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Bad Wimpfen, Dinkelsbuhl, Rothenburg, Bad Mergentheim?

Will be going on a road trip to Germany for the first time. The plan is to start the road trip after Stuttgart. As i only have 2 days before reaching Wurzburg, i would like to know which town is a Must Not missed. All of them seems so nice. Any advice is well appreciated. cheers

Posted by
19092 posts

Bad Mergentheim has the castle of the Teutonic Knights, which I found interesting. I would prefer Nördlingen to Dinkelsbühl, if only because it has a wall you can walk on.

Posted by
12040 posts

To me, Bad Wimpfen is the crown jewel of the Neckar river valley. It doesn't take too long to visit, which could free up time to visit other towns in the vicinity.

I think Dinkelsbühl is one of the more unique towns on the Romantic Road. I haven't seen another town in Germany quite like it, with such colorful facades on the buildings.

Rothenburg od der Tauber is the Rick Steves fan favorite, and it is very attractive... but not my absolute favorite. It's just become too much of a tourist funhouse. And it's not nearly as unique as advertised.

I have not visited Bad Mergentheim, but I usually trust the above poster's recommendations on lesser-known German towns.

Add Schwäbish Hall and Nördlingen to the consideration as well. Schwäbish Hall looks very similar to Rothenburg, minus the wall, trinket shops, tour buses and selfie sticks. Nördlingen gives me an idea of what Rothenburg might look like had the tourist industry not embalmed it.

Posted by
6625 posts

"As i only have 2 days before reaching Wurzburg, i would like to know which town is a Must Not missed. All of them seems so nice."

The towns you mention are those you will commonly find in English-language guidebooks, but they actually represent only a small handful of the real options that face you. This part of Germany is filled with delightful little places. If you're looking for nicely-preserved old towns, you might put Bad Mergentheim lower on your list. The "A Day Out in..." videos, like this one on B.M. and Tauberbischofsheim, are quite good and should help you make some choices.

Rothenburg's drawbacks include the huge crowds that overrun the place. It's populated by shop- and innkeepers who cater to 2.5 million annual visitors; nowadays, tourism is pretty much the only means of livelihood. Rick Steves has referred to it as a "medieval theme park" - probably not far off the mark. Also, R'burg was nearly half destroyed 70 years ago so much of it is rebuilt rather than preserved. In a town like Nördlingen, your chances of rubbing elbows with German locals are much greater.

Here's a "Day Out in..." video on some Main River wine towns north of Rothenburg, very close to Würzburg. They were some of my wife's favorite stops on a recent trip to the area.

Another great little place east of Würzburg is IPHOFEN - see these photos.

Back on the Neckar River and the Enz River, closer to Stuttgart, is Besigheim, another old-world wine town. Burg Guttenberg (castle) near Haßmersheim has free-flight falconry shows.

Ludwigsburg might interest you as well.

Posted by
3696 posts

I have been on that road a number of times and one of my favorite towns is Dinkelsbuhl.... it just feels so comfortable to me and I have stayed in a few lovely B&Bs there. To me, its a don't miss... I also went to a quaint little Xmas market there and it was so much fun, as it was so 'local'.

Posted by
45 posts

If you want to see a lot of different small towns in those 2 days, I recommend that you drive from Stuttgart to Wurzburg in the following route: Schwabish Hall, Dinklesbuhl, Rothenburg, Weikersheim, Wertheim on Main, and then Wurzburg. You could overnight in Dinklesbuhl or Rothenburg. Each of those towns has its own interesting sights and character which you can research on the web.