From the top of the town, I look out across Bamberg. It’s another one of those beautiful German settlements that has such a rich history but is often overlooked by the average tourist in favour of the larger and more famous cities.

The layout of Bamberg is important for not just architectural reasons, but for what it shows about the society here over the past millennium.

With this vantage point, it’s easy to see how the older part of this Bavarian town is split into three main areas. A river, which forks (before merging again) creates a natural boundary between each of them.

Noble Bamberg

I’m standing currently at the highest part which is best described as the ‘noble’ section. This is where the churches, the castle and the associated buildings were constructed as early as the 10th century. The large impressive cathedral dominates the layout – inside are the tombs of at least one pope and one emperor.

At one point, when the Duke of Bavaria, Henry II, became King of Germany in 1007, he wanted to turn the town into a grand seat of government. His goal was to have a ‘second Rome’. (It’s not the first place I’ve been to with this goal – if everyone had achieved their aims, there would be at least a dozen ‘second Romes’ around Europe.)

Bamberg probably didn’t quite achieve the goal of Henry II but it was a period of huge prosperity for the town and the quality and quantity of the old impressive buildings around me prove that.

Urban Bamberg

Down the hill and across the river is the urban section of Bamberg. It’s an island in the middle of the river and was founded in the 12th century as a market, residences and businesses. In some ways, it was the link between the nobility and the ordinary people, where commerce could take place within easy sight of the rulers.

Residential Bamberg

On the other side of the island, the town spreads out into a much larger area. This is an interesting part of Bamberg because you can still see today the market gardens that were set up here from the 12^th century onwards.

From the streets, it looks like there are just houses – but behind the houses, on many of the blocks, are large hidden gardens. This is where crops were (and still are) grown by the residents who overlook them.

Visiting Bamberg

It is easy to explore Bamberg by foot and, if you start at the train station and head towards the cathedral, you will pass through each of the different sections. The main sights are up on the hill and on the island at its foot.

Make sure you don’t miss the Bamberg Cathedral, the Old Town Hall, the Neue Residenz and its gardens, and Michaelsberg Abbey.

I have put all the main sights on this map to help you plan your visit to Bamberg:

You’ll notice there is a suggested walking route here for you as well. There’s no need to follow it strictly but it gives you an idea of how long it make take you to see everything if you were to start at the Bamberg train station.

Bamberg is also a wonderful town to wander around and the architecture in the older parts is beautiful. Take a random turn at an intersection, follow the cobblestone streets, and admire the traditional Franconian design.

From the river, you’ll be able to see ‘Little Venice’, which is a collection of fishermen’s houses from the 19^th century.

There are some really affordable tours in Bamberg and you’ll learn a lot from the local guides. There are a few different ones that I would recommend here:

Beer in Bamberg

Another particularly famous aspect of Bamberg is the beer – even more so than usual in Germany, that is!

Bamberg has 11 breweries in the town and another 60 in the region around it. In total, they make more than 400 types of beer! (I dare you to try them all some time!!)

But what Bamberg is particularly known for is a rather unique style of brewing that leaves some of the beers with a smoky or bacon flavour.

The small pubs in the area at the base of the cathedral hill will happily serve you a glass but I would suggest going directly to one of the breweries. The two best ones to visit are Schlenkerla or Spezial and I have marked both of them on the map.

It’s a good way to finish up a visit to this wonderful little town.

Time Travel Turtle was supported by DB Bahn, the German National Tourist Board and Youth Hostels in Germany but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.