Senic/Medival Towns in Germany

Generally, the romantic road is famous for those quaint medieval town centers. It's touristy but probably the most scenic towns packed into one area.

Here are a few places that come to mind from my own travels.

In the north that are fairly close to one another:

Rinteln and Hameln (lovely Weserrennaisance arch.)

Hannoversch Münden

Goslar

Near Koblenz (south of Cologne):

Limburg

Linz

Bacharach

Cochem

Bernkastel

Near Aachen: Monschau

And check out the "framework road" locations:

http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/cont.php3

Two well preserved villages I visited a couple of weeks ago were Volkach and Prichsenstadt. These are in the Franconian wine region, just north of the A3 Autobahn about 30 km east of Wuerzburg. Either one is quite small but also have interesting shops & restaurants or cafes. Did an impromptu wine tasting in Volkach. A bit farther east is the city of Bamberg, dating from 973 AD. One of my favorite places in Germany, and listed as a world heritage site.

Hi Derick,

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, we should add Rothenburg ob der Tauber to the list. It's on everyone's tourist map, is a hassle to get to by train, and borders on Disney-esque...but it is ADORABLE and definitely meets your criteria of medieval/scenic/pretty architecture. We thoroughly enjoyed it in May.

Hope your trip goes well!

The reason that Rothenburg odT is so visited is that it is one of the few authentic medival towns. Much of Germany was layed waste during the 30 Years War in the first half of the 1600s and most buildings date from after that.

There are, however some very scenic later towns. Bacharach has some nice Fachwerk buildings, as does Braubach, further down the river. In addition to Goslar, near the Harz Mountains, there are also Wernigerode and Quedlinburg near there in what was East Germany.

If you like walled cities, I was particularly impressed with Nördlingen on the Romantic Road.

Despite getting the piss bombed out of it during WWII, the center of Nurnburg still retains a story-book look about it, even if most of what you see today is post-war rebuilding.

Derick,

For scenic and architectural towns, I'd also suggest Rothenburg ob der Tauber (it's been described as "Germany's best preserved medieval town"). I didn't really find it a "hassle" to get to by train (it just required one additional change).

If you visit Rothenburg, be sure to spend at least one night there so you can take the Night Watchman's tour. He's quite entertaining and provides a good narrative on the history of the town.

Since it's between Frankfurt and Munich, it's easy to fit that into an Itinerary. You could of course also plan to visit Fussen and Neuschwanstein Castle (a bit touristy but it's a beautiful area).

Happy travels!

I loved Bamberg. Less touristy than Rothenberg but had just as much charm. Plus there are tons of breweries in town and many more surrounding the city.