Germany's Romantic Road - A Guidebook for Walkers and Cyclists

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps

The Romantic Road or Romantische Strasse between Füssen and Würzburg is Germany’s oldest tourist route. It has served as the inspiration for a host of other routes, though none of these has ever come near to matching its popularity or fame.

As its name suggests, the Romantic Road perfectly encapsulates the romanticised image of Germany as a land of quaint old walled towns, rustic villages, ornate pilgrimage churches, dramatically sited castles and splendid palaces. While this picture may stand firmly at odds with its role in 20th century history, it is nonetheless an accurate reflection of one of the faces of this most enigmatic of nations.

Not the least of the route’s attractions is the way it presents such a satisfying cross-section of the southern half of Germany in all its many aspects. Along the way, a fascinating historical tapestry is unfolded. With the exception of two short sorties into Baden-Württemberg, the entire stretch of the Romantic Road lies within Bavaria (Bayern), the largest of the sixteen provinces or Länder which constitute the modern German federal state. However, the towns along its length bear witness to the centuries prior to the Napoleonic Wars, when literally hundreds of quasi-independent states dotted the map of Germany.

In this heavily decentralized framework, the Romantic Road’s celebrated trio of timed-warped walled towns - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen - each functioned for centuries as city-states. The much larger city of Augsburg likewise had this status as did, albeit for much shorter periods, Donauwörth and Feuchtwangen. Though even now hardly more than villages, Harburg, Wallerstein, Schillingsfürst and Weikersheim were all proud capitals of similarly autonomous principalities, as their outsized castles testify. Würzburg was the capital of a powerful prince-bishopric while Bad Mergentheim, nowadays a plush spa, was for three centuries the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, the premier order of German chivalry.

The Romantic Road is richly endowed with architectural and artistic treasures, many of which are of the very highest rank. In all of Europe, there are only a handful of towns with medieval fortifications to rival those of Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, while the parish churches of these same towns, erected as symbols of municipal pride and self-confidence when they were at the height of their prosperity, are supreme examples of late Gothic. Augsburg has the grandest and most stylish Renaissance public buildings to be found anywhere north of the Alps, and this assemblage forms a fitting legacy of its period as Europe’s banking capital. Among the crowning glories of the age of Baroque and Rococo are the Würzburg Residenz, which surpasses any of the continent’s royal palaces in splendour, and the Wieskirche near Steingaden, which is often justifiably described as the most beautiful pilgrimage church in the world. No building better exemplifies the ideals and obsessions of 19th century Romanticism than Schloss Neuschwanstein above Hohenschwangau, a seemingly impossible fantasy turned into reality.

While the Romantic Road is primarily renowned for its cultural legacies, it also passes through many widely contrasting landscapes. These include the towering peaks of the Alpine chain of the Ammergebirge; the lush meadows, fields and woods of the pre-Alpine country known as the Pfaffenwinkel; the broad valley of the River Lech; the gentler valleys of the Wörnitz and Tauber; the vast, moon-like Ries crater; and the plateau of the Frankenhöhe. It also briefly visits the valleys of two of Germany’s most important rivers, the Danube and the Main.

Until quite recently, the Romantic Road was regarded almost exclusively as a motoring route. Beginning at Füssen, this follows the B17 to Augsburg (from where a detour is necessary to reach Friedberg), then continues along the B2 to Donauwörth. There it switches to the B25, following it all the way to Rothenburg, except for a short diversion to Schillingsfürst. From Rothenburg, it proceeds via the minor roads along the side of the River Tauber to Tauberbischofsheim, from where the B27 leads to the northern terminus of Würzburg.

This makes for an excellent motoring holiday; even allowing for the time to get there from the UK and back, it can comfortably be covered in a fortnight if so desired. However, for those with more time to spare, the new Romantic Road cycling route, which is equally suitable for walkers, makes for a yet more enticing alternative.

Avoiding the main roads of the established motoring route altogether, this travels between the same 26 designated staging-posts along a mixture of specially laid paths (from which motorized transport is banned altogether), farm and forest tracks (where the odd agricultural or forestry vehicle may be encountered) and very minor roads (none of which sees much in the way of traffic).

It should be noted that, far from being the short-cut one might expect, this route is actually some 70km longer than its motoring counterpart, at times adopting a course that can best be characterized as mazy. However, the gains are considerable, adding a whole new dimension to travelling along the Romantic Road. Whereas those travelling by car tend to see little more than the setpiece tourist attractions, walkers and cyclists also experience the unspoiled countryside that lies away from the main roads, passing through dozens of villages untouched by the effects of mass tourism, where a traditional rural lifestyle - albeit one which manages to share in the general prosperity of modern Germany - is still the norm.

Although this book contains a good deal of information which can be used by those wanting to travel the Romantic Road by car, it is primarily aimed at walkers and cyclists. The first part deals with planning a trip along the route and other practicalities. In the second part, each stage of the walking and cycling route is described in turn. Detailed descriptions are given of all the designated staging-posts.