The view from Michaelsberg. Almost as good as the view of the hilltop cathedrals from the Spezial Keller’s garden.
6. Doors lead to former kellers — former mines in which breweries used to condition beers. Gardens on the land above provided shade and kept the kellers cooler. Some kellers in Germany are still in use
7. Restaurants and hotels sit on the waters of Bamberg Germany
8. Canalissimo is a canal-side festival with beer, food, and music. This year’s Calalissimo runs from July 20 to July 23.
8. One of Europe’s best beer museum’s fills a former brewery on Michaelsberg. The brewery brewed for almost 1000 years before it closed in 1969.
9. More grain finds its way to Bamber’s Weyermann Maltery– a very small brewery on the site produces really interesting beers. The factory gives public tours once a week.
The Maisel Brewery closed in 2009, a victim of poor management, family feuding and lack of timely investment. At one time a much smaller Bamberg had over 60 breweries. Once you know what to look for, you can see remnants of dozens of them as you walk through the streets.
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