Germany, Romantic Road

ViaMichelin shows three routes from Munich to Frankfurt. Two go through Würzburg, the northern terminus of the Romantic Roads. None of the routes goes along the Romantic Road, so traveling it will require a detour.

In 2007, I traveled the Romantic Road from Wieskirche to Würzburg using only public transportation, just to prove wrong those who say you have to have a car to do. I spent about 4½ days doing the trips, a few hours a day in transit and most of my time visiting the towns.

The road itself is nothing spectacular, just a winding country road with truck and farm equipment traffic. As I remember, the speed limit was 50 km/hr, about 30 mph, but I don't think you could go that fast.

Füssen and Würzburg, on either end of the road, are worth seeing. Rothenburg is the most famous town on the Road. It does have a complete wall but is rather touristy. My favorite town on the Road was Nördlingen, a smaller version of Rothenburg, far less touristy, with an almost intact wall you can walk on. Nearby, Dinkelsbühl has an intact wall, but the wall has no Wehrgang to walk on. Harburg has a very old castle that I don't think was ever destroyed. If you pick up the Road at Augsburg, all of the above towns are on the Road to the north.

I would expect that by September the tunnel just north of Augsburg may be open again.

Most of what is called the Romantic Road follows the B25 road which is in absolutely fabulous condition. I was on it for several days earlier this year when we stayed in Dinkelsbühl. There are sections where it is considerably more convenient than using the nearby Autoroute.

There was that tunnel closure which caused us a (very scenic) detour of about 15 or 20 minutes around the hills. Even that road, while slightly windy and with trucks negotiating villages, was beautiful in the rain.

The B25 is pretty straight on rolling hills, with bypasses of the villages and towns, very well signposted.

The difference between Lee and I in Germany is that he tends towards public transport - and often the cheapest variety of that - and I usually have my personal car which I drive over from England (and I use trains, trams and buses where they can help me). Because I am on and off trains all day for my work I like to do something different on my holidays and I enjoy driving - most of the time.

The speed limit on the B25 is the default German speed limit - that is 100 kph (about 62 mph) in rural areas which is the vast majority of the road, and 50 kph (about 31 mph) in areas between yellow built up area signs. There are a few ringers - at least 3 level crossings at steep angles of a preserved railway where the speed is 30 kph for the duration of the level crossing.

I found the road - last driven by me probably 15 years ago - easy and fast. The steeper hills have passing lanes and the straightness of the road meant that the trucks and farm equipment didn't slow me down much. And that is passing them with the driving position on the wrong side because of the car coming from England so you can see that the visibility was pretty decent for a decent driver.

We absolutely loved Dinkelsbühl, where we stay at the Flair Hotel Weisses Ross, for its storks nesting on the rooftops, the lake at the north end of town, the walls and the narrow lanes.

We also went to Noerdlingen where we found walking the wall was fun and because we need several more days there we will return.

RodT is a lot nicer than I remembered. We were there at 1700 so there was easy free parking with a window clock and most of the tourists were gone. We had a really good time there and I even went into the larger of the Kathe Wohlfahrt stores and got some small gifts. I gotta say though - that glockenspiel sounds nice with the music heard all around the centre of the town but the show is really really poor. And this is from somebody who really likes that sort of thing.

So, while I went expecting to not like the Romantic Road area at all, and to be frustrated by all the tourists and traffic, both my wife and I were very pleasantly surprised and left wanting more, lots more.

Part of was likely down to staying in Dinkelsbühl, and particularly staying at the Weisses Ross.

We stayed at Wurzburg and Rothenburg, stopped at Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl. I don't recommend driving the actual Romantic Road, it's slow and nothing special. Use the Autobahn to reduce travel time between towns you want to see.

Afterward we stayed in Reutte got up early and saw the castles before heading to Munich with a stop at the Wieskirche.

Looking over the replies, I should have been more specific. We depart Munich on Sept 15, and will have a rental car. We need to be in Kehl on the 18th. With one one night in Frankfurt , that laves two nights on the road between Munch and Frankfort. Is that enough time? I don't expect to see everything on this first trip. Also, suggestions as to towns to stay at.
Thanks,
Gerry

"two nights on the road between Munch and Frankfort"

I assume that also includes a flight across the Atlantic, since Frankfort is in the USA (Capital of Kentucky).

"The difference between Lee and I in Germany is that he tends towards public transport"

If I could take my car to Germany like you do (and have my US insurance cover me), I might do that, but renting a car in Germany is far more expensive than using public transportation.

"Because I am on and off trains all day for my work I like to do something different on my holidays"

Same here, because trains in the US are almost non-existent (the last time I rode a train over here was when I returned to Seattle from college in NY in 1964), and to go anywhere over here I have to drive. It is such a treat in Europe to be able to ditch the car.

And I use less expensive region public transportation because much of my travel (85%) has been to towns smaller than 50,000 people, places without express train service. Not that I deliberately avoid large towns, there is just nothing there that interests me. In 2012, I spent three day (four nights) in Bad Schandau, in the national park area of Sächische Schweiz. I toured the natural scenic sites in the park and spent a day at Königstein Fortress. One day I took the S-Bahn into Dresden. It was so crowded and touristy. I couldn't wait to leave.

"We depart Munich on Sept 15, and will have a rental car. We need to be in Kehl on the 18th. With one one night in Frankfort, that laves two nights on the road between Munch and Frankfort. Is that enough time?"

I'm struggling to understand this plan. I understand that you want to see some Romantic Road towns - or perhaps every last one. But why are you driving to Frankfurt if you have to be in Kehl?? Maybe if you had more than 3 nights altogether, a trip to Frankfurt would be worth it, but it takes more than a little time to get there and to see the place

Personally, I'd pull out a map and draw a line between Munich and Kehl as a rough guideline. Do some short detours north and south along the Romantic Road on the way west - Nördlingen is a really nice old-world walled town - without all the tourists and tour buses. Ulm, Esslingen, Tübingen, the Black Forest villages, Gengenbach, and more await you on the way to Kehl.

Nördlingen
Nördlingen defensive ramparts on the town wall
Gengenbach
Gengenbach side street

I like the picture of the ramparts. I was really intrigued with how the townspeople built their houses using the town wall as one side. In one place, the houses were built on the outside of the wall, over the moat, with just their "front doors" on the inside of the wall.

Yes, it really does look like that. Other than a big brewery - in its original location - there is little modern to see as you walk around those walls. It is a fair distance around, mind. Some of the outside of the walls follows a water course and is set in a park. The smell of bratwurst on the grills in the park is fairly appealing.

Around the north gate of Dinkelsbuehl is also similar with a really beautiful park.

I'm glad that follow up questions are being made on the public forum rather than in PMs so that everybody can participate in the answering and learning.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am not sure why we planned on going to Frankfurt, I agree, cutting across to Kehl would be more logical. We do have a very flexible schedule.