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…
Must-see attractions in The Romantic Road
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…
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…
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…
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…
Würzburg
Enjoy panoramic city and vineyard views from this hulking fortress whose construction was initiated around 1200 by the local prince-bishops who governed…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Augsburg
The heart of Augsburg’s Altstadt, this large, pedestrianised square is anchored by the Augustusbrunnen, a fountain honouring the Roman emperor; its four…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Würzburg
Housed in a beautiful building by the cathedral, this worthwhile museum displays collections of modern art on Christian themes. Works of international…
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…
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…
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…
