Romantic Franconia

Last Updated on 04/11/2024

This map includes a significant part of the Northern Romantic Road route, the Romantic Franconia region, as well as the Franconian Lakes.

Maps nearby
north – From Würzburg to Bamberg
east – Franconian Switzerland and Upper Palatinate. Map of attraction
south – From Ulm to Ellwangen. Albtrauf and Bavarian Swabia
south-east – Attractions around Munich
west – Odenwald sightseeing
Kraichgau and Castle Road from Sinsheim to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The Romantic Road is marked in blue, the Castle Road in red. Only those points on the routes that I consider interesting are indicated.

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Everything important that you can see in the region – with notes and links.

• 1 – top
• 2 – very good, although not so well known
• 3 – good for a short vacation or a layover. Several medium-level interesting places
• 4 – local or specific, not for everyone

Marks without brackets – I was there (there are links to the posts). With brackets – I wasn’t there. Of course, the notes are subjective

Romantic Franconia, Romantic Road

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1. Creglingen, Weikersheim

Two cities on the “Romantic Road”.

How to get there
Weikersheim – train along the Taubertal Valley.
Creglingen – bus from Weikersheim or on-call bus RUF 9870 from Rothenburg (order one hour in advance, cost according to bus fare)

In Creglingen you can see
– a Gothic church with an altar by the famous sculptor who worked in this region, Tilman Riemenschneider (early 16th century) and Gothic altars from the 14th century;
– small old town with half-timbered houses, remains of city fortifications,
– Cistercian monastery Frauental,
– fire museum, thimble museum.
Everything except the church is of local importance, but it is worth visiting for the church.

Weikersheim offers
– a small historical center with a Gothic church,
– a local historical museum with old clothing, household items and furniture from the region,
– a palace (link) with a Baroque garden,
– well-preserved city walls and towers.
The palace garden is small and not very interesting as garden, but the figures of the gnomes are very expressive. You can only photograph the garden for personal purposes, so I cannot post photos, but you find a full picture of it on the palace website.
Tours of the palace are conducted according to a schedule, excursions are quite rare (once an hour), and, oddly enough, there are quite a lot of visitors, which I tend to attribute to the popularity of the Romantic Road. So, come earlier or book your visit.

Cycling route through the Tauber Valley: from Bad Mergentheim to Creglingen

A good route along the Tauber valley with a small number of attractions, just right for a bike ride. Too long for regular bikes or with children, you have to divide it into two, especially since you can’t go back by train. The indicated route is 30 km, to Rothenburg another 17 km, all the time along the left bank.
Of the attractions, besides Bad Mergentheim:
– Weikersheim with a palace and old town
– Kreglingen with a small old town and church
– small villages with some half-timbered buildings

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2. Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Read more about Rothenburg with a map and photos.

How to get to Rothenburg: train

Rothenburg was restored after the war in a romantic-medieval style. Half-timbered houses, old churches and fortress walls, plus several small museums. The old town is large, plan at least 3 hours to explore it.

The city is located both on the Romantic Road and the Castle Road.

Castle Road. 3. From Sinsheim to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Castle Road. 2. Neckar valley cycle route. From Zwingenberg to Bad Wimpfen
Castle Road (Burgenstrasse). 1. Neckar cycle route Mannheim – Eberbach

(3)
3. Bad Windsheim

Old town, old station Alte Bauhof (15th. century)
Thermal pool Franken Therme (Link) and resort park
open-air museum (Link).

How to get to Bad Windsheim: train

4
4. Schillingsfürst

Small town on the Romantic Road.
Castle and birds of prey (Link).

How to get there: bus from Rothenburg or Dombühl

4
5. Feuchtwangen

Romantic road. Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen

City on the Romantic Road.
Small old town, Franconia museum (Link)

How to get there: bus (no trains more)

2
6. Dinkelbühl

Romantic road. Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen

Old city on the Romantic Road.
Old town, museum Kinderzeche (clothing, armor and weapons).

Nearby in Stödlen – small zoo and bird park Wild- und Vogelpark Pfauengarten

How to get there: bus

7. Nördlingen, Bopfingen, Oettingen, Ellwangen

See map From Ulm to Ellwangen. Albtrauf and Bavarian Swabia

(4)
8. Wemding

Old town, churches, historical rose garden.
The Fuchsia route is dedicated to the local botanist Fuchs, after whom they are named.

How to get there: bus from Harburg

(4)
9. Harburg

The Harburg fortress is one of the largest and most preserved in Germany. Link

Romantic road town.

How to get there: train

(3-4)
10. Donauwörth, Rain

Romantic road towns

How to get there: train

Donauwörth – old town, doll museum Käthe Kruse.

Rain – old town, flower park Dehner.

90+ parks and gardens in Germany on the map

(3)
11. Neuburg an der Donau

Residence with a gallery of Baroque masters (Rubens, van Dyck, Bruegel the Elder). Link
Baroque library (with a guided tour only – ask at the information center).

How to get there: train

Altmühltal

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12. Route along the Altmühltal valley, Eichstätt

A popular bike / rail / car route along the Altmühl river with picturesque white cliffs. The route has two drawbacks: insufficient accommodation options (i.e. you have to drive from Ingolstadt or another large city) and too much sun (actual for cycling). The Altmühltal in this part is especially interesting for paleontology enthusiasts.

How to get there: train along the valley up to Eichstätt, further downstream bus.

Solnhofen

Fossil Museum. Link
Possibility to dig for fossils yourself (for a small entrance fee, plus a small fee for renting tools). The dig site is up above, not in the town itself (Frauenberg Weg).
Excavations of the basilica.
Picturesque rocks “12 apostles”.

Langenaltheim

Off-road track.

Dollnstein

A small fortress. Rocks.
Frescoes in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

Eichstätt

A baroque and episcopal city with many churches. Already at the beginning of the 10th century the city received city rights and for almost its entire history (from the 13th to the 19th century) was governed by bishops and prince-bishops. During the 30 Years’ War it was almost completely destroyed and rebuilt in the baroque style.

For my taste, the city is monotonous, with these large squares and identical facades – a boring version of Salzburg – but unexpectedly (for me) significant. The city has a high-level Catholic university. In the museum you can see the archaeopteryx.
The historical center is quite large. You need to plan about half a day if you fully explore the city and the museum.

The city has its own railway line, which takes you from the main station to the city center (too far to walk, the schedule is adjusted to the passing trains).

Sights:
– the cathedral with stained glass windows and a valuable altar. The cathedral museum.
– Willibaldsburg Castle (14th century, current appearance – 17th century) on a hill – with two museums (prehistoric, regional) and a small garden. Link
The museum is not very big, but the fossil exhibition is interesting and the exhibits are presented well. So the castle is worth the climb to it.
– residence
– remains of the city walls
– field with sculptures (sculptor of the 20th century).

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13. Treuchtlingen, Pappenheim

Treuchtlingen – resort town.
Thermal pool.
Model railroad.

Pappenheim – fortress (museum, Link), old town.
Rope park.

How to get there: train

(3)
14. Weißenburg, Ellingen

Old town
Apothecary Museum, Roman Museum, Historical Museum, Museum of Church Treasures.
Thermal pool
Restored Roman fortress (very small).

Nearby – fortress Wülzburg Link

Ellingen – Castle of the German Order (excursions at the beginning of the hour in the first half of the day). Old town.

How to get there: train

(4)
15. Thalmässing

Historical reconstruction of a Celtic village of two reed-covered houses in the suburb of Landersdorf.

Franconian Lakes

(3-4)
16. Roth, Hilpoltstein

Roth – Ratibor Castle with a museum and a forge Link. Old town.

Hilpoltstein – Lake Roth. Ruins of the fortress, old town, historical museum.

How to get there: train

(3)
17. Abenberg

Small old town, fortress (hotel-restaurant).
Lace Museum, Historical Museum.

How to get there: bus from Roth

(3)
18. Spalt

Old city.
Brewery Museum. Museum of Crafts.
Rope park.

How to get there: bus from Roth

(4)
19. Absberg, Pleinfeld

Lake Brombachsee. It is more wooded than Lake Altmühlsee and there are no large towns here. A boat sails on the lake.

Adventure and football golf

Town Pleinfeld located above the lake, not quite near the lake shore. Summer tobogganing in Pleinfeld.

How to get there: train

(3-4)
20. Murr am See, Gunzenhausen

Lake Altmühlsee. In the center there is an island where a variety of birds breed. A boat sails on the lake.

Gunzenhausen has an old town, a thermal swimming pool, and several museums.

Adventure golf

How to get there: train

1 – during the rhododendron flowering season, 3 at other times
21. Dennenlohe

Dennenlohe. Rhododendron Garden

How to get there: there is sometimes a bus from Gunzenhausen (rarely)

Palace in Dennenlohe (Unterschwanningen) belongs to Baron Süsskind. The wonderful rhododendron garden and big park (creation of owner) are open to the public. This is the largest collection of rhododendrons in Southern Germany.
There is a small museum of old timers in the palace. On weekends, a private park at the palace is open.

(4)
22. Neuendettelsau

Novamare thermal pool.

How to get there: train

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23. Ansbach

The city is located on the Castle Road route. Along this route there are two castles nearby: Burg Colmberg and Lichtenau, but they are only for external viewing.

Ansbach has a baroque historical town center and the residence of the margraves of the 18th century (Link), cathedral 11th century.
Thermal pool Aquella.

How to get there: train

(3-4)
24. Cadolzburg

Castle Cadolzburg, observation tower, old town. Link
Rope park

How to get there: train

Other topics on #Franconia
#Castle Road
#Romantic road
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Autumn in Swabian “Tuscany”
Dennenlohe. Rhododendron Garden
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen
Maps nearby
north – From Würzburg to Bamberg
east – Franconian Switzerland and Upper Palatinate. Map of attraction
south – From Ulm to Ellwangen. Albtrauf and Bavarian Swabia
south-east – Attractions around Munich
west – Odenwald sightseeing
Kraichgau and Castle Road from Sinsheim to Rothenburg ob der Tauber