Weimar

Goethe's house, the Bauhaus sites and the Buchenwald memorial

Three days in Weimar allow time for both its classical and its 20th-century history. Start at Goethe's house on the Frauenplan, Schiller's house and the rococo hall of the Anna Amalia Library, then give the following days to the Bauhaus sites, the Buchenwald memorial, the Park an der Ilm and the Fürstengruft.

Day one. Be at Goethe's house on the Frauenplan when it opens; the poet's study, library and art collections are kept much as he left them, and the museum next door explains his life. Renovation closes the Goethe National Museum from 2 November 2026, with its exhibition due back on 1 December, so check before a late-autumn visit. Walk past the Goethe and Schiller monument on Theaterplatz, where the national theatre hosted the 1919 assembly, to Schiller's house on Schillerstraße. After lunch, see the rococo hall of the Anna Amalia Library at your booked time, then wander into the Park an der Ilm to Goethe's Garden House and the Roman House. Dinner in the old town.

Day two. Turn to the 20th century. Start at the Bauhaus Museum on Stéphane-Hessel-Platz, then walk to the Bauhaus University, whose Van de Velde buildings were the school's first home, and on through the park to the Haus am Horn. In the afternoon, visit the Liszt house on the park's western edge and the historic cemetery, where Goethe and Schiller lie in the ducal crypt. Catch an opera or play at the Deutsches Nationaltheater in the evening.

Day three. Take bus 6 up to the Buchenwald memorial. Walk the camp grounds, the remaining buildings and the permanent exhibition; most people need three or four hours and some quiet time afterwards. Return for a gentle afternoon at the Belvedere palace and its orangery, or cycle out to Tiefurt, where Anna Amalia held her literary summer gatherings.

Rostbratwurst on the Markt, Thüringer Klöße and Zupfkuchen

Weimar's essential lunch is a Thüringer Rostbratwurst grilled over charcoal on the Markt and served in a roll with mustard. For a sit-down meal, order Thüringer Klöße, soft potato dumplings, with roast pork, beef roulades or autumn goose, and finish with a slice of Zupfkuchen in a cafe.

Thuringia's most famous export is grilled on Weimar's Markt every day. The Thüringer Rostbratwurst, a long, thin pork sausage seasoned with marjoram and caraway, is cooked over charcoal at the stands near the town hall and served in a roll with mustard. It is the cheapest good lunch in town, and locals will tell you ketchup is a mistake.

Sit-down Thuringian cooking centres on Thüringer Klöße, large, soft potato dumplings with a crouton in the middle, served beside roast pork, beef roulades or, in autumn, goose and venison with red cabbage. Restaurants around the Frauenplan, such as Zum Goethebrunnen, serve this kind of food in comfortable old rooms; book in the evening, as tables near the big sights fill fast.

For something lighter, Suppenbar Estragon on Herderplatz serves bowls of soup at lunch, and the student crowd keeps a decent run of Syrian, Turkish and Vietnamese places in business around Jakobstraße and Heinrich-Heine-Straße.

Thuringia is also cake country. Look for Zupfkuchen, a chocolate shortcrust base filled with curd cheese and topped with torn-off pieces of dough, sold by the slice in bakeries and cafes. In October, the Zwiebelmarkt adds Zwiebelkuchen, warm onion tart, to every stall, usually washed down with new wine. Beer drinkers can try one of the region's dark Schwarzbiers in the pubs off the Markt.

Quiet Septembers, the Kunstfest and October's Zwiebelmarkt

September is the best month for Weimar, warm at about 19 °C and quieter once school holidays end. Summer reaches 24 °C and brings open-air concerts and the Kunstfest, while October is the month of the Zwiebelmarkt, the onion market held since the 17th century. Winters are cold, with January highs near 3 °C.

Weimar has a continental climate with clear seasons. Winters are moderately cold: January highs reach about 3 C, nights fall to around minus 3 C, and precipitation is light at roughly 25 mm a month. Spring warms quickly, from 8 C in March to 18 C in May, and that is when the Ilm park is at its greenest.

Summer peaks at about 24 C in July and August. July is also the wettest month, with some 81 mm, though it usually falls in short thunderstorms between sunny spells. This is the season for open-air concerts, garden cafes and the Kunstfest, an arts festival with theatre, music and installations that runs in late summer. September, at about 19 C, is the best compromise: warm enough to sit outside, quieter once the school holidays end.

October brings the Zwiebelmarkt, an onion market held since the 17th century and now the town's biggest party. For one long weekend, growers from the surrounding countryside sell elaborate onion braids and garlic, the streets fill with stalls, and bands play until late. Expect very heavy crowds and plan accommodation far ahead.

Advent closes the year with a Christmas market on the Markt and around the Herderkirche, with highs of around 4 C. The rest of the winter is quiet and good value, a fine time for the museums and the library if you are happy to walk in the cold.