Paul Whytock
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ED Online ID #14934 |
February 12, 2007
Being there means getting there
For the overseas visitor, Nuremberg is not as accessible as its exhibition rival city, Munich. Few flights go direct. An exception for English visitors is Air Berlin, which flies direct into Nuremberg from London Stansted. It’s good and it’s cheap. For the long-haul travelers, the best bet is to either fly to Frankfurt and then transfer to another short flight to Nuremberg or take the high-speed train. Alternatively, you can fly into Munich and then get the high-speed train from there.
My recommendation is to fly into Frankfurt. The train station is part of the airport complex. Get into Frankfurt at about 10.00 am, get over to the train station at about 11.30 am, and enjoy a high-speed ride on the ICE to Nuremberg. It takes about 1.5 hours. Use the buffet car. The food is pretty good and you can sit back, relax, and consume as the train zaps you through the Bavarian countryside at over 200KMP…Prost!
My standard advice always applies about hotel accommodation. Do not stay near the exhibition. Forget ideas of morning efficiency and time pressures, meetings, and what have you. Stay as near as possible to the Alte Stadt, Nuremberg’s historic city centre. (And you know what? It really isn’t very far from there to the exhibition grounds. See more detail in my Getting To Work section.) The Alte Stadt is stunning—great architecture, charming pedestrian precincts, good restaurants and bars, picturesque churches, and, of course, the must-visit Bratwursthäusle, Nuremberg’s Sausage Eating House. Vegetarians are strongly advised not to enter this establishment.
Having risen to the challenge of the Nuremberg sausage (Nuremberg has its very own trademarked speciality sausage that must be tried and eaten with a challenging dollop of sauerkraut), you will of course need to ensure your hydration is up to spec. There are scores of bars but a visit to the microbrewery Bar Fusser will satisfy most thirsts.
Finally on the sustenance front, and for those that prefer the more sophisticated dining that is often described as modern European in style (whatever that means), there’s the impeccable Sebald Restaurant. Very very nice food but not cheap, so make sure you are cleared for that on your expenses budget.
Getting to work
Okay, enough enjoying yourselves. Why are we in Nuremberg? Ah yes, the Embedded World 2007 exhibition.
Very easy to get to from the City centre. From the Hauptbahnhof (Main rail station) use the U Bahn train Line U1. Board the train heading to Langwasser Süd. It’s only 6 stops to the exhibition (alight at the station called Messe). The journey time is about 12 minutes from the Hauptbahnhof….hence my advice to stay in the old part of town rather than some dull faceless hotel near the exhibition.
Also on the above Web page are guides about the fare structure. Unlike the Munich U-Bahn/S-Bahn fare structure that even Einstein would’ve failed to comprehend, Nuremberg’s system is a lot smaller and correspondingly easier to understand price-wise.
So you are at the show. It’s compact compared to the gigantic electronica techfest staged in Munich but still boasts about 500 exhibiting companies. It’s easy to get around this event but nonetheless don’t expect to see all the new technology that will be packed in there.
For stuff you miss at Embedded World, we at Electronic Design Europe will be reporting on the show with a mixture of magazine articles and technology video clips that we’ll be shooting live at the show.
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