Middle Franconia

Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken) is the southernmost, central and most urbanized part of Franconia in Germany. Its heart is the urbanized area around Nuremberg Fürth and Erlangen but there are also delightful Bierkeller or natural attractions in its rural parts.

Cities

Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
Town hall and Market square

Old town hall of Weißenburg in Bayern

• 1 Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) — the biggest city in the region and notable as one of the preeminent Reichsstädte during much of the Middle Ages
• 2 Erlangen — a university town with a big presence by Siemens and a cosmopolitan feeling to it unusual in a town of only 100,000
• 3 Ansbach — the administrative center and former residence of the margraves of Ansbach-Bayreuth
• 4 Fürth — Nuremberg's neighbour and most important rival with a rich Jewish history
• 5 Herzogenaurach — world-famous as the city of Adidas and Puma, this place offers superb outlet shopping as well as an underappreciated old town
• 6 Rothenburg ob der Tauber — famous for its intact medieval Altstadt encircled by 13th-century town walls
• 7 Schwabach — famous for its goldsmith crafts, in particular gold leaf work
• 8 Lauf an der Pegnitz — a smaller city with nice half-timber buildings, two old town gates and a castle, about 18 km from Nuremberg at the Pegnitz river
• 9 Thalmässing — has an archaeological museum and walking
• 10 Weißenburg — has a largely preserved city wall, the Gothic town hall, the town church and the Ellinger Gate
• 11 Stein bei Nürnberg — a small city near Nuremberg, home to the world-famous "Faber-Castell" pencils with quite some impressive buildings related to the factory and family
• 12 Dinkelsbühl — a stop along the Romantic Road renowned for its largely preserved mediaeval old town
• 13 Roth — known for its "Challenge Roth" Triathlon held every year
• 14 Bad Windsheim — a self-governing Reichsstadt into the early 19th century; its main claim to fame is the Freilandmuseum

Other destinations

Franconian Lake District: Big Brombach Lake

• 1 Franconian Lake District — its 7 lakes and several “waters” offer many recreational opportunities

Get in

By plane

The only airport with scheduled flights in this area is in Nuremberg (NUE ^IATA). If you arrive from further away, you will most likely have to change planes in Frankfurt (FRA ^IATA).

By car

The Autobahns A3, A9 and A73 run through this area

By train

The main hub is Nuremberg. From there S-Bahn or Regional trains connect to (almost) all points with a train station in the region and some beyond

By bus

Some Intercity buses in Germany stop in some places, again most of them in Nuremberg

Get around

Practically all of Middle Franconia is served by the VGN with a fairly extensive network of buses and trains

See

Itineraries

Depending on which part of Middle Franconia you are interested in most, you would want to cover more than this administrative region. Many interesting cities around are in Upper Franconia (e.g. Bamberg).

Do

• Deutsches national Museum (Nürnberg)
• Spielzueg Museum (Nürnberg)

Eat

See also: Franconian cuisine

Drink

Breweries in Franconia lists breweries, beer cellars, brewery museums.

Go next

• Franconian Switzerland — a region with steep hills, great castles, loved by climbers do to its rocks and an incredible density of breweries. It "touches" the north of Middle Franconia, but is not really in it (it lies in Upper Franconia)