[George Hill]

Hello everyone!

I'm going to Europe this summer with some other people and a professor. Study reasons.

Now, my sword hobby is unrelated to the trip, and not a passion of the others, so I've scheduled myself a week alone at the end to see Europe!

Now, we'll be in Paris and Soissons for a few weeks, and I'll have a day or three to slip away and look at whatever in and around Paris and Soissons. Then I plan to hop on the train and head to Germany and/or Italy.

Trouble is, I'm a really busy person, and haven't had the time yet for the tourist books. I'll find it before the end of july, which is when I'll have my time to travel alone.

Nonetheless! I want the help of this Forum to help me find the best stuff to see. I'm trying to pack as much Italy and Germany into seven days as I can, on the super cheap. (Hostels and carrying everything everywhere. Traveling as light as I can.) Infact, I'm hoping to save time by sleeping on trains instead of getting rooms.

I know the wise people here will know more about the wonderful medieval things to see then most travel guides.

Now, I'd like to stay on the western side of Germany to help me keep the train ride to Italy short, but if I get enough stuff there I might nix Italy and stay in Germany the whole week. The opposing is also possible.


So Ladies, Gents, Small green things from Alpha centuri, Were you to have a week in Germany and or Italy, what would you see? What about while in the vicinity of Paris and Soissons?

[Sean Flynt]

Florence! Museo Stibbert! I'd actually skip Rome entirely if arms and armour is your main goal. I've heard good things about Milan.

[Tristán Zukowski]

The Rüstkammer in Dresden is a must-see. Also, Nürnberg is beautiful city; the Germanisches Museum there is excellent. Don't forget to visit Albrecht Dürer's house and the Kaiserburg while you're there!

[Tristán Zukowski]

..of course both Dresden and Nürnberg are on the eastern side of Germany, but given the choice myself, I would skip Italy and spend all the time I could in Germany! Float down the Rhine, drink obscene amounts of beer and wine! Castles that will blow your mind!

[Neil Gagel]

George, I'd recommend you check out Schloss Sigmaringen. It is property of the Hohenzollern dynasty and houses one of the world's largest privately owned weapons collections with over 3000 pieces on display.

http://www.hohenzollern.com/schloss-sigmaring...lick-3.php

It's about midway between Stuttgart and Lake Konstanz (Bodensee) so in the far SW of Germany - about 80-100 miles from the French border. I believe there is a Youth Hostel in Sigmaringen, so that would be a cheap alternative to a hotel room. There is also one in nearby Lochen...

http://sigmaringen.jugendherberge-bw.de/

http://balingen-lochen.jugendherberge-bw.de/

In most cases you can spend the night there for under 30 Euros (including one meal). You do have to become a member of the Deutsche Jugendherbergswerk, which is a one time cost of 27 Euros if you're 27 or older and a mere 12.5 Euros if you're under 27.

[Markus Nußbaumer]

Don´t know much about italian museums. Concerning Armour, the Churburg (it. CcastleCoira) is said to have one of the most fascinating collections, but it will be difficult to get there during a short trip, it is close to no major city I am aware of.
If you are interested in Rrenaissanceweapons and armour, the Rüstkammer in Dresden is a must-see (not many medieval weapons). Nürnberg is nice indindeedhe castle there is impressive. But if you are interested in a medieval german city, visit Regensburg. It hasn´t been bombarded during the war, so it is said to be the only city of this size still in "medieval" state. Unfortunately, no large museum there, the historical museum is small and not specspecializedarms, I guess there are two medieval swords to be found,but also some interesting stuff about the roman history of the area.
If you visit Berlin, the historical museum there is worth a visit. You will recorecognize original swords many famous replicas were based on (Albions Ritter is to be found there, and the sword of Conrad of Thüringen). They also do have Napoleons hat and sword on display.

[Andreas Auer]

hi...
i live right between Germany and Italy...in Innsbruck ecaxtly...http://www.khm.at/ambras/...your Train will pass through here. just hop of...

Andreas

[Paul Hansen]

Don't forget the Klingenmuseum in Solingen.

[Audun Refsahl]

while in France you could go see the Bayeux tapestry...

[Craig Peters]

I want to recommend Rothenburg ob der Tauber if you're in Bavaria. Not only does it have large sections of the old town walls preserved, but the main museum in town has a substantial arms and armour collection. In my opinion, it was superior to the one in Nurnberg, and on par with the one in the Deutches Historisches Museum.

There's also a Bavarian Army museum in Ingolstadt. However, most of the pieces are from the 16th century onwards (and I believe they don't have anything earlier than the 15th C), so if you're interested in earlier medieval pieces, it's probably not a place worth going out of your way to see.

[Neil Gagel]

Another German city with a complete City Defense Wall and a distinct Medieval feel is Noerdlingen. It's on the border between Baden-Wuertemberg and Bavaria.

If you're just interested in medieval history as a whole rather than just weapons in particular then I'd recommend you visit the city of Speyer. It's pretty close to the French/Luxembourg borders with Germany and it has an impressive romanesque Cathedral which houses the tombs of 8 Holy Roman Emperors/Kings of Germany most of which reigned during the 11th-early 14th Centuries. The Kaisergruft is definitely worth seeing.

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Musee de l'Armee in Paris! One of the finest collections of armour and arms on the planet. It is housed in Les Invalides. Florence is great, what with the Bargello collection AND the Stibbert. Berlin has quite a collection. Forget Milan; it has great stuff, but absolutely the VERY WORST display possible. Looks like a damned sci-fi set designed to keep genuinely interested people as far from the goodies as possible. Munich has a decent collection, both in the Bayerisches National Museum and the Stadtmuseum (if it's still there; I know some of it still is. One of the best museum experiences I've ever had!). Vienna, however, has the best armour collection on earth. Not in Germany, I know, but close...

P.S. I take that back about Milan. I'm told Edinburgh has almost all its stuff on the walls. Can't get worse than that! Me, I went straight to Glasgow.

[Scott Hrouda]

I will second Craig Peters' recommendation for Rothenburg ob der Tauber! Unfortunately we only had a few days in the town.

Seriously consider a boat excursion on the Rhine. Every time you round a bend in the river there's another castle looming over you.

Bacharach on the the Rhine was very relaxing town. The walls are gone, but the towers remain. Grab a good bottle of wine, hike up to the Wernerkapelle (ruin of Werner chapel), and watch the barges ply their trade.

Good luck and remember to post pictures for us to ogle!

[Paul Hansen]

Maybe we are approaching this from the wrong angle... There are thousands of interesting museums and towns to be found in Germany and Italy combined, let alone if one also considers all neighbouring countries.

Perhaps it would make more sense to either pick some absolute TOP museums and really spend some time there, or, maybe you should focus on a particular niche of swords. Basically every museum has some medieval or renaissance swords. But museums with an extensive collection of migration age swords are much more rare, same with bronze age stuff etc. Or high-end armour, for that matter.

[Thomas R.]

Hi,

In my opinion it would be wise to focus on one region in germany. Otherwise you will just spend your vacation at trainstations and trains instead of enjoying the sights... So I recommend to focus on the middle part of the River Rhine.
There are lots of Castles well maintained, some even with minor museums. A boatrip there - while beeing romantic - could easily turn to be very boring ;o). A must-see is the Solingen Klingenmuseum. It's not so far away from the Rheintal.

Well... Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a really nice city, with a surrounding citywall etc. But it's a real tourist-city. Lots of restaurants pretending to be authentic and medieval (hahaha...). I would skip it, because its so remotely located.

Nürnberg however has a real show of a castle - the Kaiserburg. And the museum is notewothy! And there are some fortifications to be explored under the earth. But be aware: the whole inner city seems to be medieval but was rebuild after World War II. There is nothing real but the beer ;o).

if you want to see some romantic ruins start your Rhine-Trip at Heidelberg, follow from there the Bergstraße north, always at the foot of the Hills. There are at least a Dozen of Castle ruins beeing not too touristic. Then cross the Rhine at Mainz and follow downstream. Another dozen Castles await you there. Then visit Solingen Klingenmuseum.

Have fun,
Thomas

[B. Fulton]

Having spent three years in Europe, and weeks traveling (longest trip being 19 days straight, mostly museums and castles).


Florence. Venice "because it's there" and the Doge's Palace (the "secret" tour shows the best parts), the armory in the Doge's palace isn't great for photos but has an wide variety of weaponry.

That said........PARIS. YOU MUST GO.

Les Invalides (Army museum) not only holds the tomb of Napoleon but one of the most impressive medieval-through-modern collections I have seen, and I've been nearly everywhere (excepting German museums).

The ones in Vienna have better jousting armor due to the emperors, England's got a wide mix but Les Invalides blew me out of the water. If you're into medieval weaponry, it's a MUST STOP AND SEE.

[Gottfried P. Doerler]

[Chad Arnow]

[Felix R.]

Another one that has not been mentioned is the mueseum in Brescia, northern Italy.

But, maybe it is an American thing to try to get as much travel into a trip as possible. But if you really want to see soemthing and experience it, follow Thomas comment. Don´t stay on the train all the time. Just look for a nice route, try not to over do your trip. With a few weeks Paris you will have a nice trip anyways. Try to get out something for you personally too.

Paris is nice city for itself. Sitting somewhere along the Saine, haveing a nice glass of wine, while watching people passing by is a special experience all by itself. Maybe you and your study group would like to have dinner on a boat tour on the Saine itself is nice too. Then taking a trip -a must do trip though- to Les Invalides and the Army museum is mandatory. Just try to keep the memory card of your camera. Funnily ours was stolen somewhere on the trip, loosing alot of pictures from Les Invalides by that.

[Sander Marechal]