We will be in Augsburg in April. We expect to have one day available for a day trip. I have been looking at Nördlingen or Landsberg am Lech. Both appear quite appealing and I have read their websites. I have not visited either before. Neither are too far for a comfortable day trip by train. Any particular sight or issue that would make one preferable over the other?
Thanks for any input. Gary
I've spent one night in each place.
I was pleasantly surprised by Landsberg. It was supposed to be just a convenient stopping place on my trip up the Romantic Road, but I found it to be a delightful town with a few remnants of the old town wall, mostly towers and gates, still existing. The prison there is where Hitler wrote the first part of Mein Kampf. I thought it would have long ago been razed to prevent it from becoming a Neo-Nazi shrine, but it looks like it's still there. (Thinking it would be long gone, I didn't look for it, but aerial maps seem to show it.) Outside Landsberg, on Erpftingerstrasse, is where there used to be a satellite work camp for Dachau. The munitions plant was underground, but the barracks were on the surface, and some ruins of them still exist.
Nördlingen, on the other hand, is more interesting if you want to see a walled town. The Wehrgang is accessible from the town gates. You can climb to the top of the church tower in the center of town for a spectacular view. Nördlingen sits inside a large, ancient meteor impact crater (the Ries) and our Apollo astronauts trained for the moon on the walls of the crater. There is a museum about the crater in town. Between Augsburg and Nördlingen, the town of Donauwörth and Harburg are worth seeing. Harburg has an intact castle that you can visit. However, the station is south of town and there is no public transportation; you'll have a 1 km walk to town and then a steep climb to the castle.
Maybe the Bavarian Railway Museum in Nördlingen is of interest.
Thanks Lee & Wil. Both still look like good choices. Donauwörth is a bonus that I had considered but am glad to have it confirmed that it is a nice stop. (Donauwörth is a convenient rail transfer point going to Nördlingen.) We will probably make up our minds at the last moment as both are desirable and easy to reach. Thanks again, Gary
Here's two other possible suggestions, although I don't know how convenient either is by train from Augsburg.
If you have a much greater than normal interest in the Napoleonic conflicts, you can consider a visit to the Befreiungshalle above Kelheim. Don't bother, though, if you don't obsess over this kind of stuff. The town of Kelheim itself is nice enough, but nothing too spectacular.
The other option, which I would recommend much more highly, is Landshut. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say that I visited Landshut the week before I saw Salzburg for the first time, and I can honestly say I was far more impressed with the former. Both have a large castle overlooking the town, both are built in a similar Baroque style, but whereas Salzburg is kind of monochromatic, Landshut is a burst of Technicolor. The views of the Alps in Salzburg, though are far better (you can only barely seem them from certain vantage points in Landshut when conditions are perfect).
I spent a few hours in Nördlingen once per Lee's frequent recommendations and I was quite impressed. Very similar to Rothenburg, if there's a bit more modern buildings, but none of the trinket shops or tour buses that have turned Rothenburg into a hollowed-out tourist funhouse.
I've only driven through Landsberg. Looked nice enough, but I didn't get a closer look.
Donauwörth is only about 150 miles down the Danube from it's headwaters in Donaueschingen, so, at the confluence of the Wörnitz and the Danube, there is a statue of the "junge Donau". It's a short walk from there up a greenbelt to the ruins of a 10th century castle, Mangoldstein, now not much more than a pile of rocks. You can see fragments of the town wall around town, particularly around the main gate.
Thanks Tom, I visited Landshut for the second time April this year. I agree that it is a really good place to spent a day or two.
Thanks again, Lee. I will be a bit more research of Donauwörth.
Have you considered Ulm? It is close and even though it does not get a lot of pub on this site, I remember it as a great little city and had a lot to offer. Been a long time since I was there, but have it on my list to return to in 2016.
Thanks Tony. I have Ulm on my to do list but not this time. I visited there almost 40 years ago but can't remember much about it.
