Nordlingen: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Nördlingen is one of the very few towns in Germany whose medieval wall survives complete, and the only one where you can walk all the way round on the covered walkway. It runs for about 2.6 km, with five gates and a string of towers, and from above it you look into back gardens and over the roofs. The circuit takes about an hour without stops. Climb up at any gate; the steps are steep and the walkway narrow.
A short history of Nordlingen
Nördlingen is built inside a crater formed about 15 million years ago, when a meteorite struck the area and created the Ries basin, some 25 kilometres across. Only in 1960 did scientists prove that it was an impact crater and not a volcano. The building stones of the great church contain tiny diamonds formed by the impact. In 1215 Nördlingen became a free imperial city, and in 1634 one of the great battles of the Thirty Years' War was fought nearby. Its circular wall has been preserved intact along its whole length. In 1970 the Apollo 14 astronauts trained here to learn to recognise impact rocks before landing on the Moon.
The ten best sights in Nordlingen
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1Daniel
The 90 m church tower in the middle of town; about 350 steps up to the whole crater in one view
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2St. George's Church
A huge late-Gothic hall church built of suevite, the stone the meteor made
3Town wall walkThe roofed walkway runs the whole way round the old town; climb up at any gate
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4RiesKraterMuseum
Explains the impact that made the landscape, and holds a piece of moon rock
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5Town Museum
The town's history in the old hospital, including the great battle of 1634
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6Town Wall Museum
Inside the Löpsinger gate tower; the story of the walls and a view from the top
7Bavarian Railway MuseumSteam locomotives in the old engine depot by the station; check the days of steam rides
8Town HallTown hall since the 14th century, with a Renaissance stone staircase outside
9Bread and Dance HouseA 15th-century hall on the market square: bakers sold below, the town danced above
10Reimlinger GateThe oldest of the five town gates, on the south side
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Nordlingen →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Nordlingen:
Free walking tours in Nordlingen
Round the wall
Nördlingen is one of the very few towns in Germany whose medieval wall survives complete, and the only one where you can walk all the way round on the covered walkway. It runs for about 2.6 km, with five gates and a string of towers, and from above it you look into back gardens and over the roofs. The circuit takes about an hour without stops. Climb up at any gate; the steps are steep and the walkway narrow.
- Deininger Gate · Coming from the station you enter the old town here, on the east side. Most of the gates are named after the village their road leads to, and Deiningen lies a few kilometres east across the crater floor.
- Löpsinger Gate · The gate tower now holds the Town Wall Museum, which tells how the walls were built and defended. Legend says it was at one of these gates that a sow rubbing against an unlocked door warned the town of a night attack in 1440.
- Baldinger Gate · On the north side the walkway passes the gate whose road leads north to Baldingen. From this stretch you can see how the round town fills the space inside the wall almost exactly.
- Wall walk, west side · The wall you are walking on dates mostly from the 14th century, when the growing town built a new, wider ring. The roof over the walkway kept the defenders and their powder dry, and it still keeps you dry today.
- Alte Bastei · This bastion was added to the wall when cannon made the old towers weak, its thick earth and stone built to absorb shot. Today its yard is an open-air theatre stage in summer.
- Reimlinger Gate · The Reimlinger gate is the oldest of the five, and its road leads south to Reimlingen. Café Kasarm sits right on the wall walk beside it, the natural place to finish the circuit.
Inside a meteor crater
About 15 million years ago an asteroid roughly a kilometre across struck here and blasted out a crater some 24 km wide, now called the Ries. Erosion has softened its rim into low hills, so from the ground it looks like an ordinary plain, but from the top of the Daniel tower you can see the circle all around. This route starts in town, where the evidence is in the building stone, and goes out to the rim. Half a day, mostly by car.
- RiesKraterMuseum · Until 1960 many geologists thought the Ries was a volcanic crater. That year Eugene Shoemaker and Edward Chao found coesite, a form of quartz made only under enormous shock pressure, and proved it was an impact. The museum tells that story and displays a moon rock lent by NASA.
- St. George's Church · The church is built of suevite, a rock of fused and shattered stone thrown out by the impact. It contains tiny diamonds, far too small to see, formed in the shock, so the walls are in a sense studded with them.
- Daniel · The tower is about 90 metres high and about 350 steps take you to the top. A watchman still lives up there, and every half hour from 10 pm to midnight he calls out 'So G'sell so', a call said to go back to the night the town was saved in 1440.
- Ofnet Caves · In 1908 archaeologists found two pits in these caves packed with human skulls, carefully laid in nests and decorated with shells and teeth. They date from the Mesolithic, about 8,500 years ago, and are still a puzzle.
- Wallersteiner Felsen · The rock rises abruptly from the flat crater floor, made of limestone that formed in the lake which filled the crater after the impact. A castle once stood on top; from its site the view runs across the whole basin.
- Ipf · Just outside the crater rim, this bare cone was a Celtic princely seat around 500 BC, and its rings of ramparts are still clear on the slopes. From the top you look back east into the Ries.
Along the Romantic Road
The Romantic Road was laid out after the Second World War to bring visitors to the old towns of southern Germany, and it runs right through Nördlingen on its way from Würzburg to Füssen. This stretch links the walled towns and castles on either side of the crater, from Dinkelsbühl in the north to Donauwörth on the Danube in the south. It is about 70 km end to end on easy roads. Allow a full day with stops.
- Dinkelsbühl · Dinkelsbühl came through the Thirty Years' War and the Second World War largely undamaged. Every July its Kinderzeche festival re-enacts the legend of the town's children pleading with the Swedish army in 1632 to spare it.
- Wallerstein Palace · The princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein moved their residence to the foot of the rock after the old castle on top was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. The family still lives in the palace.
- Town Hall · The building has served as Nördlingen's town hall since the 14th century. Its covered stone staircase on the outside was added in the Renaissance.
- Harburg Castle · The castle has stood above the Wörnitz valley since at least the 12th century and has been in the hands of the Oettingen family since the 13th. Because it was never destroyed or rebuilt as a palace, it remains one of the most complete medieval castles in southern Germany.
- Käthe Kruse Doll Museum · Käthe Kruse began making soft, realistic dolls for her own children in 1905, and they became famous across the world. Her workshop moved to Donauwörth after the Second World War, and the museum shows dolls from every period.
- Donauwörth · Here the Wörnitz, the river that runs past Harburg, flows into the Danube. The broad main street, the Reichsstraße, was once part of the trade road between Nuremberg and Augsburg.
Getting to Nordlingen and getting around
- Nördlingen Station · Regional trains to Donauwörth and Aalen; a ten-minute walk to the Deininger gate
- Nördlingen bus station · Regional buses round the Ries crater leave from beside the station
Cheap eats in Nordlingen
Nördlingen is in Bavarian Swabia, and the food is Swabian rather than the Bavarian of Munich: Kässpatzen, egg noodles layered with cheese and fried onions, Maultaschen, large stuffed pasta squares, and a good deal of pork. Bakeries open early and sell pretzels and rolls for a few euros. In the afternoon the town sits down to coffee and cake, and the cafés on the market square are the place for it.
- Café Altreuter · Café and pastry shop on the market square; coffee and cake about €6-9
- Café Kasarm · Café and beer garden on the town wall; a drink and snack about €5-12
- Mayer's Beck · Bakery on the Rübenmarkt; pretzels and rolls from about €1
- Weekly market · Farmers' stalls in the centre; picnic food for two about €10-15
- Crater Café & Bar · Café near the Reimlinger gate; coffee and a snack about €5-9
- Kleibls Restaurant am Daniel · Lunch in the shadow of the tower, Swabian dishes about €12-18
Museums in Nordlingen
- RiesKraterMuseum · The impact explained, with a moon rock; give it 1.5 hours
- Town Museum · Town history in the old hospital, next to the crater museum
- Town Wall Museum · Inside the Löpsinger gate; the walls and their defence, and a view from the top
- Bavarian Railway Museum · Locomotives in the old depot by the station; open on set days
- Harburg Castle · Guided tours of a complete medieval castle, 20 minutes' drive
Nature and day trips near Nordlingen
- Ofnet Caves · Short walk to two small caves, 10 minutes' drive; bring a torch
- Ipf · A 30-minute climb to the top of a Celtic hill, 15 minutes' drive
- Wallersteiner Felsen · A rock in the crater floor with a view across the whole basin
- Marienhöhe · Wooded park on the hill south of the walls, for an evening stroll
- Geopark Ries · The whole crater is a UNESCO Global Geopark, with signed trails and quarries
Things to do in Nordlingen with kids
- Daniel · About 350 steps up the tower; small fee, open daily
- Bavarian Railway Museum · Locomotives by the station; check the steam days before you go
- Town wall walk · The roofed walkway round the town, free and dry even in rain
- Berger Gate playground · A playground just inside the wall by the Berger gate
- Harburg Castle · Towers, a well and walls to walk; tours suit older children
Where to eat in Nordlingen
- Meyers Keller · Fine dining on the hill south of town, menus from about €70; beer garden cheaper
- Hotel Sonne · Old inn on the market square beside St. George's, mains about €15-25
- Sixenbräu-Stüble · Traditional inn by the Berger gate, Swabian mains about €12-20
- Zum Hubele · Restaurant by the old granaries, mains about €12-22
- Roter Löwe · Inn on Baldinger Straße, local dishes about €12-20
- Kleibls Restaurant am Daniel · Dinner below the tower, then listen for the watchman's call at 10 pm; mains about €14-24
Frequently asked questions about Nordlingen
What is there to see in Nordlingen?
The top sights in Nordlingen are Daniel, St. George's Church and Town wall walk. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Nordlingen?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Nordlingen without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Nordlingen?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Nordlingen, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Round the wall.
How do you get to Nordlingen and get around?
The main ways are Nördlingen Station and Nördlingen bus station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Nordlingen, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Nordlingen that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Nordlingen for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.