The Romantic Road, Germany

Fri 5th – Wed 10th Sept

The Romantic Road is Germany's most popular tourist route and runs 366 km through Southern Germany from the city of Wurzberg to Zugspitze, Germany's tallest mountain peak. We had planned to spend 2-3 days doing the route, but ended up taking 6 days despite cutting out quite a few towns. I guess we could blame it on the van, but in hindsight there were definitely a few towns I wish we had skipped and spent more time in others.

Below is a quick run through of where we stopped and the harsh yet honest opinion of each in case you'd ever be interested in doing the route as well.

Day One

Wurzberg – Being day one and all, we had no idea what to expect or how much time to spend in each place on the route, so we arrived just before lunch and finished up the city within the afternoon. We probably could have flown through it a lot faster and moved on, but we'd already parked up at a camp site so we made the most of it. The view from the castle was worth the trek, but be careful to take the northern approach as we had a very long walk up the wrong way from the river. Prince Bishop's residence was definitely the highlight of the day, but we skipped paying the entry fee and just enjoyed the gardens since the building was under renovation.

Taking a break at Wurzberg's Residence Palace

Day Two

Tauberbischofsheim – We beat most of the tour buses and had the town to ourselves, literally. It was a Saturday morning and not a shop was open, but the town was really cute and we had fun browsing through the narrow empty streets. We only spent about 45 minutes here before we'd seen everything and then moved on.

The main square in Tauberbischofsheim

Bad Mergentheim- Definitely the highlight of the day with slightly more to see than Tauberbischofsheim. It was more crowded but the river, shops and cathedral were gorgeous. We even caught a glimpse of a wedding in the main park.

Jester statues in Bad Mergentheim

Lauda-Konigshofen - Couldn't find it! So no comment!

Creglingen – Tired of searching for parking, we decided to skip Weikersheim and Rottingen with the intention of camping in Creglingen and cycling back. No such luck thanks to the weather, and the fact that our camp site was actually 3km out of town, uphill. We only made it to Creglingen but loved visiting one of the fortifications that was later converted into a house. A tiny woman by the name of Margaret lived in the narrow building for over 60 years and it's now a living museum of her life. Truly amazing and it feels like you're visiting a fairy tale or the woman who lived in a shoe.

The smallest house I've ever seen - Creglingen

Day Three

Rothenburg ODT - After visiting Rothenburg, I wondered why we hadn't just driven here straight from Wurzberg. We lucked out and landed in town on the same day as a medieval festival so the town was filled with locals in costumes selling all kinds of yummy bratwurst, pretzel and beer guzzling treats. It was literally like stepping back in time to visit a feudal town from the 1500's and I'm determined to get back here for the X-mas market – one of Germany's best. We foolishly only fed 2 hours worth of coins into the parking meter and we were parked 30mins from town, so this would be one of those places I wish we could have stayed all day but left too early. I'll be back here again!

Wandering Rothenburg's charming streets

Schillingfurst – Couldn't find the castle! So no comment!

Feuchtwangen – We jokingly referred to this town as F*#k'dwagon while searching for road signs but I think our nick name summed it up in the end. Not bad to look at from the car windows but I wouldn't bother stopping.

Dinkelsbuhl - Another gem of a town, and made even better by the fact that our camp site was only a 5 minute ride from the centre. We parked up, then peddled into town just in time to watch the sun setting over the moat. It was beautiful and a perfect ending to the day.

Dinkelsbuhl's main street

Day Four

Nordlingen Im Ries – This town got a lot of hype on the route map and recommendations from people we ran into on the streets but we must have missed something. Sure, the wall that runs all the way around the city was a lovely walk (that takes around an hour) but there really wasn't much to see because we were physically standing on the main attraction. After York and Dubrovnik, I didn't find this city wall all that impressive or worth the effort.

Nordlinger's aldstadt

Harburg – Everyone comes here to see the castle, which is dead impressive. But it was Monday and didn't you know that all tourist attractions are closed on Mondays? Even from the outside it was worth a look around but we decided to walk down the incredibly steep hill into town to kill some time. I'm so glad we did, as I doubt most Romantic Road tourists bother. There was a lovely little white foot bridge made of stone over a river, all overshadowed by the castle. Although there wasn't much to do in town, it was still fun to wander the streets and just appreciate the scenery.

Harburg

Donauworth - Donauworth is known as one of southern Germany's most attractive main streets. It's also pretty damn steep. We had a quick wander around but again it looked very similar to everywhere we had been.

Bridge statues in Donauworth

Days 5 & 6

Schwangau & Fussen - Schwangau & Fussen were definitely the highlight of the tour. It's all about castles & mountains here, and chances are that most Germany travel books will have a photo of Neuschwanstein castle on the front cover. Or you may recognise it as the model for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle. Needless to say, there is plenty to do in the area and we spent 2.5 days cycling around Fussen, hiking for incredible views of the castles and just enjoying the clear weather and beautiful surroundings.

Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau