Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [191]
Chateau & Co ( 388 0420; Am Kirchtor 27; mains €9-20; dinner daily, lunch Sun; ) Fresh, seasonal and solid international fare, creative but without culinary pyrotechnics.
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Drinking & Entertainment
Finding a party pen to match your mood is easy in Halle’s trifecta of fun strips: Kleine Ulrichstrasse, Sternstrasse and the Bermudadreieck (between Seebener Strasse and Burgstrasse near Burg Giebichstein). Also consult the free zines Aha!, Blitz or Frizz.
Potemkin ( 959 8138; Kleine Ulrichstrasse 27; 9am-1am; ) Potemkin has been shaking up Halle’s nightlife with libational flights of fancy in an impressive range for many years. In the daytime it’s a place for breakfast, panini or a java jolt.
Charivari ( 494 8386; Kaulenberg 1; from 6pm; ) Knock back a couple of ‘brewskis’ if you need to loosen your nerves before belting out your best J Lo or Justin at this bar-cum-karaoke joint. Featuring over three dozen varieties, the beer menu is not for the indecisive. For sustenance, you can have pasta and pizza delivered from the next-door restaurant.
Objekt 5 ( 522 0016; Seebener Strasse 5; ) At this alt-flavoured venue you can catch folk, rock and avant-garde concerts and hit the dance floor on Friday and Saturday nights. There’s daytime chilling in the beer garden and decent grub (mains €5.50 to €10.50) in the adjacent building. Tram 8 takes you there.
Turm ( 202 3737; www.turm-halle.de, in German; Friedemann-Bach-Platz 5; from 10pm Wed, Fri & Sat) In the Moritzburg, this old student club flaunts a been-here-forever pedigree but has solidly arrived in the present tense. Three times weekly, DJs spin a heaving mix of techno, house, drum and bass and hip hop for energetic, style-conscious party animals.
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Getting There & Away
AIR
Leipzig-Halle Airport ( 0341-224 1155; www.leipzig-halle-airport.de) lies about equidistant between both cities, which are about 45km apart. It is served by domestic and international flights from two dozen airlines, including Lufthansa, Germanwings, Air Berlin, Condor and Austrian Airlines.
The airport is linked with Halle Hauptbahnhof at least twice hourly by RE (€3.60, 11 minutes) and IC (€6, 11 minutes) trains.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
From Leipzig, take the A14 west to the B100. The A14 connects Halle and Magdeburg in about one hour. The B91 runs south from Halle and links up with the A9 autobahn, which connects Munich and Berlin.
TRAIN
Leipzig and Halle are linked by frequent regional (€6, 35 minutes) and IC (€9.50, 25 minutes) trains. Magdeburg is served by IC trains (€19, 50 minutes) and RE trains (€15.20, 70 minutes); ICs also go to Berlin (€36, 1¼ hours). Local trains serve Eisleben (€6.90, 45 minutes) and Wittenberg (€11.30, one hour).
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Getting Around
Trams 2, 5, 7 and 9 run from the train station to the Marktplatz. Rides cost €1.70 (€1.20 for rides of up to four stops) or €4 for day cards.
For drivers, the one-way street system in Halle is fiendishly complex, and the streets busy. Your best bet is to park near the Hauptbahnhof, or at one of the municipal garages, and take trams.
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LUTHERSTADT EISLEBEN
03475 / pop 23,800
It seems odd for a well-travelled man whose ideas revolutionised Europe to have died in the town where he was born. However, as native son Martin Luther (1483–1546) himself put it before expiring here, ‘Mein Vaterland war Eisleben’ (Eisleben was my fatherland). Whereas Lutherstadt Wittenberg has other distractions, this former mining town focuses on the devout follower these days. Every where you turn, it’s Luther, Luther, Luther.
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Orientation & Information
Most sights are knotted together around the Markt, just north of Hallesche Strasse, the main thoroughfare and location of the tourist office ( 602 124; www.eisleben-tourist.de; Hallesche Strasse 4; 10am-5pm Mon & Wed-Fri, to 6pm Tue, 10am-1pm Sat). To get there from the station, it’s a 10-minute walk via Bahnhofsring and Bahnhofstrasse.