I never expected to have much to say about the food here, but I am seriously impressed. German cuisine leaves less to be desired than I imagined, and here in Bavaria it isn't just sausages either. On arrival we headed straight to Klosterbräu, Bamberg's oldest brewery. It was of course the traditional Franconian dishes in their restaurant that attracted me, not the home-brewed dunkel beer. Hearty dishes such as slow-roasted pork shoulder with gravy are typical, and very tasty! Now why has no on ever told me about German mustard before?

From the oldest of the brauerei to the newest, Ambräusianum has a copper vat bubbling away in one of its lounges, where rauchbier can be quaffed by the litre. This is smoked beer, an interesting local speciality; and oh yes, they do smoked lager too!

So, you get the picture - it was a fairly leisurely visit to this beautiful, unspoilt city. But we did camp on the riverbank half an hour out of town and used the bikes for transport. This seemed to be the most popular method of crossing the historic bridges and negotiating the narrow cobbled streets between the tall, majestic buildings, all of which miraculously escaped the Allied bombing raids, as did the very large and dominant Dom (cathedral).

By the way, when I said Bamberg's oldest brewery, I wasn't kidding. They have been brewing beer there since 1333. Now, that's impressive!