Inscribed on the UNESCO list due to its Slavic connections, its architecture and its links with the 18th century Enlightenment, Bamberg is known among beer lovers for its sheer variety of brews in that beeriest of countries, Germany. I have been twice with friends: in August 2010 and May 2015.

The town is built around two rivers. The medieval and baroque town houses and buildings are well preserved and most of the streets remain cobbled. Of all the buildings, the town hall, or Rathaus, is the most impressive to my mind.

As for the Slavic connections, Bamberg played a role in the past a link between Central and Eastern Europe, which explains its rather Polish feel. In the 18th century Enlightenment it was home to the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and the author E.T.A. Hoffmann – on whose work ballets including The Nutcracker and Coppélia were based.

Although a pleasant town, if you are not a real beer afficionado seeking to check out the offerings of each of its 11 breweries, Bamberg is quite doable in one night. After narrowly missing the hourly train to Würzburg, we passed the time drinking local lagers and playing list-based drinking games … a finer activity on a summer’s day I haven’t yet found.