Würzburg Transportation

The train on the right, on track 4, is a first-generation InterCityExpress which has been in operation since 1991. You can always tell a first generation ICE because they have a decorative but dysfunctional hump on the roof of the dining car -- but at least they HAVE a real dining car!

This particular train is ICE 583, which left Hamburg-Altona, in northern Germany, at 6:47 in the morning. After three more stops in Hamburg it headed south via Hannover, Göttingen, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe and Fulda, and arrived in Würzburg right on time (imagine that!) at 10:30. After a two minute halt it will continue south to Munich, with a stop in Augsburg on the way.

The train on the left, on track 5, is ICE 721, which left Münster (Westfalen) at 6:03 in the morning. This is a third generation InterCityExpress which means that it is capable of doing up to 300 km/hour (usually only 280 in actual practice) on the newest high-speed railroad link between Cologne and Frankfurt.

It stopped at Frankfurt Airport and Frankfurt South Station, which is where I got on. After a nine minute halt here in Würzburg it will continue on to Nürnberg, which is its final destination.

These third generation ICEs don't have a BordRestaurant (dining car), just a BordBistro run by one overworked employee. Originally in the ICE3 there was standing room only in these BordBistros, but after massive protests that have finally put in half a dozen tables so it is at least possible to sit and have breakfast, as I did on the way from Frankfurt to Würzburg.

Since these two trains are on opposite sides of the same platform it is of course very easy for passengers to change from one train to another -- especially on a day like today when both trains are on time!

Würzburg is very nearly in the middle of the five-hundred-kilometer Main Valley Bicycle Route (Maintal Radweg). From here you can cycle 246 km upstream to Bayreuth via Ochsenfurt (top sign in the photo) or 243 km downstream to Mainz by way of Zellingen (bottom sign).

This is one of only two German bicycle routes to be awarded all five stars for quality, safety and service by the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) -- the other being the "classic" Tauber Valley Route, which meets up with the Main Valley Route at Wertheim.

I have cycled most of the lower half of the Main Valley Route at one time or another, some sections more than once, but haven't been on the upper half yet.

To find out more, click on the link to get to the Main River Bicycle Tour on my Germany page.

Würzburg is one of a growing number of German cities (like Aschaffenburg, Gera and Leipzig, to name just a few examples) to have a bicycle station at the main railroad station.

While this one has some minus points, like the old-fashioned "rim-killer" bicycle stands that are only half-covered by a narrow roof, it still meets a need and is used daily by hundreds of cyclists, who can leave their bicycles here (and have them repaired if necessary) while they go off on the train somewhere.

You can also rent a bicycle here.

Würzburg has a good system of five tram lines and eighteen bus lines, not counting all the suburban and regional buses.

You can get an all-day ticket for the city of Würzburg (not including suburbs) for EUR 4.00.

Update 2013: An all-day ticket for the city of Würzburg (not including suburbs) now costs EUR 4.60 -- a very moderate increase after nearly a decade.

W?rzburg is located very central and so it can be reached very good from all directions.

By car: W?rzburg is a crossing point of two important german motorways, the A7 and the A3. The A7 is Germany's longest motorways and it goes from Flensburg (at the danish border) til F?ssen (at the austrian border). The A3 connects the dutch border with the austrian border.

By train: W?rzburg has good train connections. All important trains stop here.

One way to get around in Würzburg is the tram. For more information about the trams in Würzburg, lines, timetables, tickets etc. go here:
http://www.wuerzburg.de/wsb/english/wsb.htm

On the Parkinfo website (http://www.parkinfo.com/) you can search for car parks in Würzburg. It will tell you the location of the parking lots, how many there are, if it's free or not and show you the location on a city map.

City map:
http://stadtplan.wuerzburg.de/

Shopping in downtown Wurzburg can be a lot of fun. Parking...cannot. A simple solution is to park at the Residence. The front of the building contains a large parking lot, and it is rarely full. It is also just a couple of blocks from the downtown shops. When you're done putting all those shopping bags away, make sure you walk through the Residence's beautiful gardens.

It only takes one hour to get to Wurzburg from Frankfurt, and if you're leaving Wurzburg, Bamberg is 1 hour, Nurnburg is 1 hour, and Munich is 2 1/2 hours. So you can go anywhere quickly from here.
The walk from the train station to the youth hostel, would take 20 minutes at a good pace. These are pretty much the two borders of the sights in Wurzburg. So you could walk everywhere, or take the trams the run in most of the old town.

In Wurzburg there are many boat tours along the Main River. They carry you in fantastic landscapes and some of them reach Frankfurt stopping in the most beautiful place located along the river.

depending on where you're staying... walk. Or take the trams, bus or taxi. Like most European cities, it's easy to get around here.