Things to do in Bayreuth
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bayreuth
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall. Gardens and hiking at their best in June, Bayreuth Baroque and sanity prices in September.
Festival season late July to late August. Worth it with tickets, expensive and closed off without them.
Strong shoulder months. Palaces, gardens and hill hiking with the full programme and room to breathe.
Caves and rock gardens reopen, Easter wells in Franconian Switzerland, snow still possible on the summits.
Christmas market, quiet palaces, the therme at its best and the lowest hotel prices outside market weekends.
Winter low. Grey weather and winter palace hours, but empty Festspielhaus tours and the cheapest rooms of the year.
What's on
- Bayreuther Festspiele Late July to late August
Five weeks of Wagner only in the Festspielhaus. Tickets sell out.
- Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival September
Baroque opera in the Margravial Opera House, a short season in Wilhelmine's own theatre.
- Sommernachtsfest Eremitage Early August, date varies
Summer night festival with illuminated gardens, music and food stalls in the Eremitage park.
- Christkindlesmarkt Bayreuth Late November to December
Christmas market on the Marktplatz and La Spezia Platz, small scale and local.
Best things to do in Bayreuth
Festspielhaus Bayreuth
Wagner's own festival theatre on the Green Hill, with the covered pit and an audience ritual found nowhere else.
Markgräfliches Opernhaus
UNESCO Baroque court theatre of wood and canvas, gilded Rococo illusion hidden behind a plain stone facade.
Richard Wagner Museum
Wagner's house Wahnfried plus a modern museum on his work, the festival and the family's difficult history.
Eremitage Bayreuth
Wilhelmine's park of palaces, sun temple, grottoes and trick fountains, the finest half day in Bayreuth.
Neues Schloss Bayreuth
Wilhelmine's Rococo town palace with the Mirror Cabinet, opening into the Hofgarten walk to Wahnfried.
Maisel's Bier-Erlebniswelt
Historic Maisel brewery turned 4500 square metre beer world, ending with tastings by the craft brewhouse.
Bayreuther Katakomben
Guided tour through centuries of rock cellars under the brewery quarter, brewed beer history told underground.
Schloss Fantaisie
Quiet palace with the Spindler marquetry cabinet and Germany's first garden museum in a lakeside park.
Where to stay in Bayreuth
Altstadt
first trip, all-round base
Opernhaus, palaces, restaurants and Wahnfried are all in walking distance, with bus or taxi up the Green Hill.
Festspielhügel / Bürgerreuth
festival performances
Walking distance of the Festspielhaus, leafy villa streets, quiet outside festival weeks.
Wahnfried / Hofgarten / Friedrichstraße
elegance and calm near the centre
Prettiest villa streets by the Hofgarten and Wahnfried, ten minutes to the market square.
St. Georgen / Maisel quarter
younger trips, beer and value
Brewery quarter with the Maisel beer world and Liebesbier, ten minutes to the Marktplatz.
Seulbitz / Eremitage edge
spa, parking and quiet, by car
Castle hotels and gardens by the Eremitage and Lohengrin Therme, ten minutes by car into town.
Think twice about
- Hauptbahnhof station area
Least lovely streets in town, transit frontage and station loitering after dark. The Altstadt is ten minutes away at similar prices.
- Motorway junction hotels at Bindlach and the A9 / B2 corridors
Safe and cheap but a drive from everything and dead at night. Festival taxi fares erase the saving.
- Surrounding villages in festival season
Heinersreuth, Bindlach and Eckersdorf rooms leave you in the same taxi queue as everyone else after performances. Pay for the hill or the centre.
Best restaurants in Bayreuth
Bürgerreuth
Upscale Italian below the Festspielhaus, handmade pasta and a terrace made for festival evenings.
Dotzer Restauration
Small serious restaurant taking Franconian produce and German classics to fine dining level.
Liebesbier
Brewery hall and beer garden pouring about 100 beers with flights, steaks and burgers above pub level.
Oskar - Das Wirtshaus am Markt
Canonical Franconian Wirtshaus in the old town hall, for Schäufele, Sauerbraten and beer sauce roasts.
Gaststätte Wolffenzacher
Old school Franconian inn where locals eat, roasts and dumplings in a wood panelled room.
Restaurant Ganesha
Bayreuth's adopted Indian restaurant, curries and tandoori with proper vegetarian and vegan depth.
Schinner Braustuben
Historic brewery's own tavern rooms, house beers over hearty cheap Franconian plates.
Hansls Holzofenpizzeria
Compact wood fired pizzeria with blistered proper pizzas at takeaway friendly prices.
Best bars in Bayreuth
Manns Bräu Bayreuth
Small house brewery pub pouring its own unfiltered beers to a local crowd at staple prices.
Best coffee in Bayreuth
Café Kraftraum
Bright modern cafe for brunch and the full German coffee and cake ritual near the centre.
Outdoor things to do in Bayreuth
Ochsenkopf
Bayreuth's 1024 metre mountain for hiking, cable cars, summer toboggan, bike park and winter skiing.
Luisenburg-Felsenlabyrinth
Europe's largest rock labyrinth, a scramble through house sized granite boulders to wide viewpoints.
Teufelshöhle Pottenstein
Largest cave in Franconian Switzerland, 800 metres of dripstone chambers and a cave bear skeleton.
Sophienhöhle
Three storey dripstone cave below Burg Rabenstein, paired with falconry displays over the valley.
Felsengarten Sanspareil
Free Rococo rock garden in a beech grove, with grottoes, a ruined theatre and the Oriental Building.
Bamberg
UNESCO old town on seven hills, walked actively and finished with smoked Rauchbier in a brewery tavern.
Golf-Club Bayreuth e.V.
18 hole course over rolling protected landscape inside the city, with views back to the Festspielhaus.
Lohengrin Therme Bayreuth
Thermal pools at 36 degrees with sauna garden and Aufguss rituals, the local recovery day.
Best hotels in Bayreuth
Hotel Goldener Anker
Historic family run grand hotel by the Opera House, with classic restaurant and roof terrace.
Arvena Kongress Hotel
Largest full service four star in town, the festival workhorse for space, service and certainty.
Schloss Colmdorf
Small castle hotel in parkland near the Eremitage, quiet luxury with praised breakfast and parking.
Liebesbier Urban Art & Smart Hotel
Contemporary urban art hotel at the Maisel beer world, with beer garden and 100 beer bar downstairs.
H4 Hotel Residenzschloss Bayreuth
Reliable chain four star with conservatory restaurant and parking, often the best availability in town.
Hotel Rheingold
Established family feel mid range hotel with restaurant and parking, rebooked yearly by festival goers.
Hotel Bayerischer Hof
Historic railway grand hotel by the main station, practical for late arrivals and early trains.
B&B HOTEL Bayreuth
Clean compact budget chain rooms with late self check in and parking, south of the centre.
Is Bayreuth expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €145 a person |
| Splurge | €350 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Festspielhaus Bayreuth: months ahead
- Markgräfliches Opernhaus: a few days ahead
- Maisel's Bier-Erlebniswelt: a few days ahead
- Bayreuther Katakomben: a few days ahead
- Steingraeber & Söhne: a few days ahead
- Ochsenkopf: a few days ahead
- Teufelshöhle Pottenstein: a few days ahead
- Sophienhöhle: a few days ahead
- Festival tickets through the official shop only: written orders in the autumn window, instant sales sell out in under two hours.
- Festival season hotels the same day you order tickets, late July to August rooms double or treble and sell out.
- Bürgerreuth and Dotzer weeks ahead in festival season. Festspielhaus, Maisel and catacomb tours book in season.
- Bayreuth Baroque performances in September, a small house with a short season.
Is Bayreuth safe?
- Bayreuth is safe, centre and festival hill busy and lit late. Awareness around the Hauptbahnhof forecourt after dark.
- Pickpocket awareness in festival crowds. Bicycle theft is the characteristic petty crime.
- Outdoor hazards are wet granite, cave steps and Fichtelgebirge weather. Boots and a layer. Emergency 112, police 110.
Bayreuth travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Secondary market festival tickets at multiples of face value. Tickets are personalised and ID is checked.
- Rushed expensive plates at the foot of the Festspielhaus. Eat properly in town or book Bürgerreuth.
- Visiting the Festspielhaus in festival season without a ticket or tour. The house is closed to casual visitors then.
Getting around Bayreuth: public transport and more
- Walk the Wilhelmine centre in a 20 minute radius. Festspielhaus is a 30 minute uphill walk, bus 305 or a taxi booked ahead.
- Regional trains reach Nuremberg in about 1 hour and Bamberg in about 1 hr 9 min. No direct long distance ICE service.
- Park centrally and never drive to the Festspielhügel on a performance night. The Main Radweg cycle path starts here.
Who Bayreuth suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Bayreuth your trip
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