Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [479]
Local Central ( 253 90; Marktplatz 11; mains €6.90-16.90; 9.30am-midnight or later) The service here is young and friendly, the rump steak is especially delicious, and the room warbles with the sounds of lively conversation – a comfortable favourite for locals of all ages. Drinks include five beers on tap.
For self-catering, there’s a food market ( to 2pm Wed & Sat) on Marktplatz.
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Drinking & Entertainment
For listings look no further than the free Marburger Magazin Express (www.marbuch-verlag.de, in German).
Café Vetter ( 258 88; Reitgasse 4; cakes from €1.70; 9am-6pm, from 11am Tue) In the same family for five generations, this tearoom with wicker-back chairs and classic 1970s lamps is famous for its tasty cakes and fine panoramas.
Hugo’s ( 130 00; www.hugos-marburg.de, in German; Gerhard-Jahn-Platz 21a; 9am-midnight or 1am, from 10am Sat & Sun; ) This modern, Lahn-side beer garden, bar and finger-food place offers watery views through glass walls.
Delirium mit Frazzkeller ( 649 19; Steinweg 3; 8pm-3am) Delirium (nonsmoking) is upstairs, Frazzkeller (smoking permitted) is downstairs – both of these student hang-outs scream ‘1970s’ and have great views over the Unterstadt (yes, even from the cellar). The house drink is Roter Korn, made with redcurrant liqueur.
Jazzclub Cavete ( 661 57; www.jazzini.de; Steinweg 12; 8pm-1am or 2am) A prime port of call for jazz lovers, with open-stage nights (no cover charge) on Monday and Thursday from 9pm and, from October to June, frequent concerts (€10 to €20).
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Getting There & Away
The best train connections are with Frank-furt (€21, one hour) and Kassel (€17.60, 1¼ hours).
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Getting Around
About 100m north of the tourist office, free lifts (inside Parkhaus Oberstadt, Pilgrimstein; 6am-2am) whisk you up to Wettergasse in the Altstadt. A thigh-toughening alternative is nearby Enge Gasse, a monstrously steep stone staircase that was once a sewage sluice.
The Hauptbahnhof is linked to Rudolphs-platz (where Pilgrimstein meets Universitäts-strasse) by various bus lines, including 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.
The 245km Lahntal Radweg runs along the Lahn all the way to the Rhine. Bicycles can be rented inside Parkhaus Oberstadt ( 205 155; Pilgrimstein & Wettergasse; per day Fri-Sun bicycle/tandem €7.50/16, Mon-Thu €6/13; 6am-2am) – go to the parking garage’s glass-enclosed office on the 14th floor.
Velociped ( 245 11; www.velociped.de; Alte Kasseler Strasse 43), 400m north of the Hauptbahnhof, organises individual and guided cycling tours and hires out bicycles. About 7km south of Marburg, Lahntours ( 06426-928 00; www.lahntours.de, in German; Lahntalstrasse 45, Roth an der Lahn) arranges cycling and canoe trips.
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NATIONALPARK KELLERWALD-EDERSEE
Hesse’s first national park (www.nationalpark-kellerwald-edersee.de), established in 2004, encompasses one of the largest extant red beech forests in Central Europe, the Kellerwald, and the Edersee, a serpentine artificial reservoir 55km northeast of Marburg and about the same distance southwest of Kassel. Some 400 springs feed creeks that, as one brochure puts it, are ‘a true paradise for the fire salamander’. Larger land animals include red deer; overhead you may see eagles and honey buzzards and, at night, various species of bat.
For information and insights into the area’s ecosystems, head to the new NationalparkZentrum ( 05635-992 781; www.nationalparkzentrum-kellerwald.de, in German; B252, Vöhl-Herzhausen; 9am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm Nov-Mar), a striking modern visitors centre at the western end of the Edersee, on the northern edge of Kirchlotheim.
A favourite family vacation spot, the national park’s lush forests and flowery meadows offer excellent hiking. Hiking trails include the Kellerwaldsteig (marked ‘K’) and the Urwaldsteig-Edersee