Erfurt City Tour by Historic Tram

Domplatz, Erfurt Cathedral and St Severus Church

The tour starts on Domplatz, one of the largest historic squares in Germany, dominated by two Gothic churches standing side by side on a hill: Erfurt Cathedral, dedicated to St Mary, and the Church of St Severus with its three pointed spires. A broad flight of 70 stone steps leads up to them, and in summer the steps become an open-air stage for a famous theatre festival, while in December the square fills with one of Germany's loveliest Christmas markets.

The cathedral's soaring Gothic choir rests on massive medieval substructures and holds rare stained-glass windows, and its central tower houses the Gloriosa, a giant bell cast in 1497 that still rings on high holidays. Erfurt Cathedral is generally open daily, with shorter hours during services; plan about 45 minutes to see the interior after your tram ride, as entry is not included in the ticket.

Erfurt's historic tram

Erfurt's electric tram has been circling the city since 1894, and its network still forms the backbone of public transport here. For this sightseeing tour, a lovingly restored vintage tram with wooden fittings and large windows runs a special loop through the centre, so you see the city just as earlier generations did, with the bell ringing at every corner and the motor humming beneath your seat.

The Erfurt historic tram tour is a relaxed way to cover the main sights in an hour and a half, especially for travellers with limited time or energy for long distances on foot. Children love the ride, transport fans enjoy the details of the restored car, and the wheelchair-accessible boarding makes it one of the most inclusive things to do in Erfurt.

The medieval Old Town, Fischmarkt and the Krämerbrücke

Between Domplatz and the Anger, the tram follows the lanes of one of the best-preserved medieval Old Towns in Germany, lined with half-timbered and Renaissance merchant houses. Close to the route lies the Fischmarkt square with its neo-Gothic Town Hall and richly decorated house façades, a reminder that Erfurt grew rich in the Middle Ages from trade in woad, a plant that produced a precious blue dye.

A few minutes on foot from the line stands the Krämerbrücke, the Merchants' Bridge, built in stone in 1325 and still lined on both sides with inhabited houses, small shops and workshops. Nearby, the Old Synagogue, dating back to around 1100, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jewish-Medieval Erfurt. If you are wondering whether Erfurt is worth visiting, these streets are the answer, and the tram is the perfect introduction.

The Anger square and main shopping street

The Anger is Erfurt's long central square and its main shopping street, where trams glide past grand townhouses from many centuries. Along it stand the Kaufmannskirche, the merchants' church, and the Angermuseum, housed in a Baroque former packing house where woad and other goods were once weighed and taxed; today it shows fine art and crafts from the Middle Ages to the present day.

This is the lively everyday heart of the city, with department stores, cafés and bakeries selling Thuringian specialities. After the tour, it is easy to return here on foot from Domplatz in about ten minutes for shopping and lunch. The guide also points out the historic buildings above the shopfronts, where carved doorways and painted façades are easy to miss at street level.

The Petersberg Citadel

Rising behind the Cathedral Square, the Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest and best-preserved Baroque town fortresses in Central Europe, built from 1665 on a hill that once held a medieval Benedictine abbey. Massive bastions, gates and the remains of the Romanesque abbey church crown the hill, and underground listening tunnels run beneath the walls, which can be explored on separate guided visits.

From the tram you see the citadel's walls towering above the city, and your guide explains its role over the centuries. After the tour, a walk up to the Petersberg takes about 15 minutes from Domplatz and rewards you with the classic view over the cathedral, St Severus and the Old Town roofs, the best panorama in Erfurt and a perfect ending to a day trip in Thuringia.