Bad Staffelstein: Spa Park, History and Cycling Tours

Spa Park, Brine and Walking Routes

As you walk through the spa park, you can breathe in brine dispersed through the graduation towers. The park is free to enter and open at all times. The seasonal availability of the graduation towers is a separate matter: they are open daily and free of charge from Easter until late autumn; the start date depends on the Easter calendar. This means the park, which is open year-round, can also be enjoyed outside the graduation towers’ season. The Obermain Therme offers bathing in thermal brine and has Bavaria’s warmest and strongest thermal brine. Another walking route, the Sculpture Trail, leads from the spa area and the Obermain Therme along the Lauterbach stream to the town centre. Works along the trail include “Apollo and Daphne” and “Rising”.

Discover the Town’s History and Culture

The Bad Staffelstein Town Museum has been housed in a former school building, constructed in 1856, since 1990. Its exhibits include archaeological finds from the Staffelberg, documents on the town’s development and objects relating to religious life. There are also minerals and fossils from the Franconian Jura, information on the origins of the Obermain Therme, and a dedicated section about the calculating master Adam Ries(e). A visit to the museum offers insights into various aspects of local and regional history.

The town hall is now considered a landmark of the town. Much of its ground-floor masonry dates back to the late Middle Ages; the building was affected by the town fires of 1473 and 1684. The annual Brewers’ Festival takes place on 15 August, the Catholic feast of the Assumption of Mary, in the market square by the half-timbered town hall. The Kurpark also has an open-air stage, a central venue for cultural events with a wide-ranging programme.

Cycling Tours and an Interactive Adventure Trail

If you would like to explore Bad Staffelstein by bike, the six selected cycling tours have a clear local focus: they all start and end right in the town. The Adam Ries Adventure Trail offers a different kind of experience. This interactive discovery trail combines mathematics and local history, with ten stops covering the digits 1 to 9 and 0. Puzzles and hands-on activities invite you to calculate, experiment and explore.

The Adam Ries Adventure Trail stops are at Aqua Riese, in the spa park, at the Obermain Therme, around the railway station, along Bahnhofstraße, by the town wall behind the town museum, and at the Tourist Information office. This brings the theme of mathematics to several of the locations mentioned in the town. The trail makes a great activity in its own right for anyone interested in combining numbers and local history in a different way; the hands-on features make practical experimentation part of the discovery tour.

Lichtenfels as a Wider Travel Destination

The wider travel destination of Lichtenfels offers its own historical and craft-focused highlights. The old town has retained its typically Franconian character; the Bamberg Gate and Kronach Gate are preserved, and parts of the old town wall are still visible. The 14-kilometre Pfad der Flechtkultur adventure trail connects Lichtenfels and Michelau on nature-rich paths through the Main floodplains. Its 23 information boards cover the history and traditions of basket-making, the basket industry and the basket trade in the Upper Main region. These attractions in Lichtenfels offer a broader perspective on the region, while the spa park, town museum and cycling tours provide specific points of interest in Bad Staffelstein.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Schwabthal, Michelau in Oberfranken, Altenkunstadt, Burgkunstadt, Lichtenfels, Ebensfeld.

Back to the regional travel overview: Landkreis Lichtenfels.