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(S/E) The circular walk starts and ends at the Veste Coburg car park on the street ‘Zur Brandensteinsebene’.
Public transport
Alternatively, the walk can also be started by public transport from the bus station at Theaterplatz in Coburg. It’s only a few metres’ walk to Schlossplatz.
From the Brandensteinsebene car park, we head towards Coburg (the Veste is signposted) along the road ‘Zur Brandensteinsebene ’, then turn left onto the footpath to the left of the road and walk downhill. After about 300 metres, we reach the street ‘Festungshof’. Here, there is a small car park on the left and a bus stop on the right.
We pass the bus stop and, immediately after it, turn left onto the footpath; then, after just a few metres, we turn right onto the gravel footpath to walk round the outside of the Veste Coburg. (If you’d like to go straight to the Veste, carry on straight ahead).
We keep slightly to the left along the path round the Veste and walk alongside the impressive fortress walls that surround the stronghold. After almost a complete circuit, we turn slightly to the right at a sharply protruding wall (which juts out from the complex in a triangular shape) and climb the steps that lead us through a small archway directly to the main entrance of the Veste.
(1) At the bridge, we turn left and go straight through the gate. Behind a small forecourt, we pass through a tunnel directly into Veste Coburg, which consists of three separate sections. It’s worth exploring this area in more detail.
After the tour, we cross the bridge to leave the complex again, turn right there and walk back through the small gate that we also passed on the way in. Behind the gate, we go down the steps. At the foot of the steps, we continue straight ahead.
After a few metres, we come to a wider path. Here we turn right and then left at the next opportunity. We follow the path down further steps through the tree-lined courtyard garden, keeping straight on. After a sweeping left-hand bend, we come to another tarmac path.
Here we turn right and, after a good 150 metres, reach the rear of the Coburg Natural History Museum, which is also well worth a visit.
(2) The path takes us straight on through the park, where, from this point onwards, there are beautiful old trees, some of which have grown to several metres in circumference and impressive heights. At a fork, we keep to the left and then walk past the Eastern Pavilion on the left, before turning immediately right.
(3) A little further on, the Duke Alfred Fountain is on the right-hand side.
We stay on the main path straight ahead and, after a left-hand bend, come to the arcades, which offer a superb view of the Schlossplatz, situated slightly below the terraces. Just above the arcades stands the monumental equestrian statue of Duke Ernst II.
(4) To reach Schlossplatz, we walk down one of the staircases located to the right or left of the arcades.
Once at the bottom, we walk round the circular green space on Schlossplatz to the right, then pass the Landestheater Coburg on the left to reach Theaterplatz, where the coach station is located. Just before the end of the coach station, we turn left into Gasse Kleine Mauer and, at Spitaltor on the right-hand side, turn left into Spitalgasse.
We follow this street to Marktplatz. The huge building on the opposite side is the town hall; all around it are countless historic buildings, some of which house restaurants.
(5) We stay on the right-hand side of Marktplatz and, behind the Deichmann shoe shop, turn right into Judengasse.
At the next opportunity, we turn left into Metzgergasse. At the T-junction, we turn right into Kleine Rosengasse. At Café Bar Celona, we continue straight ahead, passing through a few trees to reach Ernstplatz. There, we turn left and shortly afterwards reach Albertsplatz, at the end of which, on the right-hand side, there is an area with water features.
(6) Behind this, we turn left into Ketschengasse, which takes us back to Marktplatz. Here, we keep to the right, following the row of houses, and at the end of the square we turn right into Herrngasse, which leads us (diagonally to the left) back to Schlossplatz.
(7) We pass this on the right, next to the circular green space. On the right-hand side, a three-winged complex comes into view. This is Ehrenburg Castle, which can be visited on a guided tour. We walk past the castle and cross a small car park.
(8) At the end of the car park is the former riding hall. The long building on the right-hand side is the Marstall (the castle’s former stables). We turn left in front of the riding hall and then take the footpath to the right into the park.
There, we briefly follow Carl-Escher-Weg, keeping to the right at the next junction, turning right at the fork and crossing the next two junctions straight ahead. After a gentle left-hand bend, we leave Carl-Escher-Weg and, at the fork, take the right-hand path, then the left-hand one. At the next fork, we turn right. There, in the woodland, we come across the Coburg Convention Memorial on the left-hand side.
(9) We walk straight on for a short distance and turn right at the T-junction. At the fork by another patch of woodland, we keep to the left and walk under the shady trees until we reach a junction. Here we rejoin the Carl-Escher-Weg, turn right and walk straight up the steadily ascending slope.
After a sweeping right-hand bend, we arrive at the Veste, to the right of the bus stop. We stay on the footpath, which takes us further uphill to the right along the road.
After about 500 metres, the Brandensteinsebene car park, where we started, is on the right-hand side. (S/E)
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