Must-see attractions in The Romantic Road

  • Residenz, Wurzburg, Germany

    Würzburg Residenz

    Würzburg

    The vast Unesco-listed Residenz, built by 18th-century architect Balthasar Neumann as the home of the local prince-bishops, is one of Germany’s most…

  • Schloss Harburg

    The Romantic Road

    Looming over the Wörnitz River, the medieval covered parapets, towers, turrets, keep and red-tiled roofs of the 12th-century Schloss Harburg are so…

  • Schloss Weikersheim

    The Romantic Road

    Schloss Weikersheim is the finest palace on the entire Romantic Road. Renaissance to the core, it's surrounded by beautiful formal gardens inspired by…

  • Fuggerei

    Augsburg

    The legacy of Jakob Fugger ‘The Rich’ lives on at Augsburg’s Catholic welfare settlement, the Fuggerei, which is the oldest of its kind in existence…

  • St Anna Kirche

    Augsburg

    Often regarded as the first Renaissance church in Germany, the rather plain-looking (and well-hidden) St Anna Kirche is accessed via a set of cloisters…

  • Festung Marienberg

    Würzburg

    Enjoy panoramic city and vineyard views from this hulking fortress whose construction was initiated around 1200 by the local prince-bishops who governed…

  • Reichsstadtmuseum

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    Highlights of the Reichsstadtmuseum, housed in a former Dominican convent, include the Rothenburger Passion (1494), a cycle of 12 panels by Martinus…

  • Deutsches Weihnachtsmuseum

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    If you're glad Christmas comes but once every 365 days, then stay well clear of the Käthe Wohlfahrt Weihnachtsdorf, a Yuletide superstore that also houses…

  • Jakobskirche

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    One of the few places of worship in Bavaria to charge admission, Rothenburg's Lutheran parish church was begun in the 14th century and finished in the…

  • Dom St Kilian

    Würzburg

    Würzburg's highly unusual cathedral has a Romanesque core that has been altered many times over the centuries. The elaborate stucco work of the chancel…

  • Grafeneckart

    Würzburg

    Adjoining the Rathaus, the 1659-built Grafeneckart houses a scale model of the WWII bombing. It starkly depicts the extent of the damage to the city…

  • Neumünster

    Würzburg

    In the Altstadt, this satisfyingly symmetrical church stands on the site where three ill-fated Irish missionaries who tried to convert Duke Gosbert to…

  • Stadtmauer

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    With time and fresh legs, a 2.5km circular walk around the unbroken ring of town walls gives a sense of the importance medieval people placed on defending…

  • Dom Mariä Heimsuchung

    Augsburg

    Augsburg’s cathedral has its origins in the 10th century but was Gothicised and enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries. The star treasures here are the…

  • Stadtpfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt

    The Romantic Road

    This huge 15th-century church with its slender bell tower was built by Matthäus von Ensingen, architect of Bern Cathedral. The barrel nave is stuccoed to…

  • Museum im Kulturspeicher

    Würzburg

    In a born-again historic granary right on the Main River, you'll find this absorbing art museum with choice artworks from the 19th to the 21st centuries…

  • Maximilianmuseum

    Augsburg

    The Maximilianmuseum occupies two patrician townhouses joined by a statue-studded courtyard covered by a glass-and-steel roof. Highlights include a…

  • Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    The star attractions at this gruesomely fascinating museum are medieval implements of torture and punishment. Exhibits include chastity belts, masks of…

  • Bayerisches Eisenbahnmuseum

    The Romantic Road

    Half museum, half junkyard retirement home/graveyard for locos that have long puffed their last, this trainspotter's paradise occupies a disused engine…

  • Brechthaus

    Augsburg

    Opened in 1998 to celebrate local boy Bertolt Brecht's 100th birthday, this house museum is the birthplace of the famous playwright and poet, where he…

  • St Georgskirche

    The Romantic Road

    Dominating the heart of town, the immense late-Gothic St Georgskirche got its baroque mantle in the 18th century and seems to have been under restoration…

  • Münster St Georg

    The Romantic Road

    Standing sentry over the heart of Dinkelsbühl is one of southern Germany’s purest late-Gothic hall churches. Rather austere from the outside, the interior…

  • Alt-Rothenburger Handwerkerhaus

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    Hidden down a little alley is the Alt-Rothenburger Handwerkerhaus, where numerous artisans – including coopers, weavers, cobblers and potters – have their…

  • Haus der Geschichte

    The Romantic Road

    Dinkelsbühl’s history comes under the microscope at the Haus der Geschichte, which occupies the 14th-century former town hall. Highlights include an…

  • Rieskrater Museum

    The Romantic Road

    Situated in an ancient barn, this unique museum explores the formation of meteorite craters and the consequences of such violent collisions with Earth…

  • Stadtmuseum

    The Romantic Road

    Nördlingen's worthwhile municipal museum covers an ambitious sweep of human existence on the planet, from the early Stone Age to 20th-century art, via the…

  • Johanniskirche

    The Romantic Road

    If you've already seen the Wieskirche to the south, you'll instantly recognise this small baroque church as a creation by the same architect, Dominikus…

  • Rathausturm

    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    The Rathaus on Marktplatz was begun in Gothic style in the 14th century and was completed during the Renaissance. Climb the 220 steps of the medieval town…

  • Goldener Saal

    Augsburg

    Located on the 2nd floor of Augsburg's Rathaus, the meticulously restored Goldener Saal is the city's resplendent main meeting hall. It's a dazzling space…

  • Liebfraukirche

    The Romantic Road

    At the western end of Reichstrasse rises this 15th-century Gothic church with original frescos and a curiously sloping floor that drops 120cm. Swabia's…

  • Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche

    The Romantic Road

    Head uphill from the Schmalztor to view this beautiful baroque Jesuit church, the interior of which is a hallucination in broodily dark gilding and…

  • Rathausplatz

    Augsburg

    The heart of Augsburg’s Altstadt, this large, pedestrianised square is anchored by the Augustusbrunnen, a fountain honouring the Roman emperor; its four…

  • Rathaus

    Augsburg

    Rising above the Rathausplatz are the twin onion-domed spires of the Renaissance Rathaus, built by Elias Holl from 1615 to 1620 and crowned by a 4m-tall…

  • Rathaus

    The Romantic Road

    Work on Donauwörth's landmark town hall began in 1236, but it has seen many alterations and additions over the centuries. At 11am and 4pm daily, the…

  • Jüdisches Kulturmuseum

    Augsburg

    About 300m east of the main train station, as you head towards the Altstadt, you’ll come to the Synagoge Augsburg, an art nouveau temple built between…

  • Museum of the 3rd Dimension

    The Romantic Road

    Located just outside the easternmost town gate, this is an engaging place to entertain young minds, bored with the Romantic Road's twee medieval pageant…

  • Museum am Dom

    Würzburg

    Housed in a beautiful building by the cathedral, this worthwhile museum displays collections of modern art on Christian themes. Works of international…

  • Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche

    The Romantic Road

    Overlooking the grassy banks of the shallow River Wörnitz, this soaring baroque confection has for centuries lured the faithful to pray before a chip of…

  • Käthe-Kruse-Puppenmuseum

    The Romantic Road

    This nostalgia-inducing museum fills a former monastery with old dolls and dollhouses by world-renowned designer Käthe Kruse (1883–1968). Donauwörth is…

  • Röntgen Gedächtnisstätte

    Würzburg

    Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895 and was the winner of the very first Nobel Prize in 1901. His preserved laboratory forms the heart of…

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