14 Best Sights in Regensburg, Franconia and the German Danube

Opened in 2019 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Free State of Bavaria (which was in 2018, but who's counting?), this vast riverside museum walks visitors through the checkered history of the region, from the medieval Kingdom of Bohemia right up to the present day (and future). The tone is a little up-and-down—in the midst of a section on brutal Nazi rule, there's an exhibit about Karl Valentin's comedy film Flug Zum Mond (Flight to the Moon)—but there are fascinating deep-dives into Bavarian culture and clothing, the extravagance of Ludwig II, the 1972 Summer Olympics, the booming automotive industry, and, of course, Bayern Munich soccer club. German speakers will enjoy the collected audio snippets of spoken Bavarian alongside other German dialects.

Southwest of Regensburg, on the bank of the Danube, stands one of Germany's most spectacular Benedictine abbeys. Constructed between 1716 and 1718, it's commonly regarded as the masterpiece of brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam, whose extraordinary composition of lavish polished marble, highly wrought statuary, and stucco figures dancing along curving walls is the epitome of Bavarian baroque. Look above the high altar, where a bronze equestrian statue of St. George is dispatching a winged dragon with his flamelike sword.

No Bavarian monastery is complete without a brewery, and Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg serves up excellent frothy beers and hearty German food. You can also buy bottles of beer to go. Kids will gravitate to the riverside beach, which is perfect for skimming stones (beware bathers!)

The most dramatic approach to the abbey is by river from Kelheim, 10 km (6 miles) downstream, where boats wind between towering limestone cliffs that rise above tree-lined riverbanks. There are several departures a day mid-March through October (€11.50 single; €19.50 return). You can also drive, but expect a 2-km (1¼-mile) round-trip walk from the parking lot (€4.50; cash only) to the abbey.

This impressive medieval bridge resting on massive stone pontoons is Regensburg's most celebrated sight. It was completed in 1146 and was rightfully considered a miraculous piece of engineering at the time. As the only crossing point over the Danube for miles, it effectively cemented Regensburg's control over trade. The significance of the little statue on the bridge is a mystery, but the figure seems to be a witness to the legendary rivalry between the master builders of the bridge and those of the Dom.

Erected by the Carolingian order in the 9th century, the sober exterior of the Kollegiatstift unserer Lieben Frau zur alten Kapelle (Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lady Regensburg)—widely known as simply Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel)—gives way to a joyously gilded interior. Step inside to discover rococo treasures galore, including extravagant concoctions of sinuous gilt stucco, rich marble, and giddy frescoes, with the whole place illuminated by light pouring in from the upper windows.

The picture-book complex of medieval half-timber buildings, with windows large and small adorned with flower boxes, is one of the best-preserved town halls in the country—and one of the most historically important. Built in the 13th century, when Regensburg was elevated to the status of a Free Imperial City, the imposing Gothic Reichssaal (Imperial Hall) was where the Perpetual Imperial Diet met from 1663 to 1806. This parliament of sorts consisted of the emperor, the electors (seven or eight), the princes (about 50), and the burghers, who assembled to discuss and determine the affairs of the far-reaching German lands of the Holy Roman Empire.

Visit the sumptuously appointed Reichssaal on a guided tour (English-language tours daily at 2 pm) to see its remarkable early-15th-century wood ceiling, as well as its decorative tapestries, flags, and heraldic designs. The tour also includes a visit to the neighboring Ratssaal (Council Room), where the electors met for their consultations, and the cellar's torture chamber (Fragstatt; Questioning Room) and execution room (Armesünderstübchen; Poor Sinners' Room); any prisoner who withstood three degrees of questioning without confessing was deemed innocent and released—a very medieval notion of justice.

With its tiny windows, weathered tiles, and pink plaster, this bridge tower has stood at the southern end of the city's famous Stone Bridge for more than 370 years—and for the past 25 of them, it's been home to Regensburg's tiniest museum. Step inside to discover an array of items relating to the construction and development of the bridge, or to simply take in the gorgeous views over the Regensburg roof landscape. The brooding building with a massive roof to the left of the Brückturm is an old salt warehouse.

Regensburg's transcendent cathedral, modeled on the airy, powerful lines of French Gothic architecture, is something of a rarity this far south in Germany. Begun in the 13th century, it stands on the site of a much earlier Carolingian church and can hold a remarkable 6,000 people, three times the population of Regensburg when building began (though only a fraction of the population when it was finally finished by Ludwig I of Bavaria almost 600 years later).

Before heading into the Dom, take time to admire the intricate and frothy carvings of its facade. Inside, the glowing 14th-century stained glass in the choir and exquisitely detailed statues of Gabriel and the Virgin in the crossing (the intersection of the nave and the transepts) are among the church's outstanding features. Don't miss the small octagonal chapel, all sturdy grace and massive walls, built by Italian masons from the mid-12th century; you can barely make out the faded remains of stylized 11th-century frescoes on its ancient walls. And consider visiting the Domschatz (Cathedral Treasury) to see valuables dating back to the 11th century, including some vestments and monstrances still used during special services; it's under renovation but should reopen September 2025.

This museum contains valuable treasures going back to the 11th century. Some of the vestments and the monstrances, which are fine examples of eight centuries' worth of the goldsmith's trade, are still used during special services. The entrance is in the nave.

The municipal museum vividly relates the cultural history of Regensburg. It's one of the highlights of the city, both for its unusual and beautiful setting—a former Gothic monastery—and for its wide-ranging collections, from Roman artifacts to Renaissance tapestries and remains from Regensburg's 16th-century Jewish ghetto. The most significant exhibits are the paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538), a native of Regensburg and, along with Cranach, Grünewald, and Dürer, one of the leading painters of the German Renaissance. Altdorfer's work has the same sense of heightened reality found in that of his contemporaries, in which the lessons of Italian painting are used to produce an emotional rather than a rational effect; his drawings of Regensburg's old synagogue, exhibited here, are priceless documents.

Prior to 1519, this oversized square was once the heart of the Jewish ghetto. The Neupfarrkirche (New Parish Church) here, built as a pilgrimage church, was given to the Protestants, hence its bare-bones interior. In the late 1990s, excavation work on the square uncovered well-kept cellars and, to the west of the church, the old synagogue, including the foundations of its Romanesque predecessor. Archaeologists salvaged the few items they could from the old stones. Recovered items were carefully restored and are on exhibit in the Historisches Museum. Only one small underground area to the south of the church, the Document, accommodates viewing of the foundations. In a former cellar, surrounded by the original walls, visitors can watch a short video reconstructing life in the old Jewish ghetto. Over the old synagogue, the Israeli artist Dani Karavan designed a stylized plaza where people can sit and meet.

Built in AD 179 under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, this is one of only two preserved Roman gates north of the Alps (the other is the Porta Nigra in Trier). A rough-hewn limestone gate, it originally served as the northern wall of the Roman legionary camp Castra Regina. Today, the most visible remaining sections are the exposed archway and the neighboring tower on Unter den Schwibbögen street, but if you look through the grille on the gate's east side, you'll also see a section of the original Roman road, about 10 feet below today's street level.

Formerly a Benedictine monastery, this is the ancestral home of the princely Thurn und Taxis family, which made its fortune after being granted the right to carry official and private mail throughout the empire ruled by Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519) and by Philip I, King of Spain. Their horn still symbolizes the post office in several European countries.

A guided tour (English audio guide available) of the State Rooms includes the splendid ballroom and throne room, allowing you to witness the setting of courtly life in the 19th century, as well as visit to the fine Kreuzgang (cloister) of the former abbey. Without a tour, but for a small fee, you can visit the Princely Treasury, home to carefully selected items displaying fine craftsmanship—be it dueling pistols, a plain marshal's staff, a boudoir, or a snuffbox—and the Carriage Museum, home to the family's coaches, carriages, and related items. Also on the grounds is the Basilika St. Emmeram (the family church), with foundations dating to the 7th and 8th centuries and a richly decorated 18th-century baroque interior. The church also contains the graves of the 7th-century martyred Regensburg bishop Emmeram and the 10th-century saint Wolfgang.

The family church of the Thurn und Taxis family stands across from their ancestral palace, the Schloss Emmeram. The foundations of the church date to the 7th and 8th centuries. A richly decorated baroque interior was added in 1730 by the Asam brothers. St. Emmeram contains the graves of the 7th-century martyred Regensburg bishop Emmeram and the 10th-century saint Wolfgang.

East of Regensburg, this mammoth monument is a none-too-subtle expression of 19th-century pan-Germanic nationalism. In Norse mythology, Valhalla was where the god Odin received the souls of dead heroes, and when Ludwig I erected this neoclassical Parthenon-style temple in 1840, it was to honor German heroes from ages past (more recent additions include busts of Albert Einstein and Sophie Scholl). The expanses of costly marble are evidence of both the financial resources and the craftsmanship at Ludwig's command.

Walhalla may be kitschy, but the fantastic view it affords over the Danube and the countryside is worth the trip alone. You can either drive here (parking's €2.50 for two hours) or, every day between late April and early October, take a charming two-hour boat ride from the Steinerne Brücke in Regensburg. Opt for a round-trip on the Swarovski-decorated Crystal Queen and Crystal Princess ships (€19.50 return), and prepare for a climb up 358 marble steps from the river to the temple.