Travel the Romantic Road, Germany
Top Sights to See on the Romantische Straße Holiday Route in Bavaria
Nov 24, 2007
The Romantic Road (Romantische Straße) in western Bavaria is arguably the best known of Germany’s numerous thematic holiday routes. The most popular sights are the fantasy castle Schloss Neuschwanstein and wall-enclosed medieval town Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
The Romantic Road starts in Würzburg with its wonderful Residenz palace – a Baroque masterpiece by Balthasar Neumann included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
The Romantic Road in the Sweet Tauber Valley (Liebliches Taubertal)
From Würzburg, the Romantic Road briefly passes through the Tauber Valley, which is mostly in the state Baden-Württemberg. Popular stops in this valley include:
- Bad Mergentheim with a large Teutonic Order castle and a wonderful Rococo church;
- Stuppach with a remarkable Matthias Grünewald painting of the Madonna;
- Weikersheim with a splendid Renaissance palace; and
- Creglingen with its world-famous Tilman Riemenschneider altar and the Fingerhut (Thimble) Museum.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
The most popular stop on the Romantic Road and for many the highlight of a visit to Germany is incredibly romantic Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This small town is completely encircled by a town wall and has managed to maintain its late medieval appearance.
The best part of Rothenburg is to wander in its narrow alleys and along the sentries’ walk on the town walls. Most day-trippers – and there are huge numbers of them everyday – depart by late afternoon allowing overnight hotel guests to enjoy some tranquility and a very romantic atmosphere.
The Medieval Crime Museum has excellent exhibits of torture instruments but also a very serious presentation of the medieval justice system. Also worth seeing in Rothenburg is the Holy Blood Alter (Heilig Blut) by Tilman Riemenschneider in the St Jakobs-Kirche. The German Christmas Museum and numerous Christmas decoration shops of Käthe Wohlfahrt scattered through the old town are also popular sights.
The Romantic Road in the Romantic Franconia Region
Several further romantic sights with far fewer tourists follow south of Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
- Schillingsfürst has a Spanish Baroque palace;
- Feuchtwangen is famous for its 12th-century Romanesque cloisters; and
- Dinkelsbühl has romantic alleys and is fully encircled by a town wall.
The Romantic Road in Ries-Danube Region
- Nördlingen is the only town in Germany where the town wall is still 100% accessible. Furthermore, this old town is almost perfectly round and sees fewer tourists than Rothenburg or Dinkelsbühl.
- Wallerstein has a huge 65-m (213-ft) rock that can be scaled for lovely views.
- The Romantic Road passes through a tunnel under Schloss Harburg, one of the best-preserved old castles in Bavaria.
- Donauwörth at the confluence of the Danube and Wörnitz Rivers has interesting façades along Reichstraße.
Augsburg
Augsburg, the largest city on the Romantic Road, was a wealthy city at the end of the Middle Ages and had the first Renaissance buildings in Germany. The Fuggers, a rich banking and trading family, were based here and left the Renaissance Fuggerkapelle (Funeral Chapel) and the Fuggerei, the oldest still in use social housing complex in the world.
The Dom (Cathedral) has a Romanesque core and the oldest stained-glass windows in Germany. The Renaissance Rathaus has a very impressive reception hall.
Southern Romantic Road
From Augsburg, the Alps can be seen on the horizon as the Romantic Road snakes through small towns towards its destiny in the mountains.
- Landsberg on the Lech has a romantic old town with several Baroque façades. Adolf Hitler was incarcerated in Landsberg for a few months following his failed coup d’état in 1923.
- Schongau has a Baroque church by Dominikus Zimmermann but the best sight is in nearby Altenstadt - the Basilica St Martin is arguably the finest Romanesque church in Bavaria.
- Steingaden has an interesting parish church with Romanesque exterior and Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo elements in its interior.
- The Wieskirche is an artistic highlight of the Romantic Road. It is considered the definitive Bavarian Rococo church and thus on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. Master Rococo architect Dominikus Zimmermann designed the church and did most of the stuccowork while his equally talented older brother Johann Baptist did most of the paintings.
- The Romantic Road ends in Füssen on the Austrian border. This lovely town has a large former monastery and castle but most visitors come to see Schloss Neuschwanstein, Mad King Ludwig’s fantasy castle, in nearby Schwangau.
It is possible to drive the full Romantic Road in less than a day but most visitors will want to linger longer. The Europabus used to run the full length of the Romantic Road. However, from summer 2008, the Europabus schedule has changed drastically and only the most popular stops along the Romantic Road are now covered. Lesser destinations can still be reached on public transportation but often require more careful planning.
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