Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [221]
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Drinking
Just north of Fischmarkt, Erfurt’s former university quarter is a hub of nightspots, pubs and bars, especially along Michaelisstrasse and Futterstrasse.
Hemingway ( 551 9944; Michaelisstrasse 26) Everything the macho scribe loved is here in abundance: cigar humidors with personal drawers, 148 types of rum, and 30 different daiquiri cocktails. The Africa Lounge has a local Bambi, though, not an elephant bagged beneath Kilimanjaro.
Modern Masters ( 550 7251; Michaelisstrasse 48; from 5pm) Urbane and sophisticated, this cocktail bar has been shaking up Erfurt with flights of fancy in libation through an impressive range of more than 220 concoctions.
Weinstein LeBar ( 0152 2332 6707; Kleine Arche 1; from 7pm Sun-Fri, 8pm Sat; ) This is as unassuming a wine bar as wine bars should be: soft music, candlelight and as many as 50 wines by the glass, including some hard-to-get bottles from the nearby Saale-Unstrut Valley. A basic snack menu is available.
Dubliner ( 789 2595; Neuwerkstrasse 47a; from 4pm) On weekends it seems everybody’s popping by to knock back pints of Kilkenny or Guinness at this boisterous Irish thirst parlour (is there any other kind?). Whiskey’s all the rage downstairs.
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Entertainment
Consult the free zines Dates, Takt and Blitz for nightlife and event listings. Throughout summer, from the end of May, classical concerts take place beneath the linden trees in the romantic courtyard of Michaeliskirche (on Fridays). Organ concerts are held year-round in the Predigerkirche and Michaeliskirche (at noon Wednesdays), and in the Dom (Saturdays).
Engelsburg ( 244 770; www.eburg.de, in German; Allerheiligenstrasse 20-21) Good times are pretty much guaranteed at this venerable venue, no matter whether you hunker down for beer and talk in the Steinhaus pub (see Eating, opposite), report to the dance floor of the medieval cellar labyrinth or go highbrow at the upstairs Café DuckDich cultural forum.
Presseklub ( 789 4565; Dalbergsweg 1) A former gathering spot for media types, this club is now a delightfully dancey party location with a chic interior and salsa and ’80s nights.
Theater Waidspeicher ( 598 2924; Domplatz 18; tickets adult/concession €9/6.50, children’s shows €5/3.50) Not only children will be enchanted by the adorable marionettes and puppets that perform at this cute theatre in a historic woad storehouse (reached via Mettengasse).
DasDie Brettl ( 551 166; www.dasdielive.de; Lange Brücke 29) Cabaret, musicals, concerts, transvestite shows and poetry slams heat up the stage of this cultural centre.
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Getting There & Away
The tiny Flughafen Erfurt ( 656 2200; www.flughafen-erfurt.de; Binderlebener Landstrasse 100) is about 6km west of the city centre and is served by Air Berlin and a few charter airlines.
Erfurt has direct IC train links to Berlin-Hauptbahnhof (€54, 2½ hours) and ICE connections with Dresden (€48, 2½ hours) and Frankfurt am Main (€51, 2¼ hours). Direct trains also go to Meiningen (€16.70, 1½ hours) and Mühlhausen (€11.30, 45 minutes). Regional trains to Weimar (€4.40, 15 minutes) and Eisenach (€10.30, 50 minutes) run at least once hourly.
Erfurt is just north of the A4 and is crossed by the B4 (Hamburg to Bamberg) and the B7 (Kassel to Gera). The A71 autobahn runs south to Schweinfurt via Ilmenau, Oberhof and Meiningen.
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Getting Around
Tram 4 directly links the airport and Anger in the city centre (€1.70, 20 minutes). Tickets in the central (yellow) zone for trams and buses cost €1.70, or €4.20 for a day pass. To order a taxi, ring 511 11 or 555 55.
Bikes can be hired at Fahrradstation (Bahnhofstrasse; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) for €12 per 24 hours and at Radhaus