Things to do in Würzburg beyond the palace
Start with the two free landmarks inside the palace, because they cost nothing and most people miss them: the Court Church and the Court Garden, plus the university museum in the south wing. After that the town is a walk, the wine is an evening, and Rothenburg is a day.
The free things, first
The Court Church and the Court Garden are free, in the operator’s own words, and the garden is open daily until dusk and 8 pm at the latest. The Martin von Wagner Museum in the south wing costs nothing either: antiquities Tuesday to Saturday from 10 to 1.30, picture gallery from 1.30 to 5, Sundays alternating. Between them that is a couple of hours in a UNESCO palace for no money at all, which is set out properly on what costs nothing here.
The old town, on foot or on wheels
The standard guided walk runs an hour and a half through the old town and includes admission to nothing, which its listing states plainly. The road train covers similar ground in forty minutes with an audio guide in six languages. It is a loop of the old town by road, and it is worth being clear about what that means, because one reviewer arrived expecting otherwise: “Wir dachten, die Bahn fährt hoch bis zur Festung” — a GetYourGuide traveller from Germany, on Würzburg: City Tour with the Bimmelbahn Train. They thought it climbed the hill. It does the old town.
The private walk is two hours and priced for a group of up to fifteen rather than per person, which changes the sums for a family or a small party. Its itinerary describes the Residenz from outside.
If somebody in the party has had enough of walking, the road train and the guided walk cover comparable ground at very different costs to the legs. Doing one in the morning and the other never is a perfectly good plan.
Wine, at three lengths
An hour: the Brückenschoppen, a sixty-minute guided tour with certified guides and 0.1 litre of Franconian wine on the Alte Mainbrücke, meeting at the tourist information in the Falkenhaus. Two hours: the old-town tour that ends with three Franconian wines, 0.1 litre each, for participants sixteen and over. One to two hours indoors: the cellar tour and trio tasting at a family winery in the town, which is not the state cellar under the palace and does not claim to be.
The long version is the vineyard day: three hours, five tastings, three savoury pastries, glasses to take away, priced for a whole group of up to twelve rather than per person. Which cellar is which is on the cellar under the palace.
One hour, one glassWürzburg: Brückenschoppen (guided tour with wine)
A cellar, not the HofkellerWürzburg: guided tour of the wine cellar incl. trio wine tasting
Priced per groupWürzburg: Vineyard Tour including Wine Cellar, 5 Wine Tastings and Pastries
Days out, and the coach that never comes here
The Romantic Road day from Würzburg runs seven and a half hours with a German and English guide, includes entry and a special tour at Weikersheim Castle, and explicitly excludes entry tickets to attractions in Rothenburg and Würzburg. Rothenburg is about ninety minutes away and has a private night watchman tour after dark, priced for a group of up to twenty.
The warning worth printing twice: the biggest Romantic Road day in the region by review count leaves from Munich, runs Munich to Harburg to Rothenburg, and does not stop in Würzburg at all. It has 2,440 reviews and it is a good day out. It is not a way of seeing this city. The four are compared on Romantic Road day trips.
Leaves from hereRomantic Road & Rothenburg ob der Tauber Tour from Würzburg
Private, per groupRothenburg: Private Night Watchman Tour
Never comes to WürzburgFrom Munich: Rothenburg and Romantic Road Day Trip by Bus
Everything in the catalogue, with what each listing says about the palace in its own words, is on every tour we list, and the quotes stay beside the tours they came from on the reviews page. If you have exactly one day, the order is on one day in Würzburg.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in Würzburg besides the Residence?
The Court Church, the Court Garden and the free university museum in the south wing, then the old town on foot in an hour and a half or by road train in forty minutes, then Franconian wine on the Alte Mainbrücke. Rothenburg is about ninety minutes away; see Romantic Road day trips.
What can you do in Würzburg for free?
Walk into the Court Church and the Court Garden, both of which the operator states are free, and into the Martin von Wagner Museum in the south wing on its weekday slots. Under-18s also get into the ticketed staterooms free. The full account is on what costs nothing here.
Is there anything unusual to do in Würzburg?
Three things people book rather than stumble on: an hour on the Alte Mainbrücke with a glass of Franconian wine, a cellar tour and tasting at a family winery in the town, and a vineyard day priced for a whole group of up to twelve. None of them enters the state cellar under the palace, which is explained on the cellar under the palace.