We joined a free walking tour that commenced from the old town Hauptmarkt. The tour went on for 2-2.5hours and the guide worked based on tips. We arrived a bit earlier to roam around the Hauptmarkt and it had many stalls that sells fruits, vegetables, crafts, food, there was also an egg stall and a mushroom stall as well. It was a pretty lively market to explore around.
Our tour route started from the Hauptmarkt where the Beautiful Fountain (Schoner Brunnen) is. The myth is if you touched the golden ring and spined it around for 3 times it will give you good luck.
Next we headed to the “Church of our Lady” (Frauenkirche) which is also in the Hauptmarkt. This church has a Gothic architecture and it was built in the 1300s.
We walked up to the Imperial Castle and stopped briefly at the St Sebald’s Church and Town Hall along the wall. The Imperial Castle is undergoing some restoration and repair works while we were there and we could catch a good glimpse of the town while we were high up in the castle area. From the castle we spotted the Nazi rally grounds off in the distance.
Descending from the castle we headed to Albrecht Dürer’s House. Our guide majored in arts in university and she was passionate to share with us one famous artist who was born in Nuremberg. He was Albrecht Düre and was considered one of the most talented German artists. He painted his own portrait and one of his most famous work was a “Young Hare” (picture of a hare) which had a lot of fine detail. He even trademarked his own works with his initial which was considered unique at that time. Our guide brought us to his house and also his statue at Albrecht-Düre-platz. Next we walked to the Weissgerbergasse where we witnessed a short stretch of medieval type of houses. We saw more of these houses when we were in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
We then headed to the Hangman’s Bridge where there is a small museum on how execution were carried out in the old days. Our next stop was across the river where the Marriage Merry Go round foundation is. The story of the fountain’s sculptures is rather biased I feel. It portrays the men losing out in marriage.
Our tour had a food stop where our guide took us to a cheap local stall selling the Nuremberg sausages which is always small and short and 3s in a bun. It was only for 2Euro which was a bargain meal. Craig loved it so much he went back for seconds after our walking tour. It also helped that it was closed to our hotel (Adina). Our tour ended at the St Lawrence Church (St Lorenz) where we parted ways. We decided to head back to the Imperial Castle again to give it another more detailed walk around. There were many tour groups and walking tours happening at the same time which caused some congestion. We then made our way to the famous photoshoot location the Heilig-Geist-Spital and took some shots before heading back to our hotel for an early rest.
Nuremberg is full of history and I believe if you just walked around the old town area, 1 full day to 1.5days would be sufficient. I definitely recommend a walking tour as well as it gives you a good summary of the area and context of what you are viewing.