Contact/Directions
The observatory is at Latitude 49d53m09.6s North and Longitude 010d53m23.2s East (DHDN).
Arrival by car
- Coming from South (Erlangen/Nuremberg, A73)
Exit at “Bamberg Süd”
At second traffic light, turn left ( Forchheimer Strasse, -> Klinikum)
At second traffic light, turn left (Münchner Ring, -> Klinikum, Würzburg B22)
Continue with 3. - Coming from North (A70)
Exit A70 at “Bamberg Zentrum”
Follow Berliner Ring southbound ~4km
At y-intersection, continue right (Münchner Ring, -> Klinkum, Würzburg B22)
Continue with 3. - From Münchner Ring
Follow Münchner Ring crossing the river and beyond the next traffic light
After ~800m there is a pedestrian bridge crossing the street. Below that bridge, take the unsigned exit on the right (Schellenberger Strasse)
Follow Schellenberger Strasse until the end, then turn right into Oberer Stephansberg
Follow the street downhill, turn right at the first possibility (Sternwartstrasse)
Follow Sternwartstrasse uphill towards the observatory - Parking is available behind the observatory, either use the gate on the left of the observatory’s main building, or use the left hand gate at the end of Sternwartstrasse, drive uphill until the pavement changes to gravel and park. Do not park on the side of the yellow “Bundschuh-Haus”! Alternatively you can park on the Sternwartstrasse, but note that parking is time limited and only possible on the right hand side of the road (facing upwards).
Arrival by train/bus (Bamberg Central Station)
- Walking from the station to the observatory takes you ~30 min. Ask for “Spezikeller”, which is right next to the observatory and much better known.
- You can shorten your walk taking the bus:
Cross the street in front of the station building and turn right to the bus stop
Take any bus to the central bus station (ZOB). If you are lucky, you can go on directly from there, but probably you have to change. Attention: Buses change their line number at the ZOB!
Take one of the lines 901, 908, 912, 937 to “Schulplatz”. From here you have to walk (~8 min)
Cross the street “Unterer Kaulberg” and the small parking lot and enter the small street “Hölle” (which is blocked for cars).
Keep walking straight (Untere Seelgasse) until you’ve walked uphill to a T-crossing
Turn right into Oberer Stephansberg.
After about 15m, at the pedestrian crossing at the brewery turn left into the Sternwartstrasse and follow the road uphill to the observatory - If you have luggage or don’t want to walk, a taxi rig is in front of the main train station building. The trip to
the observatory will cost approximately 15 EUR.
Arrival by plane
- If at all possible, fly to Nuremberg Airport (NUE), this is 3 hours closer than flying to
Frankfurt or Munich (prefer FRA to MUC if NUE is not an option). - Arriving at NUE, pick up your luggage (waiting time is typically less than 10 minutes). Then take the subway to Nuremberg train station (entrance is directly in front of the terminal, subways leave every 20 minutes, get a ticket for zone 10, about 15 EUR). Then take the S-Bahn or the regional train to Bamberg (runs every 30 minutes; do NOT take the ICE, this requires a separate ticket and the time gain is minuscule). Then follow the instructions above (the ticket will be valid on the bus).
The whole trip will take 1-1.5 hours from landing and cost about 15 EUR. Alternatively, take the taxi 45 Minutes, 80-110 EUR. - Arriving at FRA, take the ICE train from the Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof to Würzburg (trains run every hour) and switch to the regional train to Bamberg (trains run every 30 minutes). Then follow the instructions above.
Depending on the time of arrival in FRA and whether you have luggage or not, expect the whole trip to take about 4 hours from landing (the train trip itself will take about 3h, including walk times at FRA (add 30-45 minutes if arriving at Terminal 2), and to cost 60 EUR. There are no connections from FRA to Bamberg after 20:00. - Arriving at MUC, take the subway from the airport subway station to Munich main train station and then switch to one of the ICE trains towards Bamberg. Depending on the time of day, you might be able to get an ICE directly to Bamberg, otherwise you will have to switch trains to the regional train or S-bahn in Nuremberg.
The whole trip will take a minimum of 4 hours including walking times. There is only one connection that departs MUC after 20:00, the cost will be around 70 EUR.