The Romantic Road, a journey through the heart of Bavaria

Peaceful countryside, battlefield sites, natural sights and, above all, an incomparable succession of historic towns: the Romantische Strasse, which stretches 350 km from Würzburg in the Main valley to Füssen in the Alps, is Germany’s most popular tourist route.

In the beginning was Würzburg

Start north along the first part of the route, signposted along the B27 from Würzburg to Tauberbischofsheim, a delightful winegrowing village nestled in the Tauber valley. Follow the river upstream on the B290 to the spa town of Bad Mergentheim, where modern amenities contrast with the old town and the Renaissance residence of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

The road then leads to Weikersheim, home to the moated castle of the Hohenlohe family, before arriving in Creglingen. Its church, the Herrgottskirche (Church of Our Lord), boasts a superb limewood altar to the Virgin Mary, carved by Tilman Riemenschneider in 1510. The church in Detwang also features an altar by the same artist.

Stop to stroll through the incomparable Rothenburg. South of Rothenburg, the medieval town of Feuchtwangen boasts a pretty old market square and Romantic-style cloisters that host open-air shows in summer. The next stop is Dinkelsbühl, perfectly preserved by a narrow ring of walls punctuated by towers; only one of the four gates leads into the town, where you can admire fine merchants’ residences such as the seven-storey Deutsches Haus (Am Weinmarkt). The 15th-century Church of St. George, one of the most beautiful in southern Germany, offers an exceptionally quiet and spacious interior.

For a change from walking, why not visit the town in a horse-drawn carriage? In the evening, a tour of the ramparts is a must. Under siege during the Thirty Years’ War, Dinkelsbühl escaped destruction thanks to the plea made by the town’s children to the chief officer, an event commemorated every July by a historical spectacle, the Kinderzeche.

Halfway to the key town of Nördlingen

As you approach Nördlingen, the road passes through an almost treeless lunar landscape: the Ries, a crater 25 km in diameter carved out by a giant meteorite 15 million years ago. A bird’s-eye view of the area awaits you from the top of the 90-metre-high tower of Nördlingen’s St. George’s Church, while the Rieskrater Museum tells you all you need to know about the phenomenon that gave rise to this landscape.

From the tower, you can enjoy a fine view of the town, which enjoyed its heyday between the 14th and 16th centuries, when the huge Whitsun fair attracted merchants from all over Germany. Nördlingen subsequently fell into disuse, but was never stripped of its later development. Solid ramparts, punctuated by sixteen towers and five gates, continue to protect the streets radiating from the Marktplatz, where the 13th-century Rathaus (town hall) stands. In the Stadtmuseum (City Museum), 6,000 lead soldiers still fight one of the great battles of the Thirty Years’ War, which took place outside the city walls in 1634.

To the castle of Ludwig II of Bavaria

From Nördlingen, the road joins the Danube at Donauwörth. Then, after Augsburg, it crosses the Lechfeld, site of one of Europe’s most decisive battles: it was here in 955 that Otto the Great halted the Hungarian incursions. Beyond Landsberg, the Alpine foothills begin, but before the Austrian border, one of Germany’s most romantic buildings stands out: the fairytale castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria at Neuschwanstein, perched on its promontory surrounded by forests and waterfalls.