Romantic Road

However, a trip along the Romantic Road offers much more than beautiful landscapes and culinary delicacies. The Romantic Road lives from the harmony of culture and hospitality, from ever new views of diverse landscapes, from cities with impressive magnificent buildings that have preserved their face for many centuries. Balthasar Neumann created the Würzburg residence, in the Taubertal you can meet Tilmann Riemenschneider, Carl Spitzweg was fascinated by Rothenburg od T. and Dinkelsbühl, in Ries there is geological history to touch. In Augsburg you come across the Romans and with the Fuggerei the first social housing estate from the 16th century. The Wieskirche as one of the most famous works of art of the Rococo is in the Pfaffenwinkel. Hohenschwangau, but above all Neuschwanstein, the world-famous castle of the Bavarian fairytale king Ludwig II, are dreams of times gone by turned to stone and close the Romantic Road at the foot of the Bavarian Alps.

In 704, Würzburg was first mentioned in a document as the "Virteburh" fortification. The city was an important economic, spiritual and sovereign center as early as the Middle Ages. The supraregional importance remained high until the industrial revolution. The result was an impressive cityscape, comparable to outstanding central European old towns such as Krakow. This was badly damaged in the Second World War, in particular by the bombing on March 16, 1945. During the reconstruction, important individual monuments such as most of the churches in the old town were externally reconstructed, but only a few town house ensembles and traditional islands. The Würzburg Residence, which was also partially badly damaged during the war and subsequently restored, with its courtyard garden and Residenzplatz was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981.

Marienberg Fortress is just a stone's throw from the city center on the left bank of the Main. It is lined with vines and looks down on the old university town with its domes, towers and bridges. A delightful hiking trail leads from St. Burkard to Marienberg Fortress. In addition, Marienberg Fortress can be reached on foot via Tellsteige and the grounds of the State Garden Show from 1990.

The town of Weikersheim lies on the Romantic Road, the Württemberg Wine Route and the Tauber Valley Cycle Path, each of which leads past many places of interest. The Main-Tauber-Franconian Cycle Eight, the Tauber Valley Panorama Trail and the Main-Tauber Valley Way of St. James, which is about 180 km long, also pass through the town.

Weikersheim Castle is the ancestral seat of the Lords of Hohenlohe in Weikersheim. The original moated castle in the Tauber reservoir was extensively enlarged as a Renaissance-style palace from 1595 onwards. The three-axis baroque garden from the early 18th century in front of the south wing opens up the grounds to the wide landscape of the Tauber valley. Weikersheim Palace was acquired by the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1967, restored in the following years and is now open to the public. The palace garden of Weikersheim is a paradise in unique preservation. Count Carl Ludwig von Hohenlohe-Weikersheim had the baroque garden, rich in form, laid out on the south side of his castle in the first half of the 18th century. (Visitor information)

Dinkelsbühl is another highlight on the Romantic Road with an exceptionally well-preserved late medieval townscape. The old town with a total of 780 houses can call itself a "European cultural monument". 77 % of the houses are more than 350 years old, 44 % - almost half - were built in the late Middle Ages up to around 1500 - unique in southern Germany.

In addition to the impressive half-timbered houses, the outstanding buildings include the Catholic St. George's Minster and the Protestant St. Paul's Church, the Old Town Hall, the historic town mill at the Nördlinger Tor and the baroque Teutonic Order Castle.

Dinkelsbühl is a town of towers, which you can also discover from ever new perspectives on a walk around the town wall. The walk leads through the idyllic town park, the impressive old and new promenade, through town ditches and past orchards, always in the shadow of the old fortifications.

The Renaissance Town Hall is one of the main sights in Augsburg. Stadtwerkmeister Elias Holl built the most important secular building of the German Renaissance between 1615 and 1620. The Golden Hall is one of the most imposing representative rooms in Germany and conveys the splendour of the imperial city.

The Fuggerei in Augsburg's old town was founded by Jakob Fugger in 1521 and is the oldest social housing estate in the world. Its 140 houses are home to 150 Catholic citizens of Augsburg. They pay an annual (cold) rent of 0.88 euros for a flat of around 60 square metres. In return, they say three prayers a day for the founding family. Several museums and the World War II bunker explain the history of this terraced housing estate.

Other sights in Augsburg include the Badstuben in the Fuggerstadtpalast, the St. Afra Diocesan Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral and the Schaezlerpalais. The "Augsburg Water Management System" has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2019. Find out more here.

In the hospital building, which also dates from the Renaissance (1623), the Augsburg Puppet Box has been performing fairy tales, plays and cabaret since 1948. From 1953, TV productions (Kater Mikesch, Räuber Hotzenplotz, Jim Knopf, Urmel aus dem Eis) made the puppet stage popular. In the hospital, the puppet theatre museum "die Kiste" displays the most famous marionettes in showcases.

The Romantic Road ends in beautifully situated Füssen, which is framed by mountains, the Lech river and numerous lakes. The town, whose origins date back to Roman times, offers several architectural sights, such as the late Gothic High Castle with the Knights' Hall and a branch of the Bavarian State Painting Collection, the St. Mang Monastery, and the well-preserved town wall.
Since 2000, the Neuschwanstein Festival Theatre with a view of Neuschwanstein Castle has stood on the banks of Lake Forggensee. Since then, musicals such as Lugwig II and Zeppelin have been performed here.

The more than 10 lakes in the immediate vicinity and the breathtaking landscape make Füssen a paradise for hiking, cycling and water sports. There are also many opportunities for winter sports enthusiasts in the surrounding Ammergau and Allgäu Alps.

The world-famous royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are only a few kilometres away from Füssen. This makes Füssen an ideal starting point for numerous discovery tours during your motorhome holiday on the Romantic Road.