The Romantic Road (german: Romantische Straße) is a "theme route" devised by promotion-minded travel agents in the 1950s. It describes the of surface roads between

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

and

Füssen Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau cast ...

in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, specifically in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, linking a number of picturesque towns and castles. In medieval times, part of it was a trade route that connected the center of Germany with the south. Today, this region is thought by many international travellers to possess "quintessentially German" scenery and culture, in towns and cities such as

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was bui ...

Dinkelsbühl Dinkelsbühl () is a historic town in Central Franconia, a region of Germany that is now part of the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany. Dinkelsbühl is a former free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In local government terms, Dinkelsb� ...

and

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the ...

and in castles such as Burg Harburg and the famous

Neuschwanstein Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The p ...

. With about five million overnight stays, four to five times that number of day visits and around 15,000 tourist jobs generated by the route, it is an economically important southern German travel destination.Erwin Seitz, Dominik Rossmann: ''Fallstudien zum Tourismus-Marketing: Marketing-Erfolg trainieren.'' Vahlen, 2007.

Along the route

from north to south: *

* Holzkirchen (Unterfranken) (new itinerary since 2016) * Urphar (new itinerary since 2016) * Wertheim (new itinerary since 2016) *

Tauberbischofsheim Tauberbischofsheim is a German town in the north-east of Baden-Württemberg on the river Tauber with a population of about 13,200. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district. It is a popular tourist destination due to its numerous historical b ...

Lauda-Königshofen Lauda-Königshofen is a town in the Main-Tauber district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Tauber, 7 km southeast of Tauberbischofsheim, and 30 km southwest of Würzburg. Most of the roughly 300 houses in the ...

Bad Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recognized spa town since 1926, B ...

Weikersheim Weikersheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Town rights were granted to Weikersheim in 1313. As the one of the seats of the House of Hohenlohe, until 1756 Weikersheim's town center was dominated by ...

Röttingen Röttingen is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated south of Würzburg, and east of Bad Mergentheim. Geography Climate The valley of Tauber is one of the driest areas in Bavaria and belongs to the continenta ...

Creglingen Creglingen is a town in the Main-Tauber district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has around 4,700 inhabitants. Geography Subdivision The town Creglingen contains the following ''districts'' (since the municipal reform of 1972): Archshofen, Bl ...

Schillingsfürst Schillingsfürst is a municipality in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and 23 km west of Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the ...

Feuchtwangen Feuchtwangen is a city in Ansbach district in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria, Germany with around 12,000 citizens and 137km² of landmass making it the biggest city in the Ansbach district by Population and Landmass. In t ...

* Wallerstein *

* Harburg *

Donauwörth Donauwörth () is a town and the capital of the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "Roman ...

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

* Friedberg * Kaufering *

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech) is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech. Overview Landsberg is situated o ...

Hohenfurch Hohenfurch is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia ...

* Schongau *

Peiting Peiting is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Lech, 3 km southeast of Schongau, and 17 km west of Weilheim in Oberbayern. Transport The municipality has two r ...

* Rottenbuch * Wildsteig *

Steingaden Steingaden is a town and municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district of Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is the site of the 12th-century Steingaden Abbey (''Kloster Steingaden'') and the Wies Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Geography The commu ...

and

Wieskirche The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...

Halblech Halblech is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, an ...

Schwangau Schwangau is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The village lies 4 km from the larger town of Füssen and just 1.5 km from Hohenschwangau, a collection of tourist-oriented facilities adjacent to the major ...

and

Hohenschwangau Hohenschwangau is a former village and now an urban district of the municipality of Schwangau, Ostallgäu district, Bavaria, Germany. It is located between Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau and is visited by about 2 million peop ...

image:Marienberg wuerzburg.jpg,

image:Wertheim_-_Stadtansicht_2.jpg, Wertheim image:Rothenburg BW 4.JPG,

image:Noerdlingen town hall from Daniel.jpg,

image:Castle_Neuschwanstein.jpg,

and

image:Romantische-Strasse Ende Fuessen.JPG, End of the Romantic Road at Abbey St. Stephan in Füssen

References

External links

Official website

Official website

Article
Article about the Romantic Road
German tourist routes Roads in Baden-Württemberg Cycleways in Germany Transport in Bavaria Transport in Baden-Württemberg Tourist attractions in Bavaria Tourist attractions in Baden-Württemberg {{Bavaria-geo-stub

Along the route

See also

References

External links