Aschaffenburg is a county free city in Lower Franconia. Second in size in the region to only Würzburg, it shares its renown for wine over beer. A charming old town with a Main River setting, it is particularly blessed with palaces and green places. Though there is evidence of a Celtic settlement on the city’s high plateau as early as the late 4th century, it was first mentioned as Aschaffenburg in 974. The current Rennaisance Johannisburg Palace replaced the Gothic one when the latter was destroyed in the mid-1500s. When the town fell into Bavarian hands in the 1800s, King Ludwig I added Pompejanum in the Italian villa style. Largely destroyed during WWII, they restored much of the town and palaces in the following years. Today’s residents are among the most satisfied with their hometown in all of Germany.
charming Ashaffenburg
You can easily reach Aschaffenburg by direct trains between Bamberg and Frankfurt. It’s a bit over two hours from Bamberg. A day trip is certainly possible, but there’s plenty to keep you busy for an overnight stay, longer if into visiting the three palaces. If flying into Frankfurt, it’s only an hour from the airport and it would be a relaxed way to ease into Franconia.
two more things to keep you busy in Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg beer
Aschaffenburg may not be a must go beer destination, but you’ll find more than your share of nice places to enjoy the wares of the Aschaffenburg breweries. If you like wine, there’s plenty of that including the local Apfelwein. The latter is surprisingly varied and much tastier than I had imagined. Links below go to reviews of the brewery taps and Biergartens we visited. Within the links are descriptions of all of the sampled beers and food suggestions from personal experience.
Schwind am Dalberg
Der Bier Sepp
Maulaff Wirtshaus
Mainbiergarten Aschaffenburg
Schönbusch Biergarten
Reached via a bus from Aschaffenburg to Mespelbrunn, you can do a nice short hike to this lovely brewpub/Biergarten:
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