Hello! I am planning on taking the Romantic Road from Fussen up to Rothenburg. What towns make a good stop for an hour or two along the way? We like small, charming little village-type towns to explore. Also, has anyone ever stayed at the Harburg Castle? Is this worth it?
Thank you!
I've visited Harburg castle, but didn't stay there. I stayed instead in nearby Nördlingen, which I highly recommend. It's similar to Rothenburg, but far less touristy. It doesn't have a Christmas shop or a Crime & Punishment Museum, but those things aren't what I find interesting about an old, walled town. The surrounding wall is nearly intact - I think one section is missing - and the wall has a Wehrgang you can walk on. You can also climb the church tower in the center of town, where, on a clear day, you get a fantastic view of the surrounding land. Including overnight, I spend about 18-20 hours in Nördlingen.
The official Romantische Strasse website lists 25 stops between but not including the end points, Füssen and Würzburg. When I did the Road in 2007, I identified 10 of these places that I wanted to see. I spent most of five days, on the Road, including extended overnight stays in four towns, Landsberg, Nördlingen, Feuchtwangen, and Weikersheim. I started at Wieskirche, because I had already been in Füssen, and I only went past Rothenburg, where I had been twice previously.
I don't recommend Wieskirche, because it is somewhat out of the way and nothing unique. Later in the trip, I visited Andechs Monastery, and it's chapel is a little smaller, but equally gaudy, and easier to get to. Besides, Andechs has good food and beer.
I was a little let down with Dinkelsbühl, but maybe because I had just left Nördlingen.
Landsberg is pretty large, but still a town. It has some remnant of the old wall still standing. It also has the prison, which I didn't see, where Hitler started writing Mein Kampf.
Besides the tour of Harburg, I took the tour of the palace in Weikersheim and self-toured the Deutschesordnung Museum (castle of the Teutonic Knights) in Bad Mergentheim.
Weikersheim and Feuchtwangen were two smaller towns that I enjoyed seeing.
I was impressed by Dinkelsbuhl, mainly because I haven't seen any other town in Germany that looks quite like it (I can't say the same for Rothenburg). Caveat that I haven't yet checked out Nördlingen.
Now, a word on driving the Romantic Road itself. If time is tight... don't bother. The scenery along most of the road isn't particularly interesting, especially because the view of the Alps will be to your back. The intention is that it links together a series of attractive towns, most of which you have to actually get out of the car and walk around to appreciate, not that the drive itself is in anyway Romantic. The road itself could just as well be any secondary route in southern Germany. So, if you need to make good time, just drive along the A7 Autobahn and get off at the appropriate exits. You won't miss much.
My wife and I drove from Munich along theRomantic Road at the start of a motor trip that ended in Bremen in May 2013. We stopped at Landsberg am Lech (which we found quite pleasant), Augsburg (not a "little village-type town") and a day and two nights in Rothenburg ob der Tauber (the place feels quite different at night when you're about the only one on the streets). We stopped for lunch in Augsburg and afterward walked the town for a couple of hours and enjoyed our time there. We got tangled up with the transit construction when we were leaving town. Our GPS had us going in circles for about 45 minutes. If you decide to stop at Augsburg get a detailed map of the city so you can find your way around the construction.
Thank you all for your feedback! This is quite helpful and I think I am going to take some advice from each of you and make it a point to visit Landsberg, Dinkelsbuhl, and Nordlingen on our way up the road. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain each of these places for me. Our trip isn't for a little while yet so I may have more questions along the way. Thanks again!
A common observation here over the years is what Tom said: most of the scenery along the road isn't particularly interesting.
If you choose to go, go for reasons other than the scenery along the road.
Picking up on the scenic drive issue... I've commonly noted over the years that the Romantic Road is just a route connecting attractive towns. So perhaps it's time that I mentioned some driving routes that actually do offer a scenic drive:
Obviously, the Mittelrhein from Wiesbaden to Bonn. The Mosel from Trier to Koblenz. The Neckar from Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen. A5 along most of it's route. A8 from Stuttgart to Ulm (although traffic is murder), and again from south of Munich to Salzburg. The Main from near Miltenburg to Würzburg. Straße der Romanik (the Romanesque Road) through Niedersachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt, particularly as it skirts the northern Hartz mountains. Any route through the Odenwald. A45 for most of it's length. The secondary routes from Bamberg to Pottenstein through Frankische Schweiz.
