Museums Solnhofen Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum Rathaus, Bahnhofstraße 8, 91807, Solnhofen This museum is in the middle of town, conveniently close to the railway station. Its origins lie in the collection of the former Bürgermeister Müller, obtained from the surrounding area. Ammonites, belemites, bivalves. Amphibians and reptiles. Fish by the slab full. Plants and insects. Crabs. There's so much, it all becomes a bit of a blur. They've even got fossilized jelleyfish. And then, in a corner, accompanied by five or six pterosaurs, there's an Archaeopteryx. The feathers aren't easy to see on this one, which was first identified in the late 1970s. It was discovered by the Munich paleontologist, Peter Wellenhofer, although it was already in the collection, labelled as a Compsognathus. Museums are often good places to discover unknown dinosaurs. On leaving, pat the replica Ceratosaurus on the head, nip across the road and have a look in the fossil shop. Looking is free. Carry on towards the bridge and turn left up the main road. After a couple of hundred yards, there's a restaurant. I suggest the wild boar or the local lamb. It's not cheap but was good value at 20 to DM25. (That should be 10 - 15 euros by now.) The decor is also worth enjoying.

Museum auf dem Maxberg Maxberg bei Mörnsheim, 91807, Solnhofen http://altmuehltal.de/moernsheim/museum_maxberg.htm This museum's rather more remote, stuck out in the wilds of quarrying country. I'm afraid I can't remember it too clearly. We went there once, but it was about eight years ago. There's certainly a flock of pterosaurs. Maybe we'll pop down again sometime.

Paleontologists in action in Solnhofen, Bavaria.

After Solnhofen, you might like to try Eichstätt, about 20 miles away. Going by rail is fun. The local topography requires a change of train a couple of miles out of town. The rest of the journey is on a light railway. Without a car though, Museum Berger (see below) is not so easy to reach. Driving, if you take the warning signs too literally, could be alarming. They inform you of slippery conditions when wet, the perils of rabies and the likelyhood of boulders crashing down on you from the hillsides. Near one sign, someone's set up a park bench. Is this attempted murder?

Eichstätt Museum Berger Harthof, 85072, Eichstätt http://altmuehltal.de/eichstaett/museum-berger.htm This is a private musuem, operated by the owners of a quarrying firm and is situated by the company's offices. It contains mainly whatever's been found whilst working. You could describe this collection, denigratingly, as perhaps the third best in the area. To put this into perspective, though, some curators would commit murder to get their hands on these fossils. One plate shows a fish in the process of swallowing another, at which point they both got buried in the silt. The pterosaurs are naturally fantastic. And stuck in my memory are the dragonflies. If it's late spring / early summer look at these fossils, leave the museum, go across to the pond and watch the living dragonflies for a while. It's far more impressive than any special effects tricks. Some of the information posters in the museum are thirty years out of date but frankly, who cares? As for lunch, the following is recommended. Take a picnic. Hire a hammer and chisel from the museum for a couple of euros. Walk a mile or so across the fields in the direction of the big, colourful children's home, (Kinderdorf). In front of that there's a public quarry. Eat, descend and start fossiling. This quarry's a sun trap and there's no shade, which is worth remembering if you're with small children. Take enough to drink, some elastoplast, a tube of glue and some old newspaper to wrap round anything you find. Hair stars, (free swimming sealilies), and dendrites, (plant-like looking patterns caused by minerals transported in the rain water of millions of years), are guaranteed. You never know your luck, though.

Jura-Museum Willibaldsburg, 85072, Eichstätt http://www.juramuseum.de This is the best museum in the area. It's housed in the former palace of the Prince-Bishops of Eichstätt, perched high on the hill and dominates the city. You don't need a map. Head towards it, join the path and start climbing. The contents are pretty much as mentioned above, only more so, and include an Archaeopteryx, pterosaurs, a ten meter crocodile, and and and. The layout is well planned and pretty much ideal. There's a comprehensible section on the local geology, information on a nearby meteorite impact fifteen million years ago and a display of living fossils. If you want big skeletons you might be a bit disappointed, but the mammoth in the archaeological section is not exactly small. You can also climb to the top of the tower, if you're so inclined, and enjoy the view. After the museum, I suggest a light lunch in the restaurant outside, which offers reasonable value. Käse- (cheese), Schinken- (ham) or Salamibrot (-bread) are fine. Stroll back into town, look around for a while and then head back to Solnhofen on the road alongside the Altmühl river. The destination is the same restaurant as before, but this time the local lamb or wild boar. They serve big portions, thus the light lunch.

Trevor Dykes, Nuremberg, February 2001

ktdykes@arcor.de

Health Warning: Visiting more than one of these musuems on the same day is not recommended. An overdose can be fatal.