Erfurt, the capital of Germany's Thuringia region, greets visitors with a bustling morning market beneath its medieval cathedral towers. Domplatz is filled with local growers setting out crates of vegetables and flowers, while the 14th- and 15th-century cathedral houses the Gloriosa, the world's largest medieval free-swinging bell, cast in 1497 and weighing 12 tonnes. The city's flat landscape is punctuated by soaring church towers, and its atmospheric old town has changed little over the centuries.
A region of forests, heritage and hearty food
Thuringia, often called the “green heart of Germany,” lies in the centre of the country between Hesse, Saxony and Bavaria. It is known for dense forests, intellectual heritage and hearty cuisine. A four-day exploration by public transport begins with a three-hour coach journey from Frankfurt, rising through forested highlands before descending into the wide agricultural basin around Erfurt.
After the morning market, a short walk leads to the Krämerbrücke, a 120-metre-long 14th-century bridge lined with colourful half-timbered houses. Erfurt once sat at the crossroads of two major trade routes, and its wealth came partly from woad, a plant cultivated locally and processed for blue dye. Craft shops still sell the dye. Nearby, Petersberg Citadel, one of Europe's largest and best-preserved fortresses, offers a maze of underground tunnels. Martin Luther studied in this city and was a monk in the Augustinian monastery, where guided tours are available and overnight stays are possible.
Dinner takes place at Wirtshaus Christoffel, in the Haus zur weißen Lilie (House of the White Lily), which dates back to the 12th century. The house-brewed beer and beef roulade with Thuringian dumplings are highlights.
Gardens, spas and Bauhaus heritage
The next morning, a seven-minute bus ride or 30-minute walk leads to Egapark, created for the 1961 international horticultural exhibition. Spread across 36 hectares, it includes the German Horticultural Museum in the old Cyriaksburg fortress and displays ranging from cacti and succulents to tropical planting.
Weimar, a 30-minute bus journey away, is the birthplace of the Bauhaus movement and where Germany's first democratic constitution was adopted. The Bauhaus museum features ceramics, textiles, metalwork and painting, while the former art school buildings now house the Bauhaus-Universität.
Bad Langensalza, a spa town 40 miles away, offers 10 parks and themed gardens. Guide Markus Fromm explains that people come here to “cure, to relax, to refresh.” Sulphur springs were discovered here in 1811, and the Friederiken Therme is the main thermal spa, with natural sulphur, brine and drinking mineral waters, indoor and outdoor pools, saunas and treatments. At Friederikenschlösschen, an 18th-century summer residence, a fountain still runs with sulphur water used for healing since 1812.
Ancient forests and a treetop walk
The town's gardens are a particular draw. The restored baroque garden at Friederikenschlösschen and the Klagetor, a gate tower dating from about 1365, give way to the Japanese garden Kofuku no Niwa (Garden of Happiness), with koi ponds, clipped azaleas and sculpted pines.
For larger-scale nature, a bus ride of 10 minutes reaches Hainich national park, which spans 7,500 hectares and offers more than 75 miles of signposted walking trails through beech forests, part of a Unesco world heritage site. The wider Hainich is Germany's largest unbroken deciduous woodland area. Park director Rüdiger Biehl says, “Parts of this landscape have been left entirely untouched for decades, abandoned to their own devices without a shred of human meddling.”
Before the trail, lunch at the park's restaurant Forsthaus Thiemsburg features roast pork in black beer and Thuringian dumplings with a cold Köstritzer pilsner. Deep in the beeches, the sun breaks through the branches and leaves crunch underfoot. The Baumkronenpfad, a wooden walkway through the treetops, rises to a 44-metre observation tower, where the canopy of an estimated 350-year-old oak is almost at eye level. Deadwood is left to decay, providing habitat for rare wood-boring insects and endangered Bechstein's bats.
Back in Erfurt that evening, the final symphony concert of the season at Theaterplatz caps the four days. The trip, provided by the German National Tourist Board, highlights a region accessible with a few short bus rides. Dorint Hotel am Dom in Erfurt has doubles from £85, and VMT provides information on buses, trains and trams across central Thuringia, plus a free app with live departure updates.
