Four days in Bayreuth

A short holiday is the perfect way to take a break from everyday life. In four days you can familiarize yourself with Bayreuth's culture and some Upper Franconian culinary highlights.

With our four-day guide, we guarantee you an exci­ting short break for fami­lies, indi­vi­duals or groups. We are also happy to help you on loca­tion with addi­tional tips for excursions. 

Day 1: From Wagner to Margra­vine Wilhelmine

You can start your 4‑day explo­ra­tion of Bayreuth with a guided walking tour through the historic city centre of Bayreuth. The Tourist Infor­ma­tion Office is the meeting point and the start of the tour. There, you can also pick up further infor­ma­tion about Bayreuth and the surroun­ding area. 

After lunch in one of the tradi­tional eateries in the city centre, visit the Richard Wagner Museum and gain an insight into the life of the musical icon. A perma­nent exhi­bi­tion describes the life and works of Richard Wagner in three sepa­rate parts. In addi­tion to various exhi­bi­tions, chamber concerts, confe­rences and lectures are also held at the museum. The museum is located in House Wahn­fried, Wagner’s former home.

After­wards you can visit the New Palace, which you already viewed from the outside during the guided tour, and now see it from the inside as well. Margra­vine Wilhel­mine herself influenced the design of the palace consider­ably, inclu­ding the design of the Mirror Cabinet and the Old Music Room. The Italia­nate Palace at the New Palace exem­pli­fies Bayreuth Rococo style, and can be viewed in the small rooms of the buil­ding. Please note that opening hours there are only from 10 am to 4 pm from October to March. In the other months, the New Palace is open from 9 am to 6 pm.

To bring the first day of your short break to a close, we recom­mend a walk through the romantic Hofgarten (Court Gardens), “the green lung” of the city centre. A subse­quent dinner in the city centre rounds off the first day.

Day 2: Bayreuth’s underground 

Begin the second day of your short break with a visit to the Margra­vial Opera House, which has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heri­tage Site since 2012, and marvel at its gran­diose inte­rior archi­tec­ture. The opera house is open from 9 am to 6 pm. Tours of the inte­rior take place every 45 minutes. Music enthu­si­asts might want to take a look at the events that take place in the opera house. Various concerts and perfor­mances are still held in the Margra­vial Opera House.

To end the day with a high­light, you can treat yourself to a fresh beer in the “Herzog­keller” after the cata­combs. For beer lovers, a visit to Maisel’s “Bier-Erlebnis-Welt” is also wort­hwhile. There you can take a self-guided tour and learn all the secrets about the history and art of brewing beer, as well as the Maisel’s company. The “Liebes­bier” is the ideal place to round the evening off with a special dinner.

Day 3: A journey around the world 

Begin your penul­ti­mate day in Bayreuth with a walk through the Ecolo­gical-Bota­nical Garden of the Univer­sity of Bayreuth — it offers a unique bota­nical journey around the world in just a few hours. The Ecolo­gical-Bota­nical Garden can be reached by car or with the bus lines 316, 306 as well as 304. To reach the garden, alight at the “Zentrale Univer­wal­tung” bus stop.

After lunch or a coffee in the city, you can take part in a guided tour of Bayreuth’s land­mark – the Fest­spiel­haus – at 2 pm (available from September to March). On the “Walk of Wagner”, starting at the Richard Wagner Museum and ending at the Fest­spiel­haus, you can reach your desti­na­tion on foot in just over half an hour. The route to the Fest­spiel­haus via the Walk of Wagner takes you past places that played a special role in Wagner’s life. However, if the walk is too much for you, you can also get to the Fest­spiel­haus by buses 305 and 309.

For the late after­noon or evening, you can check the event calendar to see if there is curr­ently a special exhi­bi­tion or event taking place in the IWALEWAHAUS. The IWALEWAHAUS is a must for enthu­si­asts of African contem­po­rary art. It has a coll­ec­tion of modern and contem­po­rary visual art and popular culture from Africa, Asia and the Pacific region that is unique in Germany.

Day 4: The Margraves‘ land­scaped park

Spend your depar­ture day taking it easy, begin­ning with a stroll through the magni­fi­cent Hermi­tage park, stop­ping to admire its “New Palace”, a fasci­na­ting piece of park archi­tec­ture with the central sun temple crowned by Apollo, the god of the Muses. The “New Palace” should not be confused with the New Palace in Bayreuth city centre. Equally worth seeing is the Old Palace of the Hermi­tage. In 1735, Wilhel­mine had this extended into a summer palace with magni­fi­cent inte­rior decoration.

After your walk, you can unwind in the café in the Oran­gery. The Hermi­tage can be reached by car or by public trans­port (buses 302 and 303). If you are travel­ling by car, it is worth taking a detour to the Lohen­grin Therme, a certi­fied spa.  At the end of your short holiday, you can relax there for the remai­ning hours until your depar­ture, enjoy the warm thermal water or indulge in some pampe­ring with one of the nume­rous well­ness treat­ments on offer.