Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [243]
Café Stilbruch ( 827 171; Wagnergasse 2; dishes €3-23; 8.30am-1am Mon-Fri, 9am-late Sat & Sun) The competition is great on Wagnergasse, Jena’s pub mile, but this multilevel contender is still our favourite stop for drinks and a bite from the something-for-everybody menu. For privacy, snag the table atop the spiral staircase; for people watching, sit outside.
Roter Hirsch ( 443 221; Holzmarkt 10; mains €3.50-13; 9am-midnight Mon-Sat, 10am-11pm Sun; ) Open the door and feel catapulted back by about 500 years in this charismatic warren of wood-panelled rooms with secluded corners. It’s the perfect backdrop for the hearty home cooking; girth-friendly smaller dishes are also available.
Scala ( 356 666; JenTower, Leutragraben 1; mains €17-30; 11am-midnight; ) Other tower restaurants may be higher, but few match the calibre of Scala. The cuisine is globally inspired but doesn’t play it safe. Oriental-spice-encrusted duck with linguine in orange-ginger sauce is a typically ambitious flavour pairing.
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Entertainment
Rosenkeller ( 931 190; Johannisstrasse 13) This historic club in a network of cellars has plied booze and music to generations of students and is still among the best places in town to get into trouble and meet some friendly locals.
Kassablanca Gleis 1 ( 282 620; Felsenkellerstrasse 13a) Near Jena-West train station, this joint feeds the cultural cravings of the indie crowd with a potpourri of live concerts, dance parties, readings, experimental theatre, movies and other distractions. Cheap drinks fuel the fun.
Volksbad Jena ( 498 060; www.jena.de/volksbad, in German; Knebelstrasse 10) You can’t swim in water in this century-old public pool any longer; instead you’ll be showered by cultural events ranging from the mainstream to the offbeat.
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Getting There & Away
Direct trains to Weimar (€5, 15 minutes), Erfurt (€8.50, 30 minutes) and Eisenach depart from Jena-West. ICE trains to Berlin-Hauptbahnhof (€56, 2½ hours) depart from Jena-Paradies, as do twice hourly services to Rudolstadt (€6.90, 35 minutes) and Saalfeld (€8.40, 45 minutes).
Jena is just north of the A4 from Dresden to Frankfurt, and west of the A9 from Berlin to Munich. The B7 links it with Weimar, while the B88 goes south to Rudolstadt and Saalfeld.
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Getting Around
Single bus or tram tickets cost €1.70, while a day pass is €4.20. For a taxi, call 458 888. Fahrrad Kirscht ( 441 539; Löbdergraben 8; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat) rents out bikes for €15 for the first 24 hours and €10 per day thereafter.
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AROUND JENA
Dornburger Schlösser
On a plateau above the Saale River about 15km north of Jena, this trio of palaces ( 036497-222 91; Dornburg; Renaissance or Rococo Palace adult/concession €2/1.50, combination ticket €3.50/2.50; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct) makes for a pleasant excursion in summer. The most interesting is the 1539 Renaissance Palace, where Goethe sought solitude after the death of his patron, Duke Carl August. The rooms he stayed in have been restored more or less to their 1828 state. The youngest is the small and attractive Rococo Palace, which is used for temporary exhibits, concerts and weddings. The oldest is the aptly named Altes Schloss, which blends Romanesque, late-Gothic, Renaissance and baroque elements but can only be viewed from the outside. The gardens (admission free; 8am-dusk) are open year-round.
Trains travel frequently to Dornburg from Jena-Paradies (€3.10, 15 minutes), from where it’s a steep 20- to 30-minute climb. Alternatively, combine culture with cardio and hire a bicycle to follow the 32km Schlösser Tour (Palace Tour), which starts in central Jena.
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RUDOLSTADT
03672 / pop 26,000
Rural Rudolstadt was, until 1918, the main residence of the princes