The Romantic Road: Würzburg to Füssen

Route description

The Romantic Road starts in Würzburg, where the Residenz palace faces a city of vineyards on the Main. The route runs south through the Tauber valley to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a walled medieval town where you can walk the covered ramparts. The municipal motorhome stopover outside the walls is a short walk from the centre.

Continue south on the B25 to Dinkelsbühl, another intact walled town with half-timbered houses around its main street, and then via Nördlingen, built inside a meteorite crater, and Donauwörth on the Danube. Augsburg, one of Germany’s oldest cities, has a Renaissance town hall and the Fuggerei, the oldest social housing complex still in use.

South of Augsburg the flat farmland gives way to the Alpine foothills, and the road ends in Füssen on the Lech. Above the village of Hohenschwangau stands Schloss Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II’s fairy-tale castle; buy timed tickets online, as they sell out in summer, and allow time for the uphill walk or shuttle.

A lakeside campsite near Füssen is a good end point, with views of the mountains. In the old towns, park outside the walls, since the centres are small and busy, and expect coach tours at Neuschwanstein and Rothenburg in high season.