With some awesome road trip options available in the surrounding area, renting a car makes good sense. Without one, it’d be much harder to explore everything that Meiningen, 18 miles away, has to offer. Sudthuringisches Staatstheater - Das Theater Meiningen, Elisabethenburg Castle and St Marien Church alone make the drive out worth it. The locals will also probably point you in the direction of Oberhof, 25 miles away. If you can only find time for one thing here, let it be Thuringian Sea Aquarium. (But we’d also highly recommend Lotto Thuringia Arena am Rennsteig and Rennsteiggarten Oberhof.)