Romantic Franconia

Last Updated on 20/11/2023

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 and Schwäbisch Hall

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

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;
old town with half-timbered houses, remains of city fortifications,
Cistercian monastery Frauental,
fire museum, thimble museum.

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.

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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 city is located 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

(3-4)
5. Feuchtwangen

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

How to get there: bus (no trains more)

(3)
6. Dinkelbühl

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

(2-3)
12. Route along the Altmühltal valley

A popular cycling route along the Altmühl river with picturesque white cliffs.

How to get there: train along the valley

Eichstätt
Baroque and episcopal city with many churches. Cathedral with stained glass windows and a valuable altar. Cathedral Museum.
Willibaldsburg castle (14th. century, today’s appearance is 17th century) with two museums (prehistoric, regional) and a garden. Residence
Field with sculptures (20th century sculptor).
Opportunity to search for fossils in a quarry.

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

Langenaltheim
Off-road track. Education.

Solnhofen
Fossil Museum (particularly Archeopteryx). Link
Opportunity to mine the fossil yourself (for a small entrance fee, plus a small fee for renting tools).
Excavations of the basilica.
Picturesque rocks “12 apostles”.

(3)
13. Treuchtlingen, Pappenheim

Treuchtlingen – resort town.
Thermal pool.
Model railroad.

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

How to get there: train

(2-3)
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

(3)
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
See maps of Odenwald (north of Heilbronn), as well as around Würzburg for attractions.
Nuremberg What to see
Autumn in Swabian “Tuscany”
Castle Road. 3. From Sinsheim to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Dennenlohe. Rhododendron Garden
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen