The Ulm Cathedral (Ulm Münster) in Ulm, Germany is the world’s tallest cathedral. While that is amazing in itself you can walk clear up to the tippy top of it! It’s an amazing experience but not for the faint of heart or those out of shape.
While checking out the cathedral is free it does cost €5 to climb to the top. Know what your getting into before buying, it’s 768 steep spiraling stairs up and then you have to walk them back down. Your legs will most likely feel like jelly and you’ll be sore for a few day…no joke!
You can see the bells as you pass by.
There is a short walkway where you can get a view and rest for a few mins before climbing some more.
There is also some neat views from the windows as you climb up, you can gaze out of them as your catching your breath.
You’ll also find an area where you can look down in the wooden box to see the bell again.
When you get to the top part (around 568 stairs so still a good workout) the less adventurous can stop here while those who want to muster on can climb the last leg to the very top! The remaining 200 stairs require navigating a tiny spiral staircase where you often have to literally step around someone who is coming down, it can be kinda scary…especially if your not a fan of heights! I’m ok with them but even my knees felt like knocking a few times.
View of the city.
Don’t forget to stop and check out the gargoyles along the way.
The view from the top is amazing but the pathway around is single file and expect some awkward passings when folks are passing by.
Last 200 steps are up this steep tower!
We went up as a group of 4 and 2 of the ladies struggled getting up the 568 stairs. 1 decided not to tackle the last 200 and 3 of us did, however only 2 of us made it to the top. If you have kids they may do ok on the part up to the main landing but I wouldn’t recommend the last 200 stairs for them.
The cathedral itself is beautiful and worth a visit, we had to hurry through as the climb to the top and back down took an hour and we had somewhere we needed to be by a certain time.
We were running so behind that I didn’t even have time to run to the front to take a pic of the whole building, which is a bummer.
If your passing through this way, it’s worth a stop for a visit. We stopped here on the way to Gramisch, there is also an IKEA that is only a few mins away as well. You get to see the world’s tallest cathedral and get a workout, double purpose! 😉
Know Before You Go:
What: Ulm Cathedral in Ulm, Germany.
How To Get There: It’s about 4 hours 15 mins from the Spangdahlem, 3 hours 18 mins from Ramstein and 2 hours from Garmisch. GPS addy: Münsterplatz 21, 89073 Ulm
Parking: can be a bit tricky to find, look for a nearby garage or just find parking along the street and buy a ticket from the machine.
Cost: €5 to walk up the 768 steps, for a total of 1536 round trip.
Traveling with little kids: The climb up is steep and spiraling, not recommended for little kids. It’s a LOT of steps and even adults legs feel like jelly coming down.
How long: Plan on at least an hour to walk up and down to the cat and across, more if you want to visit the inside of the cathedral as well.
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