Between 1919 until 1933 the seat of government in Germany was located in Weimar, Thüringen until the Nazis took power. I spent three days in this beautiful historic city. But before I can even write about it, I have to talk about one of Weimar’s neighbors called Mellingen.
When planning any weekend trip in Germany it is pretty handy to use hostelworld.com. So far their services have been spot on in locating open rooms at a great price. Typing in “Weimar” in their search field resulted in what appeared to be a great deal. Hotel Ilmtal had great facilities, a fair price, and was the only place available with what we were looking for. That is about all this location had going for it. Unfortunately these positives were negated by one nagging factor. Remember that we were looking for a hostel in Weimar.
Hotel Ilmtal is not in Weimar. Hotel Ilmtal is not where the bus we took dropped us off. Hotel Ilmtal is not even located near a bus line that runs regularly. Hotel Ilmtal is located about a half hour away on foot from the nearest train station that runs into Weimar. This train station is also on the top of a tall hill with no signs other than the small “Bahnhofstraße” street sign at the base. Trying to find these locals meant hours of walking, getting lost, and asking the locals where we were. Every single one of them looked like they had never seen backpackers in their neck of the woods. I understand their perspective fully.
This place was located in Mellingen, a small community without any significant establishments other than the local grocery Nahkauf and the Volksbank. This hotel that we stayed at was probably the largest building in the community. So just for clarification if you are ever planning to look for a place to lay your head in Weimar, beware of Hotel Ilmtal.