Fulda - seat of Landkreis Fulda and city in Hesse, Germany

Fulda is a small city about an hour away from Frankfurt by train in Central Germany. It has a nice small-town feel, and manages to have good tourist resources without feeling touristy. The more laid-back feeling here is a nice change from nearby Frankfurt.

Get in

By plane

Fulda is reachable by train from Frankfurt Airport. While there are other airports in the area (particularly in Hannover and Kassel) they have rather limited connections and you are unlikely to arrive there, especially in Kassel.

By train

Fulda has an excellent (in most cases a direct) connection with many major German cities. Hamburg, Munich, Berlin can be reached in about 3 hours. Frankfurt and Kassel in less than 1 hour. As Fulda lies on the main north-south high speed rail line of Germany that connects Hamburg and Munich, every major city in Germany can be reached in a few hours with no more than one interchange. Even international destinations are within reach, sometimes requiring an interchange in Hamburg, Frankfurt or Berlin but often direct as well. In addition to trains run by Deutsche Bahn, Locomore (dead link: October 2017), a private competitor, also served Fulda. Locomore tickets were not valid on DB trains and vice versa. Locomore filed for bankruptcy and ended all services in May 2017. The company hopes to be able to restart services by finding new investors.

By car

Fulda is about 1 hour's drive from Frankfurt along the A66 and just off the A7 about 1 hour north of Würzburg. Keep in mind that Fulda can get very congested during weekends all through the summer holidays. As it lies in the middle of Germany and many Germans drive to Italy and the North Sea Coast destinations of Niedersachsen and Schleswig Holstein in the summer, it is prone to heavy traffic jams in both directions. If you have to drive during those weeks, bring patience and listen for the word Stau on the Radio.

Get around

You'll arrive at Fulda's central train station. If you're on foot, you'll probably want to go downstairs from the train station, as doing so will funnel you towards the major sites, hotels, the tourist office and the downtown. If you stay upstairs and cross the street you will reach the bus terminal which is very close.

Unless you have a lot of luggage or don't care for walking, you won't need any transportation as the town is fairly compact. If you do want transportation however, you can catch some city buses at the central train station, or a taxi. Both are available on the road outside the upstairs of the train station.

Fulda also has a bus station so you can go to local villages from the city of Fulda if you are only visiting the city on a day trip. You can get tickets quickly and easily from the Fahrkarten Automat (automatic ticket machines) you will also find these at Fulda's Hauptbahnhof.

Understand

• Tourist Office, Bonifatius Platz 1 (to get there from the train station, exit through the downstairs of the station, and go straight about 6 blocks). M-F 08:30-18:00, Sa Su holidays 10:00-14:00. There is a tourist computer-terminal available for extended hours with hotel, sights, and other tourist information.

See

Fulda's architecture mostly escaped the baroquization that took over much of Europe. The lack of decoration makes the buildings gives the eyes a rest from the ornateness of other cities.

• Fulda Cathedral (Fuldaer Dom), 50.554623°, 9.670860°. Baroque, former abbey and burial place of Saint Boniface.
• St. Michael's Church, 50.555009°, 9.671954°. The oldest Holy Sepulchre church in Germany, built in the Carolingian architectural style around 820.

Palace

• Stadtschloss (Residence), 50.553953°, 9.676405°. Buildings open: M Tu Th 08:30-12:30, 14:00-16:00, W F 08:30-12:30. Grounds (exact times unsure) morning. build 1706 - Head out of the bottom of the train station and go straight for 5 blocks, turn right and head about three blocks. You will be able to see it. The castle used to used by the princes of the region, but is now the seat of local government and other services, including the police station. The gardens are very nicely taken care of, and there are benches scattered throughout.
• Orangery. and Flora Vase
• Schlossgarten (Residence Gardens).
• Barockviertel and barocke Adelspalais (Baroque Nobles Palaces and Baroque Quarter).
• Schloss Fasanerie (Baroque palaces Dasnarie).

Do

Events

• City celebration (Bahnhofs Fest) - The last weekend of May is always a party right outside the train station. The surrounding blocks are filled with food and snack stands, carnival games, souvenirs, etc. Live bands start playing around 20:00.

Buy

Fulda is a great place to go to if you want to get a look of the German high street shopping scene. In Fulda you have Galleria Kaufhof, Karstadt, and Müller which are all major German retail stores.

Eat

If you head towards the tourist office, you can turn left on either of the last two streets to find several smaller restaurants at various levels of price and formality. Most have outdoor seating weather permitting. The plaza where the tourist office is located also has several restaurants.

Budget

• Cafe Palais, Bonifatius Platz 1. Cafe shares an entrance with the tourist office. The tourist computer kiosk is actually in this cafe's lobby. This place looks a lot more relaxed than the bar/restaurants across the plaza.
• Grocery store - Upstairs in the train station is a grocery store with good prices. There is no fresh fruit, or bakery style bread, but it's open till at least 23:00. Also caries basic amenities.

Mid-range

• Wirtshaus Michelsrombacher Wald, Michelsrombacher Straße 51, 50.5906°, 9.6864°, +49 661-65302.
• Wirtshaus Schwarzer Hahn, Friedrichstraße 18, 50.552517°, 9.676338°, +49 661 24 03 12.
• Brauhaus Wiesenmühle, Wiesenmühlenstraße 13, 50.551147°, 9.668025°, +49 661 92 868 0. Restaurant, hotel, beer garden.
• Fuldaer Hof, Am Ried 13, 50.563663°, 9.631928°, +49 661 25 00 864. Biergarten.

Splurge

• Alt Elsass, Am Abtstor 35, 50.552034°, 9.671937°, +49 661 250 40 35.

Drink

Sleep

Budget

• Jugendherberge Fulda, Schirrmannstraße 31 (im Stadtteil Neuenberg), 50.537941°, 9.660675°, +49 661 73389.
• Hotel am Schloss, Habsburgergasse 5-11/ Ecke Kanalstraße 1b, 50.553014°, 9.674228°, +49 661 250 55 8 0. single from €48.40, double from €66.40

Mid-range

• Hotel am Dom, Wiesenmühlenstraße 6, 50.552101°, 9.669835°, +49 661 97980.
• Hotel zum Ritter Fulda, Kanalstraße 18–20, 50.55222°, 9.67334°, +49 661-250 80-0, info@hotel-ritter.de.
• Rhoen Residence, Knesheckenweg 2, Dipperz, 50.517303°, 9.813103°, +49 6657 980 0, info@rhoenresidence.de. This hotel offers beautiful views and friendly service. Ask for one of the renovated rooms though, as the ones that are not are dated and walls are thin. It's a popular place with business travellers but it's also at a convenient location if you're looking to explore the natural surroundings. There's a pool and several wellness facilities. from €70/€100 for singles/doubles 2015-07-02

Splurge

• Romantik Hotel "Goldener Karpfen", Simpliziusbrunnen 1, 50.549184°, 9.674817°, +49 661 86800.
• Maritim Hotel am Schlossgarten Fulda, Pauluspromenade 2, 50.555909°, 9.674480°, +49 661 282-0.

Connect

• Internet cafe - €3.00/hour, M-F 06:00-24:00, Sa Su 00:00-24:00 internet cafe/interactive games shop is on the top level of the train station.

Go next

• Bad Hersfeld, 45 km north (30 minutes by regional train)
• Eisenach, with the Wartburg castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German (World Heritage site), 90 km northeast (55 minutes by ICE train)
• Giessen, 90 km west (1:40 hours by regional train)
• Kassel, with the World Heritage Baroque water garden Wilhelmshöhe, 105 km north (30 minutes by ICE train)
• Frankfurt, European banking capital and cultural metropolis, 105 km southwest (one hour by ICE train)
• Würzburg, old town in a picturesque wine-growing region with World Heritage Baroque palace, 110 km south (30 minutes by ICE train)