Nuremberg Old Town: Walking Tour, Bimmelbahn or Bus – Which One?
4 min read
For most visitors, the public guided walking tour of the Old Town at €16 per person is the best choice: 1.5 hours, in German or English (you pick the language when booking), starting at the Tourist Information at Hauptmarkt 18. The Bimmelbahn and the buses show the main sights faster, but they are rides with an audio commentary, not a conversation.
Five options side by side
| Tour | Length | From | Commentary | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public guided walking tour | 1.5 hours | €16 per person | Live guide, German or English | Tourist Information, Hauptmarkt 18 |
| Free walking tour | 1.5 to 2.5 hours | €3 per person | Live guide, English, German or Spanish | Schöner Brunnen |
| City tour with the Bimmelbahn | 40 minutes | €11 per person | Audio guide in 8 languages | Main market square |
| Old Town guided tour by bus | 40 minutes | €14 per person | Audio guide; driver speaks German | Hauptmarkt 27 |
| Hop-on hop-off bus | 1-day ticket | €22.50 per person | Audio guide in 6 languages | Bahnhofstraße 5 |
What each one is like
The public walk goes past the Hauptmarkt, the Old Town Hall, St. Sebaldus Church, Tiergärtnertorplatz, Albrecht Dürer’s House and the Weißgerbergasse. It is listed as unsuitable for wheelchair users and for visually or hearing-impaired people, and it runs with a minimum of two participants. The free walking tour has a slightly different route that also reaches the castle and the Hangman’s Bridge; its organiser describes himself as born and raised in Nuremberg, and the listing promises the history from the Middle Ages through the Third Reich to the present.
The Bimmelbahn is a small tourist train that departs from the main market square and passes the Schöner Brunnen, the Maxbrücke, St. Lorenz Church, the Hospital of the Holy Spirit and the castle. The audio guide covers Chinese, English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Dutch. Arrive at least 15 minutes before departure; the listing says you show your QR code at the sales stand.
The 40-minute bus ride (its description also speaks of fifty minutes to an hour) has a German-speaking driver and an audio guide in English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, French and Chinese (no Dutch). It lists an open-roof ride in good weather, hops on and off at the main market and at the castle, and is marked wheelchair accessible on its booking page. The hop-on hop-off bus is a double-decker with six stops and a roughly two-hour circuit; audio guides cover English, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, and its booking page also carries the wheelchair label. Food, drinks, alcohol and drugs are not allowed on board, and you should bring your own headphones; otherwise, according to the listing, they cost €0.50 on the spot.
Which one for you
Pick the public walk for the conversation and the stories, and the free walking tour if you want a Spanish-speaking guide or a longer route. Dutch speakers who prefer to ride should choose the Bimmelbahn for its audio languages. If you plan to stop at several sights during the day, the hop-on hop-off ticket is the flexible one.
