51.79° N · 11.14° E
A one- or two-night getaway from Berlin: the World Heritage half-timbered old town, the collegiate church with its treasury and the Bode gorge at Thale.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Church and treasury · 1 h 15 · €8 · The Romanesque castle church, tomb of the first German king, with the crypt and a medieval treasury of gold and ivory
Walk · 2 h · Free · Some 2,000 half-timbered houses spanning eight centuries, the Market Square and the castle hill, a World Heritage Site
Museum · 1 h · The only museum in the world devoted to the Bauhaus painter, at the foot of the castle hill
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From April to October, for the Bode gorge and the terraces. In Advent, the Christmas market in the courtyards of the half-timbered houses. The collegiate church is closed on Mondays.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
It works without a car: a train from Berlin with one change, the old town on foot, a 15-minute regional train to Thale for the Bode Gorge and the Selketal steam train from the same station.
For Quedlinburg you fly to Berlin: BER airport has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. Leipzig/Halle airport (LEJ) is closer, but with far fewer flights from Spain. From Berlin, take a train with a change at Magdeburg, about two hours and three quarters; with a hire car, about 210 km.
About 210 km from Berlin, around two and a half hours. A car lets you combine Quedlinburg with Thale and other Harz villages. In the old town, pedestrianised in the centre, park at the hotel or in the car parks on the ring road.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Quedlinburg looks like a fairy tale and children are won over at first sight. The best for them is 10 km away: the Bode Gorge, the witches' cable car and the steam train.
With the youngest: a steam train, a cable car and a short walk round the old town. Leave the collegiate church and the museum for whoever wants them.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Four-star family hotel in half-timbered houses on the Market Square, with 44 individually different rooms, a vaulted cellar and a sauna.
Why we like it: Hotel on the Market Square that has received guests since 1748, with 50 individually different rooms, a restaurant open daily and its own car park.
Why we like it: Charming hotel at the foot of the castle hill, with rooms, suites, an apartment, the Weinstube and a buffet breakfast open to non-guests too.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a house beer with a Harz dish
What to order: regional German cooking with a wine from their list, on the terrace if the weather is good
What to order: the seasonal menu with pairings from their cellar
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
The journey from Berlin is long for a day trip.
Several restaurants close; the one at the Hotel zum Bär is open.
The best view of the castle hill.
A quarter of an hour on a regional train.
Quedlinburg is a small town in Saxony-Anhalt, at the foot of the Harz mountains, that escaped wars and fires: it preserves some 2,000 half-timbered houses spanning eight centuries, the largest collection in Germany, and has been a World Heritage Site since 1994 for them and for its castle hill. Up there stands the collegiate church where Henry I, the first German king, was buried in 936, with a medieval treasury that is seen in few places.
From Berlin it is about two hours and three quarters by train, too far to go and come back in a day. It is a one- or two-night getaway: one day for the old town and another for the Harz, with the Bode gorge at Thale and a steam train.
The half-timbered old town. The Market Square with the town hall, the crooked lanes, the Finkenherd at the foot of the castle and the Münzenberg hill opposite. Free and unhurried.
The collegiate church of St Servatius and its treasury. Romanesque, at the top of the hill, with the crypt, the upper choir and the treasury chambers. €8; free up to age 18. Closed on Mondays.
The Lyonel Feininger Museum. The only one devoted to the Bauhaus painter, at the foot of the castle.
The Bode gorge, at Thale, 10 km away: a granite canyon with the river at the bottom. Above it, the cable car to the Hexentanzplatz, the witches' viewpoint. And from Quedlinburg station itself the Selketal steam train leaves, heading into the forests of the Harz.
By train, with one change, usually in Magdeburg: about two hours and three quarters in total to Quedlinburg station, ten minutes' walk from the Market.
By car, about 210 km along the A2 and the A14 or the A36, around two and a half hours. The centre is pedestrianised: park at the hotel or on the ring road.
Sleep in the old town: the four-star Theophano and the Hotel zum Bär, which has been receiving travellers since 1748, are on the Market Square itself; the Romantik Hotel am Brühl is at the foot of the castle. To eat, the Brauhaus Lüdde brewery makes its own beer; the restaurant at the Hotel zum Bär is open every day, including Sunday; and the Weinstube am Brühl is for the special dinner.
From April to October, for the Harz and the terraces. Advent is the other great season: at weekends, the courtyards of the half-timbered houses open for the Christmas market. Avoid Monday for the collegiate church.
Questions
By train with one change in Magdeburg, about two hours and three quarters; by car, about two and a half hours.
You can, but it is more than five hours of train travel: better to stay a night.
The half-timbered old town, the collegiate church with its treasury and the Feininger museum; nearby, the Bode gorge.
€8; under-18s go in free.
On Advent weekends, in the courtyards of the old town.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/germany/saxony-anhalt/quedlinburg
