Skip to content Skip to navigation Skip to subnavigation Skip to search
 
 
Want to know more about Germany?
Dip into our inspiring eBrochure and get your first impressions about the sheer diversity of Germany as a travel destination. The eBrochure is available in 29 different languages for Windows PC, Macintosh Computers and Linux PC.

Download eBrochure (.zip ∼ 300MB):

Further information:
You can find more information about Germany on our website at: www.germany-tourism.de, or on our local websites.

 

Romantic Road
On the trail of Romanticism

The Wieskirche Pilgrimage Church in the Pfaffenwinkel

For more than 50 years, the hallmark of the Romantic Road has been its wonderful combination of nature, culture and hospitality. Germany's most famous and popular tourist route runs for 350 romantic kilometres across a rich and varied cultural landscape along the river Main and through the Franconian wine country to the Alps. This fantastic route between Würzburg and Füssen offers visitors the opportunity to see small historic towns with impressive buildings and places of historical interest that have lost nothing of their original charm. The route leads through the charming Tauber Valley, the Nördlinger Ries situated in the heart of a giant crater, the picturesque Lechfeld plain, Pfaffenwinkel (Parsons' Corner) - a land of farmers, artists and monks in the foothills of the Upper Bavarian Alps - before finally ending up at King Ludwig's famous fairytale castles.

View of the Würzburg Residenz Palace from its colourful grounds

The very name of the Romantic Road expresses the sentiment that many visitors, both from Germany and abroad, feel when they first feast their eyes on this spectacular backdrop of riches, western history, art and culture: fascination and a sense of being taken back in time. But beautiful scenery and culinary delights are by no means all a trip along the Romantic Road has to offer. You'll also hear a few famous names along the way: Balthasar Neumann, who built the Würzburg Residenz Palace, Tilmann Riemenschneider in the charming Tauber Valley and Carl Spitzweg, a great fan of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl. Geological enthusiasts will be in their element in the Nördlinger Ries, while visitors to Augsburg will encounter the legacy of the Romans and the Fuggerei, the world's first welfare housing project, which dates from the 16th century. Pfaffenwinkel is home to the Wieskirche Pilgrimage Church, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the most famous works of art from the rococo period. Schwangau, home of King Ludwig's fairytale castles, is surrounded by four lakes and set against the backdrop of the Ammer mountains nature conservation area.

 
Top of page

Map of Germany

Map showing all of Germany's TOP travel destinations...
Click here!

Basic information

  • Length
    350km, cycle route 424km
  • Themes
    Art, culture, nature, hospitality

Highlights in brief

  • Würzburg
    Episcopal Residenz Palace - UNESCO World Heritage Site, Marienberg Citadel
  • Bad Mergentheim
    Castle of the Teutonic Order
  • Rothenburg
    Medieval townscape, medieval crime museum, Christmas museum
  • Dinkelsbühl
    Picturesque old town with 16 towers, fortification
  • Nördlingen
    Railway museum, Ries Crater Museum
  • Harburg
    Castle with 7 arches
  • Augsburg
    Fugger town, puppet theatre
  • Pfaffenwinkel
    Wieskirche Pilgrimage Church
  • Schwangau
    King Ludwig's castles
  • Füssen
    late-medieval town centre with Hohes Schloss Castle and St. Mang monastery