Last Updated: 20 Feb 2024
After two years with aviation in survival mode, it is heartening to see an airline adding a new route. British Airways has done just that, with flights to Nuremberg in Germany starting from 27 March 2022.
This will be a Heathrow Terminal Three departure and will operate four times a week over winter, increasing to six from 1 May. The flight is timed to connect into the US and other services across BA’s network, but with British Airways Executive Club members able to book flights with Avios, it’s certainly worth considering for a city break. So, if you fancy making this trip with British Airways, Reward Flight Finder has the lowdown.
Why Nuremberg?
It is fair to say that a place historically associated with Nazi rallies and war crimes trials may not be top of most peoples’ short breaks list. However, that would be to overlook the city’s considerable charms.
Once the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Nuremberg is now Bavaria’s second-largest city, after Munich, bisected to the south by the Danube and at its centre by the river Pegnitz. The prime draw for tourists is the Old Town, which has cobbled streets with fairy tale mediaeval architecture. It’s also the home of one of Germany’s most famous Christmas markets.
You can get around Nuremberg easily on foot and by the subway, which conveniently connects to the airport on line U2 in less than 15 minutes.
Old Town
Nuremberg’s castle was built around 1140 and sits at one end of a historic mile of gothic churches and ornate centuries-old fountains.
Much of the quaint architecture here was actually carefully reconstructed decades after the Allied bombing during World War II destroyed about 90% of the real thing. Salvaged stone was incorporated and even the cobbled streets follow their original line.
Walls topped with lookout points still encircle the Old Town. In the Craftsmen’s Courtyard, beneath the landmark Fruaentor Tower, goldsmiths, tin workers and potters demonstrate their skills and half-timbered huts sell popular local snacks, including the famous local Rostbratwurst sausages, which have a centuries-old recipe protected under EU law. Of course, there are also plenty of atmospheric pubs in which to sample the local Rotbier (red beer).
At noon daily in Hauptmarkt, the main market square, you can catch a performance from the musical clock on the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). The square also contains the so-called Beautiful Fountain decorated with figures relating to the Holy Roman Empire and, in winter, it’s the site of the famous Christmas market.
On the river, look out for the wooden Hangman’s Bridge over which, in the 15th century, the local executioner crossed to the city to do his grim work.
20th-century history
In the 1930s, Nuremberg was the scene of mass rallies of marching Nazi soldiers on an enormous, specially constructed showground. The rally site survives as a testament to megalomania.
Tours explain how it was used for mass propaganda and how the Nuremberg Laws that first compromised Jewish and other non-Aryan rights led ultimately to the death camps.
Inside the site’s never-completed Congress Hall, the Documentation Centre museum (awaiting a new permanent exhibition in 2023), also interrogates the rise of the Nazis.
At the end of the Second World War, Nuremberg was chosen as a fitting place to hold the war crimes trials at which key Nazis were convicted and sentenced to be hanged in Nuremberg Gaol. The Palace of Justice houses the Nuremberg Trials Memorial exhibition and, since it was withdrawn from regular use in 2020, visitors are now usually allowed in to see the famous Courtroom 600.
Off Kornmarkt, you can take a stroll along the Way of Human Rights; a modern memorial walk lined by columns an Israeli artist has carved with the General Declaration of Human Rights.
Other museums
You can see copies of the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire in the City Museum (Stadtmuseum) inside the 16th century Fembo's House. For more of the city’s cultural history, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is among the largest such museums in the German-speaking world.
It has a huge collection of historical musical instruments and works by the famous local artist Albrecht Dürer, whose original timber-framed 15th-century house still survives and is open to visitors. You can also visit the Art Bunker beneath the castle, inside of which important paintings and artefacts were protected from bombing during the war.
Nuremberg’s place in railway history (Germany’s first passenger trains ran from the city) is celebrated at the Deutsche Bahn Museum. Here you’ll find vintage engines and an interactive children’s area including a huge model railway.
Christmas market
Germany is rightly famous for its atmospheric Christmas markets, and the one in Nuremberg is among the most popular. The Christkindlesmarkt, which runs from November 25 to Christmas Eve, is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to the 17th century. It is a great place to buy handmade decorations, like glass baubles and wooden nutcracker figures.
Christmas is also the traditional time to buy the famous local gingerbread. You may also catch one of the seasonal concerts and, if you are visiting as a family, seek out the Christmas City with craft sessions and rides for children.
Other festivities
In early May, the arts and culture festival Blue Night features live performances and colourful projections in the city’s Old Town. In June, 40 local breweries gather to sell their wares at the Franconian Beer Festival, held in the castle moat.
Should I book Nuremberg as a BA reward flight?
It generally works out better to save your BA reward flights for long-haul routes but you could book flights with Avios, using the currency as part payment for your Nuremberg ticket. Pre-launch, BA was quoting flight prices as starting from £59 plus 1,000 Avios in Euro Traveller or £72 plus 24,500 Avios in Club Europe.
Four new routes on BA CityFlyer from London City Airport also launch on March 27 - Barcelona, Luxembourg, Thessaloniki and Milan Malpensa (which replaces BA’s previous route to Milan Linate).
As ever, to work out the best value flights on which to use your Avios, use our British Airways Reward Flight Finder.