Discover Kulmbach: brewing heritage, castles and trails
Accommodation in Kulmbach
The Kulmbach region offers hiking, cycling and motorcycle tours across terrain ranging from gently rolling to challenging. It is also home to striking castles, museums and brewing heritage. When planning your trip, you can choose from a wide variety of themes and routes, from a nature trail with learning stations to a motorcycle loop of just over 200 kilometres.
Hiking trails: learning stations and circular routes
The nature trail on Kulmbach’s Rehberg is about four kilometres long and has 21 learning stations. If you’re planning a longer walk, the Frankenwaldsteigla “Rehbergweg” is an 11-kilometre route: it leads from Plassenburg Castle to Rehberg, through Kulmbach’s old town and back to the starting point. The stated distances provide a practical guide for planning your day; the routes also differ in whether they focus on learning stations or a walk through the old town.
An 11-kilometre circular trail also runs between Thurnau and Kasendorf. For Wonsees, the official hiking guide recommends the 13.5-kilometre Große-Wonsees-Erlebnisrunde. The stated distances help you compare hikes by the length you’re looking for, without suggesting that the routes are otherwise alike.
Castles, gardens and cultural history
In Wonsees, Zwernitz Castle sits right next to the Sanspareil rock garden. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1156 as the ancestral seat of the Walpoten family. You can climb its tower for sweeping views across the Franconian Switzerland Nature Park. The rock garden still features the Rock Theatre in the grove, the Oriental Building and the Kitchen Building. History and surviving structures stand side by side here.
At Plassenburg Castle, the German Tin Figure Museum offers another way to explore cultural history: more than 300,000 individual figures are arranged in around 150 dioramas. In Limmersdorf, an open-air exhibition documents the traditions and customs surrounding dancing linden trees. Groups with different interests can therefore find a range of topics alongside hiking and nature experiences.
Brewing heritage and railway history
The Bavarian Brewery Museum devotes more than 3,000 square metres of exhibition space to the history and art of brewing beer. A visit ends with a tasting sip from the Glass Museum Brewery. This brings the exploration of brewing heritage together with a clearly described taste experience.
In Neuenmarkt, the German Steam Locomotive Museum preserves more than 30 steam locomotives in a historically developed railway landscape. The collection offers another thematic focus alongside brewing and cultural history.
Landscapes and routes for different plans
The Steinach Gorge near Presseck is an approximately 300-metre stretch of a natural monument between NeumĂĽhle and the former Waffenhammer. For longer outings, the Rotmainauen hiking trail runs from the former State Garden Show grounds in Bayreuth, via Heinersreuth and Neudrossenfeld, to Langenstadt.
There’s also a route with a specific distance for a two-wheeled trip: the “Around Kulmbach” motorcycle tour starts and ends in Kulmbach and is just over 200 kilometres long. Hiking, cycling and motorcycling offer different ways to explore the Kulmbach region; the routes cross terrain ranging from gently rolling to challenging.
Plan your accommodation and journey
Kulmbach is the starting point and destination of the “Around Kulmbach” motorcycle tour. An official public transport connection runs from Kulmbach via Thurnau, Sanspareil and Wonsees to Hollfeld and Ebermannstadt. Check the current timetable before you travel so you can plan around the places mentioned and your preferred mode of transport.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Untersteinach, Stadtsteinach, Presseck, Wirsberg, Trebgast, Thurnau, Mainleus, Kulmbach, Neudrossenfeld, Marktleugast, Himmelkron, Grafengehaig, Neuenmarkt, Wonsees, Marktschorgast, Kasendorf.
Back to the regional travel overview: Bavaria.
