Bavaria (Franconia)
Nuremberg Castle (Kaiserburg)
How to visit the Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg) in Nuremberg: the €9 combination ticket, the Deep Well and Sinwell Tower, April-to-September 9am-6pm hours, and the ten-minute climb up from the Hauptmarkt.
Where
Nuremberg, Germany
Opening hours
April to September: daily 09:00–18:00. October to March: daily 10:00–16:00. Last admission is roughly 45 minutes before closing, and the Deep Well is shown only on timed guided demonstrations through the day, so a late afternoon arrival can miss the final slot. The castle closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.
Tickets
The combination ticket (Palace museum, Imperial Chapel, Deep Well and Sinwell Tower) is €9 (about £8) for an adult and €8 reduced. A cheaper Deep Well plus Sinwell Tower ticket without the Palace museum is €5.50 (about £5). Everyone under 18 enters free. The walled outer courtyards and the terrace view are free to walk into without any ticket.
Time needed
Allow about 90 minutes to two hours for the full combination ticket: 45–60 minutes in the Palace museum and Imperial Chapel, the 15-minute Deep Well demonstration, and the climb up the Sinwell Tower. If you only want the rooftop view and the Deep Well, an hour with the €5.50 ticket is enough; add time to wander the free courtyards and the Maria-Sibylla-Merian-Garten below the bastion.
In short
Visiting Nuremberg Castle (Kaiserburg)
The Kaiserburg, or Imperial Castle, is the red-sandstone fortress at the very top of Nuremberg's Altstadt, a ten-minute uphill walk from the Hauptmarkt. The combination ticket is €9 (about £8) for an adult and covers the Palace museum, the Imperial Chapel, the Deep Well demonstration and the climb up the Sinwell Tower; under-18s go free. The Deep Well, a 47-metre shaft that staff light up and pour water down to show its depth, is the surprise highlight, and the Sinwell Tower gives the best view over the red roofs of the old town. Allow about 90 minutes to two hours, and come in summer when it opens 9am to 6pm rather than the shorter winter hours.
The combination ticket and what it covers
The Kaiserburg, Nuremberg’s Imperial Castle, is the red-sandstone fortress crowning the top of the Altstadt. The ticket to know about is the combination ticket: €9 (about £8) for an adult, €8 reduced, and it covers four things — the Palace museum, the Imperial Chapel, the Deep Well (Tiefer Brunnen) demonstration and the climb up the Sinwell Tower. Everyone under 18 goes free. If you only want the view and the well and can skip the museum, there is a cheaper €5.50 (about £5) ticket for just the Deep Well and Sinwell Tower.
The Deep Well is the part people remember: a 47-metre shaft cut straight down through the rock to keep the fortress watered through a siege. You can only see it on a short guided demonstration, where staff lower a lit tray into the dark and pour water down so you can judge how far it falls. The Sinwell Tower is the round keep next to it — climb it for the best view out over the red roofs of the old town and across to the castle gardens.
Hours, the climb up, and our verdict
The castle opens daily 09:00–18:00 from April to September and the shorter 10:00–16:00 from October to March, with last admission about 45 minutes before closing. The Deep Well only runs on timed demonstrations through the day, so a late afternoon arrival in winter can miss the final slot — go in the morning if the well is your reason for coming. It closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.
Getting there is a walk, not a ride: from the Hauptmarkt it is about ten minutes uphill through the lanes via Burgstraße, cobbled and climbing steadily, so wear flat shoes. There is no car park at the castle, but the whole walled old town is compact and pedestrianised, so there is no reason to drive anyway.
The €9 combination ticket is worth it for the Deep Well alone, and the Sinwell Tower view is the best in Nuremberg. But the outer courtyards and the terrace are free, so if you are short on time or money you can walk up, take the view over the Altstadt and the Maria-Sibylla-Merian-Garten below the bastion, and skip the paid interiors without feeling cheated.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Nuremberg city guide.
