DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
DAY ONE : London to Erfurt by train
Begin your Thuringian Forest by rail holiday by travelling from London to Brussels by Eurostar on an early morning departure . Upon reaching Brussels , you travel onwards to Erfurt , changing trains again in Cologne and Frankfurt . Check in to your hotel in Erfurt for 5 nights .
DAYS TWO TO FIVE : In Erfurt
Erfurt is filled with beautiful buildings which play testament to its fascinating history . Perhaps start one of your days here by visiting the food market which takes place in the morning from Monday to Saturday in Domplatz , the largest square in the city . Here you can buy traditional German food such as sausages , cheese and honey , as well as some exotic delicacies . Overlooking this square is the Gothic Erfurt Cathedral . The Cathedral itself was built mostly in the 14th and 15th centuries , but there has been a religious building on this site since St Boniface founded a church in 742 . The Mediaeval art inside the Cathedral is almost all original , from its tracery windows to the Wolfram candelabra dating from around the 12th century . Right in the centre of the city is the Zitadelle Petersburg , the best-preserved Baroque city fortress in Central Europe . Founded in 1665 , this site was turned into a tourist attraction after Germany ’ s reunification and now offers amazing views of the city from its parapet wall . Other historical buildings of interest include the Augustinerkloster , where Martin Luther became a monk and stayed between 1505 and 1511 , and the Old Synagogue , which may be the best-preserved Mediaeval synagogue in Europe . The Angersmuseum , housed in a beautiful Baroque building , features an extensive range of art from the Middle Ages to the present day . We highly recommend using your time in Erfurt to venture out and explore the railway routes of the Thuringian Forest . The Werra Railway runs mostly along the river of the same name between Eisenach and Eisfeld via Meiningen and is one of the oldest railway lines in Germany . Start your journey by taking one of the regular direct trains from Erfurt to Eisenach . This town was the birthplace of composer Johann Sebastian Bach , and is worth a stop in its own right to visit the Wartburg Castle , designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Upon leaving Eisenach you will continue alongside the river through the Werra Valley , a landscape of lush rolling fields . The next main stop is Meiningen , where we recommend disembarking to change to another of the main railway lines , the Ritschenhausen-Neudietendorf line . Meiningen is home to an Elizabethan
Erfurt
castle and multiple museums , including the Theatre Museum which provides an insight into the history of the Meiningen theatre , a tradition going back almost 250 years . The Ritschenhausen-Neudietendorf line is much more steeply-graded than the Werra Railway , as it climbs into and across the Thuringian Forest mountains . You will also travel through the 1-mile-long Brandleite tunnel which took almost four years to build . This will take you to Arnstadt in the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest mountains . Perhaps take
the time here to explore the working railway museum before returning via the stunning scenery to your base in Erfurt . The final railway line is the Schwarzatalbahn . This line runs for less than 19 miles yet takes in incredible scenery as it passes through the Thuringian Forest and mountain terrain from Rinnetal , through Tal der Schwarza , before reaching its terminus at Katzhütte . Roughly halfway along the route you will reach Obstfelderschmiede , the starting point of the Oberweißbacher funicular railway . This mountain railway climbs
Thuringia
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