Romantic Road

My favorite place to stay is Dinkelsbuhl, which is just a few miles from Rothenburg. I have stayed at a couple different hotels there and all were charming. Its a nice walkable town with plenty of restaurants and shops.

I was also rather surprised by Dinkelsbuhl. I haven't seen another town in Germany that looks quite like it. RE- "Driving the Romantic Road" - the road itself is one of almost 100 Ferienstraßen (themed tourist routes) that criss-cross Germany. The intention is that they link together sites of a certain theme, not driving the road itself is the attraction. And actually, even though it is the most well known, I find the Romantic Road to be one of the weakest. The scenery is nothing special until the Alps pop up near the southern end and the towns, although attractive, for the most part aren't that exceptional for Germany. So, if there's a particular town along the route that interests you, go for it. But your valuable vacation time would probably be better spent doing otherwise than driving an ordinary rural secondary route that received the title "Romantic" from a regional German tourist board in the 1950s...

In 2007, I traveled the entire Romantic Road, most of it on the road itself by bus. The buses served all the little towns along the side of the road, turning off frequently to go to them, then coming back to the road. Several times when we came back onto the road, we had to wait for a truck, which was trailed by a long line of cars that couldn't pass. Once, as we entered a small town on a no-passing stretch, we found ourselves behind a very slow moving farm tractor pulling a hay wagon. The road also has a 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit. I don't think driving the Road would be as exciting as you imagine. Dinkelsbühl is unique in that the wall has no Wehrgang, like Rothenburg has. Just south of Dinkelsbühl is Nördlingen, which has a Wehrgang. Except for a small break on the western side, the wall is complete, and you can walk it on the Wehrgang. Nördlingen is a lot like Rothenburg, less a Christmas shop and a Crime & Punishment museum, which I can do without. It's less touristy. I spent most of a day there and hated to leave. Nördlingen is accessible by train from Munich or from Baden-Württemberg.

We are planning to visit Freiburg in September and are curious how long it would take to get to Nordinger by train.
(Susan - sorry to post here but we are new to this and one fellow who posted spoke about Nordinger).

I mentioned Nördlingen ('n', not 'r'). According to the Bahn website, depending on the type of train you use, about 4 hours via Karlsruhe and Aalen. Of the places on the Road that I've seen, Rothenburg is probably the only must-see. I didn't find anything else on the Road an absolute must-see. Between Rothenburg and Füssen, Nördlingen is probably the best and the most accessible. I also liked Landsberg and Donauwörth. Harburg castle (between Donauwörth and Nördlingen) is interesting, but a walk from the station (there is no public transportation) and there are no lockers at the station. It's a decent side trip if you are staying in Nördlingen and don't have luggage. Between Würzburg and Rothenburg, the Teutonic Knights museum in Bad Mergentheim was interesting. I also liked the Marienberg fortress in Würzburg. BTW, I didn't see the movie, but I understand Nördlingen had a cameo appearance in Chocolate Factory.

We love Dinkelsbuhl and have stayed at the "Deutsches Haus" twice. Great hotel with nice restaurant.