Meandering along the Romantic Road

For our exploration of the so-called Romantic Road, we rented a peppy little Audi for 3 days. Although I was doubting my capability to drive a standard, it didn't take long for me to feel quite comfortable zipping around rural Germany. And my fears of navigating an unfamiliar countryside were completely unnecessary, as Talia proved to be an excellent navigator and master reader of Google Maps, with and without the GPS working!

Medieval German architecture in the Romantic ROad towns

The Romantic Road designation is actually a marketing ploy devised in  the 1950s to generate more tourism in the area, and there is really nothing romantic about the journey itself. However, there are over a dozen picturesque towns to explore and we think we saw the best of them. The distance from Wurzburg to our end point in Fussen is about 300 kilometers. We visited the towns of Crenglingen, visiting the tower home, and now museum, of a 90yr old local woman, Harburg with its impressive castle and the quaint town of Dinkelsbuhl. We scheduled two overnight stops in the medieval-walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nordlingen .

Rothenburg ob der Tauber sits on a cliff overlooking the valley and the River Tauber. It is considered the best preserved medieval town of the region. Unfortunately its authenticity and "prettiness" draws the most tourists, so we were contending with bus loads of European and especially Asian tourists at its main sights. .

Looking towards the north end of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We decided to wander the backstreets for a lunch place, and found a tree-shaded patio in a church plaza that served flammenkuchen. This German version of pizza is a flatbread, brushed in oil and garlic and covered with various toppings--we chose one with white asparagus, arugula, prosciutto, parmesan and truffle oil--YUMMY! Determined to find places away from the tourist groups, we explored the back streets, walked part of the wall, discovered a secret church sanctuary transformed into a herb garden and found the park which overlooked the valley. 

Climbing the town walls (or what's left of them)

One very touristy activity we couldn't resist was the hour-long Night Watchman Tour. We had heard it was a lot of fun so promptly at 8pm, we joined the hundred others in the main square to listen to the history and curious stories of the town. The Night Watchman himself was very entertaining and we enjoyed his humour.

The Night Watchman of Rothenburg--He says he is 400 years old...

Continuing our road journey the next morning, we somehow ended up on the Autobahn. These main highways have NO speed limit. I was crawling along at 120 kph while cars and big trucks whooshed by me at 170 kph or more. It was frightening and intense, and  as soon as we figured out our route back to the quiet country roads (our cell phone, with the GPS, lost service so we couldn't track our route) we made a quick exit. 

Dinkelsbuhl  was our next stop,  Our guidebooks mention that this town has all  the medieval character that Rothenburg has but much fewer tourists.  And it was very, very quiet. For a few hours we followed the town's self-guided tour--wandering back streets and enjoying the many historical buildings and town views--with nary a fellow tourist in sight!

Dinkelsbuhl

We stopped overnight in Nordlingen, a medieval town with more local flavour and even fewer tourists. It has the unique distinction of being the only town on the planet that is entirely situated inside a meteorite crater some 25 kilometers in diameter.  It also has the longest accessible medieval wall of any Romantic Road town. We spent the next morning circumnavigating the entire wall, from which we could peek into locals' backyards, view historic buildings and churches from many angles, and most importantly, get away from where tourists might gather.  Much of the town seemed to be under construction but we thoroughly enjoyed the laid-back non-touristy atmosphere and opportunity to see a more typical everyday German town. And it was also convenient to have one of the town's best bakeries below our hotel room.

As we headed further south along the Romantic Road, the landscape began to gradually change. We could see mountains looming in the distance. At one point the whole  landscape opened up in front of us as we began to descend into a huge  valley. After hours of gently rolling hills and green fields, we found ourselves in the foothills of  the Alps. Lush forests and sparkling lakes surrounded us. We were headed to the end point of the Romantic Road in the south--the village of Fussen-- but first had to make a detour to see the Unesco Heritage sight of Weiskirche.

The huge baroque church of Weis lies in the middle of fields, far from any town. Legend has it that tears were seen coming from a wooden statue of Jesus, which caused a pilgrimage that continued to grow to the point that a larger shrine  was needed. The enormous church, built in the mid-1700s and decorated with many frescoes and carvings, is so out-of-place in its surroundings that it becomes even more awe-inspiring. And the wooden statue with its tears...? We never saw the original but it seems a statue of Jesus built at  the altar was doing the job of miracles, as the handkerchiefs of those who were cured were supposedly left behind (we also did not see these...I guess this is when you have to have faith?)

Rococco interior of Weiskirche

Fussen, a well-preserved medieval town next to the Austrian border, was our stop for the night.  We left our bags at the hotel and drove a few kilometres to leave the car at a drop-off point.

The walk back was pleasant, along a river with a huge waterfall and over an ancient bridge through the town walls.  We were sorry we did not schedule more time in Fussen as the town had a great vibe and many historical sights. But tomorrow we were off to visit Mad King Ludwig's castle, one of the most picturesque  (and visited) tourist sights in the country.