Regensburg

Travel times from Augsburg:
Train – 2 ½ hours
Car – 1½ hours

When you arrive in Regensburg, you will be welcomed with legendary Bavarian hospitality into the best-preserved medieval city in Germany, where 2000 years of history remain alive today. The streets and squares of this UNESCO World Heritage City are filled with sparkling Christmas lights during Advent. The castle-like towers of the mansions built by medieval patricians look magical in the shimmering atmosphere, as does Regensburg’s Christmas Market, which an independent jury described as one of the loveliest in the German-speaking countries. The stalls and booths around the 500-year-old Neupfarr Church sell a glittering array of Christmas decorations, traditional carved Nativity scenes, children’s toys and other special gifts.

Through narrow streets, hidden passageways and courtyards, the visitor can stroll on to Kohlenmarkt and Haidplatz to the Lucreziamarkt, where artists and craftsmen set up stalls laden with handmade wares such as dolls, pottery, silk paintings, marionettes, and top-quality toys. Moving along to the Thurn and Taxis Palace, you’ll find the Romantic Christmas Market illuminating the courtyard with thousands of lights, candles, lanterns and torches. This event offers a bustling market atmosphere, traditional Bavarian delicacies, a various cultural events, and guided tours through the castle.

Regensburg offers additional yuletide delights beyond its markets. The Regensburger Domspatzen, the boys’ choir associated with St. Peter’s Cathedral dating back more than 1000 years, holds a regular program of performances during the Advent. Guided tours of the city’s holiday specialties ensure that visitors don’t miss anything of note. And be sure to make time for a relaxing boat trip from Regensburg through the Danube Valley’s charming winter landscape.

Many of the impressive buildings that you will see decorated for the season date to the city’s prosperous medieval period. Many grandiose patrician houses remain with Italian-style towers reaching to the heavens and embellishing the impressive city skyline. The buildings, towers and churches offer an unspoiled peek into the past. You need not be a student of history to get a strong sense of what life was like in the days of old in Regensburg.
Castles, churches, monasteries and St. Peter's Cathedral bear testimony to the grandeur of the era, which is also brought to life in the many museums with their valuable and fascinating collections. The Stone Bridge and the Old Town Hall, set in the heart of the medieval city, are among the most important historic buildings in Germany. Take a boat trip on the Danube to best experience the river that has sustained the city since ancient times.

Visit the Neupfarrplatz for a glimpse into the ancient and medieval city. This square was once the site of Roman officers’ homes. In the early Middle Ages, it became Regensburg’s Jewish quarter, later razed during economic hardships in 1519. Recent construction work uncovered the foundations of the former Jewish quarter built over Roman ruins. Descend into the excavations via stairs adjacent to the Neupfarrkirche to see cellars, walls, wells, steps and roads and gain a better insight into the lives of the ancient Romans and the medieval Jews of Regensburg.

Around lunchtime, be sure to stroll toward the Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge), an architectural achievement as impressive today as when it was built in the early 12th century. Nine centuries ago, workers constructing the bridge received their meals at a riverside kitchen. That same kitchen – the Historische Wurstküche (Historic Sausage Kitchen) – serves several thousand Regensburger bratwurst each day to locals and visitors. On a sunny day, guests sit elbow-to-elbow on slat benches and devour platefuls of the little Bavarian sausages, sauerkraut and sweet mustard.