Nuremberg family tour to develop the senses

From the station forecourt, follow Bahnhofstraße to the right and turn left into Käte-Strobel-Straße. After crossing Willy-Brandt-Platz, stay on Badstraße and Hadermühle and walk through Wöhrder Wiese to the banks of the Pegnitz. On the right behind the Wies'n beer garden you will see the entrance to the sensory trail.

Marvel, explore and experience: That is the motto of the field of experience for developing the senses. The activity trail opens every year in May on the Wöhrder Wiese to the east of Nuremberg's Old Town. Until mid-September, young and old alike can give free rein to their senses and explore the world both analogue and outdoors. How do you make a stone sound just by rubbing it? What melodies can be played on a dendrophone? How do you get a large balance disc to "float"? Numerous stations make you want to try things out. On warm summer days, younger explorers in particular will enjoy the refreshing water experiences on site, where they can fight a shower duel or drive a scoop wheel.

The sensory trail also offers plenty for the eyes: discs whose rotation changes our view of the environment, colours that are suddenly no longer so easy to name. Those who like to try things out can be surprised. Visitors in wheelchairs can enjoy this special physical experience on the wheelchair swing.

The Field of Experience was first held in 1989. Back then, it was a one-off guest event, but it returned to Nuremberg seven years later and has become a popular annual event highlight, especially for families.

The course is open to private visitors with online registration at weekends and during school holidays. It is reserved for groups on school days.
The current opening times and registration conditions can be found at: www.nuernberg.de/internet/kuf_kultur/erfahrungsfeld.html

The Johann-Soergel-Weg continues towards the city centre - past a playground with lots of climbing opportunities - over a footbridge onto the Pegnitz island of Schütt. Take the next bridge on the left back to the "mainland", cross under two motorway bridges, walk around the Natural History Museum and turn left into Marientormauer street. If you follow the road for about 600 metres, you will come directly to the Frauenturm tower at the entrance to the Handwerkerhof. Children's eyes will light up here, and between drum monkeys, pewter figures and home-made candles, everyone will find a suitable souvenir.

"Small town at the Königstor": this is what the people of Nuremberg call their Handwerkerhof, a charming ensemble of alleyways, shops and half-timbered houses at the foot of the Frauentorturm tower. Once the armoury belonging to the tower was located here, today locals and visitors stroll along the historic cobblestones and enjoy the medieval flair of the place. The Handwerkerhof was built in 1971, the year Dürer was born - as a tourist attraction, but also as a reminder of the old craftsmen's town of Nuremberg.

Among the many shops that invite you to browse, you will also find a gingerbread bakery, a wine bar and a bratwurst restaurant. If you are looking for a typical souvenir, you are sure to find it among the craftsmen. There are pewterers, leather makers, glass cutters, potters, wax artists, gold and silversmiths, glass painters, gingerbread bakers and doll makers who have set up their workshops in the impressively reconstructed half-timbered houses.

You leave the Handwerkerhof through the Frauentor and just cross the road and you are back at the main railway station.