Exploring Thuringia’s “Green Heart” by Bus

A four-day itinerary uses regional buses to move from Frankfurt into the centre of Germany’s Thuringia region. The trip begins in Erfurt, where early-morning markets line Domplatz beneath the medieval cathedral that houses the 12-tonne Gloriosa bell cast in 1497. From Erfurt the traveler takes short bus rides to Weimar, Bad Langensalza and the Hainich National Park, returning each evening to the historic Dorint Hotel am Dom (double rooms start at £85).

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Erfurt’s 14th- and 15th-century architecture includes the 120-metre-long Krämerbrücke, a bridge lined with half-timbered houses, and the well-preserved Petersberg Citadel with its underground tunnels. In Weimar, the Bauhaus museum showcases ceramics, textiles and metalwork, while the city’s historic sites recall the first German democratic constitution. Bad Langensalza, 64 km away, offers the Friederiken Therme thermal spa and the baroque garden of Friederikenschlösschen, which leads to the Japanese garden Kofuku no Niwa. Hainich National Park, a UNESCO world-heritage beech forest, provides more than 75 miles of signposted trails and the Baumkronenpfad treetop walkway that culminates at a 44-metre observation tower overlooking a 350-year-old oak.

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• Egapark spans 36 hectares (89 acres) and was created for the 1961 international horticultural exhibition.

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• Hainich covers 7 500 hectares, making it Germany’s largest contiguous deciduous woodland.

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• The Baumkronenpfad’s observation tower rises 44 metres; the oak it overlooks is estimated at 350 years old.

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• The Gloriosa bell in Erfurt’s cathedral weighs 12 tonnes.

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The German National Tourist Board is identified as the sponsor of the trip, stating that the itinerary showcases the region’s cultural and natural assets. The Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Mittelthüringen (VMT) provides bus, train and tram schedules, as well as a free app with live departure updates. Park director Rüdiger Biehl notes that large sections of Hainich’s landscape have been left untouched for decades, allowing natural processes to shape the forest.

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Bus journeys range from three hours from Frankfurt to Erfurt to short 30-minute rides between regional towns. Accommodation in Erfurt’s historic centre is available at Dorint Hotel am Dom, with double rooms priced from £85. The VMT app assists travelers in planning connections across central Thuringia, ensuring that the region’s museums, spas and forests remain easily reachable without a car.

The Guardian