10 Best Things to Do After Dinner in Nuremberg

Lorenzer Altstadt, the southern side of the Mitte heart of Nuremberg, is lovely after dark. One of the greatest things about this neighbourhood is that it's 100% walkable. In fact, 3 of the main streets here – Karolinenstrasse, Brunnengasse, and Breite Gasse – are completely pedestrianised.

You'll find plenty of high-street and upmarket shopping outlets that stay open until 8 pm. There are also coffee stops and ice cream parlours for capping off the evening. Be sure not to miss the sight of the White Tower and the Ehekarussell fountain beside it, which exudes a romantic edge when lit up at night.

The Nuremberg Opera House, known as the Staatstheater to the locals, is one of only 4 official Bavarian state theatres. You can't really miss it – the building dominates the south side of the Lorenzer Altstadt, rising with its opulent Art Nouveau facades right next to its own U-Bahn station, Opernhaus.

Ballet and opera performances at the Nuremberg Opera House are some of the most prestigious in the region. There are also performances of modern plays and takes on old ones, as well as orchestral philharmonics and dance troupes. It’s a good idea to book tickets at least a few weeks in advance.

The Theater Pfütze is a rare performance playhouse that focuses largely on producing shows for the younger generation. It's been housed in a dedicated cultural space on the northeastern side of the Mitte district since 2007. To get there, you can alight at the Rathenauplatz metro and U-Bahn stop and cross the Maxtorgraben park.

Directors have cut their teeth making shows out of children's novels but only in concert with the authors themselves. The result is a box office that has some excellent content for ages 6 and up, though some shows are rated 12-plus. After-dinner performances usually begin at 6 pm or 7.30 pm.

The Meisengeige is an art-house cinema with 1 foot in the past and 1 foot in the present. It sits on Am Laufer Schlagturm, a bustling cultural strip of theatres, bars and shops. You can get there within a 5-minute walk from the Rathenauplatz metro stop, or a 10-minute stroll from the Hauptmarkt square.

Something of a legendary spot among the city's film buffs, the Meisengeige is all about showcasing the crème-de-la-crème of German independent filmmaking and productions. It also airs family and international films, making it a suitable after-dinner spot for those with kids in tow.

The later hours are the perfect time to embark on a guided tour of underground Nuremberg. They take place – just as you might expect – below the cobbled surfaces of the city's streets, in shadowy cellars and tunnels carved out of the Bavarian subterrane. Usually, though, groups meet somewhere close to the Hauptmarkt square.

These tours will whisk you away from the bustling streets above ground to basement complexes that can be dated back to the 14th century. Many of them were constructed in the wake of Bavaria's famous beer laws, which dictated that anyone making their own brews had to have an underground space to store them in.

A trip to lovely Weißgerbergasse after dinner is like a trip back in time. This 180-metre-long street that snakes through the eastern side of the old town in the Mitte district is famed for its vintage buildings and taverns. Some of them date back centuries, still showcasing that trademark half-timbered shell and indisputably Bavarian interiors.

More than anything, Weißgerbergasse is the prime place to get your sampling of the local brews. Beer halls run the length of the road, with the likes of uber-cosy Finyas Taverne and Sektor Bar usually leading the way.

Cloud One Bar Nürnberg-Hauptbahnhof deserves a special mention among all the beer halls and taverns of this historic Bavarian town. It's perched up on the 14th floor of the Motel One hotel, right above the main train station. There, it offers 180-degree panoramas of the old town and beyond.

As you sip finely mixed longball cocktails and frothy craft beers that come from behind the bar, you'll be able to take in the view. Some aspects of it look downright gorgeous at night, from the tops of the St Elisabeth Church to the spire of the gilded Frauenkirche further in the distance. It's a great backdrop for a nightcap in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg nightclubs are plentiful, catering to a city of more than half a million people. These venues offer everything from pumping EDM and folksy jazz shows to dancing and chart tunes until the early hours. You'll find them peppering the whole town, though the southern part of Mitte known as Lorenzer Altstadt is surely the standout.

That part of the city hosts all sorts of nightclubs that go on until late. There's Rosi Schulz, a hazy dive bar for letting loose with tunes that are part rockabilly, part disco. Die Bombeo is a favourite of the student crowd, while edgy Gemein & Gefährlich is a stylish club that serves sleek cocktails well into the night.

Sebalder Altstadt is the epicentre of the historic core of Nuremberg, and the undisputed highlight of the Mitte district. Once the sun dips, it looks downright enchanting, too, as the spires of the Frauenkirche and the stone outline of the Tiergärtnertor get lit up. You simply have to take a stroll around the lovely area at night.

Sebalder Altstadt is the home of the famous Nuremberg Christmas Market. Delve into that to sample mulled wines and gingerbread biscuits in December. There's also the long and charming run of beer halls over in Weißgerbergasse, which gets very lively on weekends.

The St Katharina Open Air Concert graces the stages of a ruined church in the middle of Nuremberg's old town. It takes place at the Katharinenruine live music venue, just south of the Pegnitz River. The concert is held during the summer months of June and July and showcases a real hodgepodge of live acts.

One day, you might find a jazz quartet bumping away to big-band ditties out of Mississippi. The next, you could rock up to find a local blues group picking away. The St Katharina Open Air Concert focuses mostly on classical and world music. The smattering of beer gardens and Irish pubs to the north are great for drinking before hitting the venue itself.