Accessible Walks with Wheelchairs in BarrierFree Wurzburg
Wurzburg is a historic city in Northern Bavaria. It is the capital of one of Germany’s most important wine producing regions.
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It is a very compact city and easy to get around in a wheelchair. The route we took was the inner city walk.
The market square bursts with places to eat and drink or enjoy a coffee. This was actually the place where we enjoyed kartoffelkloesse (wonderful German dumplings) for the first time. Oh, and some apple strudel as well! As you walk towards the town centre the twin spires of St Kilian Cathedral stand tall, towering over other buildings.
It was built from 1045 to 1188 and takes it name from the patron saint of Wurzburg, an Irish monk who arrived there in 686.
Sadly the cathedral was badly damaged during the war but has undergone an extensive rebuild. There is wheelchair access into the cathedral and it is well worth a visit.
We were drawn to our next stopping point by crowds of people milling around drinking wine and passing the time of day. The Old Bridge seems to be the place to go, attracting a mix of tourists and locals, many of them just there to enjoy the view over the river.
It’s a great place for taking holiday photos. There are 12 statues of saints on the bridge, which connects the old part of the town with the hilly area where the Fortress Marienburg is sited.
We had dinner that night at the Buergerspital Weinstuben, within easy walking distance of the hotel we were staying at which has a lift and wheelchair friendly rooms, the Ghotel. A 10 minute stroll from the market place.
The courtyard of the Buergerspital Weinstuben is hidden from roadside view and at night time is beautifully lit up. The atmosphere was wonderful and the number of people there testified to its popularity.
The restaurant serves a wide selection of wines, the produce of Weinstuben, and serves traditional Franconian food. Another totally enjoyable typically German evening.
Next day we drove out to the Ludwig Knoll vineyard at Weingut am Stein, located on a hillside just outside Wurzburg. It is owned by Ludwig and Sandra Knoll, the fifth generation of the Knoll family to produce wine here.
At the vineyard you can enjoy wine-tasting, take a stroll or eat at the restaurant, a one star Michelin establishment no less.
I was fascinated to learn of the biodynamic methods to produce these wines and I loved watching the grapes being harvested before going to the press. It made the actual wine sampling even more enjoyable!
We then strolled through the vineyards up to the top of a steep hillside that afforded a great outlook over the rooftops of Wurzburg and the River Main. A light lunch was taken at the Schlosshotel Steinberg, which has disabled access from the back of the building.
Our base for our time in Wurzburg was the Ghotel, a ten minute walk from the centre. It is one of a chain of 6 Ghotels in Germany. The building is not easy to miss. It is tall and glass fronted with a huge yellow Ghotel sign shining out from the top floor.
There is secure underground parking with lifts to the reception area and all other floors.
The rooms are accessible and have all sorts of features designed to make life as easy as possible if you are in a wheelchair. There are movable clothes rail in the wardrobe that can be raised or lowered for easy access. And the mirrors have handles so that they can be re-positioned.
Once again it was hard not to be impressed with the Barrierfree provisions in yet another German destination.
