A wide range of different kinds of restaurants and pubs is located all over the old town. Near the conference venue (just cross the bridge towards the mountains and turn right) starts the Sandstrasse, which has many pubs and some brewery-restaurants typical for Bamberg (e.g., Schlenkerla). If you like it (a little) less touristic and cheaper, the conference venue is close to the Austrasse with its cafes and small restaurants. The cafeteria (Mensa Haus zum Schwan) of the university is also located there. The food is quite good and cheap. Officially you should show them a student ID, but normally they do not ask if you look young and fresh.

If you would like to eat and drink like locals, the brewery-pubs are the place to go. As Bamberg is the center of the region with the highest density of breweries in the whole world (no kidding, nearby Aufsess has 4 breweries and 1500 inhabitants, Bamberg has 9 breweries and 70000 inhabitants), there are many of these traditional places, here we only give a list of the most famous ones. Please see the Franconia Beer Guide for descriptions of the almost 300 breweries in Franconia.

In Bamberg, we recommend Fässla, Spezial (facing each other at Obere Königstrasse), Greifenklau (Laurenziplatz 20, a little remote, but very good food and beer), Klosterbräu (Obere Mühlbrücke 1-3, oldest brewery in town) and more. If the weather is good, people will commonly leave the pubs and gather at the beer gardens (actually the correct phrase is "on top of the beer cellar", because the old beer storage cellars were built beneath). The most famous of these places is the Spezialkeller (our neighbors at Sternwartstr.) which not only offers one of the best smoked beers, but also offers an impressive view of the old city. The largest beer garden is Wilde Rose Keller (Oberer Stephansberg 49, near Sternwarte). The big trees there are shady, which makes it a comfortable place when it is hot.

International food is also served at various places. Especially for our friends from Great Britain we have a not too good Indian restaurant (Frauenstr. 2). There is an Irish pub, if you don't like the Bamberg beer anymore (Obstmarkt 1, next to Altes Rathaus; ironically they do not seem to have a www-page in English). Rather good Spanish food can be found at Bolero (Judenstr. 7, half-price cocktails from 17h00 to 19h30) or Tapas (Unterer Kaulberg 36).

Bamberg nightlife takes place at the pubs (beer gardens close between 23h and midnight), which are concentrated on Sandstrasse (e.g. Stilbruch, Mondscheinbar, Lewinskys) and Austrasse (e.g. Esspress, Hofcafe). The Haas Säle has a lovely terrace on the roof top, where one has a spectacular view towards the illuminated cathedral at night - don't let the grubby look of the building deceive you. If you like to dance until late (different kinds of party music) you should go to Live Club (Obere Sandstr. 7), Morph Club (Obere Königstr. 39) or Calimeros (Lange Str. 8).